Author: staff

Paris police imposed an overnight curfew on Monday in two areas of the capital, after a weekend of some of France’s worst rioting in years. People may not enter or stay in Place de la Republique or the Les Halles shopping district from 11pm until 6am on Tuesday. Gatherings and demonstrations are barred from 8pm. On Monday evening, police guarded the two spots and asked passers-by to take other routes. Some people had their identity papers checked. A helicopter with a searchlight passed over Les Halles several times, and the streets stayed quiet. The prime minister had earlier asked prefects…

Published on 20/10/2026 – 9:27 GMT+2•Updated 9:30 Six months before France elects a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, the country was rocked over the weekend by some of its worst street violence in years, with thousands of shops damaged, many looted. The unrest came after weeks of student demonstrations demanding better conditions in schools. More than 3,000 businesses suffered damage, according to the authorities. Since Sunday, screenshots have circulated on social media showing online resale listings for items allegedly stolen during the weekend unrest. “Stolen items from this weekend are being offered for sale on certain platforms,” digital minister Anne…

As temperatures drop and autumn settles in, it’s the ideal time to explore European cities which seem made for cosy escapes. Think winding cobbled streets, historic cafés and canals lined with colourful leaves. Now, a new study of Reddit discussions has revealed the continent’s cosiest destinations for autumn 2026, with Bruges taking the top spot. Amsterdam and Prague follow closely, but the ranking also features some surprising destinations you might not expect – like sunny Lisbon and Athens. The study, by UK-based holiday home letting agency Big House Experience, looked at cities within continental Europe (and outside of the UK),…

Published on 20/10/2026 – 7:10 GMT+2 An Egyptian farmer growing cucumbers on his land has helped archaeologists find the remains of two colossal royal statues, including a head of Ramses II measuring 1.6 metres tall. Khaled Khalil came across a stone bearing ancient carvings on land in front of his home in Behbeit el-Hagar, a village in the Nile Delta’s Gharbia governorate, and alerted antiquities officials. Officials examined the stone before an Egyptian team from the Supreme Council of Antiquities began a rescue excavation, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Egyptian news outlet Youm7 reported that Khalil had…

Le Pen has already cast herself as the alternative president, delivering a sober address to the nation Sunday and pitching herself as the candidate of a “pacified France.” Jordan Bardella, president of her National Rally party, upped the ante on the protests and pitched his party as the only one able to restore order, dialing up fears about the pillaging. The rioters “will soon be breaking into people’s homes,” he said at a press conference in Paris. “The authorities are collapsing.” But excessive, prolonged chaos could backfire on a party long seen as instigating civil unrest. And the topic is…

Euro-area inflation climbed to 3.8% in September, up from 3.2% in August, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate. Energy prices rose 18.8% year on year, with Lithuania (6.1%), Bulgaria (5.6%) and Spain (5%) recording the highest rates. Protests followed across the continent. Unions marched in Brussels and Paris, students camped outside Greece’s parliament, and thousands rallied in Lisbon and Porto over rents. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election for November 29 after Congress rejected two housing decrees. Brussels says it is coordinating oil stock releases and urging targeted aid instead of blanket subsidies, after governments spent €17.9…

Published on 20/10/2026 – 8:36 GMT+2•Updated 8:36 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has welcomed Alberta’s decisive rejection of a move towards independence, saying the province had chosen national unity at a time of mounting pressure from Washington. “On October 19, Albertans made a clear choice. They chose unity, to build together, and to take care of each other. Above all, Albertans chose Canada,” Carney said in a statement on Tuesday. With more than one million votes counted, 77 per cent backed remaining in Canada, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta. Monday’s vote was not a direct ballot on independence.…

Japan has launched a spacecraft on a first-of-its-kind journey to Mars, where it will try to land on the planet’s moon Phobos and bring a piece of it back to Earth. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is leading the effort, launched the spacecraft before dawn on Tuesday from the main spaceport on Tanegashima Island, with officials declaring success an hour later, when the spacecraft separated as planned from the rocket’s upper stage. Flight controllers burst into applause, shaking hands and embracing each other. Five space agencies are backing the five-year mission, which will put a robotic sample collector and…

Der Moment der Wahrheit Der Angriff wurde in einem frühen Stadium erkannt, lange bevor Ressourcen in unserem Intranet kompromittiert werden konnten. Endlich liegen die Ergebnisse des Tests auf dem Tisch. Die Anspannung weicht der Erleichterung. „Wir waren dann aber ein Stück weit beruhigt: Der Angriff wurde in einem frühen Stadium erkannt, lange bevor Ressourcen in unserem Intranet kompromittiert werden konnten.“ Der Test zeigt damit zweierlei: Die vorhandenen Schutzmechanismen greifen und das Zusammenspiel aus automatisierter Erkennung und der Analyse durch Security-Expertinnen oder -Experten funktioniert. Gleichzeitig wird deutlich, dass IT-Sicherheit eine Aufgabe ist, die kontinuierliche Aufmerksamkeit erfordert. Denn ein Angriff hält sich…

The European Union is scrambling to find an additional €70 billion for Ukraine next year, after Russia’s escalating assault on the country and its economy rendered the bloc’s existing financial support plans insufficient. At the end of a two-day summit last week, EU leaders heard directly from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the scale of the shortfall. “The war will cost €155 billion next year. And we need at least €70 billion more from you: for defence, for weapons, and for our resilience. This is a realistic amount. And I ask you to find this support. It will help us…