France national strike over pension reform: Why are workers so angry?

Published

2 years ago

March 23, 2023

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A national strike is taking place in France after President Emmanuel Macron’s circumvention of parliament to pass the divisive pension bill which would raise the retirement age by two years.

The co-ordinated strikes are expected to cause widespread national chaos, as well as travel disruption to and from France.

French airports will be hit, with Paris Orly airport seeing its schedule of flights reduced by 30% according to the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC).

Eurostar announced eight of its trains would be suspended as it runs a revised timetable.

French domestic travel will also take a hit. SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company, said to expect severe disruption with reduced TGV, TER and Intercite services.

Paris metro and other modes of public transport will be hit as transport workers take to the picket lines.

The industrial action could become violent, emulating the past few days of demonstrations all over France.

Why are people protesting and striking?

President Macron’s plan to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 is a deeply unpopular.

Opinion polls show the vast majority of voters oppose the pension reforms, as do trade unions, who argue that there are other ways to balance the pension system account.

So as a collective force, workers from the transport, sanitary, refinery, education sectors and beyond have been marching in their respective cities and towns against the bill.

French streets have become lined with overflowing bins, notably in Paris where almost 10,000 tonnes of rubbish remains uncollected.

How Macron did to push the retirement bill through?

The French president’s current PM, Elisabeth Borne, announced the proposed pension changes on 10 January.

Last week, Mr Macron forced the pension reform through the National Assembly without a vote using Article 49.3, a part of the French constitution that enables the government to pass a law without a vote by MPs.

What’s been the reaction and effect on the country so far?

After the bill was forced through on 16 March, people came out en masse to demonstrate.

Around 7,000 people participated in an unplanned rally on the Place de la Concorde in Paris – across the River Seine from the assembly.

Riot police fired tear gas and used a water cannon to disperse protesters, while officers who charged groups of demonstrators had stones thrown at them, according to a Reuters reporter. Firefighters were also called to extinguish blazes in Paris.

More than 300 activists were arrested.

A ‘spectacular failure’ but the president survives

The move was called “a spectacular failure” by Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of left-wing party France Insoumise (France Unbowed).

“This bill has no parliamentary legitimacy, no legitimacy from the street,” he said at a protest outside parliament.

However, on 21 March, the president narrowly survived two motions of no confidence by nine votes after they were tabled by centrist MPs and those from the far-right National Rally.

The centrist group’s vote was first in the National Assembly, with 278 MPs voting in favour – higher than expected but narrowly short of the 287 needed to get the motion through.

Why does Macron say he’s bringing the change?

Speaking publicly for the first time since the reforms were forced through parliament, President Macron said the retirement system needed a change to keep it financed.

Mr Macron said: “That reform is not a luxury, it is not fun, it’s a necessity for the country,”

Currently, France’s state retirement age is 62 – much lower than many of its European neighbours. In the UK it’s 66, Germany and Italy 67, and Spain 65.

Its generous welfare state has long weighed heavily on the economy and workforce, which is gradually shrinking.

There are only 1.7 workers for every pensioner in France, down from 2.1 in 2000.

David S Bell, emeritus professor of French government and politics at the University of Leeds, told Sky News: “[Mr Macron’s] argument is that unless these reforms are made, and the French working life is made longer, the country won’t be able to afford it.”

What’s next?

Mr Macron said the retirement age changes would “continue its democratic path” and would need to be implemented by the “end of the year”.

This can only be legalised once the Constitutional Council reviews the bill in the coming weeks.

Mr Macron said he “respects” the protests against the reforms, but “condemned” violence ensuing from them last week.

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‘It is truly monstrous’: Inside the besieged Sudanese city where families are forced to eat animal feed to live

Published

3 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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'It is truly monstrous': Inside the besieged Sudanese city where families are forced to eat animal feed to live

Al Fashir is being suffocated to death.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has held the capital of North Darfur hostage in a 14-month siege – blocking food or fuel from entering the locality and forcing starvation on its 900,000 inhabitants.

The entire city is currently a militarised zone as Sudan‘s army and the Darfur Joint Protection Force fend off the RSF from capturing the last state capital in the Darfur region not currently under their control.

Rare footage sent to Sky News from inside al Fashir town shows streets emptied of cars and people.

The city’s remaining residents are hiding from daytime shelling inside their homes, and volunteers move through town on donkey carts distributing the little food they can find.

