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The interior ministry called for calm after at least 31 were arrested in overnight riots, mainly in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the victim lived, with youths burning cars and shooting fireworks at police, who sprayed people with tear gas. "We have an adolescent that was killed, it is unexplainable and inexcusable," Macron told reporters in Marseille. Paris Saint-Germain footballer Kylian Mpabbe in a Tweet about the shooting said: "I'm hurting for my France." [1/5]A car, burnt during clashes between youths and police, is seen in a street the day after the death of a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, June 28, 2023. In the wake of the overnight unrest, the interior ministry said 2,000 police have been mobilised in the Paris region.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Mercedes, Germain, Kylian, Antony Paone Tuesday's, FRANK Macron's, Fatima, Layli Foroudi, Dominique Vidalon, Juliette Jabkhiro, Richard Lough, Conor Humphries Organizations: Prosecutors, Reuters, Mercedes AMG, Paris Saint, REUTERS, of Interior, Thomson Locations: Paris, PARIS, Nanterre, Marseille, France, Paris suburb

☆ Russia pulls back from brink of crisis after deal reached to end Wagner insurrection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Alexey Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images Putin judges an arm wrestling match while visiting the Seliger youth educational forum in Russia's Tver region in August 2011. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Prigozhin, ” Wagner, ”, Dmitry Peskov, “, Prigozhin, ” Peskov, Putin, Putin Putin, Joseph Stalin, –, “ Putin, Evelyn Farkas, ’, Vladimir Putin, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Pavel Bednyakov, Peter Zwack, Beth Sanner, ” Sanner, “ He’s, … Putin, Moscow’s, Priogozhin Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Communist, McCain, Putin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, Russia’s Southern Military District, US Army, National Intelligence for Mission, State Department, European Union Locations: Moscow, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kremlin, Russia’s Belgorod, Putin Russian, Russian, Rostov, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, –, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Soviet, Kazakhstan

☆ France makes high-profile push to be the A.I. hub of Europe setting up challenge to U.S., China
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Macron told CNBC France will "invest like crazy" into A.I. "I think we are number one [in AI] in continental Europe, and we have to accelerate," French President Emmanuel Macron told CNBC's Karen Tso last week. watch nowWhile the U.S is seen as the leader in AI by many measures, France hopes to catch up. Underscoring the potential and hype of AI developments, four-week-old French startup Mistral AI raised 105 million euros to fund the company. I think we need a global regulation," Macron said.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Nathan Laine, Karen Tso, OpenAI's, Bruno Le Maire, Jean, Noel Barrot, Paris, Anton Dahbura, Rishi Sunak, Dahbura, … Organizations: Viva Tech, CNBC France, Bloomberg, Getty, PARIS —, French Finance, Digital, CNBC, European Union, Johns Hopkins Institute, Autonomy, Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia, Global, EU, Organisation for Economic Co Locations: A.I, PARIS — France, Europe, China, U.S, France, Germany, Britain

☆ France sees global A.I. regulation ideas by the end of this year, wants to work with U.S. on tech laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

I think we need a global regulation," Macron told CNBC's Karen Tso on the sidelines of the event. lawFrance's call for global AI regulation comes as the European Union closes in on passing an unprecedented law called the EU AI Act. watch nowFrance, which has traditionally taken a pro-regulatory stance, has expressed concern that the EU law around AI has gone to far. The U.S. has not yet come up with any kind of framework for AI regulation. France's top politicians who spoke to CNBC discussed their focus for AI regulation.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, ChatGPT, Bruno Le Maire, Jean, Noel Barrot, Macron, Karen Tso, Barrot, …, Le Maire Organizations: PARIS —, CNBC, U.S, European Union, Finance, Digital, Wednesday, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, EU A.I, EU, Nvidia Locations: China, France, Paris, U.S, Germany, EU, VivaTech, Europe

