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How Europe and the U.S. cynically turned Africa into a “cage without bars.” In 1960, remembered in history as the Year of Africa, 17 countries on the continent gained long-awaited political independence. It seemed that the nearly 500-year era of Western European empires had sunk into oblivion. But if you look closely at socioeconomic indicators, […]

Jordan Bardella, a leader of the French far-right National Rally, has denied writing antisemitic messages in 2013, as the race ahead of next May’s presidential elections continues to heat up.

An investigation by the left-leaning outlet Mediapart said on Thursday (1 October) that it could authenticate antisemitic messages from 2013 and attribute them to Bardella.

In the messages, Bardella, an MEP and chair of the far-right Patriots for Europe group, said “all the banks are owned by Jews” and that Israel aims to create a new world order. Earlier media reports also found his secret Twitter account publishing racist content, such as mocking a young Black man who had suffered police violence.

He denied having written the messages, calling the evidence “crude montages” and “obscure screenshots that can easily be manipulated,”  he wrote on social media, adding he would sue Mediapart for defamation.

“Either Mediapart is running this operation itself, or it is being manipulated by interested parties,” he has said.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

Two shocking incidents reveal how White women are also being targeted in the French school riots. In one incident, a woman who tried to stop vandalism on the edge of a high school protest was struck in the face by flames from an aerosol can used as a makeshift flamethrower. In another video shared online, a White female school supervisor was surrounded and punched during a blockade in Seynod, as student unrest over school conditions spread across France this week.

The Marseille attack with the homemade flamethrower occurred Thursday afternoon near Place of the 4th of September in the city’s 7th arrondissement, according to police sources. Images authenticated by BFMTV network show a White Frenchwoman attempting to stop students from smashing the bus stop with an iron bar.

An individual dressed entirely in black, with a hood over his head, then “used a spray can with a lighter to turn it into a flamethrower, directed at the head of his victim,” BFMTV reported. The flames hit the woman’s face as the crowd screamed in the video. 

She filed a complaint Friday in Marseille, but the extent of any injuries remain unknown.

A woman had her face burned in the French city of Marseille during student blockades.

A hooded far-left rioter set the spray from an aerosol can on fire and used it on her face like a flamethrower.

Follow: @RMXnews

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

A separate video shows a White female supervisor at Baudelaire High School in Seynod, near Annecy, during a blockade. The woman is completely surrounded when a Black male punches her in the face multiple times.

A White female supervisor at Baudelaire High School is beaten by a mob of multicultural students during a blockade in Seynod.

The woman is completely surrounded when a Black male punches her in the face multiple times.

Follow: @RMXnews

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 2, 2026

The incidents come amid days of blockades and clashes at French high schools that serve students roughly ages 15 to 18. While the protests were presumably about poor teaching conditions and poorly maintained schools, they have since expanded into mass rioting, arson attacks, and attempted murder cases, including another incident in Marseille where gasoline was splashed onto a principal and vice principal during an attempted arson outside a high school administrative office.

The Interior Ministry said 1,027 high schools had been affected by demonstrations, with blockades at 222 of them. On Thursday alone, authorities recorded 1,949 arrests and 305 injured police officers, the ministry said.

France burns: Migration-background students rampage across the country, teachers doused in gasoline, schools set on fire, and hundreds of arrests reported

Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 65 education staff members had been injured, including 40 headteachers, and that there had been “significant damage” to school facilities. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 625 people, mostly young, were detained Wednesday and that 83 officers were hurt that day. Government figures put student and staff injuries over the days of protest at 159, including one student who lost part of the use of a hand after setting off a firework.

JUST IN: A school principal was struck directly in the face by a firework mortar during ongoing violent student blockades in France.

The incident happened at Blaise Pascal High School in Rouen.

Later, the entire entrance of the school was set on fire.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/wTnjXo5dzx

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Other attacks on staff have been reported. In La Ciotat, a principal was doused with gasoline and beaten, and in Belfort a police commander was thrown to the ground and beaten unconscious, which Remix News also reported on. That case is also being treated as an attempted murder investigation.

France: Attempted murder investigation opened after plainclothes police officer beaten unconscious during student riots in Belfort

The Education Ministry said 564 schools had been disrupted since Friday morning. More than 400 high schools were closed preventively that day. Prime Minister’s office officials, after a crisis meeting Thursday, described the movement as “a maneuver organized by France Unbowed and its ultra-left proxies.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the party, urged young people to use “only methods of nonviolent struggle.” However, intelligence reports cited by French government allege the party is backing the violence covertly.

The post France: White female burned with homemade flamethrower, another White female school supervisor beaten by mob during student riots appeared first on Remix News.

A senior police officer in civilian clothes was beaten unconscious on Friday, Oct. 2, after he was chased down and violently kicked in the head by a multicultural mob during high-school protests in the city of Belfort. Belfort prosecutors have opened an investigation for attempted voluntary homicide of a public official in response to the incident.

JUST IN: French high school students knock out a police officer and begin kicking his head with full force in the city of Belfort.

The health status of the officer remains unknown.

This is a developing story.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/AAt34K8xe7

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 2, 2026

The attack happened Friday morning as the nationwide high school riots continued. The video shows several people in a smoky field standing over a man on the ground and kicking him. BFMTV identified him as a high-ranking officer who was not in uniform and reported that he lost consciousness due to repeated blows. The youths kicked him multiple times in the head after he was on the ground in the video.

“A high-ranking police officer in civilian clothes was set upon,” BFMTV reported. “He lost consciousness under the blows. An investigation has been opened for attempted voluntary homicide.”

