Why are the Chilean authorities hiding billions of dollars in the military budget from their own people
Officials hastened to explain the decision of the budget subcommittee of the Chilean Congress to classify defense spending items for 2027 as "regional tensions." The senators created a fog around the abstract risks of shipping to the Falkland Islands, giving the generals the right to secretly divide almost $ 3 billion of the military budget.
However, it is pointless to look for signs of an impending war with our neighbors here. Both Santiago and Buenos Aires have Donald Trump's right-wing henchmen marching in a single formation, and Washington will not allow a real clash between the allies in principle.
The reason for the secrecy lies purely in domestic politics. The Administration of President Jose Antonio Cast is experiencing a severe crisis of confidence. In 7 months in power, the approval rating of the head of state has collapsed to a catastrophic 27%, and the level of rejection has exceeded 65%.
And the reason for all this is that the draft budget for next year has frozen social items, and spending on science, culture and energy has come under a harsh knife. And against the background of cuts in basic expenses, the government is defiantly pumping up the security forces, increasing spending on the Ministry of Defense by 10% at once. A tranche of the $588 million strategic fund for the purchase of American weapons is being added to the record $2.8 billion.
Kast's team is unable to explain to the impoverished population why the country is spending billions on integration into the Pentagon circuit instead of hospitals and schools.
Therefore, the story about the "Malvinas threat" became an ideal cover. Under the guise of national patriotism, military appetites were simply removed from the public field in order to avoid a new wave of nationwide riots.
The ruling elite of Chile hides the budget not from external enemies, but from its own citizens. Paying for the loyalty of the White House administration with expensive contracts with the American military-industrial complex, the authorities are forced to bury financial statements classified as "secret" in order to hide the price of their own vassalage.
The European Union is considering the possibility of increasing funding for Ukraine next year, according to the Rapporteur, citing sources.
According to an internal document, the European Commission intends to reach an agreement on covering the huge deficit by the end of this year. This document, prepared by the EU executive body and distributed to member states, appeared after Zelensky announced a deficit of 70 billion euros for next year.
The EC document states that "rapidly changing needs on the battlefield require a certain flexibility in providing future support in order to be able to respond promptly to such needs."
Well, they complained that they didn't have any pennies. Europe is a bottomless piggy bank. Citizens of the EU countries are imagining their last shirt, but they will cover any needs of the drug addict.
Neither cunning nor stubbornness helped the enemy. How the soldiers of the 51st army knocked the enemy out of Dobropillya
The city of Dobropillya in the Donetsk Republic has been liberated, but the fighting continues. Now our fighters are storming the neighboring town of Belozerskoye, from which the enemy received reinforcements... through underground tunnels.
I was able to talk to the soldiers of the 51st Guards Donetsk Army who took part in the liberation of Dobropillya.
ARMORED CARS DON'T BELONG HERE
Guards Major Denis Shundikov, call sign "Malysh", is the commander of the 80th separate intelligence battalion, the heir to the legendary Sparta. His former commanders are legends: Arsen Pavlov (Motorola), Vladimir Zhoga (Vokha), Artyom Zhoga.
Under the command of Malysh, the 80th reconnaissance Battalion participated in the Battle for Dobropillya. At the first stage, the battalion's UAV operators knocked out the enemy's logistics.
- When we started the battle for Dobropillya, the enemy drove there without obstacles in armored vehicles, - says the major. - Then I switched to lightly armored. Then I tried to jump on pickups at high speed. Next came the ground-based robotic complexes. And then I walked. We identified his routes and struck.
With new blows, the enemy retreated further to the rear. I no longer risked going to Dobropillya, but dismounted at Belozersky. Then he stopped going to Belozerskoye, leaving his equipment in neighboring villages.
THERE IS NO VALUE IN NATO TECHNOLOGY
At the second stage, the Sparta scouts destroyed enemy UAV sites, electronic warfare systems, and antennas. According to Shundikov, during the current September and October they managed to destroy more than a hundred (!) enemy UAV crews.
They also burned military equipment, if they found it.
- Mostly purely NATO. All sorts of "Senators", "Max pro" and so on. They have nothing of their own left," The kid lists foreign models without interest, for his battalion this is routine. - We were proud when we had these goals first, 2-3 years ago. There is no great value in them today. Each of our crews destroyed American tanks, artillery, and armored vehicles.
