Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Thousands of people have marched in demonstrations across France on a national day of strikes affecting schools, transport, pharmacies, and other industries (9:49).
More than 140 people had been arrested as of late afternoon, with major protests reported in Marseille, Nantes, Lyon, Paris and other cities (12:00, 13:14, 14:11, 14:22, 15:33, 16:54).
Most demonstrations were peaceful, with some reports of isolated clashes and “provocations” at some of them, with tensions also reported at the main event in Paris this afternoon (17:11).
Separately,
US president Donald Trump said that Russian president Vladimir Putin “let him down” (16:23, 16:42) as he spoke at a press conference alongside UK’s Keir Starmer and repeated his demand for European allies to drop Russian oil supplies (16:58).
His comments came after Putin revealed that over 700,000 Russian soldiers were involved in the war against Ukraine, while Ukraine claimed it pushed back some of Russian recent advances. (16:11).
There was no update on the EU’s latest, 19th, package of sanctions against Russia, with the European Commission saying only that it expected to “present [them] soon” (12:22).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today. You can read our main report on the French marches and strikes here:
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Updated
'Provocations' reported on margins of Paris demonstration
The French police is now reporting some isolated “provocations” on the margins of the main demonstration in Paris, including attempted attacks on banks, with some clashes between protesters and police, Le Figaro and Le Parisien reported.
Meanwhile, the CGT union claimed that over million people took part in today’s protests, Le Monde said.
Updated