☆ France's Macron seeks to show he's no lame duck as pension discontent rumbles on
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on in a meeting with JP Morgan CEO during the 5th edition of the "Choose France" Business Summit, in Versailles, southwest of Paris, on July 11, 2022. Around 8,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Toulouse, France, on June 06, 2023, protesting against the government. "They know Macron has no alternative than to rely on them, making it almost impossible to develop the centrist domestic project," he said. This is largely attributable to Macron's agenda," Schmieding said, adding France was replacing Germany was the most dynamic major European economy. French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at a Franco-Chinese business council meeting in Beijing, China April 6, 2023.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Morgan, Ludovic Marin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Macron, Renaud Foucart, Foucart, Les Republicains, Mujtaba Rahman, Rahman, Bruno Le Maire, Elon Musk, Holger Schmieding, Schmieding, Xi Jinping Organizations: Business, Afp, Getty, Nurphoto, Lancaster University, Eurasia Group, Macron, Finance, EU, U.S, Elon Locations: Versailles, Paris, Germany, Union, Toulouse, France, China, Ukraine, Europe, Beijing

☆ 4 Children and 2 Adults Are Stabbed in an Attack in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Aurelien Breeden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A knife-wielding man stabbed four children and two adults at a park in southeastern France on Thursday, the authorities said, in an attack that President Emmanuel Macron called “absolutely cowardly.”The local authorities said in a statement that a suspect had been arrested in the attack, which took place in Annecy, a city of about 130,000 people, and that all of the wounded had been hospitalized. Their immediate condition was not clear, but Mr. Macron said on Twitter that “children and one adult are between life and death” as a result of the attack. He added, “The nation is in shock.”The attack occurred just before 10 a.m. at a popular lakefront park in Annecy. Anthony Le Tallec, a former professional soccer player who ended his career in the city, said that he had witnessed the attack. In an Instagram story from the park, where he filmed police officers and emergency services at the scene, he said that he had been jogging on the lakefront when he saw dozens of people running in the other direction.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Anthony Le Tallec Organizations: Twitter Locations: France, Annecy

☆ French March in New Pension Protests, but Are They a Final Stand?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Street demonstrations and transport strikes disrupted France again on Tuesday as another day of protests against a widely unpopular pension overhaul took place, in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to pressure the authorities into scrapping the changes. Tuesday’s protest, the 14th day of nationwide demonstrations since January, reflected the lingering anger at the government’s decision to raise the legal retirement age to 64 from 62 — a move that put France on edge and led to the biggest political threat in President Emmanuel Macron’s second term. But after months of exceptionally large protests that have failed to budge Mr. Macron, and with key parts of the overhaul already enshrined in law, opponents of the reform acknowledge that the chances of turning the tide now are slim and that Tuesday’s actions may be a last stand. “The game is about to end whether we like it or not,” Laurent Berger, the leader of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor, the largest union in France, said on Tuesday as he was getting ready for the march in Paris.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron’s, Mr, Macron, ” Laurent Berger Organizations: French Democratic Confederation of Labor Locations: France, Paris

☆ Macron Faces Fresh Test as Outlook for French Finances Dims
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the list of challenges facing President Emmanuel Macron after raucous nationwide demonstrations over his pension measures, add a new one: a cascade of warnings over France’s finances. On Friday, S&P Global cautioned that it still had a negative outlook on France’s creditworthiness. S&P Global maintained its investment-grade credit rating for France, a decision that Mr. Macron’s government had eagerly awaited. But in restating a negative outlook first published in January, the ratings agency cited concern about France’s ability to rein in its public finances amid already elevated general government debt. And it added to concern among analysts about Mr. Macron’s ability, in a tense social and political climate, to move forward with his efforts to lift the country’s competitiveness and growth.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron’s Organizations: P Global, France

☆ Opinion | Fareed Zakaria on Where Russia’s War in Ukraine Stands — and Much More
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +96 min

Obviously, the line is not perfect, but I think that’s a very sensible line. And I don’t think that’s all about absorption capability. But I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Russians have done everything they can. fareed zakaria[LAUGHS] And by the way, I think that’s some key to understanding the alliance is a personal one. I think India, Israel, and Poland — usually, in the 70 percent-plus say they like — have a favorable view of America.

