Bar Crobar

23 MARCH STRIKE IN PARIS: THE FRIGHT OF THE RESIDENTS OF A BUILDING HIT BY A RUBBISH BIN FIRE

Some people set fire to rubbish that had accumulated in the streets. The flames quickly spread to the front of a building.

The situation degenerated in a matter of minutes. On Thursday, during a demonstration against pension reform, some people deliberately set fire to some rubbish littering the rue Saint-Marc, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. The fire quickly spread to the front of the neighbouring building.

"We went to the window and saw that people were starting to burn rubbish bins," a local resident told BFMTV. "And it started to catch fire everywhere.

140 fires in Paris

The flames hit the wooden storefront on the ground floor of the building and quickly spread. "Suddenly, the flames exploded and lots of people gathered around", recalls a resident of a neighbouring building. "I thought I was going to go out and put the fire out, but the flames got so big so quickly that I couldn't."

In the street with their simple fire extinguishers, the mobile firefighters were unable to bring the flames under control themselves. People in the street then tried to remove the rubbish to prevent the fire from growing.

"We saw that the building was on fire, and we started clearing away the debris", reported an off-duty policewoman on the street. "We're trying to clear it away, we were only thinking of one thing: people. Get the people out."

Some of the building's residents left, fearing that the flames would spread to the entire building.

When the CRS arrived on the scene, they secured the street to allow a fire truck to arrive. It took the fire brigade around twenty minutes to bring the fire under control. The door to the ground floor flat had to be forced open to make sure no-one was inside.

A total of 140 fires were reported to have started in Paris on Thursday, during demonstrations against pension reform.

Text by BFMTV Damien Gourlet, Pierre Barbin with Laurène Rocheteau

The Taliban ask television channels to stop broadcasting series with women in them

The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has issued "religious directives" to television channels and journalists.

The Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has called on Afghan television stations to stop broadcasting series featuring women, as part of new "religious directives" broadcast on Sunday. "Television stations must avoid showing soap operas and soap operas in which women have appeared", says a document issued by the ministry to the media.

It also asks them to ensure that female journalists wear "the Islamic veil" on screen, without specifying whether this means a simple headscarf, already usually worn on Afghan television, or a more covering veil. "These are not rules, but religious directives", ministry spokesman Hakif Mohajir told AFP. Afghan television stations are also being urged to avoid programmes "opposed to Islamic and Afghan values", as well as those that insult religion or "show the prophet and his companions". This is the first time the ministry has attempted to regulate Afghan television since the Taliban seized power in mid-August.

Respect for "Islamic values

During their first reign, from 1996 to 2001, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, responsible for ensuring that the population respected "Islamic values" on a daily basis, was feared for its fundamentalism and the punishments it entailed. The Taliban had banned television, cinema and all forms of entertainment deemed immoral. People caught watching television were punished and their equipment destroyed; possession of a video recorder was punishable by public flogging. For a time, television sets could even be seen hanging from lampposts.

Overthrown in 2001, the Taliban returned to power last August in a country with a transformed media landscape after 20 years of Western-backed government. Over these two decades, the media sector has exploded, with dozens of private radio stations and television channels springing up. They offered new opportunities to women, who were not allowed to work or study under the Taliban in the 1990s. Today, although the Taliban are showing a more moderate face, they have still not allowed many women to return to work in the public services.

Classes for girls in secondary schools and public universities have not yet reopened in most of the country. At private universities, the Taliban have demanded that female students wear veils. Taliban fighters have also on several occasions beaten up journalists accused of covering "unauthorised" demonstrations by women.

Text Le Matin.ch (AFP)

#Striketober, "big resignation": 5 minutes to understand the unprecedented social unrest in the United States

From factories to hospitals and restaurants, a wave of strikes is sweeping the United States, demanding better pay and status. It's a movement that is boosting local unions and putting the issue of quality of work back at the heart of the debate.

The start of the new school year swept away by a historic strike in the United States. Battered by the pandemic and frustrated by their employers' profits, tens of thousands of American workers have taken strike action this autumn, demanding better working conditions. From factories to film sets, hospitals and the catering industry, these "Great Resignation" movements, supported by a fringe of the Democratic camp, are affecting all sectors. And they could well inspire neighbouring countries. We take a closer look.

