French media opened the day heavily focused on the shooting in Washington D.C., where two National Guard members were injured near the White House, with details emerging about an Afghan suspect with past ties to the US military and CIA. Concurrently, discussions continued regarding Emmanuel Macron's impending announcement of a new voluntary military service, framed as a response to "growing threats."
By mid-morning, Macron officially announced a new "purely military" and voluntary national service for adults, to be instituted progressively from summer 2026. Details specified a ten-month duration, national territory deployment, a salary of 800 euros per month, and a target of 3,000 young volunteers by 2026, aiming for 50,000 by 2035. This initiative was explicitly presented as replacing the universal national service (SNU) and not intended to send youth to Ukraine. Concurrently, an escape of two detainees from a Dijon prison also garnered significant coverage.