World News · Sunday, 18 October 2026

01 Briefing what happened

France arrests more than 1,200 as cost-of-living protests turn to fires and looting, and Limoges town hall burns

Hundreds of thousands marched peacefully across France on Saturday against living costs and run-down schools, while masked groups looted shops and burned a 143-year-old town hall; protests also hit Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Albania and Tunisia, as Iran said two tankers hit its mines and settlers attacked European diplomats in the West Bank.

855

people detained in Paris on Saturday, a record for the city's police

517 were still held on Sunday, and 171 of them were under 18 [8]

45%

of French people say they are worried about rising living costs

from a survey of 2,000 people this month [5]

900+

police officers hurt in the school protests before Saturday

the police watchdog is also looking into at least two dozen claims of police violence [4]

20+ years

since it last cost France's government this much to borrow

efforts to cut public debt have not reassured lenders [4]

The lead story — what happened

France's interior ministry counted about 550,000 marchers in scores of cities on Saturday, and the CGT, one of France's biggest unions, counted 800,000. [1][2]
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said 1,200 people were arrested and 150 police officers were hurt. [3]
Most marches were peaceful, but masked groups on their edges looted shops in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux and Lille. [1][4]
In Limoges, in central France, a masked group set fire to the 143-year-old town hall, and most of its roof fell in. [5][6]
Rioters burned the tourist office in Lyon and broke into the town halls of Marseille and Lille. [7][1]
In Saint-Etienne a protester's hand was blown off, and a police source told the AFP news agency it was a police crowd-control grenade. [7]
A demonstrator in Paris died after their heart and breathing stopped, and police said the death was not linked to police action or to the clashes. [8]
The movement began in September at schools in poor suburbs north of Paris, where pupils protested over missing teachers and shabby buildings. [5]
The CGT and the 'yellow vests', a 2018 movement against high living costs, joined the pupils on Saturday, and the CGT asked for higher wages, pensions and lower prices. [9][3]
On 8 October the education minister promised 3,000 extra supply teachers, but the protests kept growing. [3]
Fuel prices have soared since the US-Iran war began this year, and French buying power has shrunk since 2024. [10]
Lecornu blamed the 'ultra-left', and the two front-runners for April's presidential vote took opposite sides: Marine Le Pen backed the police, Jean-Luc Melenchon the marchers. [4][2][3]

Who is involved

Sebastien Lecornu

France's prime minister; he said his government will not be intimidated and blamed the 'ultra-left' for the violence
Laurent Nunez

France's interior minister, in charge of the police; the Greens' leader, Marine Tondelier, called on him to resign
The CGT

one of France's biggest trade unions; it backed the marches and asked for higher wages, pensions and lower prices
Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon

leaders of the far right and the hard left, who polls say could face each other in April's presidential vote
JD Vance

the US vice-president; he blamed immigration for the violence in a post showing Limoges town hall on fire

How it unfolded

September Pupils in poor suburbs north of Paris start protesting over missing teachers and shabby schools [5]
5 October A 15-year-old loses a hand to a police stun grenade at a protest in Lens [7]
8 October The education minister promises 3,000 extra supply teachers [3]
16 October A two-week school holiday begins, which France's government hopes will calm the pupils [2]
17 October Unions and yellow vests join the pupils; 1,200 people are arrested [9][3]
April 2027 France elects a president to replace Emmanuel Macron [3]

Where this points

Watch whether the marches go on through the two-week school holiday, which France's government hopes will end the student movement. [2]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Fuel and living costs High↑

French marchers named fuel prices, which have soared since the war on Iran began. [10] Tens of thousands marched in Lisbon, Portugal's capital, over housing and living costs. [11] Eight in ten US voters say the economy or living costs are a top issue for next month's election. [12]

Ships and planes under attack High↑

Iran says two oil tankers hit its mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane at the mouth of the Gulf. [13] Drones hit six ships off Romania and Bulgaria in ten days. [14] Riyadh's airport, shut by Houthi attacks from Yemen, reopened only on Sunday. [15]

