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French police stand in position as fireworks go off during clashes with youth in Nanterre, a Paris suburb.
Violent protests in France keep Macron at home
French President Emmanuel Macron was forced to cancel a state visit to Germany on Sunday – which would have been the first such event in 23 years – as riots continued across France. The now out-of-control situation was sparked by the June 27 killing of a young Arab man by a cop at a traffic stop in a Parisian suburb.
Several nights of riots and looting have led to thousands of arrests. But on Saturday night, just after the slain youth’s funeral, the violence intensified. The home of a suburban mayor south of Paris was targeted, and the mayor’s wife and children suffered injuries as they attempted to flee. Nationwide, tens of thousands of cops have been deployed to violent hotspots.
Macron is no stranger to mass protests, having faced the Yellow Vest protests over fuel taxes that paralyzed the country in 2018 and 2019. But there are several reasons why this latest explosion of public anger over racial injustice poses a deeper challenge for the president. First, it comes just months after nationwide demonstrations over a very unpopular pension reform that tanked Macron’s popularity.
What’s more, this current unrest – at the nexus of race, immigration, and law enforcement – provides the perfect fodder for the far-right, most notably Marine Le Pen of the National Rally (the second most popular party in the country), to cast the government as idle in the face of lawlessness and unchecked migration, two issues that really rile up the French electorate. Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, the far-left – led by Jean-Luc Melenchon – has railed hard against what they say is endemic racist policing.
We’ve said it before, but this unraveling again highlights the inherent difficulty of Macron’s attempt to intensely cling to the political center, bringing into renewed focus the adage that if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing … nobody.
Firefighters extinguish burning vehicles during clashes between protesters and police in Paris, France.
French outrage over teenager shot dead by cops
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting of his government after a second night of clashes between protesters and cops over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old in Nanterre. The teenager, who was reportedly from a family of Algerian origin, was killed during a traffic stop on Tuesday morning. At least 150 people were arrested overnight as the protests spread from Paris to other cities, with vehicles set ablaze and tear gas fired.
The teenager’s death has struck a chord with part of the French public, who are increasingly frustrated by instances of alleged police brutality and racial profiling.
In the banlieues, low-income housing projects located outside cities, non-white residents have long complained about police harassment. A 2017 report by the French human rights ombudsman found that “young men perceived to be Black or Arab” were 20 times more likely to be stopped compared to the rest of the population. In 2021, three young men won the country's first racial discrimination lawsuit against cops over being targeted for ID checks in Paris when they were students. Police unions say such measures are necessary to prevent crime and deny any racial bias.
"J’ai mal à ma France" (“I hurt for my France”), tweeted Kylian Mbappé, born to a Cameroonian dad and an Algerian mom and who grew up in a banlieue before he became a soccer superstar for PSG and the French national team.
This could all become more than a headache for Macron. Right-wing and far-right politicians are already calling for him a declare a state of emergency to stop the riots, which they say the left is making worse by playing the race card. If the unrest continues, the president will face a delicate balancing act between justice for the victim and order on the streets, and it’ll hamper Macron’s ability to move on from the public rage against his controversial pension reforms earlier this year.Unions attend the traditional May Day labor march to protest against the French pension reform law in Paris.
Hard Numbers: French union unity, German “revolution,” Sudanese exodus, missing Iranian data point, South Korean art heist that’s truly bananas
8: Across France, hundreds of thousands of people joined May Day protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms. For the first time since 2009, all eight of the country’s top trade unions joined the rallies — a testament to the outrage at Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
3 million: More than 3 million people in Germany have already bought a new flat-fee ticket that enables them to use trains, buses, and metros anywhere in the country for about $50 a month. Admittedly, German public transport isn’t the sexiest topic, but this is evidently a “revolutionary” move: Until now, Germans have had to navigate a kopf-spinning patchwork of local and regional services, each with their own fare structures.
800,000: As Sudan’s civil war deepens, as many as 800,000 people could flee the country, the UN warned on Monday. A refugee exodus of that magnitude would put tremendous pressure on Sudan’s seven neighbors: South Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, and Libya.
2: Inflation is running very high in Iran. But we don’t know exactly how much because authorities have not released data for two months. Perhaps we’ve been hearing crickets because inflation has now topped a 1995 high of 49%. Following months of protests last year, Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi faces intense pressure to rein in prices, which have soared thanks to US sanctions.
120,000: That famous banana-taped-to-the-wall artwork has been eaten again. This time the culprit was an art student in Seoul who ate the musaceous meditation on “art,” and then taped the peel back to the wall. The piece, by artist Maurizio Cattelan, has been valued at $120,000. In other news to mess with your head, did you know that a banana is a berry but a raspberry is not? Don’t let that ruin your day.
French protests strengthen the far right & far left
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Venice, Italy, on the French protests and Boris Johnson's Partygate fallout.
What's really happening in France?
It's a very difficult situation. Protests all over the place. The political landscape is fractured. What's going to happen in the National Assembly is everyone's guess. And it is, for the moment, strengthen both the far right and the far left, with the center of French politics imploding. Difficult situation for Macron. Let's hope that he gets through it.
Have we now seen the end of the political career of Boris Johnson in the UK?
That remains to be seen. I don't think there's ever an end to that, more or less. But what has been happening is that Prime Minister Sunak has been able to get control of the Conservative Party. He got through the agreement with the European Union on Northern Ireland, and it was only Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and a couple of the hard liners that voted against. So I think he is now in better control of the party and Boris Johnson is more isolated than he's been for a long time. Good news.
