France’s Macron Faces Another Test with Parliamentary Votes on Monday

A water canon sprays protesters during a demonstration in Paris, Saturday, March 18, 2023. (AP)
A water canon sprays protesters during a demonstration in Paris, Saturday, March 18, 2023. (AP)
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France’s Macron Faces Another Test with Parliamentary Votes on Monday

A water canon sprays protesters during a demonstration in Paris, Saturday, March 18, 2023. (AP)
A water canon sprays protesters during a demonstration in Paris, Saturday, March 18, 2023. (AP)

President Emanuel Macron faces a critical moment on Monday when the National Assembly is due to vote on no-confidence motions filed after his government bypassed parliament on Thursday to push through an unpopular rise in the state pension age.

The move, which followed weeks of protests against the pension overhaul, triggered three nights of unrest and demonstrations in Paris and throughout the country, reminiscent of the Yellow Vest protests that erupted in late 2018 over high fuel prices.

However, while Monday's votes may put on display anger at Macron's government, they are unlikely to bring it down.

Opposition lawmakers filed two motions of no-confidence in parliament on Friday.

Centrist group Liot proposed a multiparty no-confidence motion, which was co-signed by the far-left Nupes alliance. Hours later, France's far-right National Rally party, which has 88 National Assembly members, also filed a no-confidence motion.

But even though Macron's party lost its absolute majority in the lower house in elections last year, there was little chance the multi-party motion would go through - unless a surprise alliance of lawmakers from all sides is formed, from the far-left to the far-right.

The leaders of the conservative Les Republicains (LR) party have ruled out such an alliance. None of them had sponsored the first no-confidence motion filed on Friday.

But the party still faced some pressure.

In the southern city of Nice, the political office of Eric Ciotti, the Les Republicains leader, was ransacked overnight and tags were left threatening riots if the motion was not supported.

"They want through violence to put pressure on my vote on Monday. I will never yield to the new disciples of the Terror," Ciotti wrote on Twitter.

Macron's overhaul raises the pension age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system does not go bust.

"I think there will be no majority to bring down the government. But this will be a moment of truth," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Le Parisien newspaper, commenting on prospects for Monday's votes.

"Is the pension reform worth bringing down the government and political disorder? The answer is clearly no. Everyone must take his responsibilities," he added.



UK Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters as Authorities Toughen Hate Speech Law Enforcement

Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
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UK Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters as Authorities Toughen Hate Speech Law Enforcement

Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)

Police in London arrested two people who called for “intifada” during a pro-Palestinian protest, which followed a decision by authorities to toughen enforcement of hate speech laws after a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.

The arrests Wednesday came hours after police in London and Manchester, England, announced a crackdown on protesters using slogans such as “globalize the intifada.” The Arabic word intifada is generally translated as “uprising.”

While pro-Palestinian demonstrators say the slogan describes the worldwide protests against the war in Gaza, Jewish leaders say it inflames tensions and encourages attacks on Jews, including the attack that killed 15 people on Sunday at Bondi Beach in Sydney, The Associated Press said.

London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said they decided to take a tougher stance after Bondi Beach and an Oct. 2 attack on a Manchester synagogue that left two people dead.

“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as `globalize the intifada,’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” they said in a joint statement released Wednesday. “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence.”

In the hours before Wednesday night’s demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group that was banned as a terrorist organization earlier this year, London police warned protesters to be aware of the earlier announcement.

Two protesters were arrested for “racially aggravated public order offenses” after they shouted slogans calling for intifada during the protest outside the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Police Service said on social media. A third person was arrested for trying to interfere with the initial arrests.

The term “intifada” is used to describe two major Palestinian uprisings against Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the first beginning in 1987 and the second beginning in 2000. During the recent conflict in Gaza, the slogan “globalize the intifada” has been widely used by pro-Palestinian protesters around the world.

The debate over such language comes after antisemitic hate crime and online abuse soared in Britain following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli military campaign in Gaza that followed.

Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the initial attack on Israel. More than 70,660 Palestinians have been killed during the ensuing Israeli campaign in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.


Russia Says It Hopes Trump Does Not Make 'a Fatal Mistake' on Venezuela

Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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Russia Says It Hopes Trump Does Not Make 'a Fatal Mistake' on Venezuela

Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that it hoped that US President Donald Trump's administration did not make a fatal mistake over Venezuela and said that Moscow was concerned about US decisions that threatened international navigation.

Trump on Tuesday ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela as Washington tried to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government.

There has been an effective embargo in place after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.

"We hope that the D. Trump administration, which is characterized by a rational and pragmatic approach, will not make a fatal mistake," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said that Venezuela was a friendly country to Russia, and that Moscow hoped the US would not wade into a situation that would have "unpredictable consequences for the entire Western Hemisphere".

Russia quoted Simon Bolivar, a brilliant Venezuelan military tactician who liberated much of South America from centuries of Spanish rule, as saying that every nation had the right to choose its own rulers and that other countries should respect this.

Russia, the ministry said, wanted a normalization of dialogue between Washington and Caracas, and reaffirmed Russia's "solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of the trials they are going through."

Russia supports "the Maduro government's course aimed at protecting the national interests and sovereignty of the Motherland."


Cambodia Says Thailand Bombs Casino Hub on Border

Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File
Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File
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Cambodia Says Thailand Bombs Casino Hub on Border

Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File
Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File

Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino town of Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes.

Thai forces "dropped two bombs in the area of Poipet Municipality, Banteay Meanchey Province" at around 11:00 am (0400 GMT) Thursday, the Cambodian defense ministry said in a statement.

Thailand has not yet confirmed any strike on Poipet -- a bustling casino hub popular with Thai gamblers.

The renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors this month has killed at least 21 people in Thailand and 17 in Cambodia, while displacing around 800,000, officials said.

The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border and a smattering of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier.

Each side has blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting and traded accusations of attacks on civilians.

Thailand said Tuesday that between 5,000 and 6,000 Thai nationals remained stranded in Poipet after Cambodia closed its land border crossings with its neighbor.

Cambodia's interior ministry said the border closures were a "necessary measure" to reduce risks to civilians amid the ongoing combat, adding that air travel remained an option for those seeking to leave.

At least four casinos in Cambodia have been damaged by Thai strikes, the interior ministry said this week.

'Shuttle-diplomacy'

Five days of fighting between Cambodia and Thailand in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and Malaysia, and then broken within months.

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly intervened in the long-standing conflict this year, claimed last week that the two countries had agreed to a new ceasefire.

But Bangkok denied any truce had been agreed, and fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets has continued daily since a border skirmish earlier this month sparked the latest round of conflict.

China said it was sending its special envoy for Asian affairs to Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday for a "shuttle-diplomacy trip" to help bridge the gaps and "rebuild peace".

"Through its own way, China has been working actively for deescalation," Beijing's foreign ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.

Foreign ministers from ASEAN regional bloc nations are due to meet on Monday in Malaysia for emergency talks aimed at finding a diplomatic solution.

"Our duty is to present the facts but more important is to press upon them that it is imperative for them to secure peace," Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told journalists late Wednesday.

"We are appealing to them to immediately stop this frontline offensive and if possible, an immediate ceasefire," Anwar said at his official residence in Putrajaya, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic" about the talks.

European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas said in a statement that she had spoken with the foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand on Wednesday, offering the European Union's support for ceasefire monitoring with satellite imagery.

"The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia must not be allowed to spiral further. That's why the ceasefire needs to be immediately restored," Kallas said.