Lula attends inauguration ceremony for Dilma Rousseff as NDB president

13-Apr-2023
CGTN

An inauguration ceremony was held for Dilma Rousseff, an economist and former Brazilian president, as New Development Bank (NDB) president in Shanghai on Thursday.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday night to kick off his state visit to China, attended the ceremony.

This is the first time that a head of state visited the NDB bank's headquarters in Shanghai and addressed the NDB staff in person.

"The New Development Bank is the product of a partnership among BRICS countries with a view to creating a world with less poverty, less inequality and more sustainability. In taking office as bank president, Ms. Dilma Rousseff brings her extensive background and knowledge on public policies and the international scene, thus strengthening NDB's leading role in achieving a better world, without poverty or hunger," said Lula in a speech.

Rousseff emphasized the bank's commitment to supporting Brazil's sustainable development goals and highlighted the importance of the presidential visit for strengthening the cooperation between the NDB and Brazil.

"As a former president of Brazil, I know the importance of the work of multilateral banks to support developing countries, particularly NDB, in addressing their economic, social and environmental needs. Becoming the president of the NDB is undoubtedly a great opportunity to do more for the BRICS, the emerging markets and developing countries, and my own country – Brazil," said Rousseff.

The Board of Governors of the NDB unanimously elected Rousseff as the president of the bank on March 24, 2023.

The NDB is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) with the purpose of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries.

'Who decided dollar would be currency?': Lula slams US dollar in China tour

"Why should every country have to be tied to the dollar for trade?" asks Brazil's President Lula during a ceremony in Shanghai while accusing IMF of "asphyxiating countries' economies."

"No leader can work with a knife to their throat because [their country] owes money," says Lula.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticised the outsize role of the US dollar in the world economy and lashed out at the International Monetary Fund [IMF] during an official visit to China.

"Why should every country have to be tied to the dollar for trade?... Who decided the dollar would be the [world's] currency?" Lula said on Thursday in Shanghai at a ceremony to inaugurate his political ally Dilma Rousseff as president of the development bank set up by the BRICS nations [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa].

"Why can't a bank like the BRICS bank have a currency to finance trade between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other BRICS countries?... Today, countries have to chase after dollars to export, when they could be exporting in their own currencies."

Lula also had strong words for the IMF, alluding to accusations the IMF forces overly harsh spending cuts on cash-strapped countries like Brazil's neighbour Argentina in exchange for bailout loans.

"No bank should be asphyxiating countries' economies the way the IMF is doing now with Argentina, or the way they did with Brazil for a long time and every third-world country," he said.

"No leader can work with a knife to their throat because [their country] owes money."

'Brazil is back!'

Lula, who took office in January, is looking to reposition Brazil as a global go-between and deal broker, seeking friendly ties across the board after four years of relative isolation under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

He is due to meet with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, and also visited US President Joe Biden in February.

"Brazil is back!" Lula promised in Shanghai, where he arrived on Wednesday night.

"The time when Brazil was absent from major world decisions is in the past. We are back on the international stage, after an inexplicable absence."

One of the main topics on the agenda when Lula and Xi meet on Friday is expected to be the Ukraine war.

Both China and Brazil have positioned themselves as mediators in the conflict, despite Western alleagtions that they are overly cosy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Both countries have refused to join Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion.

Trade ties

The Shanghai leg of Lula's trip highlighted another key goal of the visit — deepening trade ties between the Asian giant and Latin America's biggest economy.

China is Brazil's biggest export market, buying tens of billions of dollars' worth of soybeans, beef and iron ore.

Under the currency deal announced in March, Brazil and China have named two banks — one in each country — to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions by directly exchanging yuan for reais and vice versa, instead of going through the dollar.

After Rousseff's inauguration, Lula visited a research centre run by Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Huawei's chair walked him through an exhibition showcasing the company's extensive presence in Brazil — a contrast with the United States, where companies are effectively barred from doing business with the firm.

Lula also met the head of China's biggest electric carmaker, BYD, which said in October that it planned to set up a vehicle manufacturing plant in northern Brazil's Bahia after Ford Motors closed its factory there.

The company is already making electric buses and cars in Brazil for the Latin American market.

The 77-year-old president was initially scheduled to make the trip in late March, but had to postpone it after coming down with pneumonia.

