This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.

JIMMY LOVAAS, HOST:

Welcome to the Factal Forecast, a look at the week’s biggest stories and what they mean from the editors at Factal. I’m Jimmy Lovaas.

Today is Oct. 8, 2026.

In this week’s forecast we’ve got student protests in France, unions protesting in Brussels, IMF and World Bank meetings, education workers and labor unions marching in Colombia, and the “No Kings” rallies in the United States. 

You can also read about these stories and more in our monthly newsletter, which you’ll find a link to in the show notes.

France student protests

Interview featuring Alex Moore

JIMMY: Up first, we’ll take a look at the student protests rocking France. For more on that I’ve got fellow Factal editor Alex Moore.

JIMMY: Hello, Alex.

ALEX: Hello, Jimmy.

JIMMY: Thanks for your time today. I know you've been following the situation in France pretty closely, and well, looking forward to hearing more about it. So, what can you tell us about these protests?

ALEX: Yeah, happily. So, yeah, beginning in late September, so about two weeks ago at this point, a series of high school blockades and protests broke out. They first kind of began in the suburb of Paris last Monday, and kind of metastasized after that nationwide, pretty quickly thereafter. The following day they'd spread to more than 200 schools across the country – similar blockades, protests, and the police responded almost immediately, you know, riot police responding with tear gas, clashes with the student protesters. And the students, which you know, kind of organize nationally like you see a lot of protest movements do in France. The student protests are not dissimilar here. The National Student Union has kind of pointed to a variety of issues that are being protested. You know, underinvestment in schools, large classroom sizes, teacher shortages, the police response itself to the initial protests, which I noted, and also just this online application portal that is used for college applications, which students allege is, you know, adding stress to their workload, things of that nature. So the protests have gone truly nationwide. You know, on any given day now, they impact, you know, upwards of 600 schools. There have been more than 5,000 students arrested, or people arrested, I should say, but obviously, you know, students and minors are making up a good chunk of those. Hundreds have been injured in clashes, and it's kind of spurned a nationwide protest movement that has shown no signs of slowing down.

JIMMY: And what about the latest? Have you seen any new developments?

ALEX: Yeah, the first week of the protest the unrest was largely confined to high school campuses. Though this week, especially, that has sort of metastasized further out into, you know, streets of large cities. We've seen, throughout this week, tear gas fired, riot police on scene, big demonstrations in places like, you know, Place de Nation in Paris, the streets of Lyon, the streets of Strasbourg, Montpellier, several major French cities. So the protests are not just occurring at schools anymore; they're now spewing out in the streets. Moreover, it's, you know, Belgium, specifically Wallonia, the French-speaking part of neighboring Belgium, has also seen a litany of protests this week, namely in Liège, where students have been protesting every day this week. There has been significant unrest in Liège, tear gas fired, riot police on scene, some instances of looting, and elsewhere in Wallonia as well, in Mons as well. There's been somewhat sporadic and limited blockades and protests in the Ixelles suburb of Brussels. So, the movement has also spread into neighboring Belgium as well. And yeah, that would largely be the latest where things currently stand in the protests.

JIMMY: What sort of reactions have you seen to the protests?

ALEX: Yeah, it's kind of been interesting politically. The protests have been extremely heavily co-opted by La France Insoumise, which is kind of the far-left party, the most mainstream one that is in France, the party headed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The mayor of Saint-Denis is a member of the party, and he was present the first day of the protests, as I kind of alluded to earlier, which you know first kind of gained national traction in Saint-Denis, and he also popped up yesterday as well in a protest taking place in the streets of Paris. So LFI has largely co-opted the protests. You know, there's been a lot of support for the students from the left of the French political spectrum. As far as the government, Prime Minister Lecornu spoke before Parliament yesterday. You know, to a certain degree, voicing support for the protesters, saying that the students need to be heard. They took some measures, such as kind of forcing schools across the country to eliminate timetables, so like structured classes in the morning the rest of the week, in order to hold assemblies, if you will, to, you know, kind of like let the students voice their their grievances in a democratic fashion. So it is certainly making major political waves in France, and obviously it comes at – you know, I feel like it's very stereotypical to say, but it comes at an extremely trying time for France politically between the ongoing budget negotiations. They've got a national strike coming up. You know, a year ago we had the Bloquons Tout movement in response to government austerity measures. They're going to run that back this year, attempting to pass a budget. So we're expecting to see general strike action in a month. And obviously, I don't need to speak too much about this now because I'm sure we will a ton next year, but we have a very high stakes presidential election. So the French right wing has also sort of, you know, latched on to the protest movement to criticize it in various ways. The protesters themselves have oftentimes been waving placards or doing chants that are anti-Jordan Bardella or Marine Le Pen, kind of the figureheads of the French far-right. So, yeah, that's kind of where things stand from the standpoint of reactions.

JIMMY: Well, considering all that, what do you think folks ought to be watching for next?

