French President Emmanuel Macron said protests not organized by trade unions would be banned, as the Élysée braces for further unrest ahead of demonstrations planned for Saturday.
French cities have been shaken in recent weeks by vandalism and looting sparked by cost-of-living demonstrations, amid a broader crisis besieging the country’s lame-duck centrist government that has spiked French bond yields.
In the face of deficits and discontent, Europe’s “centrists seem out of ideas,” The Economist argued, while far-right and -left parties seize opportunity from chaos.
“Politics is not a spectator sport,” the founder of a new Spanish political party wrote, calling for “a center that stops being the guardian of the status quo and runs towards the future at speed.”
— Brendan Ruberry