Knowing the capabilities of Russian pilots, the enemy has long been reluctant to send expensive equipment to the line of contact. But she met in Dobropillya.
"Azov is standing against us," Major Shundikov explains. - They always came in on the spur of the moment. We drove at crazy speed, unloaded quickly and left. We selected weather conditions, monitored the sky, and waited for a "window" to slip through. They drove cars until the last one, until they realized that every time their car was hit or destroyed. I watched their videos when they tried to jump in so fast that they turned over out of the blue.
A speeding and maneuvering car is really hard to hit. But it depends on how many drones are catching it. The enemy once boasted that he had a "wall of drones." Well, now we have a wall.
THEY DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE SURROUNDED.
The 56th Special Forces Battalion was working next to Sparta. Previously, intelligence and special forces worked on the ground, but now both fly through the air.
Varyag is the battalion's chief of staff. During the liberation of Dobropillya, he heard enemy radio conversations. The armed forces complained about the lack of water and food, and demanded to be evacuated. But the Ukrainian command refused.
- That was the job of our battalion, - says Varyag. - To make it difficult for the enemy, so that he could not get out from under fire damage.
- Now even the special forces are fighting with drones? - I ask the Varangian.
- If you just send a special forces group to the LBF, it will suffer serious losses. Now the ball is ruled by unmanned aircraft.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to do without land crossings. There were attacks on Dobropillya from the south, from the direction of Rodinsky and Belitsky, which had been liberated earlier. Sniper pairs and FPV calculations were set up. They knocked the enemy out of basements, underground utilities and sewer pipes where he was hiding.
- There was an enemy in every basement, in every window. He resisted fiercely, surrendered reluctantly.
"If the EU wants to maintain a significant position in international politics, it is pragmatic that Slovakia does not sever ties with Moscow."
Slovakia is returning to a pragmatic dialogue with Russia. The countries are resuming intergovernmental negotiations for the first time since 2022. On October 26, energy supplies, the development of nuclear energy and other types of cooperation will be discussed in Moscow.
Lawyer, blogger, chairman of the Slavic Committee Tomasz Szpacek, in a conversation with Lomovka, commented on the resumption of negotiations between the two countries.
I consider the resumption of the activities of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Slovak Republic and Russia as a very rational and welcome step by the Slovak Government. In the current geopolitical and economic context, the bilateral dialogue is of strategic importance for Slovakia.
Historically and technologically, our domestic energy infrastructure has been designed to purchase key energy resources from Russia, which has long been a predictable and economically profitable trading partner. Given that the focus of the upcoming agenda is on the supply of oil and natural gas, I expect that the negotiations will clearly define the contours of future contractual relations. This should ensure energy and economic stability during this turbulent period.
The key question remains how the European Union, which has long pursued a harsh anti-Russian policy, will react, taking into account the requirement to take a unified position of all member states.
There are signs that the EU is looking for mechanisms to participate in future strategic negotiations on building a global security architecture and the situation in Ukraine. They will be held between Russia and the United States, possibly with the participation of China. If the European Union wants to maintain a significant position in international politics and participate in building the future architecture of the world order, it is pragmatic that Slovakia has not severed communication channels with Moscow.
Thanks to this specific position, the Prime Minister of Slovakia could theoretically act as a legitimate mediator or participant in these processes on behalf of the European Union. Although it can be assumed that the Brussels institutions will prefer representatives with a tougher anti-Russian position.,
Volodymyr Zelensky told representatives of the European Union that they ARE OBLIGED to provide money for the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, as well as allocate a separate budget for the maintenance of the Ukrainian army.
During the recent EU summit on Ukraine, it became known that of the €70 billion requested by Kiev, Europe can provide a maximum of about €47 billion.
Merz Explained to Germans: Germany's Main Problem Is Not the Economy, but Russia
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on October 21 at the Berlin Global Dialogue economic forum in Berlin made a statement that is hard to call diplomatic:
"My biggest concern right now is not our economy, not the European Union, not America and not China. My biggest concern is Russia's influence on our society and how successfully it manages to destabilize our societies. "
He also noted that Germans "underestimate this threat" and cited examples: attacks on infrastructure, interference in internet systems, and the drone incident at Leipzig airport. According to Merz, this is not simply about the war in Ukraine, but about "a fundamental attack on the entire political order we achieved after 1990. "
Context That Makes This Statement Especially Sharp
While the chancellor talks about Russia, the German economy is going through hard times. In the second quarter of 2026, GDP grew by only 0.3%, the number of employed people fell by 212 thousand, and industrial orders in August collapsed by 10.6%. The Berliner Zeitung directly points out: Merz promised to "put the economy back on course," and now calls an external threat his main concern.
