Did you miss the news this early morning? We’ve put together a recap to help you see things more clearly.
New mobilization this Thursday, February 16 before the vote in the Assembly
Before “putting a stop” to France on March 7, the unions are organizing their fifth day of mobilization against the pension reform on Thursday to maintain pressure on the deputies whose debates in the Assembly could ignore the postponement of the legal age by Friday midnight. In the middle of the school holiday period, with the exception of Ile-de-France and Occitanie, participation in strikes is expected to drop sharply. Disruptions are expected to be limited in transport, with 4 out of 5 TGVs in circulation and normal traffic in the Paris metro. Nevertheless, 30% of flights at Paris-Orly will be canceled. And in energy, the hydroelectric power station of Grand’Maison (Isère), the most powerful in France, was on strike on Wednesday. After a Saturday which mobilized 963,000 demonstrators according to the authorities, the crowd should be less. The police say they expect between 450 and 650,000 people in the street, including 40 to 70,000 in Paris.
In the Assembly, the Nupes still withdraws amendments to move forward on Article 7
Will the deputies finally have time to debate on article 7 of the text on the pension reform? The answer is still totally uncertain, but a new step was taken on Wednesday evening in this direction. The Nupes has indeed decided to withdraw many amendments, with the stated aim of examining by the end of the week the decried article providing for the decline of the starting age to 64 years. LFI withdrew “more than a thousand” amendments at the end of the evening and the Socialists “90% of theirs”, indicated a parliamentary source. The day before, the National Assembly rejected article 2 concerning the establishment of a senior index in companies, intended to encourage the employment of older employees. At the end of the session on Wednesday at midnight, however, there were still nearly 11,000 amendments on the counter in total, while the examination of the text at first reading must end on Friday at midnight in the Assembly.
David Malpass to step down as World Bank president
A twist at the World Bank. Its president David Malpass announced on Wednesday that he would leave his post by June 30, a year in advance, in the midst of reform of this Bretton Woods institution, and at a time when it is in a hurry to do so. more on the climate issue. The reasons for this choice were not specified. David Malpass, 66, is the 13th president of the World Bank. Proposed by Donald Trump, this American took the reins in April 2019, for a period of five years. “During (his) tenure, he focused on finding stronger policies to increase economic growth, reduce poverty, improve living standards and reduce the public debt burden,” the institution said.