Eli 2

🚨 FRANCE ERUPTS — AND MUCH OF THE WORLD IS LOOKING ELSEWHERE Something significant is happening in France. And outside the country, you could easily miss the scale of it. Around 170 demonstrations took place across France yesterday. The French Interior Ministry estimates around 206,000 people took part. The unions put the figure closer to 300,000. Teachers. Firefighters. Hospital staff. Local-government workers. Public-sector employees. All taking to the streets over falling purchasing power, frozen salaries, deteriorating working conditions and pressure on public services. And at the same time, France is facing a separate wave of student unrest over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and deteriorating schools. Hundreds of schools have been affected. Hundreds of arrests have been reported. Police and protesters have been injured. This is not a minor demonstration. France is experiencing a serious wave of social anger. Yet internationally, it barely resembles the scale of story these numbers suggest it should be. Why? Because behind the clashes and political arguments sits something much deeper: ordinary people increasingly believe the system is no longer working for them. Wages. Public services. Schools. Living standards. Trust in government. The pressure is building simultaneously. And when hundreds of thousands of people start taking to the streets— the rest of Europe should pay attention. France is angry. And this may not be over.