Gulf states arming against the Houthis Building↑

Egypt's president asked parliament for permission to help defend Saudi Arabia. [16] The United Arab Emirates agreed to pay southern Yemeni forces again. [17] Saudi Arabia now fires two interceptor missiles at each attack to make its stocks last. [18]

Elections days away Building↑

Israel votes on 27 October, and its prime minister called reports of a settler attack on diplomats a smear. [19] US voters choose a new US Congress on 3 November, and No Kings rallies pushed them to vote early. [20] Spain's left-wing parties split before their 29 November vote. [21]

The rest of the day

34 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Fire at a Canadian army base kills several

A fire after an incident at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, one of Canada's busiest army training bases, in the province of Alberta, killed and injured several people on Saturday. [22] Defence Minister David McGuinty confirmed deaths but gave no number and no cause. [23] Global News, a Canadian TV network, citing unnamed military sources, said at least seven died when a gas line was hit during live-fire training. [22] High winds pushed the fire through the base fence, and an Edmonton doctor said the patients would overwhelm the city's hospitals. [23][24]

Why it matters — Alberta votes on Monday on whether to begin the process of leaving Canada, and the fire closed the advance polling station in Wainwright. [24][25] The minister said more details would come in the coming hours and days. [26]
03
Settlers attack European diplomats in the West Bank

Masked Israeli settlers attacked a convoy of diplomats from Belgium, France and Poland, and Catholic Church officials, in Taybeh, a Christian village near Ramallah, on Saturday. [27] The visitors had come to see Palestinian farmers pick olives after near-daily settler attacks on the harvest. [27] Bernard Baudoux, a 78-year-old French mayor, said settlers kicked him and hit him with iron bars. [19] Middle East Eye, citing the Israeli paper Haaretz, reported that the army sat on calls for help for nearly two hours. [28]

Why it matters — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office suggested the reports were part of a campaign to smear Israel, ten days before Israel's 27 October election. [27][19] The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the US has asked Israel to crack down on settler attacks. [29]
04
Crush at a Hindu festival in Kolkata kills 17

At least 17 people, among them a seven-year-old girl, died in a crush outside a festival pavilion in Kolkata, a city in eastern India, on Saturday night. [30][31] Crowds had gathered for Durga Puja, a Hindu festival. [30] A senior police officer said sudden rain and a public announcement set off pushing, and people fell to the ground. [31] Twenty-five people were hurt, and police detained 12 people, including the event's organisers. [30][32]

Why it matters — Deadly crushes at religious gatherings are not rare in India, because crowds are often badly managed, the BBC reports. [30] Two years ago 121 people died at a Hindu gathering in Uttar Pradesh. [30]
05
Truck ploughs into worshippers in Gwalior

A heavily loaded truck broke through police barriers and hit worshippers at a temple in Gwalior, a city in India's Madhya Pradesh state, early on Sunday, killing at least 13. [32][33] About 40 people were hurt, five or six of them badly. [32] Police said the truck was in an area where heavy vehicles are banned. [32] It came a day after the crush in Kolkata. [33]

Why it matters — Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised money to the family of each person who died. [32] India recorded more than 183,000 road deaths in 2025, over 500 a day, its roads ministry says. [32]
06
Iran says two tankers hit its mines

Iran's Revolutionary Guards, its most powerful armed force, said two tankers, each carrying about two million barrels of oil, caught fire on Saturday after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz. [13] They said the ships had switched off their tracking systems and used a route Iran had not approved. [34] Iran has demanded that every ship ask its permission since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in February. [13] The head of US Central Command said the strait is controlled by the US and its partners, not Iran. [34]

Why it matters — About a fifth of the world's oil passed through the strait before the war. [13] On the same day Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told Muslim countries' foreign ministers in Baghdad that Iran had sent a seven-day plan to reopen it through Qatar. [35][36]
07
Rubio says the Russia sanctions pause lasts 60 days

