France

PARIS, March 17 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday faced the gravest challenge to his authority since the so-called Yellow Vest protests after his decision to push through a contested pension overhaul without a vote prompted violent unrest overnight.

Cars were torched in Paris and other French cities in the evening during otherwise peaceful demonstrations involving several thousand people. Trade unions urged workers to step up and briefly blocked the Paris ring road on Friday.

PARIS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Thursday activated an article of the country's Constitution that allows the government to force passage of the controversial pension reform bill without a vote at the National Assembly.

"We cannot gamble on the future of our pensions, this reform is necessary," Borne told the National Assembly, where the government does not have an absolute majority.

PARIS (AP) — Protesters disrupted traffic in Paris on Friday as angry critics, political opponents and labor unions around France blasted President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote.

Opposition parties were expected to start procedures later Friday for a no-confidence vote on the government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The vote would likely take place early next week.

PARIS, March 16 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne triggered a special procedure to push an unpopular pension reform bill through the National Assembly without a vote, amid shouts and chants from left-wing lawmakers brandishing placards against the reform.

The move, using the so-called article 49.3 of the constitution, will ensure the bill raising the retirement age by two years to 64 is adopted, but it shows President Emmanuel Macron and his government failed to garner enough of a majority in parliament.

PARIS (AP) — France’s showdown over a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 heads toward a climax Thursday, either via a parliamentary vote or through a special presidential move to force it through the legislature.

The Senate adopted the bill Thursday morning in a 193-114 vote, a tally that was largely expected since the conservative majority of the upper house of parliament favors a higher retirement age. The bill now moves to the lower house, the National Assembly, where its fate is uncertain.

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of people angered over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age joined a national strike on Wednesday as a committee of lawmakers advanced the proposal.

It remains to be seen whether Macron can command a parliamentary majority for his plan to raise the age from 62 to 64 so that workers can pay more money into the system. If not, he could risk imposing the unpopular changes unilaterally.

PARIS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The French Senate on Saturday approved the country's pension reform plan, despite the hundreds of thousands of people who have taken to the streets to protest a significant policy change that could define President Emmanuel Macron's second five-year term.

The upper house of the French Parliament adopted the bill by 195 votes to 112, whose headline measure is lifting the retirement age by two years to 64.

PARIS, March 11 (Reuters) - France faced a seventh day of demonstrations on Saturday against President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reform plans amid ongoing rolling strikes which have affected refineries, public transport and garbage collections.

A coalition of French unions, maintaining a rare show of unity since the protest movement was launched at the end of January, hopes to keep up to pressure on the government to withdraw the reform, whose key measure is a two-year extension of the retirement age to 64.

PARIS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attempted on Friday in Paris to mend bilateral relations strained by disputes in recent years over a fishing deal, illegal migration through the Channel, and Australian submarine contract stab.

In a joint press conference after the 36th Franco-British Summit, Macron, calling the summit a "summit of new ambition," voiced hope that the summit will mark a "new start" for the two countries.

10 Mar 2023; MEMO: Members of the French NGO International Emergency Fire-fighters (PUI) received a text message just as the first of two earthquakes jolted southern Turkiye on 6 February, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Volunteers ready to go to Kahramanmaras province were asked to inform their managers of their availability, and a team of 36 volunteer fire-fighters left France on a plane to Turkiye.