hello, welcome to bbc news. we start once again in france because we have seen big numbers taking to the streets. the 11th day of mass protest against the pension age in france. some of the pictures from streets in the centre of the capital. a meeting between the prime minister and labour unions failed to break the deadlock yesterday. france s constitutional council will decide next week on the validity of the government s move after the change was rammed through parliament with no vote. those are the live pictures. let s speak to our correspondent hugh schofield who is on the streets near the protests in paris. we have seen deadlock between the government and protesters. yes. government and protesters. yes, still deadlocked government and protesters. yes, still deadlocked and government and protesters. ye: still deadlocked and another demonstration on this 11th day of action. the first one was back in mid january and i have reported on every single one of them. it s pret
welcome to the programme. we start in france big numbers have taken to the streets again the 11th day of mass protests against the change in pension age in france. let me show you some live pictures, already some debris and lines of riot police stacked up. i have been watching pictures of small charges by those police to push some of the protesters back. this is right in the centre of paris, the 11th day of these mass protests that have spoiled over the last two and a half months as so many people protest against the change in pension age, making it up to 64 from 62. large numbers on the streets again. a meeting between the prime minister and labour unions failed to break the deadlock yesterday. our paris correspondent hugh schofield is on the streets of paris and joins me now. there is deadlock, you have protesters continuing to voice their concern about the change and the government insistent there will be no step down in terms of what they are laying out. no step down
bring russia to its senses . that s the message the french president emmanuel macron has delivered on thursday to the man who can, maybe, influence vladimir putin, the chinese leader xi jinping. applying pressure on ukraine isn t an an easy sell after years of worsening relations between the west and china, and president xi s recent visit to moscow. here s some of what president macron had to say. decades of peace in europe. i know i can count on you to bring russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table. but we need to find a lasting peace. that is to say, a peace that respects internationally recognised borders and avoids any form of escalation. what i meant to say was applying russia, not on ukraine. the president of the european commission is also in bejing with emmanuel macron in what s being framed by some as a good cop bad cop scenario. with ursula von der leyen taking the tough stance. we also count on china not to provide any military equipment dir
the front lines. maybe it is not promising. the front lines. maybe it is not promising- the front lines. maybe it is not ”romisin. ~ ., ., ~ promising. what do you think the russians are promising. what do you think the russians are fighting promising. what do you think the russians are fighting for? - promising. what do you think the russians are fighting for? right l russians are fighting for? right now? well. russians are fighting for? right now? well. there russians are fighting for? right now? well. there are - russians are fighting for? e grit now? well. there are different russians who will fight. and they have different goals, and different understanding of the situation. some are fighting because they are told to fight. people who do not want to carry any responsibility for their own decisions, which is the responsibility of higher levels, so the auto to fight and they do that. loosely professional military. others, mobilised people, they think they are fi
with an independent study into the british monarchy s links to the slave trade. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it s newsday. it s six in the morning in singapore and 6pm in washington, where the white house is releasing seven in the morning and 7pm. a report which says little more could have been done to prevent the taliban takeover of afghanistan. the review, commissioned by president biden, does admit the us should have begun evacuating kabul earlier. a spokesman blamed the chaotic us withdrawal in august 2021 on a deal donald trump did with the taliban. transitions matter, that s the first lesson learned here, and the incoming administration wasn t afforded much of one. thus, president biden s choice was stark either withdraw all our forces or resume fighting with the taliban. he chose the former. that s the picture from the white house. i spoke to a foreign policy fellow earlier in washington, who explained the significance of this announcement.