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that President Trump will take up to 60 days to study what new sanctions and tariffs on Russia would do to the world economy. [37] Trump signed an order on Friday waiving them, days before they were due to start. [38] The US Senate had passed the law, named after the late senator Lindsey Graham, by 86 votes to 11. [38] Republican senator Thom Tillis called the waiver 'beyond irresponsible'. [38]

Why it matters — Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, asked supporters to speak up for the law and called the pause a reward for Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. [39][40] He said Russia had just hit more than 15 power sites across Ukraine as winter nears. [39][41]
08
Egypt's leader asks to defend Saudi Arabia

Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said on Saturday that Egypt is ready to help defend Saudi Arabia against Yemen's Houthi rebels if the Saudis ask. [16] He said this needs parliament's approval and asked for an emergency session, which was called for Sunday. [42][43] He said he means defence only, not attacking anyone. [16] Egypt joined the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in 2015, but mostly guarded Red Sea shipping. [42]

Why it matters — Houthi attacks on ships have cost Egypt's Suez Canal about $11 billion in fees since 2023, its foreign minister said last month. [42] In the same speech Sisi said again that he will leave office in 2030. [44]
09
The UAE agrees to pay Yemen's southern forces again

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to start paying some Yemeni government forces fighting the Houthis again, with Saudi Arabia giving them air cover, sources in Yemen told the Guardian. [17] The UAE used to train and pay the Giant Brigades, some of the best anti-Houthi fighters, but quit Yemen in January after a quarrel with Saudi Arabia. [17] Since then the Houthis have pushed across Yemen and cut most roads into Taiz, a city of almost a million people. [17][45]

Why it matters — It is the first clear sign that the two Gulf rulers are mending their split over Yemen. [17] The National, a UAE newspaper, reports that if Taiz falls the Houthis could move on Aden, Marib and Lahj. [45]
10
Saudi Arabia loses its first soldiers in the new Yemen war

Two Saudi officers died when their reconnaissance helicopter crashed in Najran, near the Yemen border, the Saudi-led coalition said on Sunday. [46] It blamed a technical fault, while the Houthis said they shot it down. [46] They are the coalition's first military deaths since the war flared again in July. [46] The Houthis said Saudi air strikes on Friday killed three children, aged eight and ten, in a village in Dhamar province. [47]

Why it matters — Saudi Arabia did not comment on the children's deaths. [47] The Houthi health ministry says 124 people have been killed in Houthi areas since fighting resumed in September. [47]
11
Saudi Arabia fires fewer missiles at each attack

Saudi Arabia now fires two interceptor missiles at each incoming Houthi missile or drone, down from five to seven, to make its shrinking stocks last, The National reports. [18] It wants more air-defence systems from Britain and France. [18] A UK defence source said Britain has 'very little left' to send, because its systems guard Eastern Europe against Russia. [18] The US is keeping its Patriot systems for its own bases. [18]

5 to 7Until recently
2Now
Interceptor missiles Saudi Arabia fires at each incoming attack. Firing fewer makes the stock last longer.

Why it matters — With fewer interceptors aimed at each attack, more attacks can get through. A Houthi missile hit Riyadh's airport last week, and the paper says Saudi Arabia is five times the size of Ukraine. [18]
12
Riyadh's airport reopens after Houthi attacks

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, reopened on Sunday after being shut by Houthi attacks. [15] Many airlines have not yet gone back. [15] Etihad cancelled its Abu Dhabi-Riyadh flights until Monday, flydubai until 19 October, and Air Arabia has given no date. [15] Emirates lists six flights between Dubai and Riyadh for 20 October. [15]

Why it matters — The Houthis have struck the airport 20 times since the start of October, killing 17 people and hurting more than 300, The National reports. [48]
13
Houthis free 159 captured government fighters

