Page 38 - France

'Weakened' Macron sticks with pension bill, eyes new reforms: Report

Macron does not plan any reshuffle or snap elections and has ruled out withdrawing the pension law, which will raise the retirement age by two years to 64

French govt survives 1st no-confidence vote in Parl, may survive second one

The French government has survived a no-confidence vote in the lower chamber of parliament and is expected to survive a second one, after its push last week to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. The no-confidence motion filed by a small centrist group and supported by a leftist coalition received 278 votes Monday, falling short of the 287 needed to pass. Another motion at the initiative of the far-right that is expected to get less support from other groups' lawmakers. If both votes fail Monday, the pension bill will be considered adopted.

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Violent protests erupt in France over Macron's retirement age push

Angry protesters took to the streets in Paris and other cities for a second day on Friday, trying to pressure lawmakers to bring down French President Emmanuel Macron's government and doom the unpopular retirement age increase he's trying to impose without a vote in the National Assembly. A day after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked a special constitutional power to skirt a vote in the chaotic lower chamber, lawmakers on the right and left filed no-confidence motions to be voted on Monday. At the elegant Place de Concorde, a festive protest by several thousand, with chants, dancing and a huge bonfire, degenerated into a scene echoing the night before. Riot police charged and threw tear gas to empty the huge square across from the National Assembly after troublemakers climbed scaffolding on a renovation site, arming themselves with wood. They lobbed fireworks and paving stones at police in a standoff. On Thursday night, security forces charged and used water cannons to evacuate

France's Macron risks his government to raise retirement age from 62 to 64

French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 on Thursday by shunning parliament and invoking a special constitutional power. Lawmakers were shouting, their voices shaking with emotion as Macron made the risky move, which is expected to trigger quick motions of no-confidence in his government. Crowds gathered and riot police vans zoomed by outside the National Assembly, their sirens wailing. The proposed pension changes have prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January. Macron, who made it the flagship of his second term, argued the reform is needed to keep the pension system from diving into deficit as France's population ages and life expectancy lengthens. Macron decided to invoke the special power during a Cabinet meeting at the Elysee presidential palace, just a few minutes before the scheduled vote in France's lower house of parliament, because he had no guarantee of a majority. Prime Minister

French govt uses special procedure to adopt pension bill without vote

French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 on Thursday by shunning parliament and invoking a special constitutional power. Lawmakers were shouting, their voices shaking with emotion as Macron made the risky move, which is expected to trigger quick motions of no-confidence in his government. Riot police vans zoomed by outside the National Assembly, their sirens wailing. The proposed pension changes have prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January. Macron, who made it the flagship of his second term, argued the reform is needed to keep the pension system from diving into deficit as France's population ages and life expectancy lengthens. The decision to invoke the special power was made during a Cabinet meeting at the Elysee presidential palace, just a few minutes before the scheduled vote, because Macron had no guarantee of a majority in France's lower house of parliament. Then, as Prime Minister

India, France conduct maritime partnership exercise in Arabian Sea

The seamless conduct of the exercise reaffirmed the interoperability and high level of cooperation between the two navies

UK to pay France $576 mn over next 3 years to combat illegal immigration

As per Illegal Migration Bill, people who come to UK illegally cannot claim asylum, benefit from UK's modern slavery protections, make spurious human rights claims and also cannot stay in the country

ONGC signs MoU with France's TotalEnergies for deep-water exploration

The MoU seeks to provide technical help for ONGC's push to explore and reduce green house emissions in development of deep-water blocks especially in Mahanadi and Andamans, off India's east coast

Raisina Dialogue: Jaishankar meets counterparts from France, Bangladesh

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said that he met Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, France's counterpart Catherine Colonna, Singapore's Vivian Balakrishnan and Bangladesh's Abdul Momen

Will continue to stand side by side with India: French Foreign Minister

Speaking at the unveiling of the Villa Swagatam Initiative on March 3, she said that India and France share links in security, defence and various sectors

Indian approach key to facing many challenges: French Foreign Minister

France on Thursday appeared to rally behind India for hammering out a consensus on a joint communique from the G20 foreign ministers meeting that witnessed sharp divisions between the US-led West and the Russia-China combine over the Ukraine conflict. In her remarks at the meeting, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also said that the approach of India's G-20 presidency -- "One Earth One Family One Future" -- must guide the grouping to face many challenges facing the globe. The foreign ministers from the world's largest industrialised and developing nations held crucial deliberations on key global challenges that took place in the backdrop of the increasingly bitter rift between the US-led West and the Russia-China combine over the Ukraine conflict. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, China's Qin Gang, the UK's James Cleverly and European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles are among those attending

