Author: staff
Published on 09/10/2026 – 20:29 GMT+2 The co-pilot who attacked the captain of a flydubai jet on 30 September had planned to crash the aircraft into Tel Aviv’s international airport, according to the United Arab Emirates’ top prosecutor. The Omani co-pilot was inspired by Al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and intended to cause “the greatest possible loss of life”, according to the prosecutor’s findings published by state media. “The findings showed that he had met the professional and security requirements for employment, including holding a pilot’s licence, providing a certificate of good conduct and completing the…
“We deeply regret that the compromise now on the table falls significantly short of the level of ambition needed,” Finance Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque told ministers during Friday’s public Ecofin debate in Luxembourg. “We need [the European Securities and Markets Authority] to become an effective supervisor. The current compromise text would not allow for that.” France spearheaded a last-minute push over dinner Thursday to strengthen the watchdog’s executive powers. Paris took issue with a rule that would allow nine national supervisors to force the watchdog’s executive board to submit draft decisions for further scrutiny before they’re adopted. The Irish EU…
Published on 09/10/2026 – 16:14 GMT+2 The United Nations (UN) said on Friday it was monitoring protests by high school students across France “with concern”, as nationwide demonstrations entered their fifth consecutive day. “We are following with concern incidents related to the student protests and high school blockades in France, some of which have turned violent,” said Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN human rights agency. Nearly 7,000 people, of whom 86 percent are minors, have been taken into police custody since mid-September, according to France’s Justice Ministry. The students, mostly aged between 15 and 18, are protesting against teacher…
One of the worst-hit buildings was the Terrenove campus of Alcide De Gasperi school in Marsala, which its headteacher described as destroyed. All 273 children inside were moved to safety by staff, and no serious injuries were reported among pupils or employees. In Petrosino, a car was swept into a ravine, injuring both occupants. Early reports said nine people, including four children, had been treated for minor injuries at Marsala hospital. Later accounts put the total at 11, including two people taken to hospital in nearby Mazara del Vallo. Emergency teams remained at work as authorities assessed the damage to…
In May earlier this year, riot police were called to ensure security at Swatch stores from Paris to Mumbai when violence often erupted as queues of people stretched around the streets. The object of their frenzied desires was a €370 bioceramic pocket watch. The Royal Pop — the first time Audemars Piguet has let the Royal Oak design out of its own factory — turned people who had never owned a mechanical watch into speculators overnight. Within hours, resale sites were carrying listings above €7,400. Bad bet. Two months later, several models were selling for less than the €370 Swatch…
The government’s action would be the “Bosman ruling for the innovation sector,” Burnham said at a government-backed innovation summit in Manchester. That’s a reference to a 1995 European Court of Justice decision that changed how star players are transferred between football clubs. Potential changes to non-compete clauses in workers’ contracts began in 2025 under Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer. The proposals ranged from a total ban on non-compete clauses to a partial ban, such as allowing non-compete clauses only for workers earning more than a set salary threshold, or limiting their length. The vow from Burnham comes after intense lobbying lobbying…
Published on 09/10/2026 – 18:25 GMT+2 On 5 October, a group used makeshift stairs to enter Latvia. While the Baltic country of two million has faced irregular migration from Belarus since 2021, the latest incident was particularly aggressive. The group of 20 migrants was led by “armed, masked escorts openly threatening Latvian soldiers,” Latvia’s Interior Minister, Jānis Dombrava, told Euronews. In the following hours, border surveillance equipment was damaged, reducing Latvia’s “ability to detect and respond to further incursions.” “The combination of armed intimidation and targeted sabotage raises the risk of a violent confrontation and tests both our defences and…
Ukrainian forces have derailed Russia’s plan to encircle and occupy the remaining Ukrainian-controlled territory of the Donetsk region this year, the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded in an assessment based primarily on open-source intelligence. The Russian campaign centred on a deep pincer movement targeting what the report calls the “fortress belt” — a defensive and logistical network protecting the Ukrainian-held portion of the Donbas — advancing from Lyman in the north and Dobropillia in the south-west, with both arms intended to link up near Barvinkove in the Kharkiv region. Completing such an encirclement would…
European tech funding surged to €15.8 billion across 300 funding deals in September, bringing the total for 2026 to almost €60 billion, according to the latest figures from online publication tech.eu, although half was made up by UK investments. The spike in activity represents a quarter of the year’s investment so far, a strong rebound on August’s activity which saw just €3.2 billion raised across 165 deals. The activity also shows that European companies are attracting significant investment in technology, raising the prospect that they could one day scale up and help ease the continent’s reliance on US Big Tech.…
France’s chief of defense staff, Gen. Fabien Mandon, told lawmakers Thursday that Germany had pulled out of the project. His comments landed especially awkwardly as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is currently on a state visit to France. Later in the evening, Mandon tried to backpedal in a written statement, arguing the project was only delayed to the late 2040s. In recent years, Franco-German defense industrial projects have repeatedly failed. MGCS — which involves KNDS France, KNDS Germany, Rheinmetall and Thales — has been bogged down by years of delays, industrial disputes and political tensions. POLITICO reported in June that France and…