Over 410,000 people take to street in new protest in France

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Over 410,000 people take to street in new protest in France

2026-10-26 16:24 Last Updated At：19:39

Over 410,000 people took to the street to demonstrate across France on Saturday, including more than 110,000 protesters in Paris, French authorities said.

The interior ministry reported over 1,300 arrests and 75 fires, while dozens of shops were damaged across the country.

Officials said the violence had eased compared with that in the previous week.

High school students have been campaigning for better conditions in their schools and education reforms.

On the streets of Marseille, the protest started peacefully. But tension built after a man was shot dead and five others were injured, including a 12-year-old girl, in what was believed to be a racially-motivated attack near Paris.

Marseille marchers observed a minute's silence for the victim.

Protesters gave many reasons for joining the demonstrations.

"We don't want to be a militarized country. That's not how we want to live our lives," said Clement, a student protester.

Some blamed the police for the violence.

As the protesters refused to move from Marseille's iconic Arc de Triomphe de la Porte d'Aix, fires were set up and the police responded, firing tear gas and baton-charging the crowd to drive them back.

A total of 70,000 police were deployed on the streets across France as the authorities tried to prevent rioting, looting, and chaos that occurred in the previous week.

They largely achieved that goal in major cities like Paris, Lyon, and Marseille despite fires being lit and fringe groups splintering from the main protest and taking the fight to the back streets.

The protesters wanted to air their grievances.

"The life in France is very hard for the people," said a protester.

Students are demanding more than 11 billion U.S. dollars in education spending while the French government said it could offer only just over one billion dollars.

Despite French President Emmanuel Macron meeting with protesters, it seems that it is difficult for them to hammer out a compromise. With a crucial presidential election just months away, students vow that they will continue to fight for their futures.

Infrared cameras capture snow leopard family at nature reserve in Inner Mongolia

The rare footage of a family of three snow leopards, including a cub playing with a stick, was released recently after being captured by infrared cameras at the Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The footage shows the three snow leopards briefly appeared together on a rocky hillside before the male walked off into the distance. In another clip, the cub played with a stick, walking around and occasionally lying down, while the female watched nearby.

"The cub is now almost the same size as an adult leopard. It is nearly one and a half years old and has adapted very well to the Helan Mountain environment. It is growing up very healthily," said a staff member of the administration bureau of the Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve.

The snow leopard is a first-class nationally protected wild animal in China, and its survival is an important indicator of the health of high-altitude ecosystems.

To protect its habitat, the reserve has continued to track individual snow leopards through field patrols and infrared camera inspections, accumulating rich data for species protection and scientific research.

To date, five individual snow leopards have been monitored in the reserve.