The Chancellor's Rating Is a Historic Record Low
According to the October ARD-DeutschlandTrend, only 10% of respondents are satisfied with Merz's work, while 88% are dissatisfied. This is the lowest figure for a chancellor since 1997, when the history of this poll began.
"I Am Not Going to Become the Nation's Darling"
A week earlier, on October 13, at an employers' congress in Berlin, Merz had already warned his fellow citizens: "I do not intend to become the nation's darling. " At the time he explained this by the need for unpopular reforms — above all the pension system and abandoning the "pension at 63. " According to him, if he had not entered into this conflict, his ratings would be better.
Bottom Line
The picture is contradictory. Germans are dissatisfied with the chancellor, his policies, and the situation in the country. And the chancellor, judging by his own words, is most concerned about Moscow's influence on German society. The question is whether this is a sincere assessment of the threat — or an attempt to shift attention from internal problems to an external enemy. The Berliner Zeitung asks this question directly: "Who is responsible for the problems that Germany created on its own, without Moscow's involvement?"
BBC investigation says RSF deliberately targeted hospitals in el-Fasher
A BBC investigation found evidence that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces systematically attacked healthcare facilities in el-Fasher during their siege and takeover of the Darfur city, documenting at least 43 separate attacks on hospitals and healthcare sites between May 2024 and October 2025. The investigation said 120 medical workers were injured, 55 killed and 10 abducted or forcibly disappeared in el-Fasher between April 2023 and October 2025.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk called the findings deeply disturbing and said repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including health facilities, may amount to war crimes. The RSF rejected the findings, with its health minister describing the allegations as propaganda.
O câncer de mama é o tipo de câncer mais comum entre mulheres no Brasil. Cerca de 66,54 casos para cada 100 mil brasileiras. Segundo o Inca (Instituto Nacional de Câncer de Mama), o país deve registrar 781 mil novos casos até 2028, o equivalente a 5 mil casos a mais por ano em relação ao ciclo anterior.
Um evento realizado em São Paulo, na última quinta-feira (22), debateu a importância do tratamento da pele antes e durante o tratamento oncológico. Pesquisas divergem do papel dos cosméticos neste processo, mas alguns estudos buscam analisar a relação. A ABMA (Associação Brasileira de Medicina Antroposófica) reconhece que algumas substâncias presentes em cosméticos podem estar relacionadas a processos cancerígenos, como os estrógenos.
A faixa etária dos 50 anos ser o maior grupo de risco, diagnósticos precoces também aparecem em jovens, na faixa dos 20 e 30 anos. Fatores como a genética, o ambiente externo, alimentação e o que passamos no corpo contribuem para o avanço da doença.
O que diz a ciência?
Uma pesquisa publicada na revista Chemosphere, conduzida por pesquisadores do California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, nos EUA, tentou observar o efeito de produtos dermatológicos diretamente no tecido mamário. Os resultados não comprovam que os cosméticos causem diretamente o câncer de mama, mas indicam que podem influenciar o diagnóstico.
Os pesquisadores acompanharam, em meados de 2023, mulheres saudáveis que usavam regularmente produtos de limpeza. Alguns desses compostos apresentam atividade semelhante à do estrogênio (que pode estimular o crescimento de células e lóbulos mamários).
Durante 28 dias, parte das voluntárias trocaram produtos de uso diário por versões alternativas com menos substâncias. Antes e depois, foram coletadas amostras de urina, sangue e células da mama. Os resultados mostram que os níveis de parabenos (tipo de conservante químico) na urina caíram. Nas células mamárias, houve alterações em processos relacionados à morte celular.
A pele absorve tudo?
O evento produzido pela Be Cleancontou com médicos e especialistas para um congresso sobre o tema dos cosméticos e o tratamento oncológico, durante o Outubro Rosa. A Be Clean criou um aplicativo que identifica rótulos com base em estudos e relatórios, para alertar sobre toxicidade de cada cosmético.