Yemen's Houthis released 159 pro-government fighters under an amnesty, a Houthi official told reporters in Sanaa, the capital they hold. [49] He said the men had given themselves up without fighting when the Houthis took positions along the Red Sea coast last month. [49] The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed the release and helped with health checks, calls to families and transport home. [49] The Houthis say 323 others were freed the same way last month. [49]

Why it matters — It is the second release under the amnesty in two months, while Saudi Arabia faces daily Houthi drone and missile attacks. [49][17]
14
Cost-of-living marches in Belgium, Italy and Portugal

Protests over living costs spread beyond France on Saturday. [11] Police in Brussels and Liege, in Belgium, used tear gas and water cannon, and Belgium's interior minister called it organised violence. [50] In Milan and Bologna, in Italy, marches against high prices turned into clashes with police. [11][51] Tens of thousands marched in Lisbon, Portugal's capital, where house prices have more than doubled since 2017. [11] Housing groups joined the CGTP union federation's marches there, asking for higher wages and pensions. [52]

Why it matters — Portugal's government said it 'will not yield to shouts from the street'. [11] Belgian students have been marching against higher university fees, like the French pupils who started the wave. [50][11]
15
Albania's protests reach a fifth day

Students and other protesters fought riot police in Tirana, Albania's capital, for a fifth day running on Saturday. [53] Police used water cannon, tear gas and, by some reports, rubber bullets for the first time. [53][54] Police say 167 people have been arrested and 132 officers hurt in five days, and seven officers are suspended over claims of too much force. [54] The protesters want better schools and jobs, and Prime Minister Edi Rama's resignation over corruption claims. [54]

Why it matters — Rama, in power since 2013, refuses to quit and blames his conservative opponents for the clashes. [54] The crowd outside his office on Saturday was the biggest yet. [53]
16
Thousands march against Tunisia's president

Thousands of people marched in Tunis, Tunisia's capital, on Saturday against President Kais Saied's government, worsening living conditions and limits on freedoms. [55] The march was led by the Tunisian General Labour Union, with opposition groups, and was among the largest against Saied in years. [55] Saied has gathered power into his own hands since 2021. [55] Unemployment is 14.9%, and 26.6% among university graduates, official figures show. [55]

Everyone14.9%
Graduates26.6%
Women graduates35.6%
Ages 15 to 2435.4%
Tunisia's unemployment rates in the second quarter of 2026, from the national statistics office.

Why it matters — Earlier this month police stopped a 'Dignity March' of jobless graduates walking about 300km to the capital to ask for public-sector jobs. [55]
17
Romania shoots down two drones over the Black Sea

Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets shot down two drones over Romania's waters in the Black Sea on Saturday, minutes after they crossed into its airspace near Sulina. [56] Romania's defence ministry said they were jet-powered Geran attack drones, Russia's version of an Iranian drone. [57] On Sunday NATO jets tracked a suspected drone over northern Lithuania, which may have blown up on its own. [58] NATO ambassadors meet on Tuesday to discuss the Black Sea. [56]

Why it matters — Drones hit six ships off Romania and Bulgaria in ten days this month, and 11 sailors died on one of them. [14] Shipping insurers see no end to the danger, and the price of cover has shot up. [14]
18
Babis's coalition wins no Czech Senate seat

The ruling coalition of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a populist billionaire, won none of the 27 Senate seats up for election, final results showed on Saturday. [59] Pro-Western opposition parties won 22, keeping control of the 81-seat upper house. [59] It was Babis's first test since he won back power in October 2025. [59] He called the result 'catastrophic' but said his government's plans would go ahead. [59]

22 of 27
Senate seats won by opposition parties, of 27 up for election
Opposition candidates won 22 seats. The prime minister's coalition won none.