BREAKING: Migrant student youths have set fire to multiple buses and even fire trucks in the French city of Marseille as chaos spreads.

The Marseille transport authority, RTM, said several of its buses "were targeted near high schools in the north and east of Marseille,"… pic.twitter.com/hv8tilIB3B

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

The officer’s name and condition were not released. BFMTV did not say whether anyone had been arrested in the attack.

The charge is among the most serious available in a case of violence against a public official. If the suspects are found and convicted, they potentially face life in prison. However, due to their likely young age, they would likely face a far less severe penalty — if police even manage to find them.

‘Unbearable’ – Le Pen condemns viral video of French policewoman hunted and beaten by multicultural youths during violent student blockades

The crisis in France has reached a breaking point. Today, Oct. 2, the French Interior Ministry announced it has deployed the BRAV-M unit in Paris, a motorized elite police force specialized in heavy repression during mass rioting and other emergency situations.Across the country, authorities are reporting 305 officers were injured just yesterday alone.

The beating of the plainclothes officer also came after several days of clashes around Belfort’s high schools. ICI Belfort-Montbéliard reported that projectiles were thrown Thursday near the Follereau and Courbet high schools and that police answered with tear gas.

Prosecutor Paul-Edouard Lallois said 16 people, mostly minors, were detained.

He stated that “all the mobile phones of the people arrested have been seized with a view to judicial confiscation.” The prefecture said five members of the security forces were lightly injured.

This incident in Belfort also comes after a female officer was chased down by a mob and kicked in the head multiple times yesterday, which was condemned by National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and the Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.

L’image de cette jeune policière, poursuivie par une meute qui hurle sa haine, projetée à terre et molestée, est insoutenable.

Ces faits méritent des peines exemplaires. Qu’elle sache que ce soir, des millions de Français lui apportent un soutien chaleureux. pic.twitter.com/3yt96dydeH

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 1, 2026

Nationwide, the Interior Ministry said 1,949 people were arrested Thursday. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said the student movement had been “taken hostage by ultra-violent small groups,” and that 235 people in the education sector had been hurt, including 65 school staff members. In addition, 400 schools were closed Friday.

A White female supervisor at Baudelaire High School is beaten by a mob of multicultural students during a blockade in Seynod.

The woman is completely surrounded when a Black male punches her in the face multiple times.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/GGrDgjV4YL

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 2, 2026

The post France: Attempted murder investigation opened after plainclothes police officer beaten unconscious during student riots in Belfort appeared first on Remix News.

Right-wing National Rally leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday called footage of a young French police officer being chased, knocked down and kicked during high school protests “unbearable,” and said the attackers deserved exemplary punishment. The video comes at a time when 305 police officers have been injured as of Oct. 2 and 400 schools remain closed.

In a post on X, Le Pen wrote: “The image of this young policewoman, pursued by a pack howling its hatred, thrown to the ground and assaulted, is unbearable. These acts deserve exemplary sentences. Let her know that tonight, millions of French people offer her warm support.”

L’image de cette jeune policière, poursuivie par une meute qui hurle sa haine, projetée à terre et molestée, est insoutenable.

Ces faits méritent des peines exemplaires. Qu’elle sache que ce soir, des millions de Français lui apportent un soutien chaleureux.

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 1, 2026

The clip, which spread rapidly online, shows a lieutenant trainee with the Paris police prefecture being pursued on foot by several people near Avenue Gambetta in the 20th arrondissement. Voices on the recording shout insults, calling her a “bitch,” and scream: “Kill her!”

One person trips her; others then kick her while she is on the ground, according to accounts from the Paris police prefecture and French media. A follow-up video shows the woman being beaten and kicked on the head while on the ground.

10 ans de prison…. Voilà ce qui leur laisserait le temps de réfléchir à leurs actes. https://t.co/gTKwfkVe7S

— Le Jarl (@le_jarl) October 1, 2026

Authorities said the officer had stopped to retrieve a dropped radio during a tense confrontation involving roughly 100 demonstrators and was then overtaken. She later filed a criminal complaint. The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation Friday into group violence against a person holding public authority.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X that attacking a representative of law and order in this way was intolerable. He said he supported the officer and the 305 other police officers and gendarmes injured in interventions that day, and that those responsible would be found and prosecuted.

Une jeune lieutenant stagiaire de la préfecture de Police a été poursuivie, projetée au sol et agressée par plusieurs individus dans le 20e arrondissement de Paris cet après-midi.
S’en prendre ainsi à une représentante de l’ordre est intolérable.
J’apporte tout mon soutien à…

— Laurent Nuñez (@NunezLaurent) October 1, 2026

The assault occurred amid a wave of high school blockades and demonstrations that have turned violent in several cities, leading to close to 2,000 arrests. Le Pen, president of the National Rally group in the National Assembly and the frontrunner to win the 2027 presidential election, had earlier posted that the unrest was no longer ordinary student protest but organized rioting involving professionals and lawmakers from the left-wing France Unbowed party.

She called for a new anti-rioter law that would make participation in a riot a clearly defined offense.

BREAKING: Another major school arson attack at Blaise Pascal High School in the French city of Rouen.

The entire entrance is currently in flames.

School staff can only stand and watch it burn.

Follow: @RMXnews https://t.co/WN8wYfNGZl pic.twitter.com/CZ8h1aDO3U

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Regional council president Valérie Pécresse likewise described the scenes as urban rioting rather than student demands and said images of the officer being attacked were frightening.

Yesterday, schools were set on fire, fire trucks and firefighters attacked, and teachers beaten. A school leadership team was even doused in gasoline in Marseille. This morning, more arsons have been reported as well as mass looting. There appear to be no signs the protests are slowing down as the weekend approaches.