He is travelling with a large delegation of about 40 high-level officials, including cabinet ministers, governors and members of Congress.

He will wrap up his trip with a one-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

Soaring childcare costs continue to hinder UK mothers' return to workforce, says study

Mothers face steep challenges re-entering workforce amid rising childcare expenses

Many mothers struggle to return to work due to prohibitive childcare costs, highlighting the need for comprehensive solutions to support parents and improve accessibility to affordable childcare services. PA

Marwa Hassan
Apr 13, 2023

Despite the government's efforts to increase free childcare provision, 40 per cent of mothers are still unable to return to work due to prohibitive childcare costs, according to a recent survey.

The study, conducted by job search platform Indeed Flex, polled 2,000 mothers and found that the same percentage believe the government's pledge for additional support is insufficient to alleviate their financial burden.

It revealed that one-third of working mothers spend more than 30 per cent of their wages on childcare, leaving many struggling to make ends meet amid the current cost-of-living crisis.

More women worked in UK finance in 1997 than 2022, figures show

BANKS HAD BRANCHES STAFFED BY REAL PEOPLE NOT ATM'S

The average cost of full-time childcare in the UK reached £263 per week in 2021, which equates to about £13,700 per year, according to the Family and Childcare Trust.

Novo Constare, CEO of Indeed Flex, acknowledged the government's recognition of the childcare issues confronting working parents, but also noted that many women feel the measures introduced in the Budget are insufficient.

“Nursery and childminder costs can swallow a huge chunk of new parents' earnings, and with the current cost-of-living crisis squeezing every household's budget, it's no surprise that some women are put off going back to work," Mr Constare said.

The UK government currently offers 15 hours of free childcare per week for three and four-year-olds, with an additional 15 hours available for qualifying working parents. However, the survey indicates that these measures are not enough to entice many mothers back into the workforce.

Working mothers navigate the challenges of soaring childcare costs, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions and support to help them re-join the workforce. Silvia Razgova / The National

Childcare expert Dr Jane Smith from the University of London underscored the need for further action. “The high cost of childcare is a significant barrier to women's labour force participation," Dr Smith said.


“It not only affects families' financial well-being but also contributes to the gender pay gap and hampers overall economic growth.”

Indeed Flex's report highlights the importance of finding alternative solutions, such as flexible working arrangements, to make work more accessible for new parents.

“Seeking greater flexibility in your working hours, such as by doing temporary work, is one way new parents can make work for them when juggling childcare and a job," Mr Constare said.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact households across the UK, it is evident that more must be done to address the childcare affordability issue and enable mothers to re-enter the workforce.

Childcare 'revolution' targets barriers for parents

The spring budget revealed a “childcare revolution” aiming to address these issues, providing additional financial support and removing barriers for parents, particularly mothers, returning to work.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, announced that the government will expand its free childcare support to offer 30 hours per week for every child over the age of nine months, with the goal of providing this support to all eligible working parents of children under five by September 2025.

In addition, parents on Universal Credit moving into work or increasing their hours will have their childcare costs paid upfront, rather than in arrears, with maximum claims boosted to £951 for one child and £1,630 for two children — an increase of around 50 per cent.

Other measures in the spring budget aimed at easing the cost-of-living burden include extending the Energy Price Guarantee, freezing duties on fuel and a pub pint, and implementing a £27 billion tax cut for businesses to stimulate investment and growth.

The budget also outlines major reforms to support people into work, targeting those on benefits, older workers and those with health conditions.

These childcare reforms aim to remove barriers to work for nearly half a million parents with a child under three in England who are not working due to caring responsibilities.

This should reduce discrimination against women and benefit the wider economy.

With the new childcare measures and financial support, the government hopes to facilitate mothers' return to the workforce and address the affordability issues arising from the current cost-of-living crisis.

The Rebel Christ by Michael Coren

14 APRIL 2023

David Chillingworth on the challenge posed by an ex-conservative

MICHAEL COREN is an Anglican priest — English by birth and now living in Canada. His story is interesting and unusual. He was a successful journalist and author — and a Roman Catholic priest. He describes himself as having been until 2013 “a champion of orthodox Catholicism”. He says that, to his shame, he was rather good at it. His book Why Catholics are Right sold nearly 50,000 copies.

