WYWS: Macron pushes back, Gillibrand joins presidential hopefuls
Good morning. Here are a couple of stories from the overnight news desk. Have a happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Paris wakes up to a violent hangover as Macron vows strong action: Paris awoke to scenes of destruction on the Champs Elysees on Sunday following another Saturday of Yellow Vest-led protests that turned violent. Some 200 individuals are in custody, BFM TV reported, citing Paris prosecutors. About 80 shops on the French capital’s iconic avenue were damaged, with several cases of arson and looting, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Jean-Noel Reinhardt, president of the committee of the Champs Elysees. It was the 18th consecutive Saturday of Yellow Vest protests. French President Emmanuel Macron — who cut his ski holiday short following a tour of Africa — vowed on Twitter Saturday evening that “strong decisions” were coming to prevent more violence. Macron said some individuals — dubbed “black blocs” by French police forces — were taking advantage of the protests by the Yellow Vest grassroots movement to “damage the Republic, to break, to destroy.” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Twitter that those who excused or encouraged such violence were complicit in it.
James Porter, of Manchester, N.H., smiles as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., chats with his 8-year-old daughter, Alice during a campaign meet-and-greet, Friday, March 15, 2019, at To Share Brewing in Manchester, N.H.
Gillibrand in 2020 Democratic race as full-fledged candidate: New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand formally joined the 2020 White House race on Sunday and previewed the hard line she will take against President Donald Trump by announcing a rally outside one of his signature Manhattan properties. She had spent more than a month travelling around the country to gauge support for a run. Her announcement that she was joining the dozen-plus candidates who want to challenge Trump came in a nearly three-minute video produced by her campaign and released early in the morning. She says the national anthem poses this question: “Will brave win?” “Well, it hasn’t always, and it isn’t right now,” she says. “Brave doesn’t pit people against each other. Brave doesn’t put money over lives. Brave doesn’t spread hate. Cloud truth. Build a wall. That’s what fear does.”
Hungary leader grapples with EU as corruption concerns rise: As the Hungarian prime minister’s conflicts with the European Union appear headed to a breaking point, calls are increasing for greater scrutiny of his government’s spending of the bloc’s funds. An opposition lawmaker in Hungary has gathered more than 470,000 signatures to pressure Prime Minister Viktor Orban into joining the budding European Public Prosecutor’s Office as Orban’s Fidesz party may be suspended or expelled this coming week from the main centre-right group in the European Parliament. The EU has allocated Hungary 25 billion euros ($28.3 billion) in the 2014-2020 budget period, but critics say funds are often spent on overpriced or unnecessary projects padding the pockets of the allies of Orban, whose anti-EU campaigns over migration policies and national sovereignty have gotten him into trouble with European People’s Party.
While You Were Sleeping is an early morning roundup of news from the overnight desk. You can get news, sports and more anytime at montrealgazette.com.