A strike by arts workers threatens France’s cultural summer. “Theatres, films and television have been hit by moves to bring the show business industry to a halt in a dispute over the reduction of unemployment pay for ‘resting’ performing artists and technicians. This weekend, the Montpellier dance festival and the Tours jazz festival were among cancelled events while the opening of the summer’s biggest opera gathering, at Aix-en-Provence, was postponed. Paris’s top theatres called off plays and ballets at the last minute while trade unions prepared for ‘a fight to the finish’ over a decision to make it harder for freelance performers and temporary backstage staff to claim benefits.”