But then things began to change, particularly when he encountered Ugandan homophobia. Beyond that, he met a “fetish of reactionary ideas around gender, sex, power, relationships and personal choice”.

Faced with this, Coren says, “I stopped speaking and started listening, entered into belief as a dialogue, opened my eyes rather than folded my arms. Yes, I met the rebel Christ.”

This is a brave book. The forces of rampant conservatism which Coren is taking on — forces that he describes as “triumphalist, proud and sectarian” — are not to be underestimated in their power. In his view, ranged against that “cult of the bunker” is the supreme paradox that is Christianity. That paradox claims that “in defeat is victory and in death is life.”

In the background of this book, one senses the constant presence of the “almost parallel version of the faith” which has been developed by American Evangelical conservatives: religious freedom, gun rights, support for Israel, resistance to LGBTQ2 equality (the “2” refers to “two-spirited” in Native American culture), and objection to abortion.

Facing that right-wing agenda, Coren explores the question how the Bible is to be read and understood. He courageously addresses the questions of gay rights and gay marriage, abortion, capital punishment, and slavery. Always, one senses that he is attempting to make his picture of the Rebel Christ as compelling as the alternative and conservative pictures are to so many. He says, “We are thinking, questioning men and women trying to find paths of goodness.”

There is one aspect of his subject which Coren does not address. It is the question — which others have referred to as “deep underlying concepts” — why some people take up what are in general liberal and flexible positions while others become deeply and defensively conservative in their attitudes. Not only would it be interesting and important to know why people are as they are: it might also provide a key to the deep changes in attitude for which Coren and many others yearn.


The Rt Revd David Chillingworth is a former Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The Rebel Christ
Michael Coren
Canterbury Press 
(978-1-78622-479-8)

FOR MY CRITIQUES OF THE 'CONSERVATIVE REACTIONARY CATHOLIC' COREN SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for Michael Coren 

Ancient Bible fragment found, confirming Old Syriac version of New Testament gospels

Translation predates oldest extant Greek manuscripts by at least a century, adds important detail, scholars say

A fragile fragment of an enigmatic Dead Sea Scroll is on public display at the Israel Museum for the first time since its discovery 70 years ago, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March. 20, 2018. The Genesis Apocryphon, the sole copy of … more >

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times - Thursday, April 13, 2023

Scholars have discovered a 1,750-year-old portion of the Gospel of Matthew in a “layered” manuscript where the original Old Syriac-language writing had been erased and written over, something also known as a “palimpsest,” the Austrian Academy of Sciences announced.

The portion includes an ancient version of Matthew 12:1 that augments the earliest known Greek manuscripts, which the Old Syriac predates by at least a century.

The New King James Version, based on those Greek manuscripts, reads “at that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.”

The Old Syriac adds an additional description to the last clause, saying the disciples “began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.”

Picking the grain heads and rubbing them was considered “work” by the Jewish leaders of the period and therefore not done on the day of rest. The rebuke by the Pharisees who saw this elicited Jesus’ rebuttal that he was “Lord even of the Sabbath” in Matthew 12:8.

The text fragment was identified by medievalist Grigory Kessel, who used ultraviolet photography to study the document found in the Vatican Library. The Austrian academy said in a news release the discovery confirms the veracity of the Old Syriac translations of the initial New Testament books.

“The tradition of Syriac Christianity knows several translations of the Old and New Testaments,” Mr. Kessel said in the release. “Until recently, only two manuscripts were known to contain the Old Syriac translation of the gospels.”

Those two are housed at the British Library in London and St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai.

These fragments from the third manuscript came to light during the academy’s “Sinai Palimpsests Project.”

Claudia Rapp, director of the Institute for Medieval Research at the Austrian academy, called Mr. Kessel’s find “a great discovery” which “proves how productive and important the interplay between modern digital technologies and basic research can be when dealing with medieval manuscripts.”

Detailed results of the Kessel project are published in the latest issue of the academic journal New Testament Studies.

• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. 

Medieval monks’ records of lunar eclipses analysed

by REBECCA PAVELEY

14 APRIL 2023

A diagram from De sphaera mundi (c.1230), an introduction to astronomy by Johannes de Sacrobosco (c.1195-c.1256)

EVIDENCE gathered from medieval monks about lunar eclipses has shone new light on the understanding of volcanic eruptions during the period. Some believe that these led to the onset of the “Little Ice Age”, when a warm period for the world’s climate was followed by prolonged cooling.

