King Charles postpones state visit to France amid pension reform turmoil
Global News
The trip has been postponed indefinitely as France grapples with widespread protests over pension reforms, putting a damper on the new monarch's debut on the international stage.
King Charles III’s state visit to France has been postponed indefinitely amid widespread protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms, putting a damper on the new monarch’s debut on the international stage.
Charles and his wife, Camilla, will still travel to Germany on Wednesday in what was scheduled to be the second leg of his first overseas trip since ascending the throne in September.
The original six-day visit to France and Germany, the two biggest countries in the European Union, was designed to highlight efforts to rebuild relations between Britain and its neighbors after six years of squabbling over Brexit. But the prospect of Charles being confronted by protesters and piles of garbage in the streets of Paris forced officials in France and Britain to rethink their plans.
“The king and queen consort’s state visit to France has been postponed,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office said in a statement. “This decision was taken with the consent of all parties, after the president of France asked the British government to postpone the visit.”
Buckingham Palace said another date would be found.
“Their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found,” the palace said in a statement.
French labor unions have called for a day of nationwide protests and strikes on Tuesday in protest at Macron’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. That is the day when the king had been due to travel to the western city of Bordeaux, with much ceremony and the high levels of security, and the protests would have complicated his travel.
Charles and Camilla will now start their first state visit on Wednesday in Germany, where they will be welcomed with military honors by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate.
Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through a plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, pausing demands for a debt limit increase
Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades.
The driver of the car was arrested, said German news agency dpa, citing unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The attack took place around 9:50 a.m. on the last day of school before Christmas at the Precko Elementary School in Zagreb.
The charges filed against Yaoning “Mike” Sun followed those against a former aide to two New York governors, Linda Sun, in September.
Putin used the tightly choreographed event, which lasted over 4 hours, to reinforce his authority and demonstrate a sweeping command.
The Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at 4.75 per cent with new data showing inflation rising to 2.6 per cent, further above the bank's two per cent target.
A U.K. police force went to court to claim the money, held in seven frozen bank accounts, from the Tates and a woman identified only as J.
The suspect was described as an Uzbek citizen recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services.
A Texas-based company is pulling several of its products off the shelves after the FDA discovered a potentially deadly ingredient in product samples.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed as he left for his office. His assistant also died.