Why it matters — The Czech Senate has a big say over changes to the constitution and over who sits on the Constitutional Court. [59] Babis's government has ended direct military help to Ukraine. [59]
19
No Kings rallies turn to getting out the vote

Hundreds of rallies by No Kings, a network that opposes President Trump, took place across the US on Saturday. [60] This time the aim was to get people to vote early in the 3 November midterm elections, which decide who controls the US Congress. [20][61] In Atlanta a city councillor told the crowd to use 'the power to vote'. [60] Polls suggest the Democrats could win back the House of Representatives, while the US Senate is too close to call. [20]

Why it matters — Trump's government sued California on Thursday to stop it counting mail ballots from people it calls 'likely' non-citizens. [60] The US Justice Department also warned local officials they could face criminal investigation for counting such ballots. [60]
20
Trump blames his aides as Republicans slip

President Trump is blaming senior aides for a weak midterm campaign, questioning spending and candidate choices, three people familiar with the talks told Reuters. [62] An AP-NORC poll found most voters think Trump is falling short and want big change in the US Congress. [12] About eight in ten voters named the economy or living costs as a top issue. [12] At a rally in Kentucky on Saturday, Trump said: 'I can do stuff that is unbelievable.' [63]

Why it matters — Losing the House would give the Democrats the power to summon officials and investigate his government in his last two years, Reuters notes. [62] His approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency, pulled down by prices and the Iran war. [62]
21
Vance is asked about soldiers killed in Kuwait

Vice-President JD Vance faced hard questions from voters in a CBS News town hall shown on Saturday. [64] Joey Amor, whose wife was one of six US soldiers killed by an Iranian drone in Kuwait on 1 March, asked who would be held to account. [64] Vance said it was the first he had heard of it, then admitted 'a huge mistake' over where troops were placed. [64] He said the US wants a lasting promise that can be checked that Iran will not rebuild its nuclear programme. [65]

Why it matters — A Michigan voter who backed Trump in 2024, and now plans to vote for the Democratic Senate candidate, pressed Vance on high fuel prices. [64] Vance blamed Iran's closing of the Strait of Hormuz for those prices. [65]
22
Pope Leo leaves hospital after lung surgery

Pope Leo XIV, the 71-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church, left Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday, four days after surgery for lung cancer. [66][67] Surgeons removed the lower part of his right lung on Tuesday. [66] He walked to his car unaided and told well-wishers he was better. [67] His doctors have not yet said whether the cancer has spread. [67]

Why it matters — He was due to lead Sunday's prayer in St Peter's Square, his first public event since the operation. [67] People close to him say he wants to keep a trip to Latin America, including Peru, planned for early November. [66]
23
Pakistani and Afghan forces trade fire again

Pakistani troops and Afghan Taliban forces fired at each other for hours on Saturday in Kurram, a district on Pakistan's north-western border. [68] Pakistani officials said their artillery destroyed Taliban posts and killed Pakistani Taliban fighters trying to cross. [68][69] The Pakistani Taliban are an armed group that Pakistan says shelters in Afghanistan, which Afghanistan's Taliban government denies. [68] A day earlier Pakistan said talks with Afghanistan cannot be without conditions. [69]

Why it matters — Pakistan says more than 2,800 militant attacks have killed 3,000 people across the country this year. [68] The UN mission in Afghanistan has counted more than 1,100 civilians killed or hurt there by cross-border fighting this year. [68]
24
Macky Sall drops out of the race for UN chief

Macky Sall, Senegal's former president, withdrew on Saturday from the race to become the next head of the United Nations. [70] It came a day after an informal Security Council vote in which all seven candidates were blocked by at least one of the five permanent members. [70] Sall said he hopes to help a candidate everyone can accept to emerge. [70] Uganda's Olara Otunnu is now the only African left in the race. [70]

Why it matters — By tradition the job rotates between world regions, and this time most candidates are from Latin America. [70] Costa Rica's Rebecca Grynspan leads with seven votes in favour, but two permanent members oppose her. [70]
25
Guatemalan anti-corruption lawyer shot dead

Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa, a 43-year-old former prosecutor known for cases against powerful businessmen, was shot dead at a sports centre in Guatemala City on Saturday. [71] A second man also died. [71] Police said they arrested two men and seized a gun and a motorbike. [71] Foppa ran Guatemala's tax authority from 2016 to 2018 and helped prosecute dozens of business figures for unpaid taxes. [71]

Why it matters — President Bernardo Arevalo said those who ordered the killing, not only the gunmen, must face the law. [71] Foppa had publicly linked a street gang to a political party. [71]
26
Spain's left splits before November's election

Parties to the left of Spain's governing Socialists failed to agree a joint list for the snap election on 29 November. [21][72] The Broad Front, led by former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, and Podemos will run apart in most of Spain. [72] They fell out over who would head the lists in Madrid and Barcelona. [21] Spain's voting system punishes small parties that run separately, especially in smaller provinces. [21]

Why it matters — That hurts Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who needs them to stay in power. [21] Polls suggest the conservative People's Party could govern with the far-right Vox instead. [72]
27
The Philippines calls China's envoy's words a threat

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr of the Philippines said remarks by China's ambassador sounded 'very much' like a threat. [73] The ambassador, Jing Quan, had said that if China wanted to use force 'we may easily win', but that it loves peace. [73] The Philippine foreign ministry called it a thinly veiled threat to use force. [73] China claims almost all of the South China Sea, and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan claim parts of it. [73]

Why it matters — Ships from the two countries have had tense run-ins at sea in recent years. [73] The sea is a key route for world trade. [73]
28
India frees the 'Cockroach' party founder

Indian police released Abhijeet Dipke, the 31-year-old founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth protest group, on Saturday, a day after detaining him in Delhi. [74][75] He was let go after agreeing to conditions that were not made public. [74] Student leader Neha Bora was also freed. [74] The protesters want India's chief election commissioner to resign after more than 130 million names were struck off voter lists. [75]

Why it matters — Two other leaders of the group are still in jail for protesting at a banned site. [75] Six US lawmakers asked Marco Rubio to raise the crackdown on his visit to India. [32]
29
Rubio's India trip skips the capital

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits India this week but will not go to New Delhi, its capital. [76] He will meet Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Mumbai and visit the oil-refining town of Jamnagar. [76][77] Opposition leaders complained after the US ambassador said the US expected Jaishankar to travel to meet Rubio. [76] The two countries agreed the outline of a trade deal in February but have not signed it. [77]

Why it matters — Rubio said India still buys a lot of energy from Russia, which matters for Trump's 60-day review of the Russia sanctions. [78]
30
Truck drives across a children's soccer game

A woman drove a pickup truck across a field during a children's soccer game in Wichita, in the US state of Kansas, on Saturday, killing a six-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man. [79] Eleven other people, aged five to 68, went to hospital. [79] The 34-year-old driver is in custody, and two children were in the truck with her. [79] Police have not said whether it was deliberate. [79][80]

Why it matters — Wichita's police chief said people rushed to help the injured before ambulances arrived. [79] All events at the sports complex are cancelled for now. [80]
31
UN agency finds gaps at Beirut's airport

Beirut's airport, Lebanon's main one, lacks valid safety certification, a report by the UN's civil aviation agency found, Reuters reported. [81] Its fire crews can handle single-aisle planes but not the bigger jets used on long flights, and it has no emergency plan. [81] The findings could delay Trump's plan to bring back direct US flights, banned since a 1985 hijacking. [81] Lebanon's transport minister said work to certify the airport began on Saturday. [81]

Why it matters — Three US airline officials said American airlines are unlikely to fly there soon, because of security worries. [81]
32
A Reform UK hopeful calls for 'concentration camps'

A would-be MP for Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, told an undercover ITV reporter that asylum seekers should be put in 'concentration camps'. [82] He also said a Muslim cannot be British. [82] The footage is part of an ITV investigation that has already caught other Reform members using racist language. [82] Reform says it has opened investigations where members clearly behaved badly. [82]

