✸7 May: the labour strike turns into roadblocks and gunfire

On 7 May 2008 the General Labour Confederation's strike over wages and prices turned into a confrontation over the government's two decisions: opposition supporters blocked the airport road, the roads to the port and the streets of Beirut with burning tyres, shots were fired from rooftops in Beirut, and by the afternoon the stone-throwing had turned into armed clashes, without deaths. It was the first day of what became known as the "7 May events", which lasted a week.