Persons: ezra klein, it’s, Fareed Zakaria, Zakaria, “ Fareed Zakaria, fareed zakaria, Ezra, Putin, They’ve, there’s, fareed zakaria It’s, they’re, It’s, Fidel Castro, Sean Penn, haven’t, you’re, won’t, Biden, They’re, Washington, Winston Churchill, Merkel, wouldn’t, —, Nancy Gibbs, Khomeini, Macron, Ron DeSantis, YouGov, fareed zakaria I’m, that’s, DeSantis, Lindsey Grahams, Mitch McConnell, Xi Jinping, ezra klein Yes, Xi, Gorbachev, Zelensky, Trump, Obama, Bush, United States —, McCarthy’s, I’ve, they’d, doesn’t, didn’t, ezra klein They’re, fareed zakaria They’re, we’ve, Simpson, I’m, Janet Yellen, Colin Powell, unquote, That’s, Jonathan Haidt, We’ve, he’s, fareed zakaria That’s, they’ve, fareed zakaria Well, gee, TikTok, we’re, George Kennan, Mike Gallagher, klein, Nirupama Rao, Bob Kagan, can’t, — fareed zakaria, Lord Mountbatten, Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh, fareed zakaria Right, narratively —, Modi, you’ve, China’s —, fareed zakaria Modi, India’s, Advani, Vajpayee, you’d, There’s, India, Joe Biden, fareed zakaria I’ve, Benedict Anderson’s “, Orville Schell, John Delury, Sunil Khilnani, ezra klein Fareed Zakaria Organizations: CNN, The Washington Post, Putin, Starbucks, Russia, Revolutionary Guard, NATO, Ukrainian, Communist, European Union, U.S, Republican Party’s, Republican Party, Republicans, ASEAN, Trump, Defense, United, U.S ., Democrats, Chinese Communist Party, State, Facebook, Google, Soviet Union, Huawei, Twitter, South China Seas, Foreign Affairs, Yale Law, International Criminal, South China, . Security, Trade Organization, Pax Americana, Americana, New York Fed, America, Republican, Fox, Beijing Locations: ezra klein Russia, Ukraine, Russia, America, Europe, China, India, Russian, United States, Relatedly, Japan, Turkey, Holland, South Korea, Singapore, Iran, Venezuela, Central America, Southeast Asia, Washington, Britain, ‘, U.S, United Europe, Germany, Soviet Union, Vietnam, Beijing, Trump, Asia, Iraq, Hainan, Montana, Republic, Soviet, weirdly, South, Taiwan, Pakistan, New Delhi, South Africa, Kuwait, Russia’s, Eden, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Kashmir, it’s, Cuba, Pax, American, Mumbai, Shanghai, Israel, Poland, Indian, Nigeria

☆ France’s Latest Way to Sound Anger Over Pensions Law: Saucepans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Spreading across a highway so that no cars could pass, 100 or so protesters banged saucepans in a deafening racket that echoed through this remote valley of eastern France last month. They were marching toward a nearby castle where the French president was due to arrive, determined to stand in his way and create cacophony around the visit. Suddenly, a helicopter carrying President Emmanuel Macron appeared overhead, the sound of its blades briefly drowning out the din. For weeks, opponents of the change have been harassing Mr. Macron and his cabinet members by banging pots and pans on their official trips. In a country with no shortage of kitchenware, the protests, known as “casserolades,” after the French word for saucepan, have disrupted or stopped dozens visits by ministers to schools and factories.

☆ Macron Calls for a Green ‘Pause’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Wonder Land: A beside-the-point president is the best thing that has ever happened to the progressive centralization project. Images: Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock/AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark KellyThese are strange days when even Europe is starting to doubt the wisdom of its green agenda. Witness a speech last week by French President Emmanuel Macron in which he suggested that Europe may already have enough environmental regulation and doesn’t need more. Mr. Macron called for a “regulatory break” on environmental matters in Europe. “Now we need to execute” rather than add more pages by the hundreds to the green rulebook.

