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Violent clashes in Paris as pension age row rages

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Large numbers of people are taking to the streets in France, on a ninth day of nationwide demonstrations and strikes over pensions reform. The CGT union estimates there are up to 800,000 people protesting on the streets of Paris where clashes with police are being reported

Police have used tear gas in Nantes and water cannon in Rennes at protests over legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Strikes are disrupting schools and public transport, and some demonstrators are also blockading railway tracks and stations.

Ongoing industrial action at oil refineries is affecting petrol supplies, and also of aircraft fuel.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government forced the legislation through without a vote in the lower house of parliament last week.

Yesterday he defended the changes as “a necessity” in his first public comments on the escalating row.

The vast majority of protests have passed off without violence but some demonstrators dressed in black and known locally as “Black Bloc” radicals have been out on the streets, throwing stones and bottles at police and setting fire to bins.

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French bin strike: Paris holds its nose as waste piles up

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A week into a waste collectors’ strike, bins are overflowing in several parts of Paris, and hundreds of tonnes of trash are being left on the streets of the French city. One Parisian complained on French radio that it was filthy and attracted rats and bugs.

The Macron administration’s plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is the reason why the workers are on strike. Le Havre, Nantes, and Rennes are among the other cities that are impacted.

Trash collectors joined the pension strikes a week ago, and according to the Paris authorities, the action has affected half of the city’s municipal worker-served regions. A fourth station that treats garbage has been partially shuttered, while three have been blockaded.

The Paris government reported on Monday that 5,600 tonnes of rubbish still needed to be collected.

One pundit on Europe1 radio compared the scenario to a free-for-all smorgasbord for Paris’ six million rats—more than twice as many as there are people living there.

According to Paris Council, the service was operating almost normally in the 10 districts serviced by private enterprises. According to some reports, activists were attempting to stop collecting from happening.

Additionally, one private business was observed on Monday evening by news station BFMTV picking up trash in the sixth, one of the major central districts, which is typically handled by council workers. On the western outskirts of the city, two more areas had similar bin collecting going on.

Leading council official Emmanuel Grégoire said the situation was complicated but the authority was prioritising intervention for public safety, with a focus on clearing food markets, bin bags lying on the ground and ensuring pedestrian safety.

The upper house or Senate approved the measures on Saturday, and on Wednesday, a joint committee of lawmakers from both houses will deliberate on the final language. The National Assembly and Senate might receive a final vote on Thursday.

The lower house is not controlled by President Emmanuel Macron’s party, thus passage of the law is far from certain.

In order to pass the measures, the government needs 287 votes, and even if it can persuade all 250 of its MPs to support them, it still has to find 37 additional parliamentarians from other parties to support raising the retirement age.

Republicans are anticipated to make up a large portion of those extra votes, therefore the government is determined to avoid rushing the legislation through without their support.

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Paris shooting: Protests after deadly attack on Kurds

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As a result of Friday’s horrific attack on the city’s Kurdish community, violence has erupted in central Paris. In addition to throwing objects at police, protesters tipped over automobiles and lit some on fire. Tear gas was used in response by the police.

The attack on Friday, which happened at a restaurant and a centre for Kurdish culture, claimed the lives of three individuals. According to a police source who spoke to AFP, the 69-year-old white male suspect claimed later that he was a bigot who detested foreigners.

The same news organisation was informed that the man used a “much-used” pistol to carry out his attack and was discovered with “two or three” loaded magazines and a box containing at least 25 ammunition. Shortly after the shootings, unrest erupted. Video captured individuals setting fires in the middle of the road and breaking car windows.

As demonstrators attempted to breach a security perimeter, police fired tear gas.

After hundreds of Kurds quietly gathered in the Place de la République to honour the three victims, Saturday’s new violence broke out.

The retired train driver is still being questioned by the police. He is currently facing an additional charge of acting with a racist motive in addition to being detained on suspicion of murder and an attempted murder.