JUST IN: More footage of the arson attack on Roger Verlomme High School in Paris.

After the fire is put out, Black youths begin shooting firework mortars at the school.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/B1klTDYtZW

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 2, 2026

The post ‘Unbearable’ – Le Pen condemns viral video of French policewoman hunted and beaten by multicultural youths during violent student blockades appeared first on Remix News.

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The principal of a French high school in Rouen was struck by a firework mortar and the school’s entrance was set on fire, resulting in a massive blaze, on Thursday. The arson attack is one of many targeting schools today, Oct. 1, which also saw mass violence, buses and fire trucks set on fire, and even a case being treated as attempted murder.

The latest incident in Rouen saw a student aim a firework mortar and hit the principal of the Blaise Pascal High School at the school gate shortly before 8 a.m., Paris Normandie reported. A video of the incident showed the principal being hit directly in the face and retreating into the school.

JUST IN: A school principal was struck directly in the face by a firework mortar during ongoing violent student blockades in France.

The incident happened at Blaise Pascal High School in Rouen.

Later, the entire entrance of the school was set on fire.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/wTnjXo5dzx

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Burning trash bins were placed outside the entrance around the same time, producing heavy smoke and causing major fire damage at the doorway. Video of the blaze has also spread on social media.

BREAKING: Another major school arson attack at Blaise Pascal High School in the French city of Rouen.

The entire entrance is currently in flames.

School staff can only stand and watch it burn.

Follow: @RMXnews https://t.co/WN8wYfNGZl pic.twitter.com/CZ8h1aDO3U

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Classes were canceled due to the violence. About 30 police officers were nearby, and at least one person was arrested at the school.

The Normandy education authority said the Blaise Pascal principal and the principal of Elisa Lemonnier High School in nearby Petit-Quevilly were both injured in the morning unrest and quickly treated by emergency services.

France burns: Migration-background students rampage across the country, teachers doused in gasoline, schools set on fire, and hundreds of arrests reported

The authority condemned “inadmissible attacks of unprecedented violence” against the two school leaders “on the sidelines of the mobilizations.”

The Seine-Maritime prefecture said five people were hurt in the department and that intrusions occurred at several schools. Authorities reported 14 arrests in Seine-Maritime on Thursday, which are included in the figure of 23 total arrests since Tuesday.

BREAKING: Nelson Mandela High School is currently on fire in the French city of Nantes.

Schools across France are being set on fire as student protests and blockades rage on.

This story is developing.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/pOgOO4w0HQ

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Fires and blockades were also reported at other schools in and around Rouen, including Marcel-Sembat High School in Sotteville-lès-Rouen, where bins and barriers burned and mortar shots were heard, and at Flaubert High School and Camille Saint-Saëns High School. In Le Havre, fires damaged entrances or streets outside several high schools, and at least two cars burned near one campus.

The clashes are part of high-school protests that began last week in the Paris region and have spread nationwide. However, what began as protests over overcrowded classes, missing teachers and poor facilities, has come to be described as race-fueled rioting predominantly in schools with large migrant populations.

Critics say the students’ response of burning down schools is especially contradictory when the students are supposedly claiming their schools are in poor condition and not well-maintained.

BREAKING: Schools are burning across France as violent student blockades grow. The mayhem shows no sign of slowing down despite 625 arrests.

Oct. 1
Nelson-Mandela high school in Nantes burned, façade and hall destroyed. The school is expected to be closed for several… pic.twitter.com/v1fxbNuWfH

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Earlier this week at Blaise Pascal, student Malo Leleu-Marret told Paris Normandie, “There is a lack of staff, we end up with 35 students per class in rooms that are too small.”

It is unclear how shooting the principal with a mortar and burning the school will help deliver a better teaching experience for students.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said fireworks, fires, and violence near schools cannot be justified. Interior Ministry figures from earlier in the week showed over 650 arrests across France, most involving minors, along with injuries to officers, students, and school staff. Up to 50 officers were wounded and multiple teachers and staff were assaulted, including an incident today in Marseille, Oct. 1, in which saw students doused school leaders in gasoline. Police are reportedly treating the case as attempted murder.

Police continued to investigate the Rouen-area attacks Thursday as blockades persisted at multiple campuses.

The post France: Principal shot with firework mortar directly in face, then his school is set on fire in Rouen appeared first on Remix News.

Face à l'augmentation des prix des carburants, le G7 a décidé vendredi de libérer jusqu'à 100 millions de barils de gazole et de pétrole brut dans les quatre mois. Les dirigeants ont également rejeté l'interdiction des exportations américaines de gazole. Emmanuel Macron a annoncé que les prix des carburants devraient ainsi baisser.

France and Germany are moving towards a possible compromise over the future of Europe’s automotive industry, linking negotiations over EU vehicle-emission rules with a separate dispute over how strongly European-made products should be favoured in subsidies and public procurement.

The negotiations bring together two issues that have divided Paris and Berlin: Germany’s demand for greater flexibility in rules governing combustion-engine vehicles and France’s campaign for stronger “Made in Europe” requirements in EU industrial policy.

Officials involved in the discussions believe a broader Franco-German agreement may now be possible, although differences remain over how European content should be defined and whether products made in countries with EU free-trade agreements should receive similar treatment.

The automotive dispute follows the Commission’s decision in December 2025 to propose significant changes to rules that had originally required a 100 per cent reduction in tailpipe CO₂ emissions from new cars from 2035.

Under the revised automotive package, manufacturers would instead face a 90 per cent tailpipe-emissions reduction requirement from 2035.