☆ Emmanuel Macron Courts Elon Musk Amid Duel With U.S. for Battery Supremacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Stacy Meichtry | Sam Schechner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Most of Elon Musk’s wealth is tied up in shares of his companies. That means volatility in their stock and valuations can directly sway his net worth. WSJ breaks down the outlook for Musk’s businesses and where he stands among the world’s richest people. Mr. Musk—head of companies including Tesla , Twitter and SpaceX—met with Mr. Macron inside the Élysée Palace. He then attended a lunch at the Palace of Versailles, the historic home of French kings, with dozens of other foreign CEOs as part of an investment conference organized by Mr. Macron.

☆ Russia denounces Macron over China comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, May 15 (Russia) - Russian officials on Monday denounced comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that Moscow was becoming subservient to China, saying Western countries must get used to a world underpinned by the Kremlin's close ties with Beijing. The Russian criticism focused on an interview Macron gave to the Paris daily l'Opinion in which he decried the Kremlin's isolation brought on by its invasion of Ukraine more than 14 months ago. "(Russia) has de facto started a form of vasallisation with China and has lost access to the Baltic that was critical to it as it has precipitated the decision by Sweden and Finland to join Nato," Macron was quoted as saying in the daily. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia's relations with China were those of a strategic partner and had nothing to do with dependence. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Paris had become preoccupied with Moscow's strengthened relations with China and changes that implied for the world order.

The most recent innovation has been tamer: People have banged pots whenever the president has appeared. Indeed, France’s labor unions — though representing a smaller share of the work force than elsewhere in Western Europe — have been united in their opposition, making them a redoubtable force. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who leads the left-wing coalition NUPES, has been a central figure in the parliamentary fight against Mr. Macron, nearly bringing down his government with a no-confidence vote in March. And yet it is not France’s left that has benefited from the popular rebellion. In a situation that seems tailor-made for a resurgence of the left, how is it that, for the moment at least, it is not just the right but the far right that has benefited?

☆ The ‘Peace Dividend’ Is Over in Europe. Now Come the Hard Tradeoffs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Patricia Cohen | Liz Alderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the crucial question of how to pay for the momentous shift in national priorities remains. In France, for instance, government spending as a percentage of the economy, at 1.4 trillion euros ($1.54 trillion), is the highest in Europe. Debates over competing priorities are playing out in other capitals across the region — even if the trade-offs are not explicitly mentioned. It was just one in a series of walkouts by public workers who complained that underfunding, double-digit inflation and the pandemic’s aftermath have crippled essential services like health care, transportation and education. Romania, which has been running up its public debt over the years, has pledged to lift military spending this year by 0.5 percent of national output.

☆ French Protesters March Against Macron’s Pension Overhaul on May Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Matthew Dalton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protesters in Marseille, France, on Monday. Photo: Jeremy Suyker/Bloomberg NewsPARIS—French protesters took to the streets on May Day in a nationwide demonstration against President Emmanuel Macron and his unpopular overhaul of France’s pension system. Unions sought to use the traditional workers’ day march as a moment to voice the nation’s anger over the pension law, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. Mr. Macron passed the law in March without approval by the legislature, invoking a provision of the French constitution that gives the president such powers.

☆ Anger Over Pensions Law Fuels May Day Protests in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

French workers headed to the streets across the country on Monday, as the annual May Day demonstrations in France coincided with smoldering anger over an unpopular pension overhaul that President Emmanuel Macron pushed through last month. From Le Havre in the north to Marseille in the south, tens of thousands of people had taken to the streets by midmorning, and the protest was set to culminate in the afternoon with a march in Paris, the capital. Laurent Berger, the leader of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor, the largest union in the country, presented the marches as a way to continue the fight against the pension overhaul. “I don’t accept the 64 years,” he said on Sunday. “I will never accept them.”

