A round-up of today's world news in brief
France moves closer to raising retirement age
PARIS – A parliamentary committee yesterday approved a proposal to raise France’s retirement age to 62 from 60 by 2018, a central part of president Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to overhaul the pension system.
The retirement age clause was one of the first measures approved by the social affairs committee. The legislation, aimed at overhauling a retirement system which has strained public finances, also seeks to make people work longer for a full pension and gradually raise civil servants’ contributions to the same level as the private sector by 2020. – (Reuters)
Iraqi car bomb kills at least 15
BAQUBA – A car bomb exploded in a crowded market near the city of Baquba in Iraq’s northern Diyala province yesterday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 26 others, police said.
The blast, in the town of Abu Sayda, about 10km east of Baquba, caused the partial collapse of a building, badly damaged four houses and set five cars ablaze, police said. The Baquba area has been struck by a series of bombings this week. – (Reuters)