Thousands of French parents, teachers, university students and union members rallied today in solidarity with the nation’s high school students, who have spent two weeks blockading schools to protest understaffing, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings. Marches were held in more than 40 cities, drawing roughly 256,000 participants, officials said. The largest crowds massed in Paris, where thousands of students and their supporters marched between two of the city’s main squares.
France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, indicated that his government was taking their demands seriously. The student demonstrations have been the most vivid manifestation of broader grievances across France. The chaos, our Paris bureau chief writes, can be traced to the country’s two-decade-long struggle to fund its state, now exacerbated by high borrowing costs, surging fuel prices and political uncertainty.
Jockeying is already underway to replace President Emmanuel Macron. Recent polls show that the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, would beat all her rivals in presidential elections next spring. Our newsletter The World explains France’s polycrisis. For more: See video of the protests.
Cornell picks prominent former prosecutor to lead investigation. Cornell University announced today that it had selected Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general, to lead an independent internal review of the school’s handling of a former student’s claim that she was raped at a fraternity party in 2024. The move comes a day after thousands of students and faculty members gathered on campus for a protest.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing