SAINT-DENIS-DE-LA REUNION - New clashes broke out yesterday on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where dozens of cars were torched and shops looted on Thursday, police said.
The unrest began with demonstrations timed to coincide with protests by civil servants in France, angered at a government decision not to compensate them for a freeze on civil service salaries last year. Resentment is especially intense in Reunion because of plans to start phasing out a salary supplement of over 30 per cent.