Hundreds of thousands of workers, students and pharmacists staged strikes and demonstrations across France on Thursday against looming budget cuts, intensifying pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and his new prime minister.
Teachers, train drivers, hospital staff and pharmacists joined the nationwide walkouts, while high school students blocked school entrances in Paris and other cities. Metro services in the capital were reduced to rush-hour operations, and regional train traffic was heavily disrupted.
“Workers are currently so despised by this government and by Macron that it can’t continue like this,” said Fred, a bus driver and CGT union representative at a rally in Paris. A teacher, Gaetan Legay, added: “I am here to defend public services … to demand that public money goes back into services rather than to large companies or in tax gifts to the ultra-rich.”
Unions are demanding the scrapping of austerity plans left over from the previous government, more spending on public services, higher taxes on the wealthy, and the reversal of pension changes that extended working life. An Interior Ministry source estimated up to 800,000 people could take part in the day’s protests.
France’s budget deficit last year was nearly double the EU’s 3% ceiling. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, appointed after parliament ousted François Bayrou last week over a proposed €44 billion (about $47 billion) spending squeeze, has yet to clarify whether he will pursue those cuts but has signalled a willingness to compromise.
Unions have vowed continued mobilisation unless major changes are made. “The workers we represent are angry,” they said in a joint statement, calling the fiscal measures “brutal” and “unfair.”
The strikes extended beyond schools and transport. Pharmacists said up to 98% of pharmacies could close, EDF reported a 1.1-gigawatt reduction in nuclear output at its Flamanville reactor, and farmers’ unions blocked roads near Toulon.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said police had dismantled blockades at bus depots in Paris and warned that up to 8,000 agitators might seek to provoke clashes. Some 80,000 officers were deployed nationwide with riot units, drones and armoured vehicles. Police reported more than 20 arrests by midday.
The disruption also delayed plans to move the 70-metre Bayeux Tapestry, a UNESCO-listed artefact depicting the 1066 Norman invasion, which is due to be loaned to Britain.
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French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday (25 November) that France, together with other European Union member states, will finalise a mechanism in the coming days to provide financial support to Ukraine, using frozen Russian assets as a key component.
French police arrested four further suspects on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the audacious Louvre jewel heist last month, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
A major fire continues to rage at a warehouse in Southall, west London, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky hours after it first broke out.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in north-eastern Ethiopia erupted on Sunday for the first time in over 12,000 years, before halting on Monday, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.
Cameras from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) on Saturday (22 November) captured Hawaii's Kilauea volcano spewing flowing lava from its crater in its latest eruption.
Italy captured a remarkable third consecutive Davis Cup title on Sunday, with Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli securing singles victories in a 2-0 triumph over Spain in Bologna.
U.S. President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he plans to speak directly with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro according to Axios, as Washington designated him as the head of a terrorist organisation on Monday. A claim Maduro denies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has once again expressed strong support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, condemning foreign interference and criticising U.S. actions in the region.
Galatasaray suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the fifth round of the UEFA Champions League.
Beijing on Tuesday denied claims that it “detained or harassed” a resident from the disputed India-China border region at Shanghai airport, while reaffirming its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as Zangnan.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region erupted on Sunday morning (23 November), covering nearby villages in ash.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that Ukraine needs “more support now” and confirmed that the UK will send additional air defence missiles in the coming weeks.
On Monday (24 November), the U.S. formally designated Venezuela’s “Cartel de los Soles” as a foreign terrorist organisation and imposed additional terrorism-related sanctions on its members, including President Nicolás Maduro and other senior officials.
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