French Mayor on Hunger Strike:
The mayor of Paris’s northeastern suburb of Sevran, Stéphane Gatignon, pitched a tent in front of France's National Assembly on Friday and began a hunger strike for more money.
Severn is one of France's poorest cities and on Tuesday the National Assembly will vote on the amount of grants the Socialist-led government will provide to impoverished urban areas. Political pundits expect those grants to grow by 120 million euros ($152 million); Gatignon is asking they raise the amount to 180 million euros ($230 million).
He is also asking for 5 million euros ($6.4 million) in subsidies to help pay the municipal bills in Sevran for 2013.
France's President Francois Hollande has sought to raise 20 billion euros in taxes in 2013 and cut 10 billion in spending. Income taxes for French residents earning more than $1 million a year will rise to 75 percent from the current 41 percent, reported the New York Times.
