Protests Sweep France

the trip was postponed on Friday.

The French government’s plan to raise the retirement age for most workers by two years was opposed by huge numbers of people. But Macron’s government didn’t back down and rammed the legislation through the National Assembly last week using a constitutional clause that allows the government to bypass a vote.

The country’s generous pension system and early retirement have been a point of pride since they were enacted after World War II. Under the new law, the retirement age for most workers will be 64, still one of the lowest in the industrialized world.

Thursday’s demonstrations come after Macron defended the reforms in an interview on French television on Wednesday, confirming they would be implemented by the end of the year.

More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday with protests turning violent in some areas as demonstrators voiced their fury at proposed pension reforms.

Clashes between groups of protesters and police broke out after workers staged a national strike throughout Thursday, with flare-ups in Paris and regional capitals.

According to police, around 1,000 people acted “violently,” setting fires, launching smoke bombs and damaging property. In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, protesters set fire to the entrance of the city hall during ongoing clashes with police.

Police fired tear gas at crowds in northwestern Lorient, while video from Rennes shows authorities using water cannons to disperse protesters.

At least 80 people were arrested and 123 police officers were injured in France on Thursday during the nationwide protests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Thursday was the ninth day of strikes in the country and the first of coordinated action since French President Emmanuel Macron’s government pushed a bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote last week.

Despite the arrests, it was a mostly peaceful day of strike action with 119,000 people marching across Paris. Still, schools, transport networks and oil refineries were disrupted by the marches. It also affected air traffic, with 30% of flights impacted at Paris Orly airport.

Britain’s King Charles had been due to visit Bordeaux on March 28 during his first foreign state visit as monarch, but

“It’s in the greater interest of the country. Between opinion polls and the national interest, I chose the national interest,” Macron said.

U.S.-Canada Border Deal

U.S. President Joe Biden visited Canada last week to discuss a series of economic, trade and immigration issues with his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau. Together, they agreed to a U.S.-Canada border deal aimed at halting the flow of asylum seekers at unofficial border crossings.

Migrants caught crossing anywhere along the 3,145-mile border can now be sent back.

Large numbers of unsanctioned crossings have been recorded entering either country via Roxham Road at the U.S.-Canada border. The new accord closes a loophole that allowed migrants to claim asylum at such unofficial ports of entry.

A record number of migrants – more than 40,000 – crossed into Canada last year, the vast majority of which entered at Roxham Road.

As part of the pact, Canada will also create a new refugee program for 15,000 migrants fleeing persecution and violence in South and Central America

The original 2004 agreement, the Safe Third Country Act (STCA), requires migrants to make an asylum claim in the first “safe” country they reach, whether it is the U.S. or Canada. It allowed either nation to turn migrants away at official points of entry – but not at unofficial crossing points, like Roxham Road. The new deal extends the agreement along the entire border, including internal waterways.

While in Canada, the U.S. president

Honduras Establishes Ties with China

spoke of the importance of the deep economic ties and the defense alliances between the two nations, as well as their joint support for Ukraine. The two leaders pledged to stand together against authoritarian regimes – in part by reducing dependence on China for semiconductors and the critical minerals needed to make batteries and electric cars.

The two leaders also discussed the instability going on in Haiti, although they both agreed not to intervene.

The two countries also announced they will lead a new “global coalition” on the opioid crisis. It will look to tackle the issue of drug trafficking not only in North America but across the world.

Over the weekend, Honduras formally established diplomatic ties with China and severed them with Taiwan, ending a decades-long relationship and dealing a blow to the self-ruled island democracy in its struggle for recognition.

“The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes the existence of one China in the world and that the government of the People’s Republic of China represents China as a whole,” its ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on Saturday.

“Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and as of today, the government of Honduras has informed Taiwan about the rupture of diplomatic relations,” it added.

China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory despite never having ruled it, refuses to maintain diplomatic ties with any country that recognizes Taiwan.

Beijing has spent much of the past 40 years attempting to isolate the self-ruled island democracy by chipping away at its diplomatic allies with offers of economic support. Honduras had until now been one of just 14 countries that still diplomatically recognized Taipei over Beijing.

In a video address on Sunday, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said Honduras’ decision was “very regrettable.”

“Suppression and threats will not change the fact that the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” Tsai asserted.

“They will also not undermine Taiwanese people’s insistence on freedom and democracy, and the will to be part of the global community,” she continued, adding that Taiwan would work with like-minded countries to promote peace.

China’s Foreign Ministry stated, “There is but one China in the world and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” it added.

Taiwan had 56 diplomatic allies when it lost recognition from the United Nations in 1971. That number had dwindled to just 22 when Tsai took office in 2016 and has continued to fall in the years since.

Most of Taiwan’s remaining allies are now small nations in Latin America and the Pacific, with all of the world’s most powerful economies having switched recognition to Beijing decades ago.

China has been using “dollar diplomacy” to coerce countries to recognize and establish ties with Beijing, offering development funds and a trading partner to those who establish ties.

The United States remains the single biggest guarantor of Taiwan’s safety in the face of a possible invasion by China. The U.S. supplies weapons to Taiwan every year – even without an “official” diplomatic relationship.

Kamala Heads to Africa

In the neon lights of a recording studio, with skateboarders doing tricks a few feet away, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared alongside musicians in the West African nation of Ghana and pledged to set the American relationship with Africa on a new path, focused on collaboration rather than crises. tive faces multiple challenges. She must present the United States as an ally while fulfilling President Joe Biden’s commitment to take action against foreign governments that violate human rights and, in particular, pass laws restricting the freedoms of certain people.