Scientists used historical sources, including observations, recorded in monasteries, of lunar eclipses, and chronicles kept by courtiers in the East, to seek evidence of volcanic eruptions. Volcanic dust in the atmosphere can lead to solar dimming, coronae, or “bishop’s rings” — when a halo is observed around the sun — and dark total eclipses.

Monks studied eclipses because a blood-red-eclipsed moon was seen as a possible sign of the apocalypse, and accurate lunar observations were crucial to identifying the Easter full moon, thereby setting the date for Easter Day and moveable feasts in the liturgical calendar.

One of the tests studied from the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, in Spain, between 1090 and 1109, records that “the Sun was obscured and the Moon turned into blood.”

Evidence gathered from these sources suggests that, between 1100 and 1300, 64 eclipses were observed from Europe, 59 from the Middle East, and 64 over East Asia. Of the 64 lunar eclipses in Europe during that period, monks described 51, noting that five were especially dark — something that can occur when dust from volcanic eruptions is present in the stratosphere.

The research drew in scientists and researchers from different disciplines and from around the world, including the Universities of Saskatchewan, Cambridge, Dublin, Washington, and Bern, and three in France. Their report has been published in the journal Nature.

“This work is a really novel example of interdisciplinary research, bringing together threads of evidence from medieval history, paleoclimatology, and atmospheric physics,” said Dr Matthew Toohey, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics in the USask College of Arts and Science, and a co-author of the paper.

“Volcanic eruptions are really important for understanding past climate variability —eclipse observations can be used to help determine the timing of past eruptions, many of which are otherwise only known of because of the chemical markers in polar ice cores.”

When volcanoes erupt, spewing ash and sulphur into the atmosphere, the resulting haze can decrease the intensity of sunlight that reaches the surface, which cools global temperatures over a period of years.

The research will also be used to understand future climatic changes.

‘Symbol of hope and inspiration’: Trudeau lauds Albanese in Time’s list of influential people

ByLatika Bourke

THE AGE.AU
April 14, 2023 

London: 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2023.

The magazine compiles an annual list of people it believes are the most influential across six categories: artists, icons, pioneers, leaders, titans and innovators.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHUSEN

Albanese is named in the top 100 alongside US President Joe Biden, Republican Senator minority leader Mitch McConnell, Germany’s Prime Minister Olaf Scholz and Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska.

The list also includes billionaire and Twitter owner Elon Musk, King Charles III, singer Beyonce and writers Salman Rushdie and Judy Blume.

Canada’s left-wing prime minister, Justin Trudeau, wrote a short piece on why Albanese had been selected, saying the Australian Labor leader embodied the driving values of progressives around the world.

TO THE RIGHT WING 'THE AGE' TRUDEAU IS LEFT WING!!!

“From growing up in public housing to taking office last spring as Australia’s new prime minister, he is a symbol of hope and inspiration,” Trudeau said.

“He works to lift up and amplify the voices of those who need to be heard from, particularly Indigenous peoples.

“His government supports those who need it most, believes that we need to take ambitious climate action, and unwaveringly supports democracy in the face of unprecedented threat.

“In a world where people are increasingly uncertain about what the future holds for them and their families, it’s easy for politicians to sow fear and division.

“To choose the path of hope and opportunity takes immense courage, and that courage lives within Anthony Albanese.“

Being prime minister of Australia does not guarantee a place on the list. None of Albanese’s three Coalition predecessors made the top 100 and nor did Julia Gillard. Kevin Rudd made the list in 2008.

Oscar award-winning actress Cate Blanchett paid testament to Syrian sisters and competitive swimmers Sara Mardini and Yusra Mardini who fled the war and sought refuge in Europe on a boat crossing between Turkey and Syria. Both are human rights campaigners, having sought asylum in Greece and Germany respectively and were named under Time’s Icons category.

Under Labor, the Australian government has continued the Coalition’s hardline border policies aimed at stopping boat journeys to Australia and one of the Albanese government’s first actions after being elected last May was to turn around an asylum seeker boat.

