France

Hundreds arrested as French protests continue after government survives no-confidence vote

Hundreds of people were arrested across France after sporadic protests broke out hours after President Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in parliament on Monday over a deeply unpopular pension reform.

The failure of the vote will be a relief to Macron. Had it succeeded, it would have sunk his government and killed the legislation, which is set to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.

But the anger was felt as protesters took to the streets in cities across the France, opposition lawmakers vowed to force a U-turn and unions prepared for nationwide action on Thursday.

Pic – Garbage: In Paris streets, heaps of it become protest symbol

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

France pension protests: Crowd clashes with police over government reform by decree

Protesters have clashed with police again in central Paris over the French government’s pension reforms.

Thousands of demonstrators lit fires and some threw firecrackers at police, who used tear gas to disperse them.

It is the second night of unrest since President Emmanuel Macron decided to push through the controversial reforms to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote.

No-confidence motions have been filed against his government in response.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

Heaps of rubbish draw rats (and tourists) in Paris

Mounds of rotting rubbish and scampering rats have become a subject of tourist photography on the ninth day of a strike by Parisian bin collectors who are protesting against President Macron’s move to raise the retirement age.

Visitors are turning their cameras on piles of malodorous bin bags that block the view of Notre Dame cathedral and spoiling the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower on the Trocadéro esplanade. Ministers have accused the council of doing nothing to remove the 5,800 tonnes of rubbish that are littering the pavements.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

Iran behind hack of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, Microsoft says

An Iranian government-backed hacking team allegedly stole and leaked private customer data belonging to French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, security researchers at Microsoft said on Friday.

The magazine was hacked in early January after it published a series of cartoons that negatively depicted Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The caricatures were part of a media campaign that Charlie Hebdo said was intended to support anti-government protests in the Islamic nation.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", Charlie Hebdo, France, Iran, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

France: Suspect in Gare Du Nord Stabbing Of Six Named As Mohamed Amine M.

Note Google Translate – “According to the first elements of the investigation, the defendant would have shouted “Allah Akbar” during the attack . An element that the investigators of the criminal brigade are verifying, by cross-checking the hearing of witnesses and victims. According to information from Europe 1, the suspect, on whom no paper was found, says he is Algerian . He says his name is Mohamed Amine M. , a name unknown to the police and he was born, according to his statements, on April 14, 1991. He would therefore be 31 years old. Investigators are trying to cross-check his statements.”

We now return you to the English language …

Gare du Nord: Six people injured in stabbing attack

Six people have been injured with one in a critical condition after a stabbing at Paris’s international Gare du Nord station early on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said a man was stopped by two off-duty police officers who were returning home from a shift.

He said the suspected attacker was shot three times and taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Authorities are trying to establish if there was a motive for the attack.

Pro-Tip – start with asking why the stabby Mohammedan shouted “Allahu Akbar”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

Brigitte Macron backed an ‘erect phallus with golden balls’ as the new spire for Notre Dame cathedral, France’s former culture minister claims

Macron proposed an ‘erect phallus with golden balls’ as the new spire for the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the former culture minister has claimed.

Roselyne Bachelot, 76, recounted in her memoirs how she was shocked when the First Lady presented her risqué plans for the iconic landmark over lunch.

After fire ravaged the iconic gothic cathedral in 2019, Emmanuel Macron held an international competition to redesign the spire and roof.

Could be France is getting what it deserves.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance, WTF?

French Bakeries Under Threat of Massive Closures

The surge in energy prices linked to the war in Ukraine is beginning to have a serious impact in France, with victims whose downfall is hitting public opinion hard, both practically and symbolically. French bakers are closing down, one after the other, because they cannot pay their soaring electricity bills. An estimated 33,000 artisan bakers are now threatened with closures.

For several weeks, headlines in the regional press have reported on the closure of bakeries throughout the country—in dramatic circumstances and with deep human tragedies as a result. Many craftsmen made their last batch of bread for New Year’s Day before closing their doors for good. Some were businesses that had been established in small towns for several decades, prosperous and well-established family businesses that could no longer cope with the rising costs of production. 

