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He promised to listen more, and to involve grassroots activists in finding practical solutions to move to a low-carbon economy without ruining poorer households. And he opened an escape hatch from the fuel tax increases that ignited the nationwide protests, saying duty on gasoline could be adjusted if world oil prices surge, in order to cushion the blow to motorists.When the French decide they have had enough, they take action...Macron might want to reflect on the fates of some of his predecessors.
"I hear the anger," the newly humble Macron told a conference on the transition to clean energy. "Our answers have been too abstract ... I'm determined to recognize and take account of all the feelings and resentments expressed in this crisis."
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Whether this mixture of determination and contrition will be enough to end weekly protests that have mobilized up to 280,000 people and drawn broad public support was not immediately clear. The first reactions were predictably negative. Protesters said Macron is still out of touch.
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Despite widely applauded programs to fight poverty, reform hospital care, shake up vocational training and improve schools, the label "president of the rich" has stuck, along with a reputation for arrogance. Unemployment remains stubbornly high at 9 percent, although job creation and company registrations are the highest for a decade.
Macron's policies are seen as favoring the urban, globalized classes at the expense of left-behind provincials. The diesel tax hike, imposed in the name of saving the planet, was the last straw.
A nameless CIA officer writing for Politico has absolved the Guardian of any journalistic malpractice after it ran a story about alleged meetings between Julian Assange and Paul Manafort, because "Russia." Twitter is not amused.
Greenwald delivered a knockout blow to the Guardian's credibility:
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