Riots in France again: hundreds of thousands of French people take to the streets against Macron’s policy | Abroad

In Paris and Nantes, police have deployed tear gas and charges are being carried out. Protesters clashed with police. Several officers were injured. Social media shows that wheelie bins and cars are set on fire and windows of shops and banks are smashed in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse, among others. Dozens of protesters have been arrested.

Labor Day on May 1 is a national holiday in France. In recent years, more than a hundred thousand French people have taken to the streets at demonstrations on this day. The retirement age was recently raised by two years to 64 years. Trade unions have therefore called on people to once again take to the streets en masse. They hope that at least 1 million people will participate in the protests against the pension reforms this year. The government expects more than half a million participants throughout the country on Monday.

The United Nations Human Rights Council said it was concerned on Monday about police brutality in France, Le Monde reports. Denmark and Norway, among others, called on France to do more with the allegations of excessive police violence during demonstrations.

Flights to and from Dutch airports are facing problems due to the strike of French air traffic controllers. They will strike early Monday through Tuesday morning because of the controversial pension reform.

Several flights have to deal with delays, some are cancelled. This mainly concerns flights to and from France and Southern Europe. At Rotterdam The Hague Airport, a total of about 28 flights have a delay that can last thirty minutes to an hour. Especially trips to southern Europe are affected by the strike. “Almost all flights to the south have been delayed. This is expected to remain the case today,” said a spokeswoman. According to her, no flights have been canceled because of the strike. Flights to Southern Europe are also experiencing delays at Eindhoven Airport. A spokeswoman says that three flights to and from France and Spain have been cancelled.

At Schiphol, the strike has ‘minimal impact’, according to a spokesman for that airport. Three flights to Paris will not depart on Monday. He cannot say for sure whether this is due to the strike. However, according to him, the work stoppage causes flights to France to be delayed.