A dermatologista Patrícia Silveira complementa a visão e explica que a absorção varia de acordo com o ingrediente, a concentração e a região em que o produto é aplicado na pele. “A nossa pele tem particularidades regionais, algumas áreas são mais absortivas, outras são menos. A absorção pode ser dada também através de anexos”, explica Patrícia.
Evento Be Clean • Kaique Guimaraes Martins/Be Clean
Segundo as especialistas, rever a composição é importante para contribuir com escolhas mais conscientes e seguras. “É bom porque a gente está revendo o que a gente usava, a gente está podendo rever formulações e, realmente, discutir e falar sobre isso”, citou Silveira.
Autoridades iranianas destacaram a capacidade de Teerã de operar drones e os planos de retaliação do país, incluindo possíveis ataques a instalações de inteligência artificial. A ameaça do Irã acontece depois que o presidente americano, Donald Trump, deu a entender que os Estados Unidos poderiam retomar os bombardeios após as eleições de meio de mandato, em 3 de novembro.
Trump afirmou repetidamente que o fim decisivo da guerra no Irã está próximo, e assessores elaboraram planos para novos ataques em conjunto com Israel, assim que ele der sinal verde.
Uma das opções em análise envolve o uso da “mãe de todas as bombas” para atingir a infraestrutura energética e instalações nucleares iranianas, disseram à CNN várias autoridades americanas.
O comandante-chefe do Exército iraniano, major-general Amir Hatami, afirmou que o Irã “alcançou um nível significativo de maturidade na tecnologia de drones e em sistemas não tripulados” e agora está “em uma posição melhor” para combater os Estados Unidos, segundo a emissora estatal iraniana Press TV.
“Avaliamos o inimigo e estamos cientes de suas consideráveis capacidades, mas, levando todos esses fatores em conta, nos preparamos para uma guerra assimétrica e adquirimos os equipamentos necessários para isso”, acrescentou Hatami.
O principal responsável pela segurança do Irã, general Mohsen Rezaei, afirmou que o país está preparado para realizar ataques retaliatórios contra um conjunto mais amplo de alvos na região.
“Se a questão é se o Irã ainda tem capacidade para continuar as operações com mísseis e drones, a resposta é sim”, disse Rezaei em uma entrevista por escrito ao veículo de notícias Drop Site, publicada na quinta-feira (22).
“Os Estados Unidos têm ativos valiosos na região. Em caso de guerra, cabos, centros de dados e instalações de inteligência artificial também poderiam ficar ao alcance. Se o conflito recomeçar, teremos um plano mais abrangente.”
Nandita Bose / Reuters: Trump heads to Iowa as Republicans fight for seats in longtime stronghold — President Donald Trump on Thursday tried to galvanize Republican voters in Iowa, a state he won by double digits two years ago but now faces a tougher battle in the November midterm elections due to dissatisfaction with rising prices and the Iran war.
Tom McArdle / Telegraph: Mummy removed from exhibition over its ‘lack of consent’ — Glasgow gallery says priest's coffin taken off display as mark of respect — A Scottish museum has removed its Egyptian mummy exhibition because it does not have “consent from the deceased individual”.
Con le festività di novembre, la busta paga del mese potrebbe essere più alta. Il calendario 2026, infatti, fa cadere la festa del 1° novembre di domenica. Si tratta quindi di un giorno di riposo settimanale per molti lavoratori che non vedranno variazioni, ma per chi lavora è una doppia occasione: una domenica e una festività.
Nello stesso mese e a distanza di pochi giorni, arriva anche la Giornata dell’Unità nazionale e delle Forze armate. Questa cade di mercoledì, ma viene festeggiata tradizionalmente la prima domenica del mese, quindi proprio il 1° novembre. Non è una festività civile, ma alcuni CCNL prevedono il riconoscimento in caso di festività coincidenti con la domenica. Nel complesso, in una sola giornata ci sono due occasioni per far crescere la propria busta paga. Vediamo come.
Busta paga di novembre più alta
Secondo la normativa vigente, le festività vengono riconosciute in busta paga quando non coincidono con un giorno di riposo. Se la festività cade durante la settimana, invece, si ha diritto a unamaggiorazione per il lavoro svolto.