What happened?

Strikes have been piling up in the United States for several weeks now. Since Thursday, 10,000 employees of tractor manufacturer John Deere have left their factories to take to the streets. This action joins those of 1,500 workers employed by cereal giant Kellogg's in Pennsylvania and 2,000 nurses at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, New York, who are demanding better working conditions.

Other sectors could in turn swell the ranks of strikers. Some 31,000 employees of the Kaiser Permanente healthcare group are preparing to stop work shortly in California. Anger is also spreading to Hollywood studios, where some crews were preparing to leave filming before a last-minute agreement was reached on working conditions.

As disparate as they are, these strikes, supported by the left wing of the Democrats behind the hashtag #Striketober, are demanding, depending on the sector, new recruitment, higher wages or, for some, "a guarantee that their jobs will not be relocated", explains Marie-Christine Bonzom, political scientist, journalist and specialist on the United States.

In what context?

Strikes may have intensified in recent weeks, but employees' frustrations are nothing new. "The pandemic was the trigger, but the dissatisfaction goes back a long way. It concerns low wages, company profits and the complicated access to social security, which depends on the employer", notes Nicole Bacharan, a historian specialising in the United States and author of "The Great Days that Changed America".

The end of the health crisis has seen an unprecedented wave of resignations. 4.3 million Americans have quit their jobs since August, according to data from the Department of Labour quoted by the Washington Post. This figure rises to more than 20 million if we count those who have left since April. For the most part, these departures have been in the sales and hospitality sectors, in jobs that are hard-working and often poorly paid.

All in all, the pandemic has reshuffled the deck for many workers. In all, 10 million jobs are thought to be unfilled across the country. A considerable lever for those about to hang up their boots. "Since employers can't find anyone to take on, employees are in a good position to negotiate pay rises or better status", Marie-Christine Bonzom points out.

What role for trade unions?

In decline since the late 1960s, trade unions now seem to be making a comeback in the country. President Joe Biden has made it one of his priorities to ensure that their rights are respected and to give them back their power. To date, the country has 11 % union members among its workers. A rate that is "low, but no higher than in France", notes Nicole Bacharan. Proof that the social struggle is gaining ground, employees of major firms such as Starbucks and Amazon have even tried to set up their own union in recent months. Sometimes in vain.

After all, trade union rights are radically different from those in France. "In France, union negotiations take place mainly on a sector-by-sector basis via collective agreements. Over there, everything is decided at company level, unit by unit. The right to join a union depends on a vote within the company", Marie-Christine Bonzom sums up.

While few Americans campaign for their rights, many do support the movement. "In the collective imagination, it's hard to associate the United States with the trade union struggle. But the unions have become much more popular in recent years. This support is now helping them to negotiate", points out Nicole Bacharan.

A domino effect?

Multiple strikes, a wave of resignations, a series of renegotiations... The movement of social anger and the labour shortage now extend beyond American borders. Germany is short of 400,000 skilled workers, according to Bloomberg. Similarly, China is reportedly facing mass resignations, with the emergence of a new generation of workers "disenchanted by prospects and put off by relatively low wages", notes the Washington Post.

For its part, France has been struggling for several months to recruit in the catering sector. Without talking about a worldwide strike, these successive observations testify to a "strong aspiration for better working conditions", according to Nicole Bacharan, for whom these mobilisations could lead to others. However, there is a nuance on the other side of the Atlantic: "For Americans, personal fulfilment cannot be detached from the value of work and professional success. In other words, strikes can happen on the spot, and the 35-hour week is not for tomorrow..." breathes Nicole Bacharan.

Text by le parisien.fr By Marie Campistron

The French Parliament adopts the law implementing the "health pass".

The day after another day of mobilisation by its opponents, the anti-Covid health pass was definitively adopted in France on Sunday evening. MPs and senators reached an agreement in principle on this controversial text.