Why it matters — Labour's party chair, Bridget Phillipson, said the scandal shows Farage is unfit to lead. [82]
33
Scotland's leader opens a new independence campaign

John Swinney, Scotland's first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, said on Saturday that the campaign for a second vote on independence 'has already begun'. [83] He announced a campaign called Choose Scotland, backed by a six-figure sum. [83] Party figures said the likeliest route to a vote is a UK parliament where no party has a majority. [83] The SNP has only eight MPs in that parliament now. [83]

Why it matters — Polls suggest the SNP would win many more seats from Labour if a UK election were held now. [83]
34
Satellite images show Kim's pleasure boat

Satellite images studied by the BBC show an 80m luxury boat with a 50m swimming pool and water slides off Wonsan, North Korea, from July to mid-October. [84] Wonsan is a seaside resort where the family of leader Kim Jong Un has a large villa. [84] Former officials and defectors say only the ruling family could use boats this size. [84] Similar yachts cost from tens of millions of dollars to over $100 million. [84]

Why it matters — A 2025 UN report says about 40% of North Koreans do not get enough to eat. [84] The UN puts North Korea's output per person at about $667 in 2024. [84]
35
South Africa's parties fight for its big cities

South Africa's two biggest parties are campaigning hard for its cities before local elections on 4 November. [85] President Cyril Ramaphosa went door to door for his ANC in Cape Town, a city the rival Democratic Alliance has run since 2006. [85] In Johannesburg the DA's mayoral candidate, Helen Zille, promised to fix the city's finances and fight corruption. [85] Ramaphosa said Cape Town's good services are concentrated in its wealthy areas. [85]

Why it matters — Zille claimed Cape Town has added more jobs since 2016 than the country's seven other big cities put together. [85]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why a protest with many demands is hard to end with one promise

When many groups join one protest, each brings its own complaint, so granting one thing does not send the crowd home.

The twist

Each group that joins a protest makes the crowd bigger. It also adds a demand, and no single offer from a government can answer all of them.

The picture

PupilsMore teachers

UnionsHigher wages

Yellow vestsLower prices

Three groups marched together in France on Saturday, each with its own demand. The 3,000 extra teachers promised on 8 October answered only the first.

How it works

Pupils protest over one thing: missing teachers
Other groups join, each with its own complaint
The crowd grows, and so does its list of demands
France's government grants one demand, 3,000 teachers
The other groups are not answered, so marches go on
France's government waits for the crowd to tire

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Albania's fifth day of protests

Students asking for better schools and jobs were joined by people demanding the prime minister resign over corruption, and he refuses to resign while the clashes go on.
The marches in Lisbon

Unions marching for wages and pensions were joined by housing groups, and Portugal's government said it will not give in to the street.
The march against Tunisia's president

A union, opposition groups and others put jobs, living costs and freedoms on one list, which no single change by Saied's government could meet.

Where you've seen this

Strikes at work

a strike over one pay rise can end with a number; a strike over pay, hours and safety lasts longer

Peace talks

every armed group at the table adds a condition, and a deal has to meet all of them

A family holiday

when everyone adds a wish, no single plan pleases the whole family

The catch

It can also work the other way. If a government grants the biggest group what it wants, that group may go home and leave the rest of the protest smaller.

And the whole of it

A pupil in a Paris suburb, a pensioner in Lisbon and a jobless graduate in Tunis each marched over one problem in their own life. The ministers reading their demands must also deal with lenders charging France more to borrow, and with an election in April. Nobody in the street or in a ministry can see all of it at once.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

Much of Saturday's news runs back to fuel and living costs pushed up by the war on Iran and the closed Strait of Hormuz. [13] French and Portuguese marchers named fuel, rent and prices [10][52], eight in ten US voters rank living costs as a top issue [12], and Rubio said Trump paused the Russia sanctions to weigh their effect on a world economy hit by high oil and diesel prices. [37][78]

