Police and Trade Union in France say Tuesday's nation-wide protest against changes to the state's pension system has been the biggest since the demonstrations begun earlier this month. Union official say 3.5 million people took part while the police gave a figure of 1.2 million. This was the fourth in a series of protests, described by the France's Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, as irresponsible.
The President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, has said continued unity is the only option for his country. Southern Sudanese are due to vote in January in a referendum on independence as part of the peace deal that ended the long civil war. Mr.Bashir told the parliament that although he was committed to that referendum, he believed the South would be more stable and prosperous if its state united with the North.
The head of fine arts for the Egyptian government has been found guilty of negligence over the theft of a Van Gogh painting form a museum in Cairo. He was among 11 people sentenced to 3 years in prison for security lapses. * reports from the Egyptian capital.
The Van Gogh's painting, Poppy Flowers, was stolen in August in broad daylight from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. It was cut out of its frame and has still not been recovered. It soon emerged that surveillance cameras were not working. The Museum had reduced a number of guards and the alarms attached to each painting in the Museum were also not working. Now according to the Egyptian state news agency Maan, the head of the Cultural Minister fine art section, the Museum's director and nine other officials have been convicted of negligence and sentenced to three 3 years in prison.