The remaining 10 per cent could be compensated through mechanisms linked to low-carbon steel produced in the EU and the use of e-fuels and biofuels.

EU Today reported before the Commission presented the package that pressure from Germany, Italy and European manufacturers was forcing Brussels to reconsider the original 2035 framework.

The subsequent proposal confirmed the shift.

In March, EU Today also examined the Commission’s decision to link low-carbon European steel directly to vehicle-emissions compliance, creating a connection between automotive climate rules and support for Europe’s heavy industry.

Germany has continued to argue for a technology-neutral approach.

Berlin wants legislation to leave scope for combustion engines operating on renewable or low-carbon fuels rather than treating battery-electric vehicles as the only route towards lower emissions.

That position is particularly important for Germany because of the scale of its automotive sector and the large industrial supply chain built around combustion-engine technology.

France’s priority is different.

Paris wants EU industrial policy to ensure that public subsidies and procurement increasingly support products manufactured inside Europe.

The argument centres on the Commission’s Industrial Accelerator Act, proposed in March as part of a wider strategy to strengthen European manufacturing.

The legislation introduces “Made in EU” and low-carbon requirements for public procurement and public support schemes covering strategic sectors including automotive manufacturing, steel, cement and aluminium.

The dispute is over what “European” should mean.

France favours a relatively strict definition focused principally on production inside the EU’s 27 member states.

Germany has advocated what Economy Minister Katherina Reiche has described as a “Made with Europe” approach, under which some products from close trading partners could qualify if those countries provide equivalent market access to European companies.

That could potentially include states such as Norway and Switzerland and partners including Canada.

Spain has been among countries seeking a middle position between the French and German approaches.

The issue matters because modern automotive supply chains do not stop at the EU’s external border.

Battery materials, semiconductors, electric motors and other components can pass through several countries before final assembly, while Britain and Turkey remain deeply integrated into European vehicle production.

The EU-UK relationship is particularly sensitive because stricter rules of origin for electric vehicles are due to apply from 2027.

EU Today previously reported that European and British manufacturers were seeking another delay to those rules because the regional battery supply chain had not developed as quickly as originally expected.

At the same time, the EU is attempting to reduce dependence on Chinese electric vehicles, batteries and critical inputs.

The Commission has committed €1.8 billion to a Battery Booster strategy intended to strengthen the European battery value chain.

European electric-vehicle demand is continuing to grow. A 16-market European survey examined by EU Today showed battery-electric cars taking more than a quarter of new registrations in July, although large differences remain between national markets.

Manufacturers must therefore make investment decisions while several important elements of the regulatory framework remain under negotiation.

Factory conversion, battery plants and new vehicle platforms require investments planned years in advance. The conditions applying after 2030 will directly affect where those investments are made.

A Franco-German understanding would not determine the final EU rules. The European Parliament, Commission and other member states remain part of both legislative negotiations.

It could, however, bridge two of the most important disputes: Germany’s demand for greater technological flexibility in the 2035 vehicle regime and France’s demand that public money be used more directly to support European production.

The negotiations now underway suggest Paris and Berlin are increasingly treating those questions as parts of the same industrial bargain.

European governments and the United States are negotiating over emergency diesel reserves as a global shortage of refined fuel places increasing pressure on transport, agriculture and industry.

The Trump administration has urged France and Germany to release diesel from their strategic stocks, while raising the possibility of restricting American diesel exports if European governments fail to put additional supplies on the market.

Washington has asked Europe to release about 120 million barrels over six months, according to people familiar with the talks.

The demand puts European governments in a difficult position. Releasing reserves could help reduce prices in the short term, but it would also reduce the emergency buffer available if disruption to Russian or Middle Eastern supplies becomes more severe.

The European Commission, France, Italy, Ireland and Britain held discussions on 1 October over possible diesel stock releases. Germany has been involved separately in discussions with Washington.

France and Germany hold a substantial share of Europe’s emergency diesel reserves.

Under the EU’s Oil Stocks Directive, member states must maintain emergency crude oil or petroleum-product stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports or 61 days of domestic consumption, whichever is higher.

The requirement exists to provide a buffer against major supply interruptions rather than normal market fluctuations.

Europe’s dependence on imported oil remains substantial. Oil accounted for around 38 per cent of the EU energy mix in 2024, while approximately 95 per cent of crude oil consumed in the bloc was imported.

The latest dispute follows months of mounting pressure in the diesel market.

EU Today reported in September that President Donald Trump had urged Ukraine to reduce attacks on Russian refining infrastructure as global diesel supplies tightened.

Moscow has since extended restrictions on diesel exports. At the same time, disruption to Middle Eastern refining and shipping has constrained another major source of supply, while China moved on 1 October to suspend most fuel-product exports outside Hong Kong and Macau.

The result has been a particularly sharp problem for Europe because its refining capacity has declined over the past two decades and it has become increasingly dependent on imported middle distillates.

European dependence on outside energy supplies was already becoming more expensive before the latest diesel shortage. Recent Eurostat figures showed that the value of EU petroleum-oil imports increased by 55.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, even though the physical volume imported rose by only 1.2 per cent.

The United States has become an increasingly important diesel supplier since Europe sharply reduced imports of Russian refined products following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

That means a US export restriction would have an immediate impact on the European market.

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said after discussions with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that Brussels wanted a coordinated transatlantic approach to lowering diesel prices.

He said restrictions on US diesel exports would damage Europe’s economic performance and that both sides had agreed to remain in close contact.

Šefčovič also noted that the EU had exceeded its commitment to purchase US energy under the trade agreement reached at Turnberry in 2025.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, meanwhile, said he was “highly confident” European governments would release additional stocks.

