Chaos in schools, on the streets and in the markets is rooted in France’s struggles to fund its social welfare state, with a presidential election approaching.
Trying to kick a tear-gas canister during clashes with the police on Thursday in Seine-Saint-Denis, near Paris. Students in about 1,000 French schools are protesting a lack of resources in education.
The French government soured on a reciprocal deal that allowed the British authorities to return some migrants who crossed the English Channel illegally in small boats.
Speaking in France, the pontiff lauded postwar efforts to unify the continent. Experts saw it as a critique of President Trump’s repeated berating of European leaders.
After visiting Africa, Pope Leo’s four-day trip to France shows how he is seeking to appeal to Roman Catholicism’s original heartlands as well as to the church’s newest strongholds.