Quick Glance: International Backlash Over Macron's Taiwan Remarks
- French president criticized for suggesting Europe should distance itself from US-China tensions over Taiwan
- Macron emphasizes Europe's focus on its own objectives and independence
- Macron's comments could strain Europe's relationship with the US and Ukraine
- France defends Macron's position on promoting European strategic autonomy
Quick Glance: Continued rage over the retirement age shift fuels new protests in France
- (AP) — GANGES, France — Hundreds of people protested the new law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 in a small hamlet in southern France on Thursday, during President Emmanuel Macron's visit, while sporadic protests were held elsewhere.
- Dozens of police officers were stationed in the small town to prevent demonstrators from approaching the school.
- Hundreds of people peacefully demonstrated at the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris on Thursday.
- Earlier Thursday, protesters in Lille's northern city of Lille walked down the railway line, effectively shutting down all train travel for approximately an hour.
Quick Glance: France requires a moment of healing, says PM, without proposing a tonic
- 1/2] Protesters carry banners of French labor unions as they walk down a country road in Beauvoir towards the Mont Saint-Michel to block entrance to the renowned tourist spot during a demonstration against the French government's pension reform on April 7, 2023, in the French western region of Normandy, France.
- PARIS, 7 April (Reuters) - France must "go through a healing period" after weeks of sometimes violent street protests against proposals to raise the retirement age, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, while she offered no obvious path out of the political crisis.
Diners sitting outside at a café in the French city of Bordeaux enjoyed their wine not far from the glow of a raging fire lit by demonstrators protesting ... Show more
Quick Glance: Royal Fakes: Impersonators of King Charles Take Center Stage
- Mr. Haslett, a longtime impersonator of the queen's eldest son, Charles, said he spent more than 5,000 pounds (approximately $6,200) "getting myself to be more kinglike than I was,"
- Guy Ingle, 62, a longtime Charles impersonator, said he used to stand in the background at events and play second fiddle to Queen Elizabeth impersonators.
- Guy Ingle, a King Charles impersonator, poses with Prince William and Prince Harry lookalikes before the real Harry's wedding in 2018.
- The negative publicity surrounding Harry, according to Ms. Scott, could actually benefit King Charles, and thus Charles look-alikes.
Quick Glance: At least one million people protest in France over an increased retirement age.
- According to polls, the majority of French people are likewise opposed to the reform.
- According to unions, more than 2 million people participated nationwide, with 400,000 in Paris.
- Protests against past attempts at retirement reform, both during Macron's first term and under former President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010, drew large crowds.
- According to government estimates, none of these events drew more than one million attendees.
- French Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt recognized "concerns" raised by the pension plans, but said the government would not consider other measures such as boosting taxes – which he said would harm the economy and destroy jobs – or decreasing benefits.
HAPPENING NOW: Demonstrators in Paris protest President Macron's pension plan. https://abcn.ws/3mVExwx
Quick Glance: Strikes and protests in France's pension battle continue
- PARIS, France (AP) — According to the Interior Ministry, an estimated 1.27 million people took to the streets of French cities, towns, and villages on Tuesday in new massive protests against the government's key pension reform plans.
- The government insists on carrying out Macron's election promise to reform France's pension system.
- "It has only to withdraw its reform," said Erik Meyer of the Sud Rail union, one of eight that organised the march, on BFM TV.
- Nonetheless, the 62-year-old said he was opposed to the proposed reform.
France would enshrine the freedom to choose a "voluntary termination of a pregnancy" in its Constitution under a proposal that President Emmanuel Macron ... Show more
Quick Glance: Macron's France is a tinderbox.
- This follows two previous national demonstrations of one million people.
- Opponents, on the other hand, point to how protests and strikes forced President Jacques Chirac to withdraw his pension reform bill in 1995.
- As a result, he lacks a mandate for pension reform.
- It is telling that the fiery Jean-Luc Mélenchon is going all out to enlist student unions in his fight.
- That is difficult to do on a pension issue that will not directly affect them for the next half-century.
Garbage collectors in Paris and other French cities continue to strike, protesting President Macron's decision to raise France's retirement age ... Show more
More than a million protesters, chanting slogans like “retirement before arthritis,” took to the streets throughout France to protest President Emmanuel ... Show more
Breaking news: A top French court on Friday approved controversial legislation to raise the retirement age, clearing the way for the change to become law ... Show more