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Normandy rail strike: five lines disrupted this Friday and Saturday
Ticket inspectors walk out after a knife attack on a colleague, with four unions backing the action
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French PM says diesel stockpile release will cut prices by up to 18 cents per litre
Sébastien Lecornu used televised speech to promise release of ten million barrels of diesel and address lycée protests
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Temperatures to drop by 12C as first snowfall to hit Pyrenees and Alps
Storms to continue in the south
National service: plans published in spring
Plans for all young people in France to take part in one month of national service have taken a step forward.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is to appoint a committee this month to prepare solid plans and costings for the scheme. It will report back next spring to allow time for the first trials to begin in 2019. Once up and running the universal national service scheme will cater for 600,000 to 800,000 18-21 year olds each year.
It was a campaign promise of Emmanuel Macron, who estimated it would cost €2-3 billion. However this figure has been disputed. National service was scrapped by Jacques Chirac in 1997.
