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The Guardian view on France’s protests: a polarised country is in a perilous political moment | Editorial

19 October 2026 at 18:30

The scenes of social unrest and violence at the weekend are an ominous portent, ahead of elections which may deliver a far-right presidency

In Emmanuel Macron’s book Revolution, published ahead of the 2017 presidential election that he went on to win, he promised to restore hope to a country that was losing faith in its future. As Mr Macron’s lame-duck second term enters its last phase against a quasi-insurrectionary backdrop of torched public buildings and looted shops, the failure of that political project appears total.

The worst scenes of urban violence for years overshadowed a weekend of protest that gravely undermined what is left of the French president’s authority. As police lost control of the streets, more than 2,000 shops were ransacked. Far-left groups targeted town halls and local buildings, and engaged in pitched battles with the police, whose disastrously heavy-handed response to last week’s high school protests has succeeded only in escalating tensions.

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© Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

© Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

© Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

Black Unemployment Hints at a Job Market in Worse Shape Than It Seems

19 October 2026 at 16:25
The Black unemployment rate climbed a percentage point to 7 percent in September, almost double the rate for white workers.

© Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Gena Pemberton has not had a full-time job since July 2025, when her role as chief inclusion and impact officer at Omnicom Health was eliminated.

Andy Burnham Will Never Cut Welfare

19 October 2026 at 15:00

Andy Burnham has announced "big changes" to welfare to get one million NEETs back into work – but only once he's "rebuilt the education system". Sounds expensive, says Mary Gilleece. It’s clearly never going to happen.

The post Andy Burnham Will Never Cut Welfare appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

No 10: Hegseth ‘wrong’ to say most non-US Nato soldiers didn’t fight in Afghanistan – UK politics live

19 October 2026 at 16:39

Downing Street delivered a rare rebuke to a senior member of Donald Trump’s administration

Asked why the Lib Dems were opposed to a third runway at Heathrow when they professed to be in favour of growth, Cooper said she did not accept that a third runway would produce all the benefits its supporters claimed.

She explained:

On Heathrow, it is clear from looking at all of the economic analysis of airport growth over the last few years that many of the promises made by all sorts of different airport companies simply haven’t come to bear.

The promise of higher wage jobs hasn’t been substantiated. Often it’s lower paid jobs, and often not as many as they’ve claimed.

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© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Kennedy Smartt, Pastor and Denominational Leader, Dies At 101

19 October 2026 at 05:02
During his long PCA career, Smartt served as a pastor and later held roles with Mission to the World and Mission to North America. He also became a catalyst for a unique evangelistic strategy that was replicated by a number of other denominations and ministries.   PCA founding father Kennedy Smartt died on Thursday, October... Continue Reading

Lloyd-Jones Was Right, It’s Time for Evangelicals to Leave the Church of England

19 October 2026 at 05:01
The evangelical Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Rob Munro, has defended remaining within the Church of England…Meanwhile, William Taylor, Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, has questioned whether evangelicals should be associated with CofE bishops that he regards as false teachers. Preaching a sermon from Titus 3, Taylor asked, ‘How can you possibly be allowing somebody who is... Continue Reading
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