Ongoing unrest across France and calls for a new round of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's pension plan persuaded officials to postpone a planned state visit next week by King Charles III.
Charles had been scheduled to arrive in France on Sunday to celebrate France and Britain's renewed friendship. But the protests and strikes against Macron's decision to raise France's retirement age from 62 to 64 promised to impact his visit, with workers refusing to roll out the red carpet for the King's arrivall.
Violence peaked during Thursday's ninth union-organized nationwide marches. Over 450 protesters were arrested in Paris and beyond, as demonstrations nationwide drew more than a million people.
There were scattered protest actions on Friday. Train traffic was slowed, rows of trucks blocked access to Marseille's port for several hours and debris littered the streets of Paris.
Macron has made the proposed pension changes the priority of his second term, arguing they are needed to keep the pension system from diving into deficit as France, like many richer nations, faces lower birth rates and longer life expectancy.
Anger over the plan has increasingly turned into broader opposition to Macron's leadership, both in parliament and on the streets. His insistence this week that the retirement measure be implemented by the end of the year, prompting critics to describe him as "self-satisfied," "out of touch" and "offensive."
During his first term, Macron's government made other changes it said would make France's labour market more flexible and revitalize the economy. Those include making it easier to hire and fire workers, cutting business taxes, and making it more difficult for the unemployed to claim benefits. Critics argue the changes fray an important social safety net.
Countries across Europe have been raising pension ages. Retirement rules vary widely from country to country, making direct comparisons difficult. The official retirement age in the U.S. is now 67.
Macron's plan would provide that the French must work 43 years to earn a full pension, or wait until they turn 67, as the law now calls for. Opponents have proposed other solutions, including higher taxes on the wealthy or companies. Polls show most French people oppose raising the retirement age.
The government forced the bill through parliament last week, using a constitutional power, and the text is being reviewed by France's Constitutional Council.
Macron condemned the violent behaviour that has taken place at some of the protests, saying "violence has no place in a democracy."
He said "common sense and friendship" required delaying King Charles' visit, adding that it likely would have become a protest target, creating a "detestable situation."
"We would not be serious to make a state visit in the middle of protests," the French leader told a news conference after a summit in Brussels. He said he took the initiative to call Charles on Friday morning, and that the visit likely would be rescheduled for the summer.
Charles and Queen Consort Camilla planned to visit both France and Germany during the King's first trip abroad as monarch. He still plans to go to Germany.
Charles had been scheduled to visit the city of Bordeaux on Tuesday, coinciding with the tenth round of nationwide strikes and protests since January. The heavy wooden door of the elegant Bordeaux City Hall was destroyed by fire Thursday night by people taking part in an unauthorized demonstration.
Bordeaux wine industry officials expressed regret that Charles would not visit next week, but were glad the visit would still happen.
"We are of course disappointed Charles won't come now but we clearly understand why," said Cecile Ha of the Bordeaux Wine Council. "We are looking forward to welcoming him at the end of summer, which is great time for the vineyards as they are very lively at this time of year before the harvests."
French authorities have blamed radicals for the protests, but critics have also questioned the role of French police. The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) said Friday it was worried by the use of violence against a largely "peaceful movement."
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 441 police officers and gendarmes were injured Thursday. He added that 1,000 trash bins were set on fire in the French capital; overflowing garbage cans have become a symbol of the protests during a weeks-long strike by sanitation workers.
Fires in Paris that were intentionally lit in narrow or inaccessible alleys on Thursday night alarmed both city officials and residents. Firefighters and residents worked to tame the flames that rose to the second storey of an apartment building in the chic Palais Royal area.
Oil refineries have been another target. On Friday, emboldened protesters headed to the Fos-sur-mer oil depot near Marseille and created a blockade to stop trucks from entering and leaving. However, fuel supplies to Paris from the large Gonfreville-L'Orcher refinery in Normandy resumed after police intervened, French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said.
Fearing disruptions in coming days, France's Civil Aviation Authority requested the cancellation of one-third of flights at Paris' second airport, Orly, on Sunday, and 20% on Monday.
------
Danica Kirka in London and Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed to this report
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
What happens to the brain when you take gravity away? According to a new study looking at astronauts both before and after space travel, that experience causes physical changes that researchers believe requires at least three years between longer missions to recover from.
