More than 100,000 people across France protested on Saturday over what they say are government plans to further restrict the rights of the unvaccinated, days after French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to “piss off” those refusing the jab.
The turnout was four times higher than the attendance at a Dec. 18 protest, in which 25,500 people marched across the country, according to government estimates.
The protesters oppose a planned law that would require individuals to prove they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before they can eat out, travel on inter-city trains or attend cultural events.
Photo: Bloomberg
France’s lower house of parliament on Thursday passed the controversial bill in a first reading. The government has said it expects the new requirements to be implemented by Jan. 15, although lawmakers in the Senate could delay the process.
Officials at the French Ministry of the Interior said that 105,200 people participated in Saturday’s protests, 18,000 of them in the capital, Paris, where police reported 10 arrests and that three officers were slightly injured.
Elsewhere there were 24 arrests and seven police officers lightly injured, the ministry said.
Among the larger demonstrations, about 6,000 people turned out in Toulon, while in Montpellier police used tear gas during clashes with protesters.
France recorded 303,669 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday amid mounting pressure on hospitals.
The Paris protesters, many of them unmasked, braved the cold and rain, brandishing placards emblazoned with the word “truth” and “No to vaccine passes.”
Others took aim at Macron, using the same coarse language he employed in his attack on people holding out against vaccination earlier in the week.
Macron on Friday said that he firmly stood by controversial remarks he made on Tuesday, when he said he wanted to “piss off” people who remained unvaccinated against COVID-19 until they accept shots.
The earthy language and uncompromising approach provoked uproar in French media and from opponents.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS