World News by Wild Rose

Charles Pellegrin is pleased to welcome Nicolas Vercken, Director of Advocacy for Oxfam France. France’s tax inequality is under scrutiny and Oxfam is challenging the state over its constitutional obligations. “It’s not so much about how much the percentage of tax and the burden of our tax system, it’s who you tax and for what,” explains Vercken. As France confronts mounting fiscal pressures and contentious budget negotiations, Oxfam France is challenging the constitutional foundations of the country's tax system, arguing that successive fiscal reforms have disproportionately benefited the wealthiest while exacerbating economic inequality. Their legal initiative seeks to establish whether the French state has failed in its constitutional obligations, potentially placing fiscal inequality under judicial scrutiny for years to come.

Anti-terrorism prosecutors said a 14-year-old involved in a shooting that wounded teaching staff at a school in the south of France earlier this week was acting out of revenge for bullying. The teenager was charged with attempted murder and remanded in custody Wednesday.

The shock from turmoil in French debt has yet to show up in the country’s market for short-term funding, signaling a broad credit crisis is off the cards for now.

Far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday that France could no longer afford to fund Ukraine, citing the country's high deficit and weak economic growth.

Some high schools in France remained closed on Wednesday, a day after tens of thousands of people joined rallies across the country to support protesting students. On Saturday, national demonstrations against the spiralling cost of living are to take place, and unions and student groups see the two protest currents fusing together.

The world's most-visited museum "will eventually have to close its doors to the public" unless the French state steps in to finance a major overhaul, Louvre director Christophe Leribault told Le Figaro on Wednesday, in the latest dire warning about the creaking institution hit by a string of scandals including water leaks, ticket frauds and a high-profile jewel heist.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that France's student protesters are being "exploited" by political forces months ahead of the country's presidential elections. Hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon participated in a Paris demonstration while hard-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen voiced support for police deployed to protests.

Niger on Tuesday condemned the expulsion of two of its security agents from France, calling it a “serious and unacceptable act of ingratitude.”

Student protesters in France have told the BBC's James Waterhouse that they will continue to take action until change has been made. The protests have now entered their fourth week.

Tens of thousands of people rallied across France on Tuesday in support of protesting high school students, with unions putting turnout at 480,000, as anger over school conditions and alleged police violence fuels a growing movement challenging President Emmanuel Macron’s government ahead of planned cost-of-living demonstrations on Saturday.

France seizes tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet

A 14-year-old pupil suspected of shooting and wounding a headmaster and teacher near Marseille may have been involved in an online network associated with the glorification of mass killers known as the True Crime Community, prompting France’s anti-terror prosecutor to take over the case.

More than 500 shops across France were hit in a major cyberattack on freezers, which caused tonnes of food to perish.

French students are protesting overcrowded classes and timetables, teacher shortages, and calling for reforms or the abolition of Parcoursup, the university admissions platform. Although school blockades have declined, incidents continue around some high schools. A demonstration has now started in Paris, from Place d’Italie towards Les Invalides, as Claire Paccalin reports from the scene.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined demonstrating high school students in France as protests continue to grow.

As protests nationwide protests rage, activists warn proposed law could lead to more impunity.

The exposure of France’s banking sector to the nation’s public debt remains limited and doesn’t pose stability risks even as yields on government bonds surge, the country’s top financial watchdog said Tuesday.

French presidential candidate Raphael Glucksmann declared Monday that the "battle begins" as he launched a bid to unite a fragmented left ahead of next year's election. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Damien Lecomte, Political Scientist and Researcher at Paris Pantheon Sorbonne University, explains that Glucksmann has to be careful not to be seen as "the new Macron, because that is not a winning card".

Renoir art heist suspects were planning 'imminent' second robbery, prosecutors say.

French presidential candidate Raphaël Glucksmann said Monday that the "battle begins" to revive the country's divided left ahead of the 2027 election. The EU lawmaker was elected Sunday as the centre-left candidate with more than 66 percent of the vote.

The iconic Marché des Enfants-Rouges in Paris was ravaged by fire overnight. Adored by locals and tourists alike, it was believed to be the oldest food market in Paris. There were no casualties, but the market’s vendors have lost everything, and the history is irreplaceable. Details by Charli James.

Officials say a staff member disarmed the suspect, who hid a hunting shotgun in a guitar case, before police arrived.

TotalEnergies SE will continue to bear down on pump prices in France through the current oil crisis, as it participates in a government-led release of strategic diesel reserves to further ease consumer costs, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said.

French police detained a 14-year-old suspected of opening fire Monday on his head teacher and a teacher with a hunting gun that he hid in a guitar case, wounding both in a rare school shooting, prosecutors said. A staff member at the Joseph Lakanal Middle School in Aubagne, east of Marseille, disarmed the boy after he fired multiple shots while roaming on two floors of the school, prosecutors said. Police then took him into custody. The education minister said the drama highlights the rise of...

The historic Marché des Enfants-Rouges in central Paris was gutted by fire early on Monday. The market in the Marais neighbourhood is the oldest covered market in the French capital, dating back to 1615, and is also a listed building. Firefighters say the blaze has been brought under control but that the premises have been severely damaged. Details by Caitlin Brown.

With just six months to go to presidential polls in France, a coalition of centre left parties have chosen their candidate… It's EU lawmaker, Raphael Glucksmann. The 46 year old tells voters he stands for a break with Macronism, a break with the far left of candidate Jean Luc Melenchon and that he's the candidate who can defeat the far right… though opinion polls suggest that in a second round run off he would not beat far right candidate Marine Le Pen.

Student unions in France are hailing what they see as a major concession from the French government after more than two weeks of often violent nationwide student protests: the urgent deployment of some 3,000 supply teachers to schools with the greatest staffing needs. But where exactly are these teachers coming from? And will the move be enough to quell fresh protests, especially amid a renewed debate about overzealous policing tactics? 

In France, a primary organised by the opposition Socialists and their centre-left allies held this Sunday has resulted in a clear winner. He is Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament and founder of the “Place Publique” party. He emerges now, at age 46, as a major figure in the election campaign for the French Presidency. That election will be held in April. Story by Nicholas Rushworth.

Two teaching staff were shot and wounded at a school in Aubagne near Marseille Monday morning, French Education Minister ‌Édouard Geffray said. A police source said that a 14-year-old boy had been arrested in connection to the incident, adding that there did not seem to be any link to the student protests that have swept across the country in recent weeks. 

It’s been a week of vigils, protests and political upheaval – from Israel, where three years after the Hamas-led attacks, former hostages and mourners called for accountability over the failures of October 7th, as questions grow over the stalled path to peace in Gaza; to France, where mass demonstrations over chronic underfunding and poor conditions have drawn students, unions and hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets, just months ahead of a presidential election. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has made the housing crisis the centrepiece of a high-stakes electoral gamble, as protests intensify following the death of a pensioner whose eviction helped ignite the movement. And in the UK, questions remain over a suspected Iranian plot targeting US aircraft at RAF Fairford, after American B-1 bombers were hastily withdrawn amid warnings of a serious and immediate threat.