Wright argued that coordinated action was particularly important as the northern hemisphere moved into the harvest season and towards winter, when demand for diesel and heating fuels normally increases.

Emergency releases have already been used on an exceptional scale this year.

In March, the 32 members of the International Energy Agency agreed to make 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves available to the market after disruption caused by the Middle East conflict.

It was the largest coordinated stock release in the organisation’s history.

A further European release would therefore come only months after governments had already drawn on strategic reserves to stabilise markets.

The pressure is increasing as oil prices again move higher. Brent crude settled above $102 a barrel on 1 October amid concerns over Chinese fuel exports and further US military deployments to the Middle East.

EU energy officials are now considering whether the immediate risk of high diesel prices outweighs the value of keeping fuel in reserve against a potentially more serious supply disruption later in the year.

On 26 August 1346, English and French armies met at one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years’ War: Crécy. Edward III’s English army crushed the French army of Philip VI. The defeat was so complete that it allowed Edward to lay siege to Calais and tilt the whole war in his favour. […]

Dig a trench for a canal that will run 107 kilometres (66 miles) across northern France and you expect scraps: a stretch of road, perhaps, or a lone farmstead. At Sermaize, in the Hauts-de-France region, archaeologists from France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) found something much rarer. It is a complete workshop, with […]

“Marine Le Pen has reinvented herself. Her style now is more moderate,” reckons Jacques Rupnik, a French political scientist, ahead of the country’s widely anticipated battle for the presidency.

Many voters in France will vote for the candidate they see as having the best chance of defeating the far-right leader, Rupnik explains.

“All polls show that if the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon faced Marine Le Pen in the second round of France’s presidential election, Marine Le Pen would win,” he says, explaining that many French votes are unwilling to back Mélenchon.

In his interview with Denník N, Rupnik claims Mélenchon is the first French presidential candidate to seek support from immigrants so explicitly.

Find out:

• How Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon have used the migration debate for their campaigns.
• Why the presidential frontrunners do not understand economic issues.
• Rupnik’s assessment of Emmanuel Macron’s two presidential terms.
• Who does Marine Le Pen look up to?

Polls suggest that if France held a presidential election now, far-right Marine Le Pen and far-left Mélenchon would make the second round. What does this tell us about France?

France is divided and polarised. Young people in particular tend to lean towards more radical parties. Establishment parties are old and worn; they have lost their appeal. They have little to say, except for claiming that others are dangerous or worse. But you must bring something new to an election. But after ten years of Macron, that is very difficult.

And it is not entirely true that all polls predict Mélenchon will reach the second round; they often place former prime minister Edouard Philippe ahead of him. Mélenchon is powering ahead in polls because he has launched his campaign and is very good at it. But, nothing is decided.

In French presidential elections there are two rounds. In the first round, you vote for your preferred candidate; in the second, you vote for the lesser evil. So, for most voters, the question will not only be whom they prefer, but also who has the best chance of defeating Le Pen in the second round.

And that is very important. All polls say that if Mélenchon faced Le Pen in the second round, he would lose. Many people are not willing to vote for Mélenchon. A centrist candidate has the best chance of defeating Le Pen, so for now it looks like former prime minister Philippe.

But only if another former prime minister, Gabriel Attal, withdraws his candidacy.

Yes. We have two strong parties at the extremes, and the space in the centre has shrunk. The narrower it becomes, the more candidates appear within it. Every week, another politician tells media: “You know what, I would give it a go.”

Attal, of course, wants to win over Macron supporters — that is, voters on the centre left. The fact he is in the race matters even if he withdraws and endorses another candidate. That may prove a good strategy.

If Le Pen and Mélenchon reach the second round, many would vote Le Pen. Why?

Marine Le Pen has reinvented herself. Not in the sense that she has been thinking about what new ideas to bring forward, but now her style now is more moderate. It is no longer the brash style associated with her father.

Perhaps she took her cue from Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, seeing a candidate whom everyone feared, but no radical changes followed her election because she adapted quickly to European realities.

Le Pen points out that in several European countries, including Finland and Sweden, the far right has been in government and nothing has happened.

At the same time, Marine Le Pen managed to break through a certain barrier, and some moderate rightwing voters have shifted to her side.

How did that happen?

Previously, the moderate right was stronger and Le Pen’s camp was weaker. The type of rightwing voters who voted for Jacques Chirac have now shifted their weigh behind more radical options. The balance has shifted, and right-wing voters are saying: “Why should we, the right, be excluded from politics simply because Macron has failed and the Le Pen has grown stronger?”

Immigration is another reason behind growing support for Le Pen. Mélenchon is also capitalising on the immigration debate, but in the opposite way to her.

Please explain that.

Mélenchon opposes Le Pen’s position by arguing that immigrants integrate. The Le Pen camp says: “No, they have come from a different culture and their attitude is anti-French.” Le Pen’s camp says that integration works poorly, that immigrants do not even want to integrate instead preferring to live in their own communities.

“Mélenchon has therefore adopted the theory of grand remplacement, but instead of presenting it as a threat, he has turned it into a huge opportunity.”

And Mélenchon argues that it is fine for immigrants to remain in their own communities, practise their own religions, for women to wear headscarves and so on.

The great replacement conspiracy theory (“grand remplacement“) should be mentioned since the far right embraced it long ago. It is the idea that the native French population will gradually be replaced by new immigrants.

And Mélenchon now says: “What great replacement? On the contrary, it is an opportunity for France. He says: “The more of us there are, the better.”

Mélenchon has therefore adopted the theory of grand remplacement, but instead of presenting it as a threat, he has turned it into a huge opportunity. Of course, everyone knows what he is aiming for. It is an election campaign, and he is appealing to voters who are themselves immigrants.

Previously, no one focused on immigrants in elections except Le Pen who used them as a bogeyman. And now Mélenchon says: “We are appealing to Muslims.” He says Muslim headscarves are fine and religious symbols are fine. He says anyone who opposes this is racist.

In August, Le Pen announced her intention to ban headscarves in public spaces. Will her anti-Islamic agenda help her win?

On the contrary, such statements mainly play into Mélenchon’s hands. Of course, calling a referendum on the issue in France is not so simple since such laws already exist. The law states clearly that you can do what you want at home, but if you work in the public sector you must refrain from displaying your religion. There are laws covering this, and there is absolutely no need to devise new ones. Le Pen’s ideas in this regard seem to be mere campaign slogans; we cannot take them literally.

Yet, a major Le Monde poll shows the French are more concerned about the economy than immigration. Immigration ranks fourth, after social issues and ecology.

That is true, but other polls show that, for many voters, the issues of migration and safety overlap considerably.

So, as concerns about security become increasingly prominent, people are more concerned about security and often link it to migration. Marine Le Pen will certainly try to make it one of the key issues, alongside the economy.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

Images of burning schools, buses, and vicious assaults, along with a report of attempted murder, have once again hit France this morning, Oct. 1, as high school blockades mark their second week across France. What began as protests demanding better conditions for students and teachers has devolved into violence at dozens of locations, concentrated at schools with large immigrant populations

This morning, Oct. 1, further clashes, burning buses, and arson attacks have been reported. French news outlet BFMTV is even speaking of murder attempts being carried out by certain students in one incident where the leadership team of one school in Marseille was doused in gasoline. In response, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is convening an interministerial emergency meeting at 1 p.m. to contain the crisis.

BREAKING: Migrant student youths have set fire to multiple buses and even fire trucks in the French city of Marseille as chaos spreads.

The Marseille transport authority, RTM, said several of its buses "were targeted near high schools in the north and east of Marseille,"… pic.twitter.com/hv8tilIB3B

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

In Marseille, the regional government said an “unacceptable line” had been crossed at Victor Hugo High School, where “the principal, the deputy principal, the general secretary and the team leader were assaulted and doused with gasoline,” according to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, cited by BFMTV.

BFMTV also reported that a naval firefighters’ vehicle was looted and set on fire in the city. Viral videos also show a bus on fire with numerous Black and Arab youths pelting the bus with stones and dancing on its roof. The Marseille transport authority, RTM, said several of its buses “were targeted near high schools in the north and east of Marseille,” that “drivers had to leave their vehicles in a hurry, and one of them was assaulted.”

The transit authority condemned “these irresponsible acts.” ICI reported that two buses caught fire in northern Marseille and that two buses were damaged near Floride High School in the 14th arrondissement. A dumpster was also set alight outside Victor Hugo High School. Authorities said 40 high schools in the Bouches-du-Rhône department were affected Thursday, and 18 of them were fully blocked.

The regional authority said the violence was no longer a protest.

“Mortar fire at staff, vehicle fires, gates torn down, stoning and intolerable intrusions: this is not contestation, it is delinquency,” it said, according to ICI. “Those who burn our high schools are attacking the Republic.”

BREAKING: Nelson Mandela High School is currently on fire in the French city of Nantes.

Schools across France are being set on fire as student protests and blockades rage on.

This story is developing.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/pOgOO4w0HQ

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

In Nantes, the hall of Nelson-Mandela High School was destroyed by what deputy principal Gaëlle Cordier called a “deliberate” fire that spread to the façade before firefighters brought it under control, RTL and Ouest-France reported. The school was expected to stay closed for days, and RTL said the administration expected a closure of several weeks.

The Nelson Mandela High School of Nantes actually just had a major “eco-friendly inclusive” renovation. The building cost €77 million in taxpayer money. However, the all-wooden design, with the interior reportedly designed for “positive energy,” has now gone up in flames. It could cost tens of millions to rebuild.

Despite the threat to life and property, the far-left pro-migration party France Unbowed (LFI) has tried to bolster the student movement, which is now spiraling out of control.

BREAKING: Schools are burning across France as violent student blockades grow. The mayhem shows no sign of slowing down despite 625 arrests.

Oct. 1
Nelson-Mandela high school in Nantes burned, façade and hall destroyed. The school is expected to be closed for several… pic.twitter.com/v1fxbNuWfH

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

A fire at the private Talensac High School in the city center destroyed the entrance doors.

“The same wreckers everywhere. The same violence everywhere. The same political exploitation everywhere,” Christelle Morançais, president of the Pays de la Loire region, wrote. “No demand to satisfy, just the will to sow chaos and destroy everything. This is not the youth of France.”

Staff have also been repeatedly attacked in other schools by migrant students hunting in packs.

France in chaos: Youths are literally hunting teachers and school staff in packs.

A chemistry teacher was violently attacked and kicked in his back as rioters chase him at the César Baggio high school in Lille, France.

Nationwide protests and school blockades have led to… pic.twitter.com/OOfIkdeLk2

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 30, 2026

Elsewhere Thursday, the prefecture said the façade of Lumière High School in Lyon’s 8th arrondissement was set on fire, Actu Lyon reported. In Annecy, fires were set outside the Berthollet, Baudelaire and Sommeiller high schools. Firefighters said they were working to keep the flames from reaching the buildings.

The unrest built through the week. On Wednesday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 356 high schools were disrupted, 625 people were arrested and 83 police officers and gendarmes were injured, in a tally he described as not yet final, Europe 1 reported. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 119 students and staff had been injured since the blockades began, including 34 staff members. “That is unprecedented in the national education system,” he said.

