Britain’s unions say

Two million joined strike over pensions:

UK: British unions say up to two million public sector workers joined a strike Wednesday over government plans to weaken their pension rights as part of its austerity programme.

The action shut thousands of schools, paralysed local authorities and left hospitals to operate on minimum staffing, in what unions called the biggest walkout in decades.

But the government contested the unions’ participation figures and Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed the day’s action as a “damp squib”.

London Metropolitan Police said the city’s ambulance service had been forced to ask them for help. AFP