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France

Macron Protested Over Appointment Of Right-Wing Prime Minister

September 6, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
French President Emmanuel Macron has finally nominated a new Prime Minister. However, his choice is not someone from the New Popular Front (NFP), the left-progressive alliance that won the most seats in the recent snap election. Instead, Macron opted for Michel Barnier, a conservative former EU official and Brexit negotiator, igniting yet more anger among left and progressive circles in France. Barnier comes from the ranks of The Republicans, a Gaullist party that garnered approximately 6% of the vote in the recent election. The French president has described him as a choice that will be able to build stability and communication among most parties.

The French Left Won The Election But Macron Is Blocking Them

September 2, 2024 James Wright, The Canary. , , ,
The Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) left-wing alliance won the most seats in France’s snap legislative election in early July. It took 182 seats, while president Emmanuel Macron’s ‘centrist’ coalition Ensemble took 168 and far right Rassemblement National (National Rally) won 143. The New Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon’s La France Insoumise (Unsubmissive France), social democrats, Greens, and communists, were short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. But they still won the most seats, with other coalitions even further off. Nonetheless, Macron, as president, has refused to appoint a prime minister from the left-wing coalition.

France Slaps Telegram CEO With 12 Criminal Charges

August 27, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , , , ,
Telegram founder Pavel Durov is being held in custody by French authorities as part of a cyber-criminality investigation, the Paris prosecutor said in a statement on 26 August. The Russian-born billionaire and founder of the popular messaging app was arrested upon landing in the French capital on Saturday evening. The prosecutor’s statement mentioned 12 different offenses under investigation for “complicity” in organized crime, including illicit transactions, child pornography, fraud, and the refusal to disclose information to authorities. The statement added that Durov’s time in custody had been extended and could now last until Wednesday.

France Arrests Telegram Founder Pavel Durov, Denies Russian Consular Access

August 26, 2024 Orinoco Tribune. , , , , ,
The Russian founder of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been arrested in France just after he arrived in Paris on a private jet on Saturday. Durov, who obtained French citizenship in 2021, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport at around 8pm local time on Saturday, August 24. He is also a citizen of the UAE, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and his native Russia. His jet had arrived in the French capital from Azerbaijan. The 39-year-old tech entrepreneur was accompanied by a woman and his bodyguard, according to a report by the French news outlet LCI. According to the report, the French authorities issued an arrest warrant for the tech entrepreneur as part of a preliminary investigation.

USA Lets Athletes Cheat With Steroids, While Accusing Russia And China

August 11, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , , , ,
The United States has for a decade allowed athletes in international competitions, including the Olympics, to use prohibited drugs such as steroids, recruiting them as informants to spy on others. This is according to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the global authority on the use of banned substances in sports. WADA revealed this in a statement on August 7, detailing “a scheme whereby the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) allowed athletes who had doped, to compete for years, in at least one case without ever publishing or sanctioning their anti-doping rule violations, in direct contravention of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA’s own rules”.

Predictive Policing And The Paris 2024 Olympic Games

July 26, 2024 Yegor Halva, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
As Paris prepares to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games from July 26 to August 11, 2024, the French government is implementing unprecedented surveillance measures to ensure safety. However, these measures have sparked fierce debate over the potential erosion of civil liberties, with opposition groups claiming that these systems automate social injustice. Sporting mega-events, including the Olympic Games, have long been testing grounds for new surveillance technologies. Their exceptional size and security demands constitute an emergency situation which is used as a pretext to justify the accelerated implementation of extraordinary regulations and policies that temporarily suspend law, along with the adoption of legislation that would be otherwise very hard to pass during “normal” periods.

Migrants And Homeless Expelled From Paris Ahead Of Olympic Games

July 25, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , , ,
One of the latest communities at risk of forced displacement is a Roma encampment in La Courneuve, Seine-Saint-Denis, located on the route of the Paralympic marathon scheduled for September. About 200 people, most of whom moved from worse living conditions in a nearby camp, now live in fear of eviction, with no clear relocation plan proposed by the local authorities.

French Elections: Anti-Fascist Victory And Deep Political Crisis

July 12, 2024 John Mullen, Green Left. , , ,
Many thousands of anti-fascists celebrated all night in rallies around the country on July 7, as the news came through of the second round election results in France. It had been widely feared that the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National, RN), led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, would be forming a government this week. Instead they were beaten back into third place, with 143 MPs (including their close allies). The left electoral alliance, New Popular Front (NFP), came first with 182 MPs (and they can count on the 13 "other Lefts" to vote with them). Macron’s group got 168. A parliamentary majority is 289.