In addition, the following cases have been reported:

In Wattrelos, in the Nord, a car was driven against the gates of the Émile-Zola middle-and-high school and set on fire Wednesday. The school was closed, and prosecutors opened an inquiry for arson, Le Figaro reported.

In Montpellier on Tuesday, a fire destroyed the caretaker’s lodge at a side entrance of Jean-Mermoz High School and the school was evacuated.

In Bordeaux on Wednesday, a bin fire outside Gustave-Eiffel High School spread to the façades of two houses across the street, and firework mortars were fired toward the school, ICI reported. Ten people were arrested in the Gironde for arson, damage and throwing projectiles.

At Paul-Éluard High School in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, a fire damaged the main gate. Île-de-France region president Valérie Pécresse said replacement, security and cleaning up would cost about €100,000, and put total damage at regional high schools near €1 million, including about 10 gates out of service.

Geffray also cited a teacher beaten in the Nord, a head teacher injured by a firework mortar in the Hauts-de-Seine, and another threatened with death in the Essonne.

As Remix News reported yesterday, Geffray said: “This violence is unspeakable.” However, despite his threats to launch legal proceedings against rioters, the violence has only grown far worse today, Oct. 1.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has called any escalation “irresponsible.” Nuñez has described some of the violence as closer to urban rioting than to a labor protest.

‘This violence is unspeakable’ – Hundreds arrested as student protests rage in France, school staff hunted by students

The post France burns: Migration-background students rampage across the country, teachers doused in gasoline, schools set on fire, and hundreds of arrests reported appeared first on Remix News.

A 93-year-old woman was found dead in her home Sunday after neighbors, with police discovering a 34-year-old Sudanese man naked and lying on her body when they entered after emergency calls from neighbors, prosecutors said. The man was placed under formal investigation Tuesday for murder preceded or followed by rape.

The victim, identified by French media as Marie-Louise and known to some neighbors as “Juliette,” had been bedridden for months after a stroke and could not move without help. She lived in the Minimes district, near the Cité Bourbaki housing complex.

14 terrifying cases of migrants raping elderly women in France, French journalist calls it a ‘shocking pattern’ that happens ‘again and again’

Neighbors called police about 5 p.m. Sunday after hearing shouting, insults and sounds of blows coming from the house. Officers found the front door locked and entered through the rear. They reported blood on the floor and a mattress in a bedroom before finding the woman unclothed and motionless on the bathroom floor.

The suspect was also unclothed and appeared intoxicated, police and prosecutors said. Some reports stated they found the man either asleep or dazed on top of the woman’s body when they entered.

He resisted arrest and injured an officer, according to the Toulouse prosecutor’s office. A breathalyzer test later showed an alcohol level of 0.92 milligrams per liter.

France: African migrant confesses to raping 2 women 45 minutes apart in Paris at knifepoint, says he has ‘uncontrollable sexual urges’ and masturbates 10 times a day

Prosecutor David Charmatz said an autopsy found injuries suggestive of sexual violence, a rib fracture, a spinal fracture, facial bruises and traumatic injuries to the neck consistent with asphyxia. Further tests were ordered to confirm the findings and determine the exact cause of death.

The man was placed under formal investigation Tuesday for murder preceded or followed by rape. Prosecutors asked that he be held in pretrial detention. He had little to say in questioning, and a psychiatric evaluation was planned, according to local reports.

French outlets have given conflicting accounts of the suspect’s immigration status. Some early reports described him as a homeless man living in the country illegally. La Dépêche du Midi later reported that he was a Sudanese refugee with legal status and no criminal record. Investigators have not publicly said how he entered the home. Neighbors told local media the woman often left a door unlocked so caregivers and relatives could get in.

Residents described Marie-Louise as a familiar figure, with one neighbor stating she was “the little grandmother of the neighborhood.” People who knew her said neighbors routinely helped with daily tasks. Flowers were left outside the house as residents mourned.

The investigation is being handled by specialized police units in Toulouse. A judge is expected to decide on the next legal steps in the case as forensic and toxicology results come in.

The post France: 93-year-old Marie-Louise was murdered and raped in her own home, police found naked Sudanese man laying on top of her appeared first on Remix News.

China has warned that it will respond if the European Union introduces new trade restrictions targeting Chinese companies or products, as France and Germany push for stronger European instruments to address what they regard as unfair commercial practices.

China’s Ministry of Commerce issued the warning after reports that several EU governments were discussing a mechanism modelled partly on Section 301 of US trade law, which allows Washington to investigate foreign trade practices and impose countermeasures.

Beijing described such an approach as protectionist and unilateral and warned that it could damage continuing negotiations between China and the EU.

“If the European side insists on introducing discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese companies or products,” the ministry said, China would “resolutely respond” to defend the interests of its industries.

The warning comes as Europe’s trade relationship with China is moving further up the political agenda.

According to the European Commission’s latest EU-China trade figures, EU exports to China were worth €199.5 billion in 2025 while imports reached €559.5 billion.

The goods deficit stood at €359.9 billion, compared with €312.2 billion in 2024.

China remained the EU’s largest source of goods imports and its fourth-largest export market.

Brussels argues that the scale of the imbalance is connected not only to competitiveness but also to state support, market-access restrictions and other structural differences between the two economies.

China disputes that assessment and has repeatedly accused the EU of using industrial and security arguments to justify protectionism.

The argument is already visible in several industries.