‘It is truly monstrous’

Journalist Muammer Ibrahim sent Sky News voice notes from there.

“The situation is monstrous,” he says. “It is truly monstrous.

“The markets are emptied of food and partially destroyed by shelling. Civilians were killed at the market, just a day ago. People have fled market areas but there is also shelling in residential areas. Every day, you hear of 10 or 12 civilians killed in attacks.”

His voice sounds shallow, weakened by the dire conditions, and gunshots can be heard in the background.

“The intense fighting has meant that people cannot safely search for anything to eat, but there is also nothing for their money to buy. The markets are depleted. Hundreds of thousands here are threatened by a full-blown famine,” he says.

“There has been a full blockade of any nutritional supplies arriving in al Fashir since the collapse of Zamzam camp. It closed any routes for produce or supplies to enter.”

The RSF ransacked the famine-ridden Zamzam displacement camp 7.5 miles (12km) south of al Fashir town in April, after the military reclaimed Sudan’s capital Khartoum.

The United Nations believes that at least 100 people were killed in the attacks, including children and aid workers.

The majority of Zamzam’s half a million residents fled to other areas for safety. Hundreds of thousands of them are now squeezed into tents on the edges of al Fashir, completely cut off from humanitarian assistance.

The capture of the camp allowed the RSF to tighten their siege and block off the last remaining supply route. Aid convoys attempting to enter al Fashir have come under fire by the RSF since last year.

“Already, between June and October 2024, we had several trucks stuck and prevented by the Rapid Support Forces from going to their destination which was al Fashir and Zamzam,” says Mathilde Simon, project coordinator at Medicins Sans Frontieres.

“They were prevented from doing so because they were taking food to those destinations.”

“There was another UN convoy that tried to reach al Fashir in the beginning of June. It could not, and five aid workers were killed.

“Since then, no convoy has been able to reach al Fashir. There have been ongoing negotiations to bring in food but they have not been successful until now.”

Families are resorting to eating animal feed to survive.

Videos sent to Sky News by volunteers show extreme suffering and deprivation, with sickly children sitting on thin straw mats on the hard ground.

Community kitchens are their only source of survival, only able to offer small meals of sorghum porridge to hundreds of thousands of elderly men, women and children facing starvation.

The question now is whether famine has fully taken root in al Fashir after the collapse of Zamzam camp and intensified RSF siege.

‘Malnutrition rates are catastrophic’

“The lack of access has prevented us from carrying out further assessment that can help us have a better understanding of the situation, but already in December 2024 famine was confirmed by the IPC Famine Review Committee in five areas,” says Mathilde.

“It was already confirmed in August 2024 in Zamzam but had spread to other displacement camps including Abu Shouk and it was already projected in al Fashir.

“This was more than eight months ago and we know the situation has completely worsened and malnutrition rates are absolutely catastrophic.”

Treasurer of al Fashir’s Emergency Response Rooms, Mohamed al Doma, believes all signs point to a famine.

He had to walk for four hours to escape the city with his wife and two young children after living through a full year of the siege and offering support to residents as supplies and funding dwindled.

“There is a famine of the first degree in al Fashir. All the basic necessities for life are not available,” he says.

“There is a lack of sustenance, a lack of nutrition and a lack of shelter. The fundamental conditions for human living are not living. There is nothing available in the markets – no food or work. There is no farming for subsistence. There is no aid entering al Fashir.”

“All of this points towards a full-blown famine.”

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Hamas ‘ready’ to deliver aid to hostages after outcry over footage of Israeli captive

Published

6 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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Hamas 'ready' to deliver aid to hostages after outcry over footage of Israeli captive

Hamas has said it is ready to cooperate with a request to deliver food to Israeli hostages in Gaza, if Israel agrees to permanently open a humanitarian corridor into the enclave.

The militant group’s statement comes amid international outcry over two videos it released of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, who it has held captive since 7 October 2023.

The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back.

The footage sparked huge criticism, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas labelling the videos “appalling” and saying they “expose the barbarity of Hamas”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages.

Hamas’s military spokesperson Abu Obeidah said it is “ready to engage positively and respond to any request from the Red Cross to bring food and medicine to enemy captives” if certain conditions are met.

These are that Israel must permanently open a humanitarian corridor and halt airstrikes during the distribution of aid, he said.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday that six more people had died of starvation or malnutrition in the enclave in the past 24 hours.