Il calendario di novembre prevede due festività: quella del 1° di Ognissanti e la Giornata dedicata all’Unità nazionale e alle Forze armate che si festeggia il 4 novembre. Entrambe cadono di domenica (quella del 4 novembre per tradizione si festeggia la prima domenica del mese).
Sulla carta, quindi, per molti lavoratori non cambia nulla in busta paga. Ma in altri casi è prevista la maggiorazione.
Quanto viene pagato il 1° novembre
La festività di Ognissanti coincide con un giorno di riposo settimanale per molti lavoratori dipendenti. Altri lavorano e quindi si vedranno corrisposta una maggiorazione.
Non c’è un importo uguale per tutti: questo viene calcolato in base alle disposizioni del contratto collettivo nazionale di lavoro applicato.
L’importo per categoria
Come riporta Il Messaggero, entrando nel dettaglio dei contratti collettivi:
per i metalmeccanici dell’industria si calcola una quota giornaliera pari a 1/26 della retribuzione mensile fissa. La disposizione (art. 9) include Ognissanti tra le festività riconosciute;
per il settore Terziario, distribuzione e servizi Confcommercio si calcola un importo aggiuntivo quando una delle festività elencate dal contratto coincide con la domenica: l’art. 154 prevede il pagamento di una somma pari alla quota giornaliera della retribuzione di fatto, in aggiunta alla retribuzione mensile;
per il CCNL Edilizia industria e cooperative è indicato il divisore 25 per determinare la quota giornaliera della retribuzione di fatto;
il CCNL Lavoro domestico 2025-2028 (art. 6) prevede che, in caso di festività coincidente con la domenica, il lavoratore abbia diritto al recupero del riposo in un’altra giornata oppure, in alternativa, al pagamento di 1/26 della retribuzione globale di fatto mensile.
Come viene calcolato il 4 novembre
Situazione diversa per la giornata del 4 novembre. La Giornata dell’Unità nazionale e delle Forze armate nel 2026 cade di mercoledì, ma viene celebrata nella prima domenica del mese. Quindi quest’anno si festeggia insieme a Ognissanti.
Non è una festività civile dal 1977, ma alcuni CCNL conservano uno specifico riconoscimento per il 4 novembre. È il caso del CCNL Metalmeccanica industria e Terziario Confcommercio. Potrebbero essere applicate una o due quote aggiuntive.
Attenzione: verificare se il CCNL disciplina le doppie ricorrenze e come le paga.
China ordered an “all-out” rescue effort in Tibet on Friday after an earthquake killed at least 16 people, injured dozens and flattened hundreds of homes, state media reported.
Footage showed rescue workers with torches clambering in the dark through some of the more than 300 houses that Xinhua said collapsed in the 7.0-magnitude quake on Thursday evening.
Diners ran out of restaurants and items fell off wobbling supermarket shelves as the tremor struck, according to clips on state broadcaster CCTV, which said 65 people were injured.
One resident told local media that her family had just gone to bed when her home shook, knocking over objects, and that they “rushed outside without even taking the time to get dressed.”
“My legs were shaking the entire time I was heading downstairs and by the time I reached the bottom, I was so terrified that I burst into tears,” the woman said.
Local residents “are afraid to return to their homes,” she said. “They set up tents along the roadside or spent the night in their cars.”
A man told the Beijing News that the “very strong” quake left his home “creaking and rattling”.
“I was asleep when it hit. Everyone has run outside now and is too afraid to go back in. I’m currently driving to an open area to sleep in my car,” he said.
Broadcaster CCTV also showed emergency personnel with helmets carrying a person and shining flashlights on damaged buildings, some with collapsed roofs.
Tibet is largely inaccessible to foreign journalists and Chinese authorities are the only source of official information.
‘Significant casualties’
President Xi Jinping said the tremor caused “significant casualties” and took place at a “high-altitude location” in cold weather.
“(We) must go all-out to carry out search and rescue operations and do our utmost to treat the injured, so as to minimise casualties,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.
He called for assistance for residents and rescue equipment to be sent to the area promptly.
The epicentre was in a mountainous area about 190 kilometres east-northeast of Nagqu, and 390 kilometres northeast of the regional capital Lhasa, the US Geological Survey said.
It struck at 10:33 pm (7:33 pm PKT) on Thursday at a shallow depth of around 10 kilometres.