Blanchett said the sisters’ story, which was documented in the 2022 film The Swimmers showed why their advocacy for the right to seek safety mattered.

“That story continues as both Yusra and Sara fiercely advocate for everyone’s right to seek safety.

 Whoever. Wherever. Whenever,” she said.

Another Australian Oscar-winning actress, Nicole Kidman, praised her 2017 The Beguiled co-star Colin Farrell who was also named in the list.

She said he had a very “Irish sensibility” and “seems to look younger every year”.

“He was very emotionally open with me, and I’m very protective of him,” Kidman wrote.

“I admire his tenacity, his resilience, and his great sense of humour.”

Elvis director Baz Luhrmann wrote a piece for Doja Cat, praising the singer who was hailed by Time as a pioneer.

“When she started to work on Vegas for Elvis, Elvis was relegated to a Halloween costume—he wasn’t influential to the younger generation,” Luhrmann wrote.

But Doja and her producer Yeti Beats understood the importance of translating Hound Dog for a new audience.

“For them, it was an act of translating the roots of black music.”

'Crane committed no crime': Indian farmer seeks winged friend's freedom

Mohammad Arif, whose remarkable friendship with a wounded Sarus crane was rudely interrupted by Indian authorities, seeks "distressed" bird's release from a zoo cage.

Indian farmer Mohammad Arif along with Sarus crane at his residence in Amethi, in India's Uttar Pradesh state. (AFP)

Mohammad Arif, an Indian farmer whose extraordinary bond with a large bird made him a social media star has asked for his feathered friend to be set free after it was captured by wildlife authorities in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Arif rescued the injured Sarus crane — a crimson-necked wetlands species that can grow up to six feet in height — and nursed it back to health.

He set it free six weeks later, but the crane remained near his home in the city of Amethi, trailing the farmer when he went for bike rides and eating out of his hands.

"The bird would stay with its family during the day and return in the evenings. Or in the afternoons when it was hungry it would come and wait at our door," Arif, 30, told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

Videos of the bird and his human guardian went viral on social media and Arif amassed nearly 300,000 Instagram followers by documenting their exploits.

Their remarkable friendship was rudely interrupted last month when authorities captured the crane and later brought it to a zoo in Kanpur, a city more than four hours' drive away.

The crane is currently in a small quarantine cage, but Arif has asked for the bird — which he refers to simply as "friend" — to be released.

Arif went to visit the crane on Tuesday and video of their emotional reunion was shared online, with footage showing the bird flapping its wings excitedly and jumping up and down.

"The moment I reached the zoo, it recognised my voice," said Arif. "It appeared quite distressed. Maybe it thought I will get him released from the prison."

Media reports of the bird's plight have led to an outpouring of sympathy from the Indian public, with nearly 4,000 people signing an online petition demanding the crane's freedom. (AFP)

Petition demanding crane's freedom

Media reports of the bird's plight have led to an outpouring of sympathy from the Indian public, with nearly 4,000 people signing an online petition demanding the crane's freedom.

"The crane committed no crime. Is being friendly with human beings a crime?" text accompanying the petition said.

The Sarus crane is the tallest flying bird in the world and is listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Less than 20,000 of the species remain in India, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

Arif said his friend should be released either into the forest or a bird sanctuary.

"It has never lived in a cage before, it has always lived free," he said.

He was also confident the bird would return to his home.

"The moment they release it, it will come back to me," he said.

Experts doubt Mexico's pledge to protect endangered porpoise

April 13, 2023 

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Environment Department announced a new program to protect the endangered vaquita marina porpoise Thursday, saying that has headed off trade sanctions by the international wildlife body CITES.

The department said seven steps will be taken, including controlling illegal gillnet fishing that can trap and kill the vaquita, which is the world’s most endangered maine mammal.

But experts had misgivings, saying Mexico has failed to live up to previous promises to protect the vaquita and even gone back on some.

There are estimated to be as few as eight vaquitas left in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place it lives. The species cannot be captured, held or bred in captivity.

In late March, CITES called on its 184 member countries to stop trade with Mexico for products linked to sensitive species, such as orchids, cactuses and skins from crocodiles and snakes, as punishment for continued fishing in the vaquita protection zone in the upper Gulf of California.

