France

On the streets in Bordeaux: ‘It pains me to see our city on fire but we need to take a stand’

A crowd has gathered outside Bordeaux’s City Hall. People are taking pictures of the walls and doors, which were set on fire at the weekend. They are still standing but now blistered and black. Rony Bertrand, 60, shakes her head in dismay at the damage done to the building, which was built in the late 18th century and survived the French Revolution.

“It’s become so normal now that things are being destroyed, it sickens me,” Bertrand says. “Who’s going to pay for this? The people of Bordeaux are, that’s who.” Philippe Rouchon, 56, who works in fire prevention, says “it pains me to see this, my job is to prevent fires” – but he understands the protests, at President Emmanuel Macron pushing through a rise in the pension age to 64.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

France protests: police warn of ‘ultra-left’ from across Europe joining marches

An increased number of potentially violent individuals from abroad are expected to infiltrate the ranks of those protesting against President Macron’s pension reforms during the latest round of strikes and marches, Paris’s police chief has warned.

“What poses a problem for us is the pre-cortege, these individuals who come in front of the trade union procession,” Laurent Nunez, the president of Paris’s prefecture de police, told Radio France.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

French protests threaten to spill into Europe

The cost-of-living crisis is hurting the whole continent

Shocking scenes emerged this weekend from Sainte-Soline, a rural district in Western France. Police vehicles burned as protestors hurled rocks and fireworks. At one point, police officers on quad bikes used what appeared to be light mobilised infantry tactics against the protesters, who opposed the building of a large water reservoir to be used for farm irrigation.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

Protester critical and French police hurt in ‘horrifying violence’

A demonstrator is fighting for his life after an environmental protest ended in “scenes of horror” when police fought activists using petrol bombs, axes, metal spikes and other weapons.

The 30-year-old man suffered a head injury, adding to tensions over claims of police brutality during protests against President Macron’s pension reforms.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

The French social contract is broken, now the young are fighting back

The driving force behind protests against President Macron’s pension plans are young people defending their inheritance: retirement at 62

At the age of 20, Nanuq has yet to enter the workforce but she is already thinking about when she will be able to retire.

The third-year textile design student was among more than a million people who took to the streets across France on Thursday in support of a one-day general strike — the ninth since January. It was the biggest, and also most violent, protest so far against President Macron’s plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

French protestors stack piles of rubbish-filled bin bags into makeshift barricades against riot cops as demonstrations over pensions rage across the country

Fears mounted of yet more unrest on the streets of France this weekend as the government struggled to get a grip on the demonstrations causing nationwide turmoil.

Mounds of rubbish left by striking bin men continued to pile up in Paris, serving in part as makeshift barricades for protesters.

The demonstrations, sparked by president Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64, have turned violent in the past ten days.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

France is on a knife edge

It’s no surprise that King Charles’s state visit has been cancelled

Yesterday was a day of anarchy in France – and the protests overnight have led to King Charles’s state visit to France, which was due to start this weekend, being cancelled. The King had been due to visit Paris and Bordeaux, two of the cities hit by the most extreme violence. In Bordeaux, a town hall was sacked. In Lorient, a police station was attacked – and in Nantes a court was vandalised. The worst of the violence was in Paris. Hundreds of thugs clad in black fought running battles with police, 149 of whom were injured, and they also smashed and looted shops, banks and restaurants. Gérald Darmanin, the Interior Minister, attributed the violence to far-left extremists to whom he addressed a message on Thursday evening: ‘I want to tell them that we are extremely determined, that violence will not succeed.’

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

France strikes: rioting feared in latest pension reform protests

Public services will grind to a halt in France today as more than a million people are expected to return to the streets in protest at President Macron’s pension reform, which he defended as an unpleasant duty yesterday.

Some 12,000 police officers have been deployed to curb predicted violence after a week of spontaneous riots in Paris and other cities against the deeply unpopular retirement revamp that Macron imposed without a parliamentary vote last week. The government fears the re-emergence of a violent grassroots revolt like the gilets jaunes [yellow vests] insurrection of 2018-2019.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inFrance

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