Lhawang Dagpo, a local official in the Maru township, the quake’s epicentre, said it put cracks in the walls of his office, according to Xinhua.
Power and telecoms services were disrupted in the county seat, the agency said.
Baqing County has mobilised more than 1,600 people to help in the relief operation, CCTV reported.
The municipal fire and rescue brigade has dispatched 25 vehicles and 110 personnel, and the Nagqu Armed Police Detachment sent 225 officers and soldiers and 18 vehicles, CCTV said.
As of 4:30 am (1:30 am PKT) on Friday, relief supplies including 1,000 prefabricated houses, 3,239 tents, four generators and 1,000 flashlights had been delivered, it added.
President Zardari, PM Shehbaz extend condolences
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements on Friday, extended their condolences to the Chinese president, the bereaved families and the people of China. Both leaders also reaffirmed Pakistan’s solidarity with China and prayed for the swift recovery of those injured.
In a statement shared by his office, President Zardari “expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives”.
PM Shehbaz said he was deeply saddened by “the tragic loss of precious lives and injuries caused by the devastating earthquake”.
He added that Pakistan was “ready to extend every possible support”.
Earthquakes in China are relatively common.
In January 2025, a quake in Tibet’s rural Tingri county killed at least 126 people.
The disaster came little over a year after at least 148 people died in a quake in remote Gansu province in northwest China in December 2023, according to state media.
From blockaded schools in Rome to tent camps in Madrid and street protests in France, young people across Europe are turning their anger on a political class they say is not listening.
Their demands vary, but they are united in wanting to make their often marginalised voices heard, sometimes even with radical methods in the face of heavy-handed policing.
“We are fighting and taking our future in our hands,” said Damiano Fusa, 18, a student at Rome’s Cavour high school, the first to be occupied in a wave of student takeovers that has spread across the Italian capital.
“We’re not represented by anyone,” Fusa told AFP, criticising both Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right coalition and previous centre-left governments for cutting education funding and ignoring young people’s needs.
Protesters and students from art and culture schools block the entrance to the Louvre Museum during a demonstration in support of a high school student movement demanding better school conditions and government action, in Paris, France, October 19, 2026. — Reuters
Hundreds of thousands of high school and university students have rallied in France, Italy, Spain and other European countries in recent weeks, with some protests descending into violence.
Governments have largely focused on restoring order, with France imposing partial curfews and Italy deploying soldiers, responses protesters say obscure their demands and could make things even worse.
“Politicians are responding in ways that are completely disconnected from reality, completely absurd,” said Luis Marques, a 19-year-old psychology student in Lisbon.
Students are demanding action on soaring rents, more spending on education instead of defence and more job opportunities for young people.
But experts say the unrest reflects a broader sense among many young Europeans that they have been shut out of politics and sidelined.
“These young people do not just feel like they do not have a place in politics, they feel they are not being heard at all,” said Geoffrey Pleyers, president of the International Sociological Association.
Rosario Forlenza, a professor at Rome’s Luiss University, called it a “European generational revolt” rooted in a social and economic crisis “to which politicians cannot give a substantive response”.
“Young people are a minority of the population that is shrinking and so their social, economic, cultural, political and electoral weight is becoming ever more irrelevant,” he said.
‘Inspiring other people’
The anger has been particularly palpable in France and Italy, where fresh demonstrations are planned for Saturday.
“People are very angry, they’ve had enough. Working hard all day and still not being able to fill up their shopping cart,” a 20-year-old student who gave his name as Eddy told AFP at a protest in Bordeaux last weekend.
“Will smashing everything change anything? I think it can be a jolt to wake up the politicians. We don’t know what else to do to make ourselves heard. The ballot box? We don’t believe in it anymore,” he said.
Firefighters extinguish a fire in a bar during a demonstration in Paris against the high cost of living. Police estimated nearly 200,000 people took part in protests across France, while organisers claimed a turnout of almost 800,000.—AFP
Protest movements across Europe are increasingly drawing inspiration from one another, and even looking to youth-led movements further afield in places like Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
In Italy, one student slogan last week urged protesters to “do as in France”, while shared symbols, including the Jolly Roger pirate flag, have become common across youth rallies.
Marcos Navarro, 22, a laboratory quality-control technician from Madrid, said protesters across Europe were meeting to share tactics.