The body said Thursday those sanctions had been dropped following the agreement with Mexico.

CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — regulates trade and protection for endangered species. Trade is permitted in some protected species, like crocodiles harvested for use in shoes or handbags, but such trade is closely regulated.

Alejandro Olivera, the Mexico representative for the Center for Biological Diversity, expressed skepticism over Mexico’s announcement.

“The Mexican government has been promising this since it published a plan in September 2020. I don’t know what the difference is going to be now,” he said.

Mexico has been slow to stop illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China. The nets used to catch totaba also trap and drown vaquitas.

The Mexican government promised CITES it would control the approved landing and launching zones for fishing boats and ensure they do not intrude on the relatively small “exclusion zone” where the last vaquitas were seen.

Dozens of boats are still regularly seen fishing in the zone despite a program by Mexico’s navy to sink concrete blocks in the area with hooks to snare illegal nets.

Olivera said that a GPS satellite monitoring system to track where boats go had been promised by officials but that the Mexican government had stopped paying for the service some time ago.

Experts have also said that the government often fails to post any regulatory or enforcement officers at docks and boat launch sites and that many fishermen launch their boats illegally from area beaches.

Mexico’s plan lists implementing “alternative fishing techniques” to gillnet fishing as a top priority, but experts note the government has promised to do that in the past but never paid for it. As a result, they say, private groups are struggling to supply alternative fishing gear that won’t trap and drown vaquitas.

“There is still shrimp fishing with illegal nets, and the key points for launching and docking boats are still without inspectors,” Olivera said. “Right now, everything is on paper, and the vaquita is on the brink of extinction, so that all these measures should be implemented now, urgently.”

The government’s protection efforts have been uneven, at best, and also often face violent opposition from local fishermen.

President Andrés Manuel López’s administration has largely declined to spend money to compensate fishermen for staying out of the vaquita refuge and to stop using gillnets.

The activist group Sea Shepherd, which has joined the Mexican navy in patrols to deter fishermen and help destroy gillnets, says the efforts have reduced gillnet fishing. But with so few vaquitas remaining, that may not be enough.

French unions rally supporters to streets ahead of pension ruling

By News desk
-April 14, 2023

Union activists barged into the Paris head-quarters of luxury goods company LVMH on Thursday, saying the French government should shelve plans to make people work longer for their pension and tax the rich more instead.

In a 12th day of nationwide protests since mid-January, striking workers also disrupted garbage collections in Paris and blocked river traffic on part of the Rhine in eastern France.

“You’re looking for money to finance pensions? Take it from the pockets of billionaires,” said Sud Rail union leader Fabien Villedieu, as the LVMH headquarters filled with red smoke from flares. The protesters then left peacefully.

Trade unions urged a show of force on the streets a day before the Constitutional Council’s ruling on the legality of the bill that will raise the state pension age by two years to 64.

Across France, 380,000 demonstrators took part in Thursday’s protest, according to figures from the government. That number included 42,000 at the Paris demonstration. Those figures were down from April 6, when 570,000 demonstrated across France, with 57,000 at last week’s Paris protest.

There were some clashes during Thursday’s rallies, including skirmishes in central Paris, with black-clad protesters throwing projectiles at police who responded with teargas, but this was nowhere near the level of violence seen at some protests last month.

—AFP

French unions rally supporters to the streets ahead of pension ruling • 

FRANCE 24 English

  Apr 13, 2023  #France #pension #protest

France faced a new day of street protests on Thursday over President Emmanuel Macron's plans to make people work longer for their pension, as striking workers disrupted garbage collection in Paris and blocked river traffic on part of the Rhine river. Trade unions urged a show of force on the streets a day before the Constitutional Council's ruling on the legality of the bill that would raise the retirement age by two years to 64. FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent reports from Paris.

France sees renewed protests against Macron’s retirement age plan



By —Elaine Ganley, Associated Press
By —Jeffrey Schaeffer, Associated Press

Apr 13, 2023 

PARIS (AP) — Protesters opposing President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64 marched Thursday in cities and towns around France, in a final show of anger before a decision on whether the measure meets constitutional standards.

In Paris, as thousands marched along the designated protest route, some protesters holding lit flares veered off to the Constitutional Council, which is to decide Friday whether to nix any or all parts of the legislation.

