French President Emmanuel Macron is set to inaugurate on Monday a monument in memory of hundreds of French soldiers who have died in foreign operations since 1963. Watch his speech live on FRANCE 24. 

The monument, a bronze sculpture of six soldiers, five men and a woman wearing caps or berets and solemnly carrying an invisible coffin, will be unveiled at the André Citroën Park in the 15^th arrondissement (district) of Paris.

Engraved on the wall beside the sculpture are the names of 549 soldiers, including two women, killed in 17 overseas military operations. Of these, 141 died in Lebanon, 129 in Chad, 85 in Afghanistan and 78 in the former Yugoslavia.

“The monument has three objectives: First, to send a message to our troops that France recognises their commitment to the nation, which sometimes entails making the ultimate sacrifice; it’s a place for families to gather; and finally, it’s meant to show the French people how defending liberty involve external military operations that demand total commitment,” Deputy Defence Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq was quoted as saying on Monday by French daily ‘Le Figaro’.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)
 

Refugees and pro-migrant activists have staged a rally in the Italian capital, Rome, protesting a tough immigration bill that was introduced during former interior minister Matteo Salvini’s time in office.

Despite Salvini having stepped down in September, the controversial bill, which has made immigration to Italy very difficult, has remained in effect since October 2018.

Footage of the Saturday rally showed protesters marching past the Colosseum, carrying banners and placards denouncing the “hate-decree of Salvini.”

“Why don’t they cancel this hate-decree of Salvini? Salvini is not in the government but his decree still exists. How is it possible to live this barbarism? We are really jaded,” said Mahamadou Quasid, a refugee.

The protesters also denounced the racist incidents that have occurred in Italian stadiums in recent months, where players such as Kalidou Koulibaly and Mario Balotelli have been abused due to their skin color.

Large numbers of asylum seekers — who have since 2015 been risking their lives by taking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea on debilitated boats from North Africa and the Middle East to reach Italian ports — will be asked to leave Italy because of the “Salvini Decree.”

The perilous journey, harsh living conditions at the destination, and the risk of deportation have reduced the overall number of asylum seekers heading to Europe more recently. Data from refugee organization including the UNHCR, IOM and Frontex show that the overall numbers of asylum seekers entering Europe has significantly decreased.

However, European leaders have warned of a refugee crisis “even greater” than the one that hit the continent in 2015.

In an unprecedented refugee influx, over one million people arrived in the European countries in 2015, most of them fleeing from conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa.

A year later, Turkey became Europe’s gatekeeper after signing a deal with the EU aimed at controlling the inflow of refugees into the continent. The agreement ended the influx, bringing the number down to around 30,000 annually in the following years. Recently, numbers have seen a slight rise as implementation of the deal has reportedly become lax.

Source: Presstv

‘Yellow Vests’ protesters took to the streets of Paris on Saturday as the first anniversary since the demonstrations began on November 18 last year approaches.

Demonstrators marched under police supervision from Porte de Clichy to Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad, carrying French flags and anti-Macron posters, chanting slogans and playing drums.

The Yellow Vest protests were initially sparked by a fuel tax, but the movement quickly spread throughout France and evolved into a general expression of dissatisfaction with the status quo. 

(Source: Ruptly) 

Momentum is building in France for what appears to be the largest general strike since 1995. Starting December 5th, public transport workers, truck drivers, students and others have already committed to an unlimited strike until President Emmanuel Macron’s sharply unpopular pension rollback is totally withdrawn. 

The changes would install a radical, one-size-fits-all universal system and raise the retirement age to 64. Many call it “unjust” and “out of touch”, while the government claims it is necessary to reduce the national debt, which has ballooned after banker bailouts and a decade of cutting taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

Wildcat train strikes are already reducing services nationwide, hundreds of hospitals have had staff on strike for months, and medical professionals protested again in Paris. 

After pensioners, health care has been the area of society the most negatively impacted by budget cuts in France. At the turn of the century, France’s health care system was ranked number one in the world, but the quality of care for the average person has plummeted. 

Macron increased perceptions that he is a so-called “liberal strongman” in a recent, rare interview. He said he wouldn’t show any type of “weakness or complacency” in forcing through his pension legislation no matter how many families or workers were affected by the strike, or if it it increases his already low approval ratings. 

The Macron era has witnessed near-constant social unrest caused by unpopular right wing reforms, with the long-running Yellow Vest movement being the most prominent example of the widespread discontent. 

Source: Presstv

Hundreds of people marched along the Tiber River on Saturday to demand Rome mayor Virginia Raggi resign over the state of the Italian capital.

“Raggi is turning the city into somewhere to run away from, instead of a city where people can live with dignity, work and build their future,” the Tutti per Rome (Everyone for Rome) organisation said ahead of the rally.