This raises the number of those who have died from what multiple international agencies warn may be an unfolding famine to 175 since the war began, the ministry said. This includes 93 children, it added.

No aid entered Gaza between 2 March and 19 May due an Israeli blockade and deliveries of supplies including food, medicine and fuel have been limited since then.

Israeli authorities have previously said there is “no famine caused by Israel” – and that its military is “working to facilitate and ease the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip”.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health authorities also said at least 80 people in Gaza were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Sunday.

These included people trying to reach aid distribution, Palestinian medics said.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has previously blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.

Hamas killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in its attack on 7 October 2023 and abducted 251 others. Of those, they still hold around 50, with 20 believed to be alive, after most of the others were released in ceasefires or other deals.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.

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New US plan for Gaza starting to emerge despite sanitised tour for Trump peace envoy

Published

15 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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New US plan for Gaza starting to emerge despite sanitised tour for Trump peace envoy

We’ve seen this many times before.

Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel’s closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course, then nothing changes.

We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we’ve seen and heard so far has offered little hope.

The pressure on Donald Trump to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage.

Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide.

It was little coincidence Mr Witkoff was dispatched to the region for the first time in three months to speak to people on both sides and “learn the truth” to quote US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who accompanied him to an aid site in Gaza.

The pair spent five hours in Gaza speaking to people at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation centre and it’s understood saw nothing of the large crowd of Palestinians gathering a mile away waiting for food.

Their sanitised tour of Gaza did not include a visit to a hospital where medics are receiving casualties by the dozen from deadly incidents at aid sites, and where they’re treating children for malnutrition and hunger.

A critical trauma nurse at Nasser hospital told us a 13-year-old boy was among the people shot while Mr Witkoff was in the enclave.

An American paediatrician at the same hospital who had publicly extended an invitation to meet with Mr Witkoff heard nothing from the US delegation.

Dr Tom Adamkiewicz described people “being shot like rabbits” and “a new level of barbarity that I don’t think the world has seen”.

The US delegation was defensive of the controversial GHF aid distribution that was launched by America and Israel in May, hailing its delivery of a million meals a day.

But if their new system of feeding Gaza is truly working, why are we seeing images of starved children and hearing deaths every day of people in search of food?

The backdrop of this trip is very different to the last time Mr Witkoff was here.

In May, life was a struggle for Palestinians in Gaza, people were dying in Israeli bombings but, for the most part, people weren’t dying due to a lack of food or getting killed trying to reach aid.

Mr Netanyahu’s easing of humanitarian conditions a week ago, allowing foreign aid to drop from the sky, was an indirect admission of failure by the GHF.

Yet, for now, the US is standing by this highly criticised way of delivering aid.

A UN source tells me more aid is getting through than it was a week ago – around 30 lorries are due to enter today compared to around five that were getting in each day before.

Still nowhere near enough and it’s a complex process of clearances and coordination with the IDF through areas of conflict.

Lorries are regularly refused entry without explanation.

Then there was Mr Witkoff’s meeting with hostage families a day later where we began to get a sense of America’s new plan for Gaza.

The US issued no public statement but family members shared conversations they’d had with Mr Trump’s envoy: bring all the hostages home in one deal, disarm Hamas and end the war. Easier to propose than to put into practice.

Within hours of those comments being reported in the Israeli media, Hamas released a video of hostage Evyatar David looking emaciated in an underground tunnel in Gaza.

Now 24 years old, he was kidnapped from the Nova festival on 7 October and is one of 20 hostages understood to be still alive. The release of the video was timed for maximum impact.

Hamas also poured water on any hopes of a deal in a statement, refusing to disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established.

Hamas has perhaps become more emboldened in this demand after key Israeli allies, including the UK, announced plans for formal recognition in the last week.

It’s hard to see a way forward. The current Israeli government has, in effect, abandoned the idea of a two-state solution.

The Trump administration’s recent boycott of international conferences on the matter suggests America is taking a similar line, breaking with its long-standing position.

Arab nations could now be key in what happens next.

In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt joined a resolution calling for Hamas to disarm and surrender control of Gaza following a UN conference earlier this week.

This is hugely significant – highly influential powers in its own backyard have not applied this sort of pressure before.

For all the US delegation’s good intentions, it’s still political deadlock. Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza left to starve and suffer the consequences.