Police have clashed again with protesters angry at the French government’s plans to raise the country’s retirement age.
Protestors lit a fire and gathered in the Place de la Concorde, near the National Assembly building in Paris where they faced a line of riot police.
Images of tear gas being used by police to deal with the crowds was broadcast by Reuters TV, while other protesters were heard chanting “Macron, resign”.
This follows two motions of no confidence that were tabled against the French president, one of which came from Marine Le Pen’s party Rassemblement National and was signed by 88 cross-party MPs.
Image: Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Another group of independent politicians put forward a second motion which was signed by 91 MPs from five parliamentary groups.
Earlier on Friday, police pepper sprayed young protesters near the Sorbonne University, while other protestors blocked traffic, bin collections stopped and students walked out of lectures.
Image: Pic: AP
Image: The National Assembly in the background of protests. Pic: AP
Many are angry at Mr Macron’s decision to force a bill through parliament to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote.
Mr Macron ordered Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to use a special constitutional power known as Article 49.3 to force through the controversial reform in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament.
On Friday morning, Paris’s peripherique – the main ring road around the capital – was disrupted at almost 200 points during peak rush hour, according to French media.
The French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, said 310 people were arrested in protests on Thursday, 258 of those in Paris.
France is seething but where these protests go is hard to guess.
There’s undoubtedly widespread resistance to the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Polls suggest 70 to 80% of the working population is against the idea.
But France is also weary of strikes.
The next few days will be telling.
More demonstrations across the country are planned and they may very well gain momentum.
At the heart of this is for many people, the soul of the nation and what it means to be French.
A dignified and comfortable retirement is seen as an inalienable right in a country which has always kept work in perspective.
But the question of how to deal with a pension crisis in a country where people are living longer and there are fewer workers to pay for it all remains.
The government’s answer is to raise the retirement age.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that this is an intractable issue that precedes President Macron’s time by many years.
On the streets the demonstrators see the French leader as simply a friend of the rich.
They claim the solution is higher taxes for the wealthy.
But one thing is clear and that is that one way or another change is coming.
A looming budget deficit and a bleak economic reality make that inescapable.
Mr Macron’s risky strategy has infuriated unions, opposition politicians and many citizens.
Opposition parties were expected to start the process for a no-confidence vote in the government later on Friday, however the vote is likely to take place next week.
Image: Members of parliament hold placards and sing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem
The controversial reform has prompted nationwide strikes since January but the increasingly chaotic political situation has sparked immense anger.
Yellow Vest demonstrators, or the Gilets Jaunes – the protest group that has brought France to a standstill at several points in recent years – are also expected to take to the streets later.
Outside the largest waste incinerator in Europe, rubbish collectors insisted they would intensify the strikes to force the government to reverse course.
Image: Streets are overflowing with rubbish. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
The collectors had voted to continue their strike action until at least 20 March, France Info reported.
More than 9,000 tonnes of waste has not been collected in Paris since the start of the strike.
“I call, and the CGT union calls, for a massive movement and for workers to go on strike massively,” said CGT union representative Régis Vieceli.
“That’s the only thing that will get them to back down. We need to hit them financially. When they start seeing the financial impact, they’ll go and cry on Macron’s shoulder.”
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.