He has a history of weapons offences, and it has come to light that the assault occurred just days after his recent release on bail.

He was accused with racist violence last year after a sword attack in another migrant camp in the French capital.

Witnesses of Friday’s shootings in the city’s 10th district said the attacker – tall, white and elderly – shot dead two men and a woman.

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Paris shooting: Three dead and several injured in attack

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Three individuals were killed and three others were injured when a shooter opened fire in the heart of Paris. Witnesses claimed that the attacker specifically targeted a restaurant and community centre for Kurds, and authorities stated they would check into any potential racial motivation.

A 69-year-old suspect was detained right away, and it immediately became clear that he had recently been released from prison. Authorities urged people to stay away from Strasbourg-Saint Denis in Paris’s 10th arrondissement.

The shooting’s cause has not been established, however Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau has revealed that the suspect has a history of racial violence charges.

On December 8, 2021, near Bercy, a man brandished a sword and attacked tents at a Parisian migrant camp. He had only lately been released, although it was unclear why.

The suspect was also hurt in the shooting, according to the local mayor Alexandra Cordebard, and three locations were targeted: a restaurant, a hair salon, and a Kurdish cultural centre. In the salon, there were two shootings.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, claimed that a “far-right activist” was responsible for the killings. She added: “Kurds wherever they reside must be able to live in peace and security. In these difficult times, Paris stands on their side more than ever.”

“We were walking in the street and heard gunshots,” a witness, Ali Dalek, told the BBC. “We turned around and saw people running left and right.

“And then, five or six minutes later, because we know people who work at the hair salon, we went in and we saw that they had arrested a guy – an old man, elderly, tall.”

Without encountering any resistance, police apprehended the man and reportedly found the attack’s weapon. Authorities declared that they had started a murder inquiry. Ms. Hidalgo commended the police for taking prompt action.

Nearly ten years had passed since the January 2013 murder of three Kurdish women in Paris when the attack occurred.

Along with a number of eateries and stores, the cultural centre is located on the street next to the Château d’Eau metro station. It was a very active location, according to Ms. Cordebard.

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Qatar World Cup 2022: Paris joins boycott of fan zones over human rights

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The latest French city to declare that it won’t be erecting massive screens and fan zones for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar is Paris. Concerns about the host country’s ecology and human rights were mentioned.

On ethical concerns, Lille, Marseille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Reims are also abstaining from the competition. The event’s location in the winter, according to Pierre Rabadan, head of sport at Paris City Hall, was also taken into consideration. After the Socialist mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry, criticised the Qatar World Cup as “nonsense in terms of human rights, the environment, and sport,” the movement got underway on Saturday.

She laid the blame on worries about workers’ rights in Qatar, the allegedly high number of deaths among foreign employees, and the environmental impact of the stadiums, which are all outfitted with outside air conditioning, just like other mayors on the left and right.

A massive screening that was scheduled to take place in Marseille if France advanced to the final has since been cancelled.

The competition “has gradually converted itself into a human and environmental catastrophe, incompatible with the principles which we expect sport – and especially football – to promote,” the city’s socialist mayor, Benoit Payan, said.

Uncertainty surrounded the number of French cities actually setting up outdoor locations where fans could follow the development of the French team, the 2018 world champions in Russia.

The mayor of Angoulême in southwest France stated that his choice had more to do with finances than it did with Qatar’s human rights situation.

A huge screen costs “many tens of thousands of euros,” according to Xavier Bonnefont. “It seemed paradoxical to us to risk this sort of money at a time when we are trying to find economies to bear the escalating cost of energy,” he said.

“In any case, I don’t think many people would have shown up in the cold. In a bar, customers will be just as content.”

The number of boycott requests for the World Cup, which is being held in France from November 21 to December 18, has been rising, albeit they are still not widely accepted.

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Disneyland Paris to Open Mass Covid-19 Vaccine Site

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Europe’s biggest tourist attraction, Disneyland Paris, will be hosting a mass Covid-19 vaccination site at its convention center as France is trying to speed up its inoculation drive, as the officials said Wednesday.