“The whole world pities us,” it said.

The march came a day after trade unions in Rome staged a general strike, with workers including bus drivers and garbage collectors taking a stand against the mayor and her ruling Five Star Movement administration.

The Eternal City’s streets are riddled with potholes, buses regularly catch fire and officials have warned the perennial garbage crisis constitutes a health risk, with rat control services working overtime as bins overflow near tourist sites, homes and schools.

Raggi became the capital’s first female mayor in 2016 by tapping into anger over corruption scandals — in particular the infiltration of crime families in the city’s waste management system.

In April this year she defended herself against accusations she had failed to turn the situation around, saying Rome was “under attack” from mobsters determined not to release their grip on a lucrative sector.

Source: AFP

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators waving pro-independence flags and chanting “freedom for political prisoners” joined marches across Catalonia on Friday, the fifth day of protests against the jailing of nine separatist leaders over a failed bid to break away from Spain in 2017.

The marchers, some of whom began their trek on Wednesday from municipalities across the northeastern Spanish region, were set to reach the regional capital Barcelona later in the day.

Tensions between Madrid and Catalonia have been rising since Monday, when Spain’s Supreme Court sentenced nine politicians and activists to up to 13 years each in prision.

The sentences set off the worst sustained street violence Spain has seen in decades, with clashes between protesters and police, posing a major challenge both for the Spanish government and regional pro-independence authorities.

The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said in a statement on that Barcelona’s Oct. 26 home match against Real Madrid, one of the biggest rivalries in the sport, had been postponed due to security concerns.

Friday’s marchers, ranging from families pushing prams to cyclists wheeling their bicycles, took over a highway lane and other major roads as they walked peacefully towards the Catalan capital, many sporting yellow ribbons – a sign of protest against the jailing of Catalan independence leaders.

Major roads were blocked off across Catalonia and several main streets in Barcelona were closed to traffic in anticipation of the marches, as well as picket lines that had begun springing up, while regional trains and the city’s metro system were running on a reduced timetable after pro-independence unions called a strike.

Flights cancelled

Barcelona’s El Prat airport, forced to cancel around 150 flights this week after it was barricaded by thousands of people, was running normally for the most part, according to Spain’s Ministry of Public Works. Around 36 flights operated by Vueling were cancelled on Friday due to the strike, the low-cost Spanish airline owned by IAG said on Twitter.

Barcelona town hall said 700 garbage containers were set ablaze since protests began on Monday and estimated that the city had suffered damage totaling more than 1.5 million Euros ($1.67 million).

Thursday began with largely peaceful protests as young people draped in Catalan flags tossed balls and skipped rope. The mood shifted later in the night, with protesters setting fire to cafe chairs lining the fashionable Rambla de Catalunya street in the heart of Barcelona’s tourist district.

An official from Barcelona town hall said around 10 trees were set ablaze on Thursday.

Regional police said 16 people were arrested across Catalonia on Thursday, while health officials said medical aid was provided to 42 people.

Carmaker Seat, a unit of Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), said it had halted production at its plant in Martorell, near Barcelona, from Thursday afternoon until Saturday over concerns that the marches would disrupt traffic, a company spokeswoman said.

Barcelona’s wholesale market, MercaBarna, said visits to its fish sellers were down 85% on Friday, while flower stalls at the market saw 90% fewer customers.

Pro-independence leaders went ahead with a 2017 referendum on independence, despite it being deemed illegal by Spanish courts, followed by a declaration that the region was breaking away from Spain. Madrid responded to this by seizing control of the Catalan administration, and putting the ringleaders on trial.

Catalonia’s former leader, Carles Puigemont, who fled to Belgium after the failed independence bid, told reporters on Friday that Belgian authorities had allowed him to remain free without bail after Spain’s Supreme Court targeted him with a European arrest warrant.

(Source: Reuters)

Firefighters reveled in setting off firecrackers for hours as they led the latest multi-profession demonstration against President Emmanuel Macron.

Other than the never-ending firecrackers, the protests were similar to countless other demonstrations over the past decade: against funding cuts to schools, social security, poverty programs, hospitals and countless other job creating public institutions.

Macron is trying to force through a radical overhaul to the pension system, which would raise the retirement age by two years. It would also create universal, one-size-fits-all system, even though it’s hard to imagine a 64-year-old fireman still working such a physically demanding job. 

Many here say that it’s false to blame France’s fiscal issues on the pension system. France’s deficit has ballooned following banker bailouts, immoral interest rates and years of cutting taxes for the wealth and for profitable corporations.