ALEX: Like I said earlier, the protest movement's kind of shown no signs of abating. You know, we're recording this on Wednesday, October 7, and the protests today have been largely pretty muted. A lot of that might have to do with the weather. It is the first day of what I spoke about a minute ago, which was the Lecornu-announced elimination of morning timetables in classes to, you know, have students be able to voice their grievances in an assembly setting. So it's tough to draw causality at the moment as to whether that is, you know, spurning the lower levels of protest movement today, or if it's just a weather thing. Liège did protest pretty heavily once again today, but again, that's Belgium. So, yeah, I mean, it's hard to see where the protests go from here. And yeah, like I alluded to earlier, I mean, we're expecting a lot more protest action in France in the coming weeks with budget negotiations and the general strike happening. It's not uncommon in France for these protest movements to sort of [meld] together and co-opt one another, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if you know unions that are spearheading general strike action and protests in the coming weeks bring the students into the fold and vice versa. So it might just become one of those things that sort of like meld together into general French discontentment, but we'll have to see.

JIMMY: Well, Alex, that's where we'll have to pause for today then, but again, thank you so much for your time and for getting us up to speed. Appreciate you.

ALEX: Yeah, no sweat. Thanks, Jimmy.

Belgian unions stage protest in Brussels

Information compiled by Alex Moore

JIMMY: Major union demonstrations are set to take place in Brussels tomorrow.

Belgium’s two largest unions, FGTB and CSC, called for the protests as part of ongoing opposition to government austerity measures.

Previous union protests in Brussels have drawn as many as 100,000 people.

Unrest is common during the demonstrations, with police known to use tear gas and water cannons, while protest routes can paralyze major roads across Brussels.

Workers are opposing measures proposed by Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s government that impact pensions, unemployment benefits, labor protections and more.

The protests will also coincide with the government beginning negotiations over its 2027 budget.

Officials are seeking additional cuts of €10 billion, or about $11.6 billion, to bring the country in line with European Union fiscal rules.

Now, unions are calling the October protests a “clear warning” against further austerity measures.

They have also threatened general strike action during the week of Nov. 23.

Previous general strikes over the government’s cuts caused widespread transit disruptions, including at Brussels airports, along with protest-related unrest.

IMF and World Bank meetings

Information compiled by Michael Archer

JIMMY: The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank will begin in Thailand on Monday.

It will mark the first time the meetings have been hosted there in 35 years.

An estimated 15,000 economists, government representatives and media personnel are expected to travel to Bangkok for the event.

Now, impacts are expected to transportation services.

Thai authorities have been instructed to prepare plans to ensure foreign delegates can travel safely, securely and on time.

The meetings come at a time of global instability sparked by ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa.

Conflict in the Middle East has disrupted supply chains, increased transportation costs and contributed to inflation.

Economic challenges related to climate, including food and water security, are also likely to be discussed.

Finally, artificial intelligence is also expected to be a major focus of the meetings.

Colombian union marches

Information compiled by Jeff Landset

JIMMY: Education workers and labor unions are planning major protests across Colombia on Wednesday.

The demonstrations will be among the first major protests against President Abelardo de la Espriella since he took office.

The education workers’ union announced the nationwide mobilization in September, with several other organizations also planning to participate.

Organizers plan to shut down major roads in several cities, including Bogotá and Medellín, to voice their opposition to the government.

The government, however, could use the demonstrations as an opportunity to show strength against protesters.

Now, much of the opposition centers on several proposed bills and decrees.

Workers say the measures could privatize much of Colombia’s public education system, while the government has also promised widespread spending cuts.

The protests come about two months after a devastating earthquake.

The disaster has given the administration several opportunities to support recovery efforts and gain public support.

The government recently announced that all schools have reopened, though not all students have returned to in-person classes.

‘No Kings: Vote Early’

Information compiled by Mai Hoang

JIMMY: The latest installment of the nationwide No Kings movement will take place across the U.S. next Saturday.

Organizers are seeking to mobilize community leaders, activists and voters ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 4.

This time, the movement plans to shift some of its focus from rallies and marches to what organizers call an “election defense activation.”

The goal is to boost early voting and voter turnout through registration drives, group walks to early voting sites and gatherings to help people make voting plans.

Rallies and marches, however, are still planned.

Previous No Kings events have attracted millions of participants across thousands of demonstrations in the U.S. and abroad.

A recent event in March focused on the death of Alex Pretti and others impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, particularly in Minnesota.

Most events have generally remained peaceful, and organizers discourage violence.

Still, some protests have seen clashes with police.

Now, the Oct. 17 events come amid efforts by the Trump administration to curtail voting ahead of the midterm elections, including a major reduction in mail-in voting.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump’s mail-in voting restrictions, though the administration is still pursuing other efforts to assert federal control over the voting process.

Trump has also continued pushing for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the so-called SAVE Act, which is also aimed at reducing mail-in voting and requiring in-person voting.

The bill, however, has been stalled.

JIMMY: As always, thank you for listening to the Factal Forecast. We publish our forward-looking podcast each Thursday to help you get a jump-start on the week ahead. Please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. We’d love it if you’d consider telling a friend about us.  

Today’s episode includes work from Factal editors Alex Moore, Michael Archer, Jeff Landset, and Mai Hoang. Our interview featured Alex Moore and our podcast is produced and edited by me – Jimmy Lovaas. Our music comes courtesy of Andrew Gospe.

Until next time, if you have any feedback, suggestions or events we’ve missed, drop us a note by emailing hello@factal.com

This transcript may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability not guaranteed. 

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