News of the World

[kyonides]

France Burns: Macron Signs Pension Reform into Law as Paris Riots

Controversial pension reforms drawn up by the French government have finally been signed into law by President Emmanuel Macron, despite riots breaking out in Paris and beyond on Thursday and Friday.

Protesters had been hoping that the country’s Constitutional Court would shoot the legislation down or force it to go to referendum, with many arguing that the nature of the bill breached the French constitution.

However, according to a report by Le Figaro, the legal body ruled that the vast majority of points contained in the law were indeed constitutional.

Judges instead only struck out a few far less controversial elements of the bill, some of which were even added in a desperate attempt to place the country’s opposition.

The Parisian public responded to the news with spontaneous protests, some of which reportedly devolved into rioting, with over 100 people being arrested by police in relation to unrest in the city.

Seemingly unperturbed by the violence, Marcon quickly proceeded to make the bill official, signing the reforms into law early on Saturday morning.

Russia Identifies NATO-Member Norway
as a ‘Hostile’ State After Expulsions, Vows ‘Tough Response’

Norway declared 15 Russian diplomats persona non grata on Thursday, foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt (above, left) saying it had discovered the individuals were actually “intelligence officers” that were either handlers running other spies, or were “specialists” actively intercepting communications. Removing the group had considerably impacted Russia’s ability to spy on Norway, the government said.

Russia itself responded to the expulsion with characteristic bluster and bombast, declaring that in removing Russian citizens Norway had revealed itself to be a hostile state and that repercussions would follow.

The Russian foreign ministry immediately threatened an “appropriate response” after the news emerged on Thursday, before cranking up the rhetoric with a blast from the ministry’s spokesman Maria Zakharova (above, right) on Friday, who said the move was a “serious blow” to relations between the countries which share a long land border in northern Europe.

“Norway confirms its status as a country hostile to Russia”, she said, with the Kremlin official promising a “tough response”. Zakharova blamed a campaign of “fake news” and “disinformation” in the Norwegian media which she said had been coordinated by intelligence agencies to undermine Russian-Norwegian relations.

Entire Leadership of Trudeau Foundation Resigns amid Chinese Donor Scandal

The president and CEO of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, along with its entire board of directors, resigned on Tuesday blaming “politicization” in the aftermath of bombshell reports the Foundation had taken donations from Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin intended to influence the government of Trudeau’s son, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“In recent weeks, the political climate surrounding a donation received by the Foundation in 2016 has put a great deal of pressure on the Foundation’s management and volunteer Board of Directors, as well as on our staff and our community,” the Foundation said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The circumstances created by the politicization of the Foundation have made it impossible to continue with the status quo, and the volunteer Board of Directors has resigned, as has the President and CEO,” the statement continued. “We would like to thank Pascale Fournier for her work as President and CEO over the past five years, as well as all the members of the Board of Directors.”

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is a Canadian taxpayer-funded organization that describes itself as “a gateway for bold, cutting-edge doctoral researchers to become Engaged Leaders who have meaningful impact in their communities and institutions.” It is named after the current prime minister’s father, a radical leftist and former prime minister himself.

Japan’s PM escapes explosion unharmed after suspected attack

The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has escaped unhurt after he was apparently targeted by an explosive device on Saturday morning. It comes less than a year after the country’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was shot dead while making a campaign speech.

Kishida was safely evacuated after the incident, while a suspect – named by Japanese media as Ryuji Kimura, 24, a resident of Hyogo prefecture – was arrested at the scene, reports said.

Kishida was visiting Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture, western Japan, to support his ruling Liberal Democratic party’s candidate in a local election when a device exploded.

TV footage showed what appeared to be a pipe- or smoke-bomb flying through the air in Kishida’s direction moments before he was due to start his speech. He was shielded by security personnel, while a video clip appeared to show a fisherman tussling with the suspect.

Kishida was seen standing with his back to the crowd in TV footage. When members of his security detail suddenly pointed to the ground near him, he turned around, looking alarmed. The camera quickly switched to the crowd as several people, including uniformed and plainclothes police officers, converged on the suspect, who was wearing a white surgical mask and holding what appeared to be a long silver tube.

As they collapsed on top of the man and tried to remove the tube from his hands, a large explosion was heard near where Kishida had been standing. The crowd scattered in panic as police dragged the man away.

The explosion sent out plumes of white smoke. Footage and photos from the scene showed a silver, pipe-like object on the ground, but it was not immediately clear whether it had caused the blast.

Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said no one was injured in the attack, and Kishida was taken to the Wakayama prefectural police headquarters.

When he resumed his campaign speeches, Kishida said: “Police are investigating the details of the loud explosive sound at the previous speech venue. I am sorry for causing concern to many people. We are in the middle of an important election for our country. We must carry on together.”