They faced off with a large contingent of police deployed outside the building, where hours before the march got underway other protesters had dumped bags of garbage.

The trash piles were cleaned up but signaled the start of a new strike by garbage collectors, timed to begin with the nationwide protest marches. A previous strike last month left the streets of the French capital filled for days with mounds of reeking refuse.

Also before the main march, more than 100 railroad workers marched down a Paris street of luxury boutiques, invading luxury conglomerate LVMH offices and going to the first floor before exiting.

Fabien Villedieu of the Sud-Rail Union said LVMH “could reduce all the holes” in France’s social security system. ”So one of the solutions to finance the pension system is a better redistribution of wealth, and the best way to do that is to tax the billionaires.”

Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, “is the richest man in the world so he could contribute,” Villedieu said.

Early on in the main Paris protest, security forces intervened to stop vandals damaging a shop, with 15 people detained, police said. Like in past protests, several hundred “radical elements” had mixed inside the march, police said.

READ MORE: Macron says controversial French pension plan must be implemented by end of year

Thousands also marched in Toulouse, Marseille and elsewhere. Tensions mounted at protests in Brittany, notably in Nantes and Rennes, where a car was burned.

“The mobilization is far from over,” the leader of the leftist CGT union, Sophie Binet, said at a trash incineration site south of Paris where several hundred protesters blocked garbage trucks. “As long as this reform isn’t withdrawn, the mobilization will continue in one form or another.”

CGT has been a backbone of the protest and strike movement challenging Macron’s plan to increase France’s retirement age from 62 to 64. Eight unions have organized protests since January in a rare voice of unity. Student unions have joined in.

Macron had initially refused a demand to meet with unions, but during a state visit on Wednesday to the Netherlands proposed “an exchange” to discuss the follow-up to the Constitutional Council decision. There was no formal response to his offer.

Unions hoped for a strong turnout Thursday to pressure both the government and the members of the Constitutional Council tasked with studying the text of the pension reform plan. Critics challenged the government’s choice to include the pension plan in a budget bill, which significantly accelerated the legislative process. The government’s decision to skirt a parliamentary vote by using special constitutional powers transformed opponents’ anger into fury.

Polls consistently show a majority of French people are opposed to the pension reform.

“The contention is strong, anchored in the people,” said Laurent Berger, head of the moderate CFDT union. If the measure is promulgated, “there will be repercussions,” he warned, noting the “silent anger” among the union rank and file.

Protests and labor strikes often hobble public transportation in Paris, but Metro trains were mostly running smoothly Thursday. The civil aviation authority asked airports in Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes to reduce air traffic by 20 percent.

Emotions high at another day of French protests over Macron's pension plan


Riot police officers take position during a demonstration, Thursday, April 13, 2023 in Paris.

 - Copyright Lewis Joly/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

By Euronews with AP • Updated: 13/04/2023 - 

Protesters opposing President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64 marched again Thursday in cities and towns around France, in a final show of anger before a crucial decision on whether the measure meets constitutional standards.

Demonstrators targeted the Central Bank offices in Paris and briefly invaded the headquarters of luxury conglomerate LVMH - but their attention increasingly centered on the Constitutional Council, which is to decide Friday whether to nix any or all parts of the legislation.

Activists dumped bags of garbage outside the council's columned façade in the morning. Later, another crowd holding flares faced off with a large contingent of riot police that rushed to protect the building.

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Paris police banned all gatherings outside the council from Thursday evening through Saturday morning, in an attempt to reduce pressure on the council members as they make their decision.

Police said some 380,000 people took part in the protests across France on Thursday. The number was down from recent weeks, but unions still managed to mobilise sizable crowds. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, though dozens of injuries were reported among police and protesters.

Youths scuffle with police forces in front of the Paris townhall during a demonstration in Paris, Thursday, April 13, 2023.

Lewis Joly/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Unions had been hoping for a strong turnout Thursday to pressure both the government and the members of the Constitutional Council tasked with studying the text of the pension reform plan. Critics challenged the government’s choice to include the pension plan in a budget bill, which significantly accelerated the legislative process. The government’s decision to skirt a parliamentary vote by using special constitutional powers transformed opponents’ anger into fury.