The EU imposed countervailing duties on Chinese battery electric vehicles after an investigation concluded that state subsidies were giving Chinese manufacturers an unfair advantage in the European market.

Brussels has subsequently widened its attention to other parts of the automotive industry. Earlier this month, EU Today reported that the EU was considering restrictions affecting Chinese hybrid cars as policymakers looked for ways to contain the growing trade imbalance.

The automotive dispute is important because Europe is simultaneously trying to attract Chinese manufacturing investment.

France and Spain addressed that question during President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Madrid.

Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez agreed on the need for greater European unity in responding to Chinese competition. They also discussed whether Chinese investors entering strategically important European industries should be required to provide stronger commitments on issues such as technology transfer.

Macron said that companies on both sides of the Pyrenees needed protection when they faced unfair competition and argued that “the only response that works is European.”

France has generally favoured stronger European trade defences.

Germany has traditionally approached the issue more cautiously because major German manufacturers have substantial commercial exposure to China. Increasing competition from Chinese producers, particularly in industrial sectors where German companies were once dominant, has altered the debate.

Reports that Berlin and Paris are now working together on a stronger trade instrument therefore suggest a potentially important shift.

The two countries are said to be considering a European mechanism inspired by the American Section 301 process, although no final proposal has yet been adopted by the European Commission.

EU trade law already provides several instruments.

Brussels can impose anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties following investigations, use the Foreign Subsidies Regulation to examine state-backed investment and procurement, and deploy the Anti-Coercion Instrument where another country uses economic pressure against the EU or a member state.

The discussion now concerns whether those instruments are sufficient when governments believe a problem extends across industries rather than affecting an individual product.

The debate comes only weeks after EU Today reported that Brussels was preparing additional pressure on Chinese hybrid-car imports, demonstrating how quickly EU-China trade disputes are expanding beyond the original electric-vehicle case.

At the same time, Brussels and Beijing have established a Trade and Investment Consultations mechanism, with workstreams covering trade balances, export controls, intellectual property and World Trade Organisation reform.

China’s Commerce Ministry has warned that introducing tougher measures while those talks continue would damage trust.

That leaves the EU facing two parallel choices: continue negotiations intended to narrow the trade dispute while also developing stronger instruments in case those negotiations fail.

France and Germany are increasingly arguing that Europe needs greater leverage.

Beijing’s response is that using that leverage against Chinese companies would bring countermeasures.

The next stage will depend on whether the Franco-German proposal develops into a formal EU initiative. If it does, the dispute will move beyond duties on particular products towards a broader argument over how Europe intends to manage its economic relationship with China.

France and Spain have openly welcomed the prospect of Britain rejoining the European Union after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham put full membership back among the options for the country’s long-term relationship with Europe.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the question during Macron’s state visit to Spain on Wednesday, 30 September. Asked whether Britain could return under Burnham, Macron responded in English: “Welcome back.” He added that a British decision to move in that direction would be good news for both Britain and Europe.

Sánchez was similarly positive, saying Spain would “open our arms” if Britain sought to return.

Their comments followed Burnham’s intervention at the Labour Party conference and subsequent interviews in which he argued that Britain should reconsider the full range of options for its future relationship with the EU.

Those could include remaining under the present post-Brexit arrangements, returning to the customs union or single market, or ultimately “going all the way” and applying for EU membership again.

The remarks extend a debate which had already been developing since Burnham entered Downing Street. In August, EU Today reported that he had told European Council President António Costa that Britain should be “bolder” in rebuilding relations with Brussels.

More recently, the argument has moved from diplomatic language to practical economic questions. Burnham has been pressing Brussels to ensure British companies are not disadvantaged by the EU’s emerging industrial preference rules, with access to the proposed “Made in Europe” framework becoming one of the principal issues ahead of the next EU-UK summit.

Macron nevertheless made clear in Madrid that closer relations could not become a system under which Britain selected individual advantages of EU membership while remaining outside the corresponding obligations.

“You cannot pick and choose among the Union’s freedoms,” he said during the joint press conference with Sánchez.

That question dominated much of the Brexit negotiation after the 2016 referendum. Access to the single market is built around the free movement of goods, services, capital and people, while participation also entails accepting common rules and enforcement mechanisms.

A British application to rejoin would be a separate and considerably larger process. Under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, Britain would have to apply for membership and secure unanimous agreement from the existing member states before negotiations could be completed.

A returning Britain could not assume that the special arrangements it held before Brexit would automatically be restored. The UK previously had an opt-out from the euro, remained outside the Schengen passport-free area and benefited from a budget rebate.

Any future terms would have to be negotiated.

Public opinion has also changed since the referendum. A YouGov poll in June found 55 per cent of Britons supported rejoining the EU and 34 per cent opposed it, although support falls when respondents are asked about specific membership conditions.

That shift is not limited to Britain. Polling examined by EU Today earlier this year found substantial support across EU member states for a British return.

For the moment, however, Burnham is not proposing an immediate membership application or referendum.

The next test will be the UK-EU summit expected in November. The meeting was originally planned for July but was postponed following Keir Starmer’s resignation, with EU Today reporting at the time that the political transition in London had complicated preparations.

Burnham wants the summit to advance negotiations on industry, trade and migration and has said he intends to use the period around the meeting to set out the longer-term options available to Britain.

The immediate negotiations are therefore likely to focus on economic integration rather than membership.

Greater access to European markets would almost certainly involve greater regulatory alignment. The political argument in Britain will concern how far the country is prepared to accept common European rules in return for reducing barriers created by Brexit.

Macron and Sánchez have now made clear that, if the discussion eventually moves beyond closer economic cooperation towards membership itself, two of the EU’s largest states would welcome it.