Author: staff
Despite the budget allocation, Macron does not yet appear to have found his next place of work. The Elysée told POLITICO the provision was a “precautionary measure … based on the experiences of previous presidents.” Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande are the only two living former presidents currently benefiting from the arrangements — even though Hollande has since returned to parliament as a lawmaker. Hollande said last month that he is receiving a monthly pension of €5,000 for his time at the Élysée, on top of pensions from previous roles and his current income. Macron, the youngest president in modern…
Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Will Murray was covering the floods when a vehicle stalled after entering deep water on Buchanan Road. As it began to sink, Murray handed his phone to camera operator Liz Pickering, called emergency services and waded into the floodwater. Another bystander quickly joined him. The pair first tried to open the nearest door, then climbed onto the vehicle and considered smashing the rear window. Murray eventually forced open the rear passenger-side door, allowing the driver to escape before the ute disappeared beneath the water. Footage captured the dramatic rescue, followed by an emotional moment as the…
Published on 22/10/2026 – 12:14 GMT+2•Updated 12:16 Barclays shares edged lower in London after the bank said on Thursday it would cut around 5,000 jobs, including around 1,000 already cut in the first half of the year. The announcement came alongside an earnings update that showed Barclays’ net profit grew 13% in the third quarter, helped by surging income in its equities division. Barclays said in an earnings presentation that it was implementing “organisational simplification and technology change efficiency driven by AI”. About 60% of the job cuts affect support functions, including developers, as AI makes staff more productive, according…
One of the New 7 Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu is a bucket list destination for many travellers. And if you’re planning a trip there soon, we have good news, as securing a ticket is now much easier. That’s because Peru’s Ministry of Culture has scrapped advance reservation tickets to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Instead, travellers will now have just 15 minutes to complete their purchase on the official ticketing website, Tu Boleto, before the reservation is dismissed and returned to circulation. The new system also means that only named tickets are available for purchase, so your ID…
STRASBOURG — The International Criminal Court has won this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded by the European Parliament, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. The €50,000 prize honors defenders of human rights and freedom of thought, with past winners including Nelson Mandela, Alexei Navalny, Belarusian journalists, and the people of Ukraine. The Socialists and Democrats group nominated the ICC following U.S. President Donald Trump’s sanctions on the court, announced on Oct. 9. “We stand by the ICC and its officials, and we are committed to safeguarding its work. We must guarantee that the ICC is able…
Published on 22/10/2026 – 10:47 GMT+2•Updated 11:25 Critical security flaws have been discovered in PHP, a widely used programming language that helps power around 70% of the world’s websites. Developers released emergency fixes on Wednesday, while cybersecurity authorities urged organisations to update affected systems immediately or take them offline until they could be secured. The warning prompted governments, companies and major online services in several countries to temporarily shut down websites and other systems as a precaution. The vulnerabilities were uncovered with the help of artificial intelligence. Security firm Calif identified one of the flaws in August during an OpenAI-funded…
Published on 22/10/2026 – 11:23 GMT+2 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets of around €2.1 trillion, reported an investment loss of 278 billion kroner (€26.4 billion) on Thursday, as it was weighed down by higher interest rates. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, reported a negative return of 3.5% on its fixed income investments, which account for just over one quarter of its portfolio. Around 70% of these investments are in government bonds. The third quarter saw a global bond sell-off, with government bond yields rising to levels not seen since the financial crisis,…
“Foreign volunteers themselves also vary enormously in experience, capability and motivation. Ukraine has learned a tremendous amount since 2022 about what makes a foreign volunteer genuinely valuable, and those lessons should shape what comes next,” Mobbs said. Family complaints As well as red tape linked to residence status, foreign fighters also complain about not being paid, not being given adequate medical care, the lack of official combatant status that gives social benefits and protections, and inadequate provision of food and military supplies, the military ombudsman’s office said. There is also criticism over how Ukrainian bureaucracy deals with the families of…
Colombian authorities have seized 7.6 tonnes of cocaine destined for the Netherlands at the port of Cartagena, in what President Abelardo de la Espriella described as the country’s largest drug seizure in the past 10 years. Speaking in Cartagena on 20 October, the president said the joint operation was carried out in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). De la Espriella said the shipment was worth 43 billion Colombian pesos domestically and would have been worth more than $200 million once it reached the Netherlands.
Meta shares rose about 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, as the tech company delivered strong growth and said its AI investments were paying off. Meta’s core advertising business delivered a strong quarter, with the company reporting a 26% increase in total revenue to $64.6 billion, helped by AI recommendations, more ads being shown and rising ad prices. And investors are eyeing promising new businesses around Muse, the personal artificial intelligence agent the company launched in September. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta’s Muse agent could eventually generate more revenue per user than apps like Instagram and Facebook. According to Zuckerberg,…