The trash piles signaled the start of a new strike by garbage collectors, timed to begin with the nationwide protest marches. A previous strike last month left the streets of the French capital filled for days with mounds of reeking refuse.

Polls consistently show a majority of French people are opposed to the pension reform, which Macron says is needed to keep the retirement system afloat as the population ages. Protesters are also angry at Macron himself and a presidency they see as threatening France's worker protections and favoring big business.

Garbage collectors in Paris to strike 'indefinitely' in pension protest

Issued on: 13/04/2023 

Piles of rubbish in Paris during the last waste collection strike.

 AFP - BERTRAND GUAY

Garbage collectors in Paris have voted to resume their strike – promising to once again transform the streets of the capital into a “public rubbish dump” until France’s controversial pensions reform bill is scrapped.

The “big stink” is set to return, 15 days after hundreds of unsightly piles of rubbish gradually disappeared when garbage collectors returned to work, with the aim of injecting fresh momentum into their strike.

They will down tools from Thursday, a day of nationwide cross-sector strikes and protests, following a call from the waste treatment sector of the hardline CGT union.

Paris’s three incinerator plants are also to be blockaded.

The work stoppage comes a day ahead of a key decision by France’s Constitutional Council on the validity of President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

“If we have to last two weeks, we will last two weeks,” said Régis Vieceli, head of the CGT's waste and sanitation sector in Paris, adding that round two would be even stronger than the first.
Rolling strike

At the start of the month the CGT announced its intention to set in motion a "renewable and indefinite" movement after the initial strike from 6-29 March, when 10,000 tons of rubbish piled up on Paris streets.

The movement was suspended after strikers said they could not continue to bear the financial burden of a lengthy walkout.

“Over the past two weeks, we have held discussions with workshops and garages, including those in the private sector," Vieceli said.

“We have worked to ensure we get a high percentage of strikers because, whatever the decision of the Constitutional Council, this reform must fall.

“Emmanuel Macron needs to hear what the workers are telling him. Two more years is not possible.”

18 California condors from one flock have died in Arizona, Utah. What’s killing them?

Daniella Segura
Thu, April 13, 2023 

Courtesy of Michael Quinn/National Park Service./National Park Service


Eighteen California condors of an Arizona-Utah flock are suspected to have died from the same disease, according to wildlife officials.

Six condors of the Southwest California Condor Flock, which “moves throughout northern Arizona and southern Utah,” are confirmed to have died of highly pathogenic avian influenza, while an additional 12 are suspected to have died from the same disease, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in an April 13 news release.

Four more condors are receiving treatment, the agency said.

At the end of 2022, the Southwest flock had 116 individuals, according to the National Park Service, meaning 15% of the flock is suspected to have died from the disease.

The agency said it “will disclose and report all deceased condors in the Southwest Flock found on or after March 30, 2023, prior to necropsy and preliminary testing.”

Previously, on April 7, wildlife officials said three condors found dead in Arizona were confirmed to have died from the disease, McClatchy News previously reported. The first condor was seen showing signs of illness on March 9 by The Peregrine Fund.

The condor later died and tested positive for avian flu, which was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Service Laboratory on March 30, McClatchy News reported.

As of April 4, three birds were confirmed to have died from avian flu, the agency said.

The Peregrine Fund also caught five other birds that appeared to be ill and sent them to a wildlife rescue in Phoenix, according to the agency. One died shortly after arriving, while the other four were placed in quarantine to be tested.

There have been no reported cases of avian flu in “the other condor populations in California or Baja California, Mexico,” officials said.

The number of avian flu cases in birds rises during spring migration, officials said.

“HPAI is highly contagious in wildlife and can spread quickly,” according to the agency.

While the risk of avian flu is low for humans, infections can happen, the agency said.
What to know about California condors

“California condors are the largest land birds in North America,” according to NPS.

They were listed as endangered in 1967, NPS said.

Despite their endangered status, the bird’s population decreased and “dropped to a low of 22 individuals in the 1980s,” at which point all were trapped and “placed in captive breeding programs” to prevent extinction, according to NPS.

“Since 1992, captive-bred condors have been released at five different sites in western North America,” NPS said. “Since their reintroduction, condor numbers in the wild have slowly increased thanks to wild nesting and the release of captive-bred condors.”

At the end of 2022, there were 561 condors globally, NPS said.

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