Nationwide strike cripples French rail

PARIS • Train services into Paris dried up yesterday as France began a day of nationwide strikes and protests against far-reaching labour reforms, with the Socialist government hoping to prevent simmering discontent among students from boiling over.

REUTERS

Schools shut as heavy rain pelts

UAE DUBAI • Schools in the United Arab Emirates were ordered to shut yesterday and today after rare heavy rain hit the desert Gulf state, causing flights to be suspended and flooding roads.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

German court rules against Facebook 'like'

FRANKFURT • Facebook's "Like" button violates German and European privacy laws, a Dusseldorf regional court said yesterday. The ruling followed a complaint by the Nordrhein-Westfalen Consumer Association against a shopping site owned by German department store chain Peek & Cloppenburg KG Dusseldorf, for using the feature without appropriate user consent.

REUTERS