“As a mother in Paris, I fear for the students and for the future” - article in The Journal

As student protests continued and escalated in the French capital, Paris, the British journalist residing in Paris, Helen Massey Beresford, was an eyewitness to what was happening and wrote an article in The Journal, entitled “As a mother in Paris, I fear for the students and the future.”

The author reviews her observations of the wave of massive protests led by high school students in France, which they called “the third act” (l’acte III) or “the great mobilization,” and she believes that the demands raised by the students are legitimate and deserved. They are calling for investment in dilapidated schools, providing substitutes for absent teachers, reducing class sizes, alleviating crowded school schedules, and narrowing the unfair gap between schools in different regions.

These protests led to the closure of more than 400 schools across the country, including the school where her eldest daughter studies.

Although she understands the importance of the issue, she feels relieved that her daughter, 11 years old, is too young to participate in the demonstrations, especially after testimonies about setting off fireworks, burning trash cans, and the constant billowing of smoke outside school doors.

But on the other hand, the police used “violent” methods and faced sharp criticism. A 16-year-old student in the city of Tours lost sight in his right eye as a result of a rubber bullet, and another student in Lens lost his hand in mysterious circumstances under investigation.

In response to these developments, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu promised that the government would listen to the demands, but it was unlikely to provide huge budgets to restore dilapidated classrooms damaged by water.

The author links the protests to the great political tension in the country due to the general budget, which includes a reduction in retirement and health care budgets. It confirms that the current events will cast a shadow on the upcoming presidential elections in April 2027.

The protests have led to an exchange of accusations between prominent presidential candidates, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the “France Abia” movement, as he supports the demonstrators and defends them against accusations of incitement in the streets.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, was on the other side and exploiting the developments to demand new anti-riot laws.

Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, strongly opposed it and warned against falling into the right's trap of focusing on violence and ignoring the original reasons for the protest.

The author points out that the upcoming elections will witness these students voting for the first time in their lives, which will definitely affect voters’ attitudes and results. This imposes on politicians the need to listen to the opinions of future voters.

The Guardian newspaper highlighted the death of a worker in a Russian research laboratory in Siberia, and published an introductory article by health affairs correspondent Nicola Davis, which addressed the mystery of the incident and its repercussions, entitled “To what extent should we be concerned about the possibility of death from the plague?”

The writer said that Daria Shepilova, 28 years old, died on October 2, 2026, just two days after she felt tired while working at the Plague Control Research Institute in the city of Irkutsk. There was a significant conflict in official and media accounts about the causes of death, as the Russian Health Supervision Authority announced that Daria died of “pneumonia of unknown cause,” and categorically denied the occurrence of any accident inside the institute or the recording of plague cases in the city of Irkutsk.

Alexei Tsydinov, the head of the neighboring Buryatia region, had initially stated that the girl had died from the plague, before amending his posts and announcing that she "possibly" died from it.

While some reports indicated that the worker became infected after a test tube containing live bacteria was broken inside the laboratory, other reports claimed that she became infected after returning from a trip to Thailand.

The author points out that the real danger lies in the fact that the institute deals with a dangerous bacteria, Yersinia pestis, which causes pneumonic plague, and there is a medical difference between it and bubonic plague, which is the most common and usually transmitted through flea bites, and the deadly pneumonic plague.

The Russian worker is suspected of being infected with pneumonic plague, which is more dangerous and highly contagious, as it is transmitted directly between humans through respiratory droplets, and its death rate is very high if it is not treated quickly with antibiotics.

Despite the official denial, the Russian authorities took strict measures that reflect the extent of the concern. They placed about 197 people who had been in contact with the deceased worker under medical observation and quarantine. The institute was closed and more than 60 employees were isolated inside it. They imposed restrictions and quarantine in several hospitals and medical centers in the cities of Irkutsk and Shelikhov, and obligated workers in nearby factories to wear masks as a precaution.

The World Health Organization entered the crisis line and announced that the risk of the disease spreading on a large scale is considered low to medium for the city of Irkutsk, and very low at the level of Russia and Europe. The reason for this reassurance is that the plague, despite its terrifying history of the “Black Death,” is treated very effectively using modern antibiotics available if it is discovered and diagnosed in the early stages.

The medical community in Britain continues to be interested in the death of a Russian research laboratory worker in Siberia, as Adam Kucharski, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, published an article in The Independent newspaper about what we should fear because of this incident, in which he spoke about several facts to determine the extent of the real threat.

The British doctor said that the plague may be less dangerous than any other “unknown” disease, noting that if the incident turns out to be due to an unknown pneumonia that is easily spread, then this scenario is considered more dangerous than the plague, for several reasons, including that despite its extreme danger in ancient times, the infection is often transmitted after symptoms clearly appear on the patient, which makes it easier to isolate him and trace his contacts.