Wikinews Shorts: May 22, 2008

Rail strike begins in France
Transport workers in France began a strike on Thursday to protest changes in the state's pension system. Almost 300,000 people took part in marches. Public transport was reported as being hobbled by Associated Press. Union officials say that 700,000 people took part in the work stoppage, which also reduced postal deliveries and even normal programming on state-run radio.

Sources

Lou Pearlman sentenced
Lou Pearlman, the American music mogul behind Backstreet Boys and N'Sync was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years in prison on charges of money laundering, conspiracy and making false claims in bankruptcy court. He received the maximum sentence for swindling US$300 million from investors. He can have his sentence reduced if he is able to reimburse the victims.

Sources