Videos of the Day: Macron to Speed up Tax Cuts, Raise Wages in Response to ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests

Epoch Newsroom
12/10/2018
Updated:
12/11/2018

On Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron announced wage rises for the poorest workers and tax cuts for pensioners.

“It was at first an anger against a tax, and the prime minister responded by canceling and removing all the increases scheduled for the start of next year. But this anger is deeper. I feel it is justified in many ways,” Macron said.

But Macron refused to reinstate a wealth tax and to back down on his reform agenda, which he said would proceed in 2019 with overhauls of pensions, unemployment benefits and public expenditures.

His response came 48 hours after protesters fought street battles with riot police, torching cars and looting shops - the fourth weekend of protests for the “yellow vest” movement which started as a revolt against high fuel costs.

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China’s Huawei Executive Seeks Bail in US Extradition Case

Meng Wanzhou, the detained CFO of Huawei, is seeking bail in Canada on concerns for her health.

However, Canadian prosecutors have argued she can’t be trusted.

Meng is fighting to be released after her arrest earlier this month in Vancouver.

She faces extradition to the United States. Court documents showed U.S. authorities accuse her of misleading banks and putting those banks at risk of breaking U.S. sanctions on Iran.

They allege she was trying to use those banks to move money out of Iran.

Meng faces charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, with each charge carrying a maximum prison sentence of 30 years. Meng denies the charges.

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NASA’s Voyager 2 enters interstellar space

NASA announced on Monday that the second of its two Voyager probes had entered interstellar space.

Data obtained from Voyager 2 found that the spacecraft exited the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun, known as the heliosphere on November 5. Voyager 1 crossed the same boundary in 2012.

Suzanne Dodd, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Director for the Interplanetary Network Directorate, said the Voyagers are ageing, requiring scientists to turn off some onboard instruments to keep them operating. But she said she hoped they could go on for another nine years.

Voyager 2 is currently 11 billion miles from Earth and information takes about 16.5 hours to travel from the spacecraft to Earth.

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Police Dog Can’t Quite Get Used to Winter Boots

It’s December and that means the weather can be fierce, especially in South Dakota.

That’s why members of the Rapid City Police Department decided to buy new snow boots for this guy.

Meet Jary, a Belgian Malinois, who joined the team in 2016.

As you can see, he’s a little unsure about his newest accessory!

The officers encouraged Jary, who “eventually” seems to get the hang of it.