As wildfires rage across Canada in what’s being called an unprecedented season, one expert says there’s more that individuals and communities can do to adapt and prevent forest fires from causing widespread devastation.
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday.
The hot, dry conditions that are fuelling wildfires countrywide are just the beginning of what summer could look like in Canada this year, according to Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips.
Tumbler Ridge, a community with a population of 2,400 in northeastern B.C., has been ordered to evacuate Thursday due to the danger posed by an encroaching wildfire.
The decision to search a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two First Nations women and who will fund it remains up in the air a month after a feasibility study was completed.
Canada has partnered with a non-profit to seek out LGBTQ people fleeing violence all over the world and refer them to Canada as government-assisted refugees.
A $100 million class action lawsuit launched on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Manitoulin Island has been abandoned after the victims reached individual settlements with the church.
No one was harmed when a bus transporting elementary school children to a field trip in B.C. caught fire Thursday, with the flames fully engulfing the coach, spreading to an outbuilding and prompting wildfire concerns.
At least five Africans are dead and dozens believed missing after three boats attempting to carry migrants across the Mediterranean Sea sank in recent days off the coast of the Tunisian city of Sfax, the Tunisian coast guard said Thursday.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
Donald Trump's indictment on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate has brought renewed attention to one of the most notable cases in U.S. Justice Department history.
Embers from a smouldering scrap wood fire set days earlier outside a home used by a Christian religious communal group along with a sparking power line caused a 2021 Colorado wildfire fanned by high winds that destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and left two people dead, authorities said Thursday.
A replacement plane for an Air India flight diverted to Russia because of an engine problem landed in San Francisco on Thursday, carrying all passengers and crew, the airline said.
Joran van der Sloot, the chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, arrived in the United States from Peru on Thursday to face charges that he attempted to extort money from the missing woman's mother.
As forest fires rage across the country, experts are sounding the alarm over the physical and psychological impacts of the wildfires and saying that they pose a serious public health issue, which individuals and governments need to acknowledge and act upon.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
Social media users are sharing a surprisingly effective way to protect yourself indoors from the toxic wildfire smoke blanketing much of the East Coast: a box fan, four air filters and a whole lot of duct tape.
Scientists have documented the first-known instance of a 'virgin birth' by a crocodile, which had been living in isolation for 16 years at Costa Rican zoo, according to a study published Wednesday.
The James Webb Space Telescope set its sights on a galaxy 20 million light-years away, capturing a dazzling star-forming galaxy in images streaked with the signature of passing asteroids.
Social media users are sharing a surprisingly effective way to protect yourself indoors from the toxic wildfire smoke blanketing much of the East Coast: a box fan, four air filters and a whole lot of duct tape.
A lawyer for Prince Harry finished setting out the royal's case against a newspaper publisher on Thursday, quizzing a former tabloid reporter about information inserted into stories by then-editor Piers Morgan.
The many lives of Arnold Schwarzenegger get neatly divided into three equal parts in 'Arnold,' a Netflix documentary-cum-self-led tour through his remarkable success story as bodybuilder, actor and politician, each more improbable than the other.
Parents are finding it tougher than ever to save for their children's post-secondary education, but the mainstays of post-secondary saving remain key tools, as do clear goals and plenty of planning.
North Korea has tolerated the widespread use of more stable foreign currencies like U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan since a bungled revaluation of the won in 2009 triggered runaway inflation and public unrest, but now the trend poses a potential threat to leader Kim Jong Un as it has undermined his government's control over money supply and monetary policies.
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
Bret Hart's longtime connection with the late Iron Sheik was first made in the early 1970s when an Iranian amateur wrestler -- real name Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri -- came to Calgary to learn from promoter Stu Hart.
Racing at Belmont Park was cancelled and the Washington Nationals' home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was postponed Thursday due to poor air quality from wildfires in Canada.
A group of climate activists claimed responsibility on Wednesday for deflating the tires of sport utility vehicles in Denmark's capital. More than 100 vehicles were vandalized, police said.
Insurance industry group Equite Association says vehicle theft in multiple provinces surged last year. Vehicle theft was up by 50 per cent in Quebec year over year, by 48.3 per cent in Ontario, by 34.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada and by 18.3 per cent in Alberta.
