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Police and protesters clashed in Paris and other French cities on Saturday, with smoke from fires and tear gas filling the air at demonstrations nationwide against high prices, ahead of elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron. "Two fires broke out in Place de la République," reports France 24's Antonia Kerrigan from the ground.
In France, a child is reportedly raped or sexually assaulted every three minutes. In a bid to put an end to sexual and gender-based violence, French MPs have voted for a comprehensive bill that could turn into law by the end of the year; it has yet to be debated by the more conservative Senate at the end of the month. FRANCE 24's Aurore Dupuis, who made the documentary "Broken children", tells us how this new law could help improve the situation for women and children in France.
The National Assembly overwhelmingly passed the so-called “comprehensive” bill against sexist and sexual violence on Tuesday. The focus now shifts to the more conservative Senate, with the bill’s supporters fearing that its main advances could be watered down, even though the government insists it will act as guarantor of the bill’s ambition. Sponsored in the Assembly by eight political groups, from the Communists to Les Républicains (LR), the text was adopted by 503 votes to 0. Only the LFI (La France Insoumise) deputies abstained, denouncing in particular the removal of measures aimed at protecting foreign women. FRANCE 24's Monte Francis reports.
France’s National Assembly is voting on a comprehensive bill to tackle gender-based and sexual violence, following public outrage over the rape and murder of 11-year-old Lyhanna. The proposed law includes stronger investigations, specialised police units and courts, and dedicated support for child victims. However, campaigners and lawmakers warn that funding remains uncertain, while several measures have been dropped over budget concerns.
A French policeman was charged Tuesday with violence for firing a tear gas grenade at close range at a 14-year-old student during high school protests that have shaken the country. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Fanny Gallois, Head of the Freedoms Program, Amnesty International, says that "these cases of serious injuries related to the use of so-called less-lethal weapons commonly used in France are specifically worrying because we've been asking for their ban for years" adding that "the kind of weapons that are being used and the kind of injuries caused are extremely worrying for a country such as France".
It’s a protest movement that a broke, lame-duck French government did not see coming. Civil servants this Tuesday joining high schoolers now in their third week of picketing over long-deteriorating classroom conditions. The usual recipe for wearing down movements in France has recently been to match eventual violence with a heavy hand, the escalation turning the silent majority against the protesters as was the case with the pre-Covid Yellow Vests movement.
A 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday picking up a police grenade amid nationwide school protests demanding better funding and classroom conditions. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Ariane Bogain, Senior Lecturer in French Politics at Northumbria University, says that "there is a definite issue with violence and we need to ask why there is this unidimensional reaction which is aggressive, which is riot police, which is repressive".
Between 400-500 schools across France are expected to stay closed this Monday, as student protests continue. Pupils are calling for smaller class sizes and better equipped classrooms. More than 70 schoolteachers have been injured since the unrest began. Ellen Gainsford & France 2 take a look at some of the violent incidents related to the protests.
It's been 18 days since we first reported on isolated cases of schools protests at a high school in Rennes in Brittany, in Caen in Normandy and Villeneueve d'Asque on the suburbs of Lille. The complaints were similar in theme, overloaded timetables, staffing problems, poor facilities. It spread to Saint Denis and Creteil on the outskirts of Paris days later, one interview with the students was sen 1.4 million times on TikTok. It gathered pace, and morphed into what we've seen throughout the week, hundreds of protests, some peaceful, some with deeply distressing scenes, beyond the make shift barricades, a school in Nantes set off fire, firefighters forced out of the vehicle in Marseille and the fire engine set alight, scroll your socials itt's hard to miss some of the uglier scenes, a female police officer being attacked on the ground as youths shouted kill her. Where is it heading, and what has it become? Urban violence says the government, accusing agitators linked to the hard left exploiting geenuine concerns for political ends ahead of the election. Which La France Insoumise denies saying they favour no violent means of action. Today in Spotlight, we discuss this with Jean Remi Girard, a teacher in Asnieres in the north of Paris, and the President of the National Union des Lycees and Colleges, covering education workers from primary schools to college, 7 until 18.
Education minister declares students 'in danger' as hundreds of injuries reported across the country.
French high school students lit fires outside schools and faced off with police on Friday as a protest movement that has forced the closure or disrupted education at more than 560 establishments showed no sign of abating. France 24’s Rochelle Ferguson Bouyahi takes a look at why the students are protesting, and how the demonstrations spiraled into violence.
French high school students lit fires outside schools and faced off with police on Friday as a protest movement that has forced the closure of some 400 establishments showed no sign of abating. The movement, which began last week in the Paris region and rapidly spread nationwide, has seen teenage pupils at lycees in their final years of schooling block access to buildings and clash with police. The students say their school hours are excessively long, conditions are inadequate including...
Some 400 French schools have been closed and will remain shuttered on Friday as the student protests that began in high schools in the Paris region last week have spread across France and grown increasingly violent. The students are protesting grievances including teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings. The government has blamed the hard left for initiating the movement.
French lawmakers are set to debate a bill against gender-based and sexual violence. It aims to strengthen the entire process – from reporting crimes and investigation to protection and compensation for victims. The bill also targets online sexual abuse, including non-consensual content and AI-generated deepfakes. FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin reports.
Tens of thousands of workers march nationwide, as police arrest 440 students in clashes at schools.
Rising bilateral tensions between the U.S. and Cuba repeatedly played out on the international stage during last week’s meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. On Tuesday, the Cuban delegation to the UN walked out during U.S. President Donald Trump’s address to UNGA in apparent protest against what […] The post Cuba and US delegations exchange war of words at the UN appeared first on Latin America Reports.