❌

Reading view

25 years after 9/11, documents reveal Saudi elite funding for Al-Qaeda

'On the Saudi Trail of the 9/11 Attacks' (2/4). Osama bin Laden may have been treated as persona non grata in Riyadh and pushed into exile, but declassified CIA documents show massive cash flows from the kingdom funded Al-Qaeda until 2003. Washington preferred to keep things quiet, so as not to offend the oil-rich monarchy.

© Département de la justice américain

Declassified CIA report, then published online in 2024 as part of the civil proceedings brought by the families of 9/11 victims against the Saudi state.
  •  

'A tsunami of Jewish terrorism': Settler violence in occupied West Bank conceals ethnic cleansing

Ahead of Israel's upcoming October 27 parliamentary elections, several NGOs describe the methods settlers use to drive Palestinians from their land and the obstacles they place in the way of local olive harvests.

© Laurence Geai/MYOP for Le Monde

Israeli soldiers monitor Palestinians and activists harvesting olives in the village of Khirbet Abu Falah, in the occupied West Bank, on October 17, 2026.
  •  

Second day of street clashes in Milan

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for a security meeting Monday to address the violence, which recalled some scenes of chaos and looting in Paris.

© Stefano Porta / Stefano Porta/LaPresse via AP

Police confront "Italia in Piazza" protesters in Milan, Italy, on October 17, 2026.
  •  

Former UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini: 'The destruction of Gaza has been acknowledged by the international community. It's a disgrace'

The former commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East condemned the destruction of Gaza orchestrated by Israel and its 'ratification' by the international community. In his view, salvation for the Palestinians can only come through 'external pressure.'

© Jordi Ruiz Cirera / Le Temps

Philippe Lazzarini, former commissioner-general of UNRWA, at his home in Geneva, on September 30, 2026.
  •  

EU 'strongly condemns' settler attack on delegation in West Bank

Saturday saw Israeli settlers attack a convoy of European diplomats in the West Bank town of Taybeh and beat up a visiting French mayor, witnesses said.

© Emad Diab / Emad Diab via REUTERS

Vehicles drive at the site where Belgium's foreign minister says masked settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank attacked Palestinians, Catholic representatives and Western diplomats and officials, in Taybeh, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 17, 2026. in this screengrab from a video obtained from social media.
  •  

In Albania, solidarity grows in response to police violence

Many Albanians said they were shocked by the conduct of law enforcement. At least 120 police officers and 32 protesters were injured over four days, according to official reports.

© Louisa Gouliamaki/REUTERS

During an anti-government student protest in Tirana, Albania, on October 16, 2026.
  •  

Fire at military base 'one of the worst tragedies' for the Canadian Armed Forces

Four soldiers were killed and dozens injured after a fire broke out on Saturday at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright military base in western Alberta province.

© John Ulan / John Ulan/The Canadian Press via AP

Paramedics load