This Is Why

Imagine being tear-gassed and targeted with stun grenades – all for complaining about timetables, absent teachers and crumbling classrooms.

That’s the experience of thousands of French students, whose initial demonstrations over high school conditions have evolved into a wider national protest across 40 towns and cities.

Parents, teachers and a sympathetic public have all joined pupils on the barricades. But far-right groups have accused those on the left of politicising the movement.

And while the use of stun grenades has now been suspended in France, the response from the police and government has been heavy-handed and heavily criticised – just months before a general election.

Niall Paterson is joined by NBC News chief foreign correspondent and co-host of The World podcast, Richard Engel – and Ruby Celemenski, a 17-year-old student in Lyon who has witnessed the police response first-hand.

In the 14th Century, the Black Death wiped out up to half the population of Europe. So, no wonder world leaders, including Donald Trump, are keeping a careful watch on a plague scare in Eastern Russia.

One laboratory worker from a plague research facility in Siberia has died, with fears they may have been exposed to pneumonic plague – the most virulent and dangerous form of the disease. A further 200 people were placed in quarantine.

With the Covid pandemic still fresh in people’s minds, what is pneumonic plague and how worried should we be about a potential outbreak?

Niall Paterson speaks to Sky’s science and medical correspondent Thomas Moore.

Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Green party members have backed a motion that “Zionism is racism” at their party conference.

It has exposed deep divisions within the party’s membership - with many long-time members saying they are considering leaving - and within the leadership. Four of the party's five MPs opposed it, and leader Zack Polanski put forward amendments to the motion that were later rejected.

Israel has responded by banning Polanski, who is himself Jewish, from entering the country.

Niall Paterson spoke to the chair of Jewish Greens and long-time party member Vivien Lichtenstein, who has marched against the Gaza war but is now weighing up leaving. He was also joined by Sky News political correspondent Alexandra Rogers, who was at the Green Party conference this weekend.

Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show – why@sky.uk

The sister-in-law of the 82-year-old explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes travelled from her home abroad to check into a care home where his friends believed he was staying. She managed to meet him and told Sky News how delighted he was to see her.

It was a rare visit as his friends and family continue to raise concerns that they are being blocked from seeing him. Cheshire Police though have said "no immediate safeguarding concerns have been identified at this time".

Niall Paterson spoke to Arabella Pepper, who is the sister of Sir Ranulph's first wife, about that visit last year. He also spoke to friend and fellow explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams about Sir Ranulph's achievements.

Have you got a question for Niall? Email the show – why@sky.uk

Guilty. The damning verdict in favour of the Premier League against one of its most successful clubs – Manchester City.

The case concerned more than a hundred charges – from disguised funding to misleading accounts – with possible consequences ranging from points deductions to expulsion from the Premier League.

But rather than backing down, the club has come out fighting – insisting an independent commission got it wrong and vowing to appeal.

With City standing firm and the punishment still undecided, there could be a long way to go before the final whistle.

Niall Paterson is joined by Sky’s sports correspondent Rob Harris, who has been following the case and putting questions to the club’s most senior figures for more than a decade.

Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk