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Anarchy in France: 100 Police Hurt as Groups Threw Petrol Bombs & Fireworks
Bordeaux Town Hall Set on Fire in France Pension Protests
Bordeaux town hall has been set on fire as French protests continued over plans to raise the pension age. BBC 24 MAR 2023 https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.C...E8&pid=Api&P=0 https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.k...EK&pid=Api&P=0 https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIF.V...Ag&pid=Api&P=0 More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday, with 119,000 in Paris, according to figures from the interior ministry. Police fired tear gas at protesters in the capital and 80 people were arrested across the country. The demonstrations were sparked by legislation raising the retirement age by two years to 64. Fire engulfed the front door of the town hall in the southwest city of Bordeaux on Thursday evening after a day of protests and clashes. It was not clear who was responsible for the blaze, which was quickly put out by firefighters. In Paris, generally peaceful demonstrations saw occasional police clashes with masked rioters who smashed shop windows, demolished street furniture and attacked a McDonald's restaurant, according to Reuters news agency. One police officer who lost consciousness was dragged to safety by fellow officers. Police used tear gas and were pelted by objects and fireworks, AP news agency reported, with 33 people arrested in the capital. https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.l...Dt&pid=Api&P=0 French firefighters on strike hold red flares as they stand on the top of a Parisian building during protests "I oppose this reform and I really oppose the fact that democracy no longer means anything," a demonstrator told Reuters. "We're not being represented, and so we're fed up." "It is by protesting that we will be able to make ourselves heard because all the other ways... have not allowed us to withdraw this reform," another told AFP news agency. The protests also disrupted train travel, oil refineries and saw teachers and workers at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport walk out of work. In the northern city of Rouen a young woman was seen lying on the ground after sustaining a serious injury to her hand. Witnesses said she lost her thumb after she was hit by a so-called "flash-ball" grenade fired by police to disperse demonstrators. There were other clashes in the western cities of Nantes, Rennes and Lorient. "The street has a legitimacy in France," said a protester in Nantes. "If Mr Macron can't remember this historic reality, I don't know what he is doing here". Unions and the political left have deemed the day a success, but where the situation goes from here is an open question. The government is banking on there being a certain loss of momentum. It will also be hoping the bursts of violence on the streets will turn people away from the protests. The opposition promises that the protests will not dwindle, but unions will need to devise a strategy going forward, rather than promising more days like Thursday. Since January, there have been nine days of protest and French unions have called for a tenth next Tuesday. This would involve further strikes and coincide with the last full day of King Charles III's state visit to the country, with Bordeaux included in the itinerary. Parisian garbage collectors, who started their strike against the pension reform on 6 March, have renewed it until next Monday. The unrest follows the government's decision to force the legislation to raise the pension age through the lower house of parliament - where it lacks an absolute majority - without a vote. French President Emmanuel Macron defended the move, saying the reform is a necessity. France's prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, has said the changes are essential to prevent a major deficit in the system in the future. |
Re: Anarchy in France: 100 Police Hurt as Groups Threw Petrol Bombs & Fireworks
France Protests: More Than 100 Police Hurt in May Day Demonstrations
Hundreds of thousands have been taking part in May Day demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's reforms. Most were peaceful but radical groups threw petrol bombs and fireworks. BBC News 2 MAY 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/624xn/p0fkv6qg.jpg https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/up...all&quality=90 At least 108 police officers have been injured in clashes across France with protesters angry at pension reforms, the interior minister has said. Gérald Darmanin said such a large number of police wounded was extremely rare, adding that 291 people had been arrested during the unrest. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon. It is not clear how many protesters have been injured. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne tweeted that the violence was "unacceptable", while also praising the "responsible mobilisation and commitment" of demonstrators in numerous cities. This is the latest day of mass action against changes that raise the state pension age from 62 to 64. Trade unions want them withdrawn. The Interior Ministry put the overall number of demonstrators at 782,000, including 112,000 in the capital Paris, but the CGT union say the figure is three times that number. Union leaders were adamant that months-long opposition to the reforms was not waning. "The page is not going to be turned as long as there is no withdrawal of this pension reform. The determination to win is intact," said CGT leader Sophie Binet, quoted by AFP. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...1252485551.jpg In Paris, one police officer suffered serious burns to his hands and face when struck by a petrol bomb, Mr Darmanin said. Violence also broke out in Lyons, Toulouse and Nantes, where vehicles were set on fire and businesses attacked. Most of the protests were peaceful but police clashed with radical groups throwing projectiles and firebombs There were also reports that protesters briefly occupied a luxury hotel in the southern city of Marseille. Monday was the first time since 2009 that France's top eight trade unions had backed calls for a protest, AFP news agency said. Mr Darmanin accused far-left groups known as black blocs and numbering a few thousand of being behind the violence and urged that "those who attacked the police and public property be severely punished". There has been a violent element to the protests ever since March, when the government decided to force the legislation through the lower house of parliament - where it lacks an absolute majority - without a vote. Mr Macron says the reform is a necessity. He signed the reform into law on 15 April, hours after France's Constitutional Council broadly backed the changes, but opinion polls show a large majority of the population opposes the higher pension age. The reforms are expected to come into force by September. The government has promised further talks but the unions are determined to get the changes repealed, and it is not clear where a compromise could be found. https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...1252485578.jpg Police fired water cannon at protesters in Toulouse |
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