Why it works on us — One burning town hall is easier to picture than 550,000 people marching calmly, so leaders on every side spoke about the fires: Macron promised punishment, Le Pen blamed the far left and Vance blamed immigration. [1][3][8]

Who gains

Marine Le Pen's National Rally — The fires let her back the police and accuse Melenchon's party of fuelling the violence, six months before April's presidential vote. [3][5]
Russia and the biggest buyers of its oil — Trump's waiver stops the new sanctions on Russia and the 100% tariffs on the top five buyers of its oil and gas, including China and India, from starting. [88][40]
Pro-Western parties in the Czech Senate — They kept control of the upper house, which has a big say over changes to the constitution and over who sits on the Constitutional Court. [59]
The Democrats in the US midterms — Polls point to them winning the House, which would give them the power to investigate Trump's government. [20][62]
Southern Yemeni forces once paid by the UAE — The UAE has agreed to pay them again, with Saudi Arabia giving them air cover. [17]

Who pays

Shopkeepers in Paris, Marseille, Lille and Nice — Looters stripped shops from a bakery to an Apple store on the edges of the marches. [10]
People of Limoges — Most of their 143-year-old town hall burned, and the prefect called it a catastrophe for the city's heritage. [5]
Palestinian olive farmers in the West Bank — Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, recorded 377 incidents of violence by settlers and soldiers against Palestinians from 27 September to 10 October, 174 of them tied to the harvest. [28]
Ukrainians facing winter — Russia hit more than 15 power sites as Trump paused the sanctions meant to pressure it. [39]
Sailors in the Black Sea — Drones hit six ships in ten days, and insurers have raised the price of cover for the passage. [14]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

How many people marched in France.

France's interior ministry counted about 550,000. The CGT union first gave 500,000 and later 800,000. We print the official count and the union's latest. [1][7][2]
02

How the protester in Saint-Etienne lost his hand.

A police source told AFP it was a police crowd-control grenade, the city's mayor spoke of a small explosive, and French media reported that he tried to pick up a stun grenade. [7][3][4]
03

How many people died at the Wainwright base, and why.

The defence minister confirmed deaths but gave no number or cause. Global News, citing unnamed military sources, says at least seven died after a gas line was hit in live-fire training. [23][22]
04

Whether the Israeli army ignored calls for help before the attack on the diplomats.

Middle East Eye, citing Haaretz, says calls came in from 1pm and troops were told only around 3pm. The army says the visit was not coordinated with it and has opened its own inquiry. [28][86]
05

Who sent the drones Romania shot down, and how many sailors have died in the Black Sea.

Romania named the drone type but not who launched it. The Guardian counts 11 dead on one ship alone, while a report in The Hindu counted two dead and at least 25 missing across at least seven ships. [56][14][87]
06

What hit the two tankers in Hormuz, and whose they were.

The account comes from Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Iranian state media, and the ships' names and the origin of their cargo were not given. [13]
07

What Trump will decide when the 60 days are up.

Trump said 'a lot of you don't know what my decision is yet', and his order sets no end date for the waivers. [37][88]
08

How many people died in the Houthi attacks on Riyadh's airport.

The National gives 12 dead in last Saturday's strike and 17 across all of October's strikes; Dawn reports 13 dead in last week's attack. [18][48][46]
09

How many died in the Kolkata crush.

West Bengal's chief minister gives 17 dead, while the Press Trust of India news agency reported at least 19. [32]

04 Hope carry this

Yemen's Houthis freed 159 captured government fighters, and the Red Cross helped them with health checks, calls to their families and the journey home.

Also true today

Riyadh's King Khalid airport reopened on Sunday after Houthi attacks had shut it.
Pope Leo XIV walked out of hospital unaided, four days after surgeons removed part of his right lung.
In Wichita, Kansas, people rushed to help the injured before ambulances arrived, after a truck drove across a children's soccer game.