as a symbol of hope. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. in other news. the last three nuclear power stations in germany have ceased generating electricity as the country brings to an end its nuclear era. anti nuclear campaigners have welcomed the move, describing it as a triumph. but surveys show most germans oppose the closures, as they see nuclear power as cleaner than fossil fuels. new york city has appointed its first rat czar . she said she would take on the city s estimated two million rats by tackling litter and food waste and using new products to exterminate the rodents. now to france. it s been four years since the notre dame cathedral was nearly destroyed by fire. at the time, president macron s promise to have it rebuilt appeared optimistic. but it turns out that the restoration is on track for completion in late 2024. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield has the story. four years ago, the world
as french president. and he s currently out of the country in china. after yesterday s talks broke down, the unions placed the blame squarely at the door of the government. translation: we came | to demand the withdrawal of the pension reform on behalf of the millions of employees that have been mobilised for more than three months. the prime minister refused outright and chose to send us back into the streets. we chose to end this pointless meeting. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield has more on what to expect today. demonstrations once again over the country, lots of different towns and cities. in addition there are strikes and blockages outside sort of strategic economic sites like depots and so on. i think to say straightaway that the level of
against the government s pension reforms with some demonstrators clashing with riot police. people are angry after legislation to raise the retirement age in france from 62 to 64 was forced through by president emmanuel macron s government. 0ur paris correspondent lucy williamson sent this report. the temperature rose as the sun went down stop across france, fires burned like beliefs as bright as fever. protesters with their rocks and bottles disappearing in clouds of tear gas fired by riot police. in bordeaux and in paris. it took minutes for this peaceful protest to turn violent. hidden amongst the main demonstration, must protesters who are now taking on the police. running through the lines of police, the white and black elements of the white and black elements of the specialist units. rapid
over a million people took part in protests in the last week, leading to violent clashes on the margins of some demonstrations. there s a growing sense of crisis within the french government over its handling of the unpopular pension reforms and there have been fresh warnings of further violence. we can see live pictures from paris over the continuing protests, warnings of further violence although many of the demonstrations have been peaceful. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield explained what we can expect today. the problem is the political crisis created by the elections last year where he won but of course failed to get a majority in parliament. and a lot of people who voted for him in
in protests last week, leading to violent clashes. france has been in turmoil since the president announced a number of new laws, including raising the state retirement age from 62 to 64. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield joins me. it seems the protests show no signs of dampening down, calming down? triat of dampening down, calming down? tirrt really. if you look behind me we have another monster demonstration going through the middle of paris. it kicked off about half an hour ago with about 200 riot police are ahead of the cortege and we have the same usual noisy very good humoured demonstration filing past, which will continue to do so for another couple of hours. it is not the demonstration proper which are the issue, the fear is of the violence which tends to follow now after them