Angry Crowd Heckles France’s Macron over Pensions

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with people during a visit in Selestat, eastern France, April 19, 2023. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with people during a visit in Selestat, eastern France, April 19, 2023. (Reuters)
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Angry Crowd Heckles France’s Macron over Pensions

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with people during a visit in Selestat, eastern France, April 19, 2023. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with people during a visit in Selestat, eastern France, April 19, 2023. (Reuters)

Protesters greeted French President Emmanuel Macron with boos and calls for him to resign in his first public appearance since he signed into law an unpopular rise in the retirement age.

Outside a factory he was visiting in the eastern Alsace region, Macron was faced with hostile banners and banging on pots. Electrical power inside the factory was also cut briefly.

Then as he walked through the crowd in a nearby village, many shouted "Macron, resign!" and one man told him: "We don't want this pension (reform), what don't you get?"

Another man told him he was leading a corrupt government and added: "You'll fall soon, just wait and see."

There were also some cheers, one man told him to "hang in there," a woman thanked him for his work and others asked for selfies.

But even in a region that is pro-Macron - it voted slightly more for him than the national average in the 2022 presidential election - the welcome was mostly hostile.

Macron signed into law at the weekend the rise in the retirement age which means citizens must work two years longer before receiving their state pension.

That was after three months of protests that gathered huge crowds and at times turned violent.

In the village of Selestat, Macron said he was fine with people expressing their discontent. "But the country must move forward," he said.

Earlier at the factory visit, he had also shrugged off the display of discontent, saying: "Pans won't help France move forward".

He said it was not possible for a society to listen only to those who "make the most noise" as he sought to highlight positive aspects of France's labor legalization.



Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran ‘Complicated’, Rome Says

A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)
A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)
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Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran ‘Complicated’, Rome Says

A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)
A file picture dated 26 September 2023 shows Italian journalist and writer Cecilia Sala as a guest in the TV show "Stasera c'è Cattelan" in the RAI studios in Milan, Italy (issued 28 December 2024). (EPA)

The case of an Italian journalist being held in Iran is "complicated", but Rome hopes to bring 29-year-old Cecilia Sala home quickly, Italy's foreign minister said on Saturday.

Sala, 29, who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19 but her arrest was only made public on Friday.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he hoped the issue could be resolved quickly but added: "It doesn't depend on us."

"We're trying to solve an issue that's complicated," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANSA.

Tajani said Sala was being held in a single cell, in decent conditions that Italy would keep monitoring:

"It looks like she is being treated in a way that is respectful of personal dignity," he said. "So far we haven't had negative feedback."

Tajani said the official reason for Sala's detention was not yet clear, but that he hoped her lawyer could visit her soon and find out more.

There was no official public confirmation of the arrest from Iran, and Tajani declined to say whether it might be linked to the arrest of an Iranian in Italy this month at the request of the US.

Sala, who is being held in Tehran's Evin prison, left Italy for Iran on Dec. 12 with a valid journalist visa, Chora Media said on Friday. She had been due to fly back to Rome on Dec. 20.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was following Sala's case closely with the aim of bringing her home as soon as possible, urging the media to treat the issue with the "necessary caution".