Demonstration against pension reform took place in Bordeaux.
Rage and violence paralyze France
Days after the French government passed much-despised pension reforms, chaos reigns throughout the country.
At least 457 people were arrested and more than 441 security personnel were injured on Thursday in protests over the reforms, which will incrementally increase the retirement age from 62 to 64. For background on why President Emmanuel Macron says the reforms are central to plugging France’s ballooning debt hole and boosting productivity, see here.
Unions claimed that 3.5 million workers protested on Thursday, while the government said the number was closer to 1 million. Either way, it was the most violent day in a series of protests that have gripped the country for months.
What’s more, there are claims that agitators have taken advantage of the discord to wreak havoc. The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said that the majority of protesters arrested in Paris were members of “ultra left” groups, though that claim has been difficult to verify.
Indeed, fires were rife in Paris, where trash has been piling up for weeks amid strikes, and in the famed-wine region of Bordeaux, demonstrators set fire to the town hall. Additionally, schools remain closed and transportation grounded to a halt – including air travel – as a result of industrial strikes.
Many French say they were moved to hit the streets with renewed intensity after Macron made a media appearance earlier this week saying that protests were “legitimate” but that he would not back down on the reforms.
Meanwhile, the unrest is alarming enough that King Charles III has postponed a planned visit to the country set to take place next week.
Unions want the strikes to force a government U-turn, but authorities are now cracking down on protester violence with more forceful containment measures. Who will flinch first?
A cross-industry strike movement brings together several thousand people in the streets of Lille, France.
What We’re Watching: Macron’s challenges, Xi’s power play, Iran’s scarfless athlete, Ethiopia’s gains in Tigray
Walkouts put Macron on the spot
France’s notoriously strike-o-phile public sector unions called a nationwide walkout on Tuesday, demanding higher wages in response to high inflation. The move, which mainly affects public transport and trains, comes amid weeks-long strikes by workers at major oil companies and nuclear plants. Although inflation in France has softened compared to other Western European nations, the country is still seeing its fastest price increases since the mid-1980s. For President Emmanuel Macron, who was reelected in April, the strikes and protests are a taste of the troubles he may face in the coming months. His 2023 budget is caught in a parliamentary crossfire as MPs on the right and left try to cram in more spending and larger tax increases than Macron wants. Meanwhile, winter is fast approaching, with uncertain consequences for the French public’s energy bills – though the Parisian parkour set is doing its graceful best to address the problem every night. And Macron is still aiming to push through a major — and deeply unpopular — pension reform before next spring.
Xi is planning a power play
Xi Jinping has been widely expected to use the 20th congress of China's ruling Communist Party this week to appoint his allies to most top positions. But now we're learning that he might do a bigger-than-expected overhaul by changing up four of the seven members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee. The biggest name likely to join China's highest decision-making body is Shanghai party boss Li Qiang, whom Xi wants to elevate despite bungling the city's COVID lockdown earlier this year. Li could even replace Li Keqiang (no relation) as premier — No. 2 rank in the CCP — instead of the (sort of) reform-minded Wang Yang, an earlier frontrunner for the gig. If Xi follows through on these plans, China's leader will face zero elite party resistance to pursue his agenda and stay in power indefinitely. But having a trusted lieutenant as premier might also encourage Xi to delegate some authority to Li, who would become more influential than his predecessor — crucial for managing the economy, traditionally the premier's job. Keep an eye out Sunday, when the seven most powerful men in China will walk onto the stage at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Headscarf head-scratcher as Iranian female climber returns home
Where is Elnaz Rekabi? That’s a question that has dominated headlines in recent days, after the female Iranian competitive climber drew global attention this weekend by competing in South Korea without a headscarf. Iranian women are required to wear the hijab in public — even when they compete abroad. Rekabi was feared to be missing, but the South Korean and Iranian governments had confirmed that she was en route home with her teammates. On Tuesday, an Instagram post on her account said her hijab fell off "inadvertently” during the competition and that it was a matter of “bad timing.” It’s unclear who wrote the message, or under what circumstances. But the incident coincides with her country being in the throes of protests over the in-custody death of a woman who was arrested for having her hair uncovered. And it echoes the 2021 controversy surrounding Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who disappeared for weeks after accusing a high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault. Hundreds of Rekabi’s supporters greeted her with cheers when the athlete arrived in Tehran early Wednesday.
A new phase in Ethiopia's civil war?
Almost two years into its war with the independent Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Ethiopia’s central government has taken control of a key city in the northern Tigray region. Shire, home to around 160,000 people, many of whom fled conflict in other parts of Tigray, is a strategic win that could help the government make inroads toward Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital. The city also has an airport that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed may be hoping his forces can use as a launchpad for drone strikes. Peace talks under the auspices of the African Union were recently postponed due to logistical issues; both sides had reportedly agreed to attend, but there are doubts over the political will to make progress. On Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the situation is “spiraling out of control” and called on both sides to back down. A government blockade has long prevented crucial humanitarian aid from getting through to desperate Tigrayans – with a staggering 89% of its 6 million people lacking consistent access to food. Since fighting began in late 2020, both sides have been accused of human rights abuses. The US, which has brokered several ceasefires that ultimately collapsed, says it backs the AU’s plan for talks, but critics question whether the union can really broker peace.This article comes to you from the Signal newsletter team of GZERO Media. Sign up today.