bendodman

5 years after an Israeli gunshot found a gap in Yaser Murtaja’s bullet-proof press jacket, killing the Gaza reporter, an Israeli bomb has killed his friend & colleague Rushdi Saraj at his home in the enclave he documented tirelessly. Tribute from Le Monde lemonde.fr/international/…

And not a word of support from the ministers' cabinet colleagues lemonde.fr/politique/arti…

Years of French regulators failing to crack down on hate speech have led to this: blatantly racist slurs levelled at Macron’s only ministers of colour, by pseudo journalists spreading a far-right agenda on a public, free-to-air license twitter.com/caissesdegreve…

@DenisMacShane If the French had wanted Macron’s pension reform they would have given him a majority in parliament. His failure to get one was just as “historic” as his re-election. That’s why he had a special responsibility, for democracy’s sake, to put it to a vote

All elections are won because winner seen as better alternative to loser. Βut if you followed 2022 elections main issue was pension reform. I’m no fan of Macron but in electing him French voted for pension reform. We have too many refusing to accept decision of people.?

While the Constitutional Council's pension ruling surprised few people, it set a precedent that deepens the imbalance in French institutions, allowing the executive to disguise a major social reform as an amending budget bill in order to bypass parliament lemonde.fr/politique/arti…

The fact that (most of) Macron’s pension bill has been deemed compatible with a constitution heavily tilted in favour of the executive won’t make it any more legitimate, or democratic, in the eyes of the overwhelming majority who reject it. The battle is political, not legal

“Angry beavers” at latest Paris protest, voted for Macron last year to build “dam” against the far right, then stripped him of parliamentary majority to avoid pension reform he rammed through anyway, without a vote

🚨 Je relaie rarement les interventions d’élus, mais cette interpellation du sénateur @JacquesFernique est tout simplement EXTRAORDINAIRE. En moins de 2min, il fait voler en éclat les mensonges et le cynisme anti-ecologique d’ @HerveBerville . Ecoutez, partagez.

French “Rosies” vow no let-up on 11th day of nationwide protests against Macron’s deeply unpopular pension reform

While the media tend to focus on mass pension protests in Paris, turnout has often been higher in smaller towns & cities, where many people start working earlier and stand to lose most from Macron's deeply unpopular reform france24.com/en/france/2023…

"We're fed up with these strolls around town. Macron will only listen once we shut down the economy," says Carlos Ferrera (not in the picture), a retired worker from the Hutchinson rubber plant near Montargis (where a 16-year-old Deng Xiaoping briefly worked in the 1920s)

"People are content with cushy little marches then go home for lunch. It won't stop Macron," says cleaner Karine, 49, a "non-violent anarchist - for now", rallying in Montargis. She has started manning a nearby roundabout that was a bastion of the Yellow Vest protests

“Macron won’t listen unless we harden our protests,” says Patrick, 69, dressed as an inmate “chained to work”. He says pension protests in Montargis are “largest in living memory”

Some 2,000 protesters (a fifth of local population) have gathered in Montargis, 120km south of Paris, for latest protest against Macron’s deeply unpopular pension reform

Macron in a bin, “the real trash are in government”… Plenty of tributes & references to rubbish collectors’ strike at Paris rally – and overall a distinctly angrier tone compared to previous protests, with the focus now on government’s “denial of democracy”

Paris protesters hold posters with a montage of Macron dressed in full regalia in the manner of “Sun King” Louis XIV, accompanied by the slogan “Méprisant de la République” (contemptuous of the Republic)

“10 years collecting rubbish bins is more than enough to wear you out,” says Julien, 40, rallying in Paris against a pension reform he describes as a “death sentence”. “They celebrated us during Covid, now this is how they thank us.”

Latest mass rally against pension reform now underway in Paris, route between Bastille & République already jam-packed. Many first-time protesters angered by Macron’s decision to force reform through without a vote

“Jupiter (Macron), the people will bring you back down to Earth”, writes 72-year-old Michel, heading to Bastille for latest pension protest in Paris. “Past presidents were capable of listening & backtracking, but Macron thinks he’s Louis XIV, an absolute monarch,” he adds.

"Taking part in an undeclared protest is an offence," says France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. It isn't. You'd think the guy in charge of policing would know the basics of the law twitter.com/BFMTV/status/1…

« Reform without consent, rape/violation of democracy ». Another night of protests and unrest in Paris & across France. The goggles are for the tear gas that soon followed