🔥 More than 149 police injured, 172 people arrested in French pension protests
Millions of people are protesting on the streets of Paris in a new show of rage against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform – protesters setting the steeets on fire and police retaliating with tear gas.
🔥 Bordeaux town hall has been set on fire as French protests continued over plans to raise the pension age. More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday, with 119,000 in Paris, according to figures from the interior ministry. Police fired tear gas at protesters in the capital and 80 people were arrested across the country. The demonstrations were sparked by legislation raising the retirement age by two years to 64.
👉 Courtesy: BBC
🔥How many revolutions did France have? It seems like that question should have a quick and easy answer, and it does: three. But, as with all things historical, there’s also a lengthy and complex answer: It depends.
“If revolution is a regime change involving collective physical force, then the key dates are 1789, 1830 and 1848,” said Peter Jones, a professor of French history at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The first revolt is the one we all know as the French Revolution, which ended with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette losing their heads. The second is usually called the July Revolution, which saw the House of Bourbon dethroned in favor of the House of Orléans. And the third is sometimes called the February Revolution or the French Revolution of 1848, which ended the Orléanists and brought in a period known as the Second Republic.
💭 Ewww la la! More than 5,000 TONS of stinking garbage is piled up around Paris, with streets smelling of rotting fish as strikes continue over Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms
Tension has been simmering over plans to increase retirement age from 62 to 64
The unpopular bill that would raise the retirement age has got a push forward
Uncollected garbage has piled up in Paris as workers go on strike amid plans
💭 My Note: I grew up with a huge tortoise that used to give me a ride. What a wonderful and peaceful animal!
🐢 Meet 190-year-old Jonathan who has lived through TWO World Wars and 25 US presidents (making this tortoise the oldest known living land animal on Earth)
Jonathan the Seychelles Giant Tortoise will enjoy a three-day birthday party.
He has lived on St Helena’s island in South Atlantic Ocean since 1882
The world’s oldest tortoise has turned 190 years old – and will celebrate for three days to mark his milestone.
Jonathan the Seychelles Giant Tortoise who has lived on St Helena’s island in the South Atlantic Ocean since 1882, has officially been named the oldest tortoise in the world.
He hatched in the Georgian era and is the oldest known living land animal on Earth and the oldest chelonian ever recorded.
Jonathan’s age is estimated but shell measurements documented from a photograph taken shortly after his arrival to St Helena show he was fully mature and at least 50 years old when he arrived from Seychelles.
Joe Hollins has helped look after Jonathan since he became St Helena’s vet.
Retired vet, Mr Hollins, said: ‘When you think, if he was hatched in 1832 – the Georgian era – my goodness, the changes in the world.
‘The world wars, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the many governors, kings and queens that have passed, it’s quite extraordinary.
‘And he’s just been here, enjoying himself.’
At the start of 2022 Jonathan achieved the Guinness World Records title for the world’s oldest living land animal and this month, he has also been named as the oldest tortoise ever.
Jonathan has spent the majority of his life on the British Overseas Territory, one of the world’s most remote islands.
He lives in the grounds of Plantation House alongside three much younger tortoises David, Emma and Fred.
He has witnessed more than 35 governors come and go from Plantation House and has seen the island introduce radio, telephones, TVs, internet, cars and an airport.
Mr Hollins said it has been a ‘privilege’ to look after the elderly animal, who he described as ‘magnificent’.
‘I do think he’s fabulous actually, he’s a great animal,’ he said.
‘And as a vet – what greater privilege is there than to be looking after the oldest known living land animal in the world? I mean, how often does that happen?
‘It is such a privilege to be able to care for this magnificent animal.’
To celebrate his 190th birthday, residents from across the island will be come together on Friday to honour Jonathan over three days at a birthday party at the Governor’s House.
Highlights will include a display of a range of posters celebrating Jonathan’s life, bearing pictures and messages from those who have visited him over the years.
On Saturday, a series of activities honouring his birthday will include a chat with the Governor and his wife as they feed Jonathan his favourite vegetables.
The event will be live streamed online from Plantation House so anyone from across the world can join in with the celebrations.
An animated video and song dedicated to celebrating Jonathan’s life will premiere on Sunday, and he will be given a ‘birthday cake’ – made entirely out of his favourite healthy foods.
A special stamp will also be on sale alongside other memorabilia which islanders will be able to win during novelty tortoise-themed games.