☆ Macron Honors Haitian Revolutionary, but Leaves Much Unsaid
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Constant Méheut | Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The president of France on Thursday stepped into the cold mountain prison where Toussaint Louverture, a famed leader of the Haitian Revolution, died 220 years ago after being tricked, kidnapped and secreted across an ocean and into the French hinterland. Standing in the armory, not far from the cell where Louverture spent his last days, President Emmanuel Macron called the man who took on France after being freed from slavery a hero who embodied the true values of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. “Toussaint Louverture strove to give life to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” Mr. Macron said in a speech delivered on the 175th anniversary of France’s abolition of slavery. “That which offered freedom, equality, fraternity to all.”It was the first time a French leader paid official tribute to Louverture at the prison where he died, a powerful gesture from a president determined to reconcile the France of today with the shadows of its past.

☆ Macron Wins Approval to Raise France’s Retirement Age
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Noemie Bisserbe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension-overhaul plans have left his parliamentary ranks in disarray. PARIS—President Emmanuel Macron ’s plan to raise the country’s retirement age cleared the final hurdle to becoming law with the approval of France’s Constitutional Council, providing relief to his embattled government after a monthslong battle with unions and millions of protesters. The court’s nine judges ruled that Mr. Macron’s government didn’t violate the constitution in passing the legislation in March.

☆ French court to rule on pension age rise as nationwide protests rage on
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Riot police guard the Constitutional Council building during a demonstration against pension reform in central Paris, France, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. French unions are held strikes and protests on Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, seeking to maintain pressure on the government before a ruling on the law's constitutionality. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFrance's Constitutional Council will rule on the legality of President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension system reforms on Friday, as nationwide protests against raising the retirement age rumble on. While some hope the Constitutional Council will fully reject the bill, many commentators say that is unlikely. Demonstrators march along the vieux port during the 12th day of nationwide strike on pension reform on April 13, 2023 in Marseille, France.

☆ Opinion: Amid fallout of Macron-Xi meeting, another world leader tries his luck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Like most of China’s diplomacy, the country paints itself as champion of global peace, even as it launches menacing military maneuvers. French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, April 6. Just hours after Macron left, China launched an alarming military operation, encircling Taiwan in a simulation of an assault.

☆ Factbox: What's next for France's pension reform?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Here is why this matters and what could happen:VERDICT ON THE PENSION BILL* The Council can strike down the bill altogether if it considers it breaches the Constitution. Opposition parties have asked it to do so, for choosing to tack the pension reform onto a social security budget bill, setting a tight deadline on debates and then bypassing a final vote in parliament. REFERENDUMEven if the Constitutional Council gives its green light - with or without caveats - this may not be the end of the road. Opposition Parliament members want to organise a so-called citizens' referendum on capping the retirement age at 62. If the threshold is met, the Senate and Assembly have six months to examine the proposal to cap the retirement age to 62.

☆ Protester runs at Macron during state visit to Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, April 12 (Reuters) - A protester running towards French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the Netherlands on Wednesday had to be bundled to the ground by security officers. The incident as Macron arrived at an event at the University of Amsterdam science campus, was the second day in a row his state visit had been disrupted by protests, after weeks of demonstrations at home against an unpopular pension law. While anger against his domestic policy has followed Macron to the Netherlands, the French president is also facing criticism from European and U.S. allies over his foreign policy. In a tweet on Wednesday, Macron reiterated that Europe must stand up for itself - without referring to his China comments. Back at home, French unions plan another nationwide day of protests on Thursday against the pension law.

☆ Macron bypassed parliament and angered French citizens. Setting the far-right up for a bounce
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

French President Emmanuel Macron. Shahin Vallée senior research fellow, German Council on Foreign RelationsMacron's popularity rating has worsened in the wake of the pension reforms. The proposed legislation pushes the retirement age up from 62 to 64, and for Macron, and his government, it's a necessity in order to balance the public finances. "Macron is not grooming anyone and that's part of the problem," Vallée said, adding that "Renaissance [party] is a one man party." Macron is serving his second mandate as president and the French constitution prevents him from running again for the job in 2027.

☆ Macron Blunders on Taiwan—and Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Emmanuel Macron fancies himself a Charles de Gaulle for the 21st century, which includes distancing Europe from the U.S. But the French President picked a terrible moment this weekend for a Gaullist afflatus following his meeting with Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping . “The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers,” Mr. Macron said in an interview with a reporter from Politico and two French journalists. . . is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”

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