The amusement park was being closed since October 30, when non-essential businesses were asked to close amid a surge in infections, putting its 17,000 employees out of work. Later it had plans to re-admit visitors on April 2, but the conditions kept worsening forcing it to postpone. The vaccination site will be conducted outside the amusement park proper at its Newport Bay Club, a convention center near its hotel complex.

As per the reports, it will be run by local authorities and the regional ARS health center service and will be only on weekends. Its goal is to give shots to at least 10,000 people a day, wherein France aims to give at least one jab to 20 million people by mid-May.

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Paris administration fined for being ‘Too Feminist’

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In a dramatic development, the administration of the European city of Paris has been filed for being ‘Too Feminist’.  

The fine has been imposed as against the action of the administration to appoint women to at least 69 per cent of the managerial roles under the administration.

The action contradicts the 2013 rule which requires the city administration to respect the gender equality in the area of employment.

The information regarding the fine has been publicised by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo herself. While speaking in the council, she has mocked the decision to impose fine against her administration.

She has expressed her happiness in the development.

The surprising development has triggered a serious discussion in the social media platform.

It is the first time that a city administration in the country has been fined for being ‘Too Feminist’.

It seems that the Paris Mayor considers the fine as a credit.

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Protest emerges in France against bill seeking to make taking photos of police criminal offence

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A severe protest has broken out in the French city of Paris against a bill, seeking to make taking photos of police with malevolent intent a criminal offence.

The protesters have clashed with the police during the protest. The police have used violent methods to quell the protest. They have thrown tear gas shells at the protesters.

The violence has broken out when the protesters have thrown stone and fire workers at the police.

The opposition has strongly criticised the bill. They have termed the action as an attempt to undermine press freedom.

The government, at the same time, has defended the bill, saying that the bill was necessary to protect the officials from online abuse.

The protest is expected to spread swiftly to other locations in the country. It has already spread to Bordeaux, Montpellier, Lille and Nantes.   

Earlier, this week, footage emerged of three white policemen racially abusing and beating a black music producer.

The images, which show Michel Zecler being kicked and punched at his Paris studio, have shocked the nation.

French President Emanuel Macron termed the action unacceptable.

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Seven booked in connection with Charlie Hebdo office attack

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Once again, an act of terror has occurred in connection with satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo – which came to spotlight after several journalists had been killed during a terror attack in the year 2015.

In the latest attack, at least two people has been injured. The latest has taken place just outside the office.

As many as seven people have been booked in connection with an attack in Paris.

The attack has been carried out with a meat cleaver.

Shockingly, the main suspect of the attack is a eighteen year old man from Pakistan.

He has been taken into custody by the Paris police from the crime scene itself.

It is alleged that the police have miscalculated the security threat emerged as part of a trial that opened up recently in connection with the 2015 attack.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said it was an act of Islamist terrorism.

The building where the attack take place is no longer occupied by Charlie Hebdo, through it had been the office of the magazine since the year 2015 when a terrorist ravaged the office.

It is at present occupied by a production company.

The latest development is seen seriously by the French government. It is expected that it will prompt the country to increase its security installations in several key locations.

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Health workers organise protest in Paris

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Over 400 doctors, nurses and medical staffs have entered the streets of the capital of France, Paris, to express their disagreement against the poor funding for the hospitals in the country.

As many as 50 healthcare workers have been charged in connection with the case and a small fine has been imposed against them.

Another three people have been booked in connection with the case. They may face strict legal action in the coming days.

Many have expressed their disagreement over the way in which the French authority has handled the issue.

The French police have justified their action on the ground that the protesters have violated the measures imposed to curb the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Several French citizens have come out openly with their support to the medical workers who have entered the streets of the country to express their plight.

The workers have demanded a reasonable hike in their wages.

The protest has brought the country in an unpleasant state. The protest is expected to trigger a serious discussion over this matter in the coming days.


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