The National Assembly ended the parliamentary marathon that began on Tuesday with a wide-ranging vote, with 156 votes in favour, from the majority and the right, 60 against, from the left and the Rassemblement National, and 14 abstentions.

The leader of the La France insoumise MPs, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, unsuccessfully put forward a final motion to reject the bill, denouncing the anti-Covid pass as "parole" and calling for "disobedience". Olivier Véran, the French Minister for Health, was a little provocative, welcoming the "new-found national unity" after a total of 60 hours of debate in both chambers.

Time limits

Shortly before, it was the right-wing-dominated Senate that had approved by 195 votes to 129, with 17 abstentions, the same text providing for an extended pass and compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers. In the joint committee, 14 deputies and senators reached an agreement (see also box) in the early evening, after almost four hours of meetings.

Therefore, after 15 November, the pass system can only be continued with a new vote by Parliament. Initially, checks will be carried out by the administrative police rather than the criminal justice system.

No redundancies for care workers

In addition, as the senators wished, it is the health insurance scheme that will first monitor the compulsory isolation of people infected with Covid-19, before the police intervene if necessary. "We couldn't treat French people like criminals", said Senator Hervé Marseille (Union Centrist).

Finally, there will be no dismissal for people who fail to comply with the vaccination obligation because of their profession, but their salary will be suspended. This point had been hotly debated.

Pass extended at the beginning of August

In a rare move, a last-minute government amendment authorising prefects to impose the pass in large shopping centres in a highly restricted manner was adopted at the last minute. However, the requirement to present the pass had been deleted by the Senate, a deletion subsequently approved by the Joint Committee.

The extended pass is due to come into effect at the beginning of August. Time is running out in the face of an unprecedented surge in infections in France linked to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19. The bill still has to pass through the Constitutional Council, to which Prime Minister Jean Castex and the left-wing party have referred the matter.

Text by Le monde agences/jop/vajo/vic

Tokyo 2021 Olympics: A woman tries to extinguish the Olympic flame with a water pistol

Opposed to the Olympic Games being held during the Covid epidemic, the 50-year-old was arrested.

OLYMPIC GAMES - The gesture is more symbolic than dangerous, but it is causing quite a stir in Japan. On Sunday 4 July, as the Olympic flame passed through the prefecture of Ibaraki, in the centre of the island of Honshū, a woman tried to extinguish it with a water pistol, as shown in our video at the top of the article.

She immediately justified this move by saying that she was opposed to the holding of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (postponed by one year, from 23 July to 7 August), while Japan is one of the richest countries lagging furthest behind when it comes to vaccination against covid-19.

Kayoko Takahashi, 53, an unemployed woman, was stopped after her gesture when she shouted: "I'm against the Olympic Games. Stop the Olympics". As the daily newspaper of record points out Asahi ShinbunThe authorities fear that the 50-year-old may have thrown a liquid other than water in the direction of the flame.

Like her, many Japanese people deplore the fact that the event is being held against the backdrop of a health crisis that is far from under control. At present, while part of Japan is living under extremely strict health restrictions, particularly Tokyo, which is in a virtual state of emergency, the contagiousness of the Delta variant and the resurgence in the number of cases are indeed worrying the population.

The Olympic Torch Relay in the streets of Tokyo, for example, will have to take place partly behind closed doors and has even been banned elsewhere in the country, but the sporting events should go ahead as normal, although the question of the public has not yet been settled. Although a maximum capacity of 10,000 people at each Olympic venue (within the limit of 50% of the venue's maximum capacity) has been decreed for the time being, the health situation could lead to this being revised downwards, or even to the Games being held without an audience.

Although Japan has been relatively spared by covid-19, with fewer than 15,000 deaths officially recorded since the beginning of 2020, its medical system has been severely tested. Above all, the vaccination campaign is taking a long time to get under way, with doses arriving in dribs and drabs, and only 10% of the population has already been fully vaccinated.

On Sunday, the Olympic torch relay in Ibaraki prefecture got off to a good start when it was led by Zico, a former Brazilian football star who became an icon in Japan by finishing his career there before coaching some of the biggest clubs and the national team.