Matignon

Medef president Patrick Martin is at the centre of a French budget dispute after Les Echos examined who is right in the standoff between Matignon and the employers' association over planned tax increases targeting companies in the 2027 budget. The debate questions whether government figures or business leaders' warnings better reflect the impact of the proposed hikes.

A fire broke out at the Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes, according to searches trending in France. The news comes as lycée students across the country are blocking schools in protest, prompting a crisis cell at Matignon and incidents elsewhere, including an attacked bus in La Rochelle. The exact circumstances and extent of damage at the Nantes school remain unclear.

France's intelligence services have assessed that the high school blockade movement is a "maneuver orchestrated by LFI and its ultra-left proxies," according to Matignon. The statement came after an interministerial crisis cell convened by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, signalling that the government is treating the school protests as politically driven rather than spontaneous.