* Airports and bus and train stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday, causing disruption for millions at the start of the working week during one of the largest walkouts in decades as Europe's biggest economy reels from inflation.
* Germany, which was heavily dependent on Russia for gas before the war in Ukraine, has been particularly hard hit by higher prices as it scrambled for new energy sources, with inflation rates exceeding the euro-area average in recent months.* President Emmanuel Macron said he would press ahead with reforms in France, dodging a union leader's call to suspend a new pension law that raises the retirement age to 64 amid some of the country's worst street violence in years.
* Industrial action disrupting French refineries has left some petrol stations short of fuel, also hitting liquefied natural gas terminals, power supply and nuclear reactor maintenance.* The British government is engaged in pay disputes across several sectors as workers demand higher wages to keep pace with surging inflation, with strikes in schools, on railways and in hospitals taking place on a regular basis.