Will oppose any step back from Bali statement on war, says France FM

Under Pillar One of BEPS, multinational enterprises with global turnover above 20 billion euros and pre-tax profit above 10 percent of revenue will have to pay 25 percent of the profit before tax

India calls for greater cooperation with France in clean energy field

India has called for greater cooperation with France in the field of clean energy and highlighted Delhi's plans for green transitioning to EVs and hydrogen energy.

In touch with India: France on UN draft resolution on Ukraine conflict

Ahead of the voting on the UN's draft resolution on Ukraine, the French diplomatic sources on Tuesday said they were in contact with political leaders in New Delhi but were not very hopeful that India will not abstain. The UN General Assembly will vote this week on the draft resolution underscoring the urgency to find lasting peace in Ukraine, a year after Moscow invaded its neighbour. On a question, if India would again abstain from voting in UNGA on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, they said India is not very likely to join one side or another but they are "working on it". "It's always a question of balance...We do have contact with the political leaders of India. At this stage, we still don't know what will be the position of the government. Most likely it will be abstention but we are still working on it. We have a very candid discussion with them. There is no secret agenda or whatever. So then it's their decision," a French diplomatic source said. India has mostly abstained on ...

French President Macron champions pension plan as key to French economy

French President Emmanuel Macron advocated Tuesday for his contested plan to increase the pension eligibility age as part of the pro-business policies he has promoted since he took office in 2017, saying people need to work a little longer to make the system financially sustainable. Macron visited the Rungis International Market in the southern suburbs of Paris for his first public discussion with French workers since lawmakers started debating the government's pension-reform legislation earlier this month, prompting series of strikes and protests. The bill, which the Senate expects to start considering on March 2, would push back the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 and require people to have worked for at least 43 years to be entitled to a full pension, amid other measures. People know that yes, on average, you have to work a little longer, all of them, because otherwise we won't be able to finance our pensions properly, Macron said. All French retirees receive a state pensio

France prepares for 5th day of nationwide protests against pension reform

France is bracing for a fifth day of nationwide strikes and protests on Thursday against a pension reform that is the flagship policy of President Emmanuel Macron's second term. This latest round is expected to be less disruptive that on previous occasions, with the Paris Metro working normally and most schools unaffected. A railway worker walkout will severely disrupt high speed TGV trains and regional services, however. Almost a third of flights are expected to be cancelled at Paris' second busiest airport, Orly, and traffic will be interrupted at regional airports as well. The proposed pension reforms have unleashed the most turbulent debate in years in the National Assembly, with uncertainty looming over the final outcome. Tensions at parliament are fed by the unpopularity of the reform aimed at raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 and requiring people to have worked for at least 43 years to be entitled to a full pension, amid other measures. The powerful union th

PM to interact with French President Macron via video conferencing today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with French President Emmanuel Macron via video conferencing on Tuesday. "Today PM Modi will interact with French President Emmanuel Macron via VC at 4:30 pm," an official said. India and France enjoy deep friendly ties, with the leaders of the two countries also sharing a warm personal equation.

Over 750,000 protest in France against Macron's pension reform plans

Turnout at the previous nationwide demonstration on January 31 was estimated by the Ministry at 1.2 million and by the CGT at 2.8 million

Ukraine hails French gift of air-defense radar as 'cherry on the cake'

Ukraine's defense minister said Wednesday that Ukrainian lives will be saved by a sophisticated air-defense radar that France is supplying and which is powerful enough to spot incoming missiles and exploding drones in the skies over all of Ukraine's capital and its surrounding region. The minister, Oleksii Reznikov, was so enthusiastic about what he called Ukraine's new electronic eyes that he quickly coined a nickname for the Ground Master 200 radar the Grand Master." Speaking through an interpreter at a handover ceremony for the radar with his French counterpart, Reznikov described the French-made GM200 as a "very effective improvement for Ukraine's network of about 300 different types of air-defense radars. Thales, the manufacturer, says the radar detects and tracks rockets, artillery and mortar shells, missiles, aircraft, drones and other threats. Because of your support, Ukrainian lives will be saved, the minister said at the ceremony in Limours, where Thales makes the ...