Protesters say that, even more than his two predecessors, Macron has refused to engage in a cooperative political process with those opposed to his right-wing reforms. Because of the lack of political cooperation, Macron has been plagued by massive protests. Only the risky and self-sacrificing protests by the Yellow Vest anti-government movement have gained some minor concessions. That has left non-Yellow Vest protesters wondering exactly how democratic public opinion plays a role in French-style democracy. 

Source: Presstv

Police in riot gear used batons and tear gas on Catalan independence supporters blocking Barcelona’s El Prat airport on Monday night.

Riot police could be seen advancing through clouds of tear gas, pushing and striking protesters with raised hands. The crowd was answering a call to protest from Tsunami Democratic, a movement opposing the prison sentence handed down to Catalan leaders.

Former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by Spain’s Supreme Court for his role in the 2017 attempted secession.

Junqueras was among nine Catalan independence leaders who were sentenced to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition for their part in the region’s failed 2017 independence bid, which captured headlines around the world.

(Source: Ruptly)

Denmark is to impose temporary border controls at the Swedish border next month, after Swedes were suspected of being behind a number of serious attacks this year in the Danish capital Copenhagen, the justice minister said on Thursday.

Sweden, which itself has had controls at the border since 2015 to try to stop asylum seekers from entering the country, welcomed the move.

Denmark is connected to Sweden via the Oresund bridge across a 16-kilometer (10-mile) strait. Thousands of citizens commute across the border daily.

Two Swedish nationals are currently in custody in Denmark suspected of involvement in an explosion outside the Danish Tax Agency in August. Five Swedes are also in custody in Denmark on suspicion of carrying out two killings in a Copenhagen suburb in June. They have yet to be formally charged.

August’s attack prompted Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to say at the time that she considered strengthening controls at its border with Sweden.

“To counter the threat of serious cross-border crime, we are now strengthening the protection of the border against Sweden by introducing temporary border control and strengthening police efforts in border areas with Sweden,” Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup said at a news conference on Thursday.

The controls will begin on Nov. 12, he said, adding police would aim to avoid causing delays for the commuters.

Both countries are members of the European Union, which needs to approve the move. Sweden applauded Denmark’s action and said it was looking into the possibility of giving police more access to operate in border areas, including camera surveillance of vehicles

“We welcome that Denmark is taking action to fight crime in the Oresund region,” Sweden’s Minister for Home Affairs Mikael Damberg said in a statement.

Violent crime in Sweden, with assailants using firearms and high explosives, has become a major political issue over the past years and prompted political moves such as one of the tougher gun laws and tougher sentencing for some offenses.

Among the highest profile incidents in recent months, a massive blast demolished parts of an apartment building in the southern town of Linkoping in June, injuring around 20 people, while a mother was gunned down in broad daylight on a street in Malmo, across the bridge from Copenhagen.

The cases have yet to result in convictions.

Haekkerup said a new center to prevent cross-border crime will be set up in Denmark and staffed by Danish police officers, who will be working closely with colleagues in Sweden.

(Source: Reuters)

French authorities on Wednesday banned a demonstration by activists claiming the police staffer who stabbed four colleagues to death was not an Islamist radical but was instead a man discriminated against because he was partially deaf.

The killing last week of the four police employees at the headquarters of Paris police shocked the country and prompted President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday to promise an “unrelenting” fight against what he termed the “Islamist hydra”.

The assailant, Mickael Harpon, converted to Islam about 10 years ago and, according to investigators, had adopted increasingly radical beliefs and been in contact with a radical Salafist imam.

A local activist, Hadama Traore, had called for a demonstration Thursday in Gonesse, the northeastern Paris suburb where Harpon lived, insisting that he was “not a religious extremist”.

Writing on Facebook, Traore claimed that Harpon suffered discrimination and mockery at work because he was hard of hearing.

“That’s the context which explains why he cracked,” he wrote, while condemning the “atrocious” killings.

‘Obscenity and insult’

The leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen had urged the government to ban the protest.

“How can we believe that Emmanuel Macron will fight against the ‘Islamist hydra’ when he cannot even ban a demonstration supporting an assassin of four police organised by an earthworm?” she wrote on Twitter.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner insisted the demonstration would be banned, calling it an “obscenity and insult to the memory of our police”.

Castener is under huge pressure as the government is pressed to explain how Harpon’s radicalisation failed to raise red flags.

On Tuesday, the minister appeared before a parliamentary committee, conceding there had been a “malfunction” in not reporting the signals.

Analysts say Macron and his government want to show they are tackling Islamist extremism to prevent a drift of voters to the far right.

Macron’s speech Tuesday at a ceremony for the slain police marked a toughening of rhetoric, with the president calling on France to be a “society in a state of vigilance”.

(AFP)