Escalating strikes by government workers, coupled with a warning Sunday from the French interior minister about new Saudi intelligence on a posssibly imminent al-Qaeda attack, are impacting travelers throughout France. French oil industry workers, protesting a government austerity plan to raise retirement ages, have blocked access to refineries. As a result, a major flight disruption appears likely Tuesday, with French aviation authorities asking airlines to cut their schedules up to 50 percent. CNN reports that 1,000 gas stations have run out of fuel across the country, and French truckers staged several overnight protests, including a go-slow on motorways near Lille, Paris and Lyon. A 24-hour rail strike in Belgium, meanwhile, has closed train stations in that country and disprupted service across France, Netherlands and Germany; the AP reports that the strike also cut Eurostar service between London and Brussels. France's latest terror threat came when European officials were informed that "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active" on the "European continent, notably France," the interior minister said Sunday. The U.S. State Department continues its continent-wide alert, issued on Oct. 3. France has already boosted security at busy tourist sites like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower. French authorities recorded nine bomb alerts in the capital in September, including two at the Eiffel Tower — a threefold increase from a year earlier. No explosives were found.
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