The French prosecutors' actions are the latest to hit global banks over the dividend tax fraud scheme as similar investigations have been conducted in Germany and other European countries.
Jean-Baptiste Reddé has hoisted his giant, colourful signs in nearly every street protest for over a decade, embodying France’s enduring passion for demonstrations, and in the current dispute over Emmanuel Macron's push to increase the retirement age on full pension rights in order to fund the system, he says taxing the country’s rich would be more effective.
A 30-year-old man is in hospital in a critical condition after he was wounded to the head by a grenade fired by police during a demonstration by environmental activists against the building of a giant water reservoir for cereal farmers, when the very violent clashes left dozens of others injured among both police and demonstrators.
Several people among both demonstrators and police were left in a critical condition, and others less seriously injured, after clashes at a march in open countryside in north-west France against the building of giant water basins for cereal farmers which protestors say is stealing water away from environmentally positive uses.
Commenting on the postponing of the state visit to France by King Charles because of the disruption of protests over over pension reforms, Peter Ricketts, British ambassador to France between 2012 and 2016, said the planned banquet in the palace of Versailles would have been a 'particularly bad idea', with 'all kinds of echoes from the past going back to the revolution'.
An officer with France's elite intervention unit, the GIGN, was shot dead overnight Friday in French Guyana during a joint operation with armed forces against illegal gold digging, which is considered to be a major source of pollution of water systems in the overseas territory.
King Charles's state visit to France between Sunday and Wednesday has been called off by President Emmanuel Macron in face of major disruption caused by popular protests against his reform of the pensions system, and with unions calling for a major day of action on Tuesday.
A visit to France by the UK's King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, due to take place between next Sunday and Wednesday, is threatened with chaos as the continuing movement against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms sees unions refusing to prepare his red-carpet reception, while a further day of protest action has been called for Tuesday, the day of his planned visit to Bordeaux, where protestors on Thursday burned down the historic wooden door of its city hall.