How France’s prized nuclear sector stalled in Europe’s hour of need

France should be in a strong position as Europe reels from the energy crisis, drawing on the renowned nuclear industry that supplies the lion’s share of its power. But France’s nuclear sector has been going through a tricky time, as a significant proportion of its reactors have had to close for maintenance. Analysts blame a mixture of bad luck and the consequences of a political deal from a decade ago.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Energy Matters", "Ukraine - Russia", France

France’s nuclear headache leaves Macron on brink of rationing electricity

The damp and warmer-than-normal weather that afflicted much of France last week was a disappointment for skiers hoping to see in the new year in the Alps. But it has brought welcome relief to those in charge of keeping the country’s lights on.

The threat of power cuts has been looming over France — curious considering that it is normally a significant exporter of electricity, thanks to its 56 nuclear reactors, by far the largest number of Europe.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Energy Matters", France

France Enjoys Quiet New Year’s Eve – Only 690 Vehicles Car-B-Q’d

New Year’s Eve: a gendarmerie barracks attacked, a children’s hostel set on fire, a retired couple and families saved from the flames… (Update: 690 vehicles burned, 490 arrests, no “notable incident” for Darmanin )

“Darmanin” is Gérald Darmanin Minister of The Interior

Below, While @GDarmanin is at winter sports in Mayotte, the city of Bordeaux fell into the hands of scum for this night of December 31

Below, Amiens: Clashes between law enforcement and scum last night in Macron’s hometown – No major incidents for the government. This kind of scene is completely normal.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance, WTF?

Paris Riots: Migration and Mistrust

Recent events in France remind us of the plot of the recently released French film Athena, which tells the story of how the murder of a young Algerian-French boy by the police sparks a civil war in France. Our discussion begins with a devastating spoiler—I highly recommend, therefore, that anyone who has not watched Athena do so before proceeding, as it is, in my estimation, one of the best films to come out in recent memory.

This is not a review, however, and the spoiler I am leading up to—revealed in the very last scene—is key to the present discussion: For after the violence and tragedy of the plot have run their course, we learn that it was not police officers who murdered the lad, but some criminals belonging to a far-right group disguised as police, precisely in order to coax immigrant communities into rioting against security forces and so initiate a civil war.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

French police detain man over World Cup hit-and-run in Montpellier

French police have detained a suspect in the hit-and-run death of a teenage boy during celebrations of France’s win over Morocco in the World Cup semi-finals, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

A man was detained on Tuesday near the southern city of Perpignan, prosecutors said.

The 14-year-old boy, Aymen, was killed on 15 December in the Paillade district, one of the poorer areas of the southern city of Montpellier.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Gypsies/Roma, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

Ankara summons French envoy over ‘anti-Turkey propaganda’ after attack on Paris Kurds

Turkey on Monday summoned France’s ambassador over “anti-Turkey propaganda” that it alleged French officials did little to stop following the killing of three Kurds in Paris.

Friday’s shooting was followed by days of protests by Kurdish groups and their supporters in the French capital.

Some of the protesters waved flags of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.

Others held banners with slogans accusing Turkey of being a killer state and connected to the shooting.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West, Kurds and Kurdistan

Suspect in Paris shooting ‘had pathological hatred of foreigners’

The French man detained over the killing of three Kurdish people in Paris last week has told investigators he had a “pathological” hatred of foreigners, the city’s prosecutor said on Sunday.

The 69-year-old man was arrested on Friday after shooting dead two men and a woman in a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby Kurdish cafe in the 10th district of Paris, which the French president, Emmanuel Macron, described as a “vile” attack on the Kurds of France.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Islam, Islam and violence

Suspect in Deadly Paris Shooting Transferred to Psychiatric Unit as Protests Enter 2nd Day

Police and protesters clashed in Paris for a second day after a man on Dec. 23 opened fire at a Kurdish cultural centre and killed three people. A 69-year-old suspect shooter, who was wounded and detained, had since been removed from custody for health reasons.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in an update on Dec. 24 that the suspect was moved to a police psychiatric facility. Questioning of the suspect was halted on medical grounds prior to his transfer. The man will be presented to an investigating magistrate when his health permits, according to the update.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

Viva diversity…

The video says undeclared civil war.

But this is the CBC’s headline – Kurds, anti-racism groups rally in Paris after 3 killed in cultural centre shooting

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", France, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West