New Popular Front Poised To Win Second Round Of Elections In France

July 8, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , ,
The New Popular Front (NFP) is projected to secure the most seats following the conclusion of the second round of the general election in France on July 7. Exit polls predict the NFP could win around 200 seats in parliament, surpassing Emmanuel Macron’s liberal coalition, expected to take up to 170 seats, and the far-right National Rally, initially projected as the victor, which is polling around 150 seats. Shortly after the first post-election polls were announced, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed, called on President Macron to invite the NFP to form a government. Although the projected number of seats does not guarantee the alliance an absolute majority, left and progressive candidates emphasized their readiness to implement their program.

France, Its Far-right, And Africa

July 4, 2024 Kossi "Ayomide" Paul, Black Agenda Report. , , , ,
Elections for the European Parliament took place on June 9, 2024. These elections are generally shunned by the French electorate, and the latest was no exception with nearly 50% abstaining from voting. This is one of the highest abstention rates in the region - a clear sign of the disconnect between the people and its institutions. The results[1] were clear-cut: over 30% of votes for France's main far-right party, the Rassemblement National (and around 10% more for the various conservative and nationalist right-wing movements),  less than 15% for the party of the current government, and less than 25% overall for the two main left-wing parties presented.

Left And Progressives Form New Popular Front To Counter Far-Right

June 15, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , , ,
French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly following the devastating outcome of the European Parliament election on June 9. The liberal coalition to which Macron’s Renaissance party belongs won only 13 seats, compared to 30 seized by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally. The announcement was initially cheered by the far-right and met with shock at the center. Macron’s government has been hemorrhaging popularity due to several controversial policies: increasing the retirement age, tightening immigration guidelines, and signaling readiness to send French soldiers to Ukraine.

Far-Right Surge In Elections Shakes Up European Parliament

June 10, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
The European Union woke up to a grim reality, albeit with few surprises, after the European Parliament elections concluded on Sunday, June 9. As predicted by polls, far-right parties emerged gleeful. According to preliminary results, combined, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) groups secured only four fewer seats than the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the second-largest group in parliament. Including mandates won by unaffiliated parties close to ECR and ID, the far-right easily overtakes the center. The conservative European People’s Party (EPP) received 186 of the 720 seats, and remains the largest group in parliament.

What Paris Can Teach Other Cities About Removing Roads

June 10, 2024 Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet, Next City. , , , , , ,
Can removing a road make it easier to drive more freely elsewhere? A major study of 63 roads and squares closed to motor traffic in various European cities (mainly in Britain and Germany) suggests that it does. In many cases, cars disappeared altogether, rather than being displaced into parallel streets, lessening the dreaded congestion. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, made the same claim, but the court disagreed, holding that the research was inadequate. However, actual measures of traffic levels before and after the road closure along the Seine, announced the week the court handed down its decision, indicated a reduction in motor traffic in nearby areas.

94% Of Americans Want To End Ukraine War, But US Rejects Peace Deal

June 8, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , ,
Polling shows that the vast majority of people in the United States and Western Europe want negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Despite this, NATO opposes a peace proposal made by China and Brazil, and refuses to invite Russia to a so-called “peace conference” that the Western powers are holding in Switzerland from June 15-16. The Institute for Global Affairs of Eurasia Group, an avowedly pro-NATO and anti-Russia consulting firm that has worked extensively with Western governments, published a study this June titled “The New Atlanticism”. The survey found that the 94% of people in the US and 88% in Western Europe want a negotiated settlement to end the war in Ukraine.

Wanted By International Criminal Court, Netanyahu To Address Congress

May 26, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mike Johnson, Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said on 23 May that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon address a joint meeting of the Congress. “Tonight, I’m happy to announce ... we will soon be hosting Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Capitol for a joint session of Congress,” Johnson said during a speech at an Israeli embassy event. Johnson said during the speech that Netanyahu’s upcoming address will be “a strong show of support for the Israeli government in their time of greatest need.” The announcement comes as officials from the administration of US President Joe Biden have made increasingly critical comments on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
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