Barricades & the blame game: the French school protests

In a week that’s seen the heroism of the captain, crew and passengers on board FlyDubai flight 1073 heralded, eye witnesses report seeing the co-pilot trying to kill the pilot and destroying the cockpit controls in order to crash the plane. Despite being stabbed repeatedly, Captan Smit Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to overwhelm the suspect and regain control of the aircraft after its rapid descent of more than 14,000 feet in 30 seconds. They prevented a 9/11-style catastrophe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

It’s been a week that’s seen an apparent thwarted attack at an English RAF base which is used by American bomber jets to strike Iran. An English farmer raised the alarm and has been praised for apparently preventing a potentially catastrophic situation at the base in Fairford in Gloucestershire. The anonymous woman traveling home late found the road blocked by three vans close to the runway, and five masked men jumped out and ran. She called the police and arrests were made under the Explosions Act within minutes. PM Andy Burnham said strong indications suggest Iran played a part, but in what is not yet clear. Five men were bailed, and a British Iranian national has since been arrested.

Also this week, student protests at French high schools across the country turned violent as frustrations over conditions boiled over, sparking clashes with police. 

Produced by Gavin Lee, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Delphine Liou.

Our guests

• Anne BAGAMERY Independent journalist

• Janine DI GIOVANNI CEO, The Reckoning Project

• Ana LANKES Brazil Bureau Chief for the Economist

• Graeme WOOD Staff writer, The Atlantic