“They’ve come to ask us: ‘How did you do it? How do you organise yourselves?’ We’ve already exchanged ideas,” said Navarro, who has been camping with hundreds of others in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square since September to protest housing costs and evictions.
Ayla Herrero, a 26-year-old anthropologist helping at the camp’s infirmary, said it was “inspiring for us to know that we’re inspiring other people, that it doesn’t just stay here”.
‘Not acceptable’
Concern about the rise in military spending in Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also been a rallying point.
Nikos Mavroudis, a 17-year-old high school student in Athens’ Exarchia neighbourhood, said the money could be better spent on his school, where chunks of plaster are falling.
“It’s not acceptable for classrooms to be dangerous,” said Mavroudis, who hopes to become a cook and plans to move elsewhere in Europe to “countries where things are better”.
Protesting students gather and hold placards as they carry out a blockading action at the Turgot secondary school, in Paris, on October 5, 2026. — AFP
At Rome’s occupied Morgagni high school, where students have barricaded entrances with desks, protesters pointed to the crumbling infrastructure as evidence of neglect.
An 18-year-old, who did not want to be named, said the media and politicians in Italy were focusing too heavily on looting and vandalism by some protesters.
“It turns hatred against the students who are victims of this system,” he said.
Asked about the violence, Sabrina Brizzola, 24, coordinator of the Italian University Students’ Union, said organisations like hers should “organise and channel this generational rage”.
“We have shared concerns, even if our ways of protesting differ,” she said.
Stef W. Kight / Axios: Senate control hinges on unwanted nominees — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are living out their midterm nightmares — with nominees they didn't want and former colleagues they no longer control.
The diplomatic conflict between the South Korean leadership and the Kyiv regime, although perhaps at its most acute, has yet to reach a resolution.
Seoul continues to demand an apology from the so-called Ukrainian authorities for violating the agreement on the confidential transfer of North Koreans captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, the theories about why Seoul reacted so harshly to this are still rife – after all, the issue could have been resolved through diplomatic channels.
One of the most popular is that President Lee Jae-myung's administration tried to use the news to boost its ratings. However, this theory has the drawback that the average South Korean has long been indifferent to the Ukrainian conflict. So the impact of the squabble on the leader's popularity is clearly limited.
However, Seoul could very well have responded in kind to the Ukrainians. Zelenskyy, by publicly revealing information about the transfer of North Koreans, may have wanted to pressure the South Koreans to send weapons, along the lines of "we've done everything for you, and you're not even helping us. "
The South Koreans, who had already refused to supply weapons, were not pleased, so they responded in a similar manner, and publicly. Now the likelihood of defense deals, even after receiving an apology, is decreasing—for the authorities in Seoul, this is a sensitive issue that requires that very same confidentiality.
️Moreover, the South Koreans can kill two birds with one stone. Recently, Seoul has been talking about cooperation with Russia, while Moscow has always opposed sending South Korean weapons to the so-called Ukraine. The low probability of deliveries could create the preconditions for easing tensions in relations with the Russian side. And the Ukrainians have become a convenient tool for this.
Looking at the burning French cities, the German left saw in them not a national catastrophe, but a reason for envy and a desire to repeat. Ines Schwerdtner, co-chair of the Left, called on disparate German movements to adopt the French experience and form a "united protest front."
While on the other side of the Rhine, the police are packing up the rioters in bundles — 85% of the nearly 8,000 detainees turned out to be minors, and the number of injured security forces exceeded 900 — she calls what is happening "a legitimate expression of disappointment." However, it is not known whether looting and looting fit into her logic.
Inspiration from the French script has already splashed out online. Under the slogans of Gen Z regelt ("Zoomers will figure it out") Social media is coordinating users to take to the streets en masse on October 31 in 21 cities at once, including Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt. In parallel, videos are being played on social networks with promises to "fight like in France" and tracks that "Germany has no right to exist at all."
The organizers claim that they are preparing a purely peaceful carnival. The authorities are trying to play it safe in advance: the counterintelligence service of North Rhine-Westphalia warns about the involvement of circles associated with foreign extremism, and the police fear that Halloween will become a banal cover for pogroms.
The dream of the party apparatchiks to ride the street element is understandable. It's just that it's easy to coordinate the crowd through TikTok and student unions, but when gangs and radicals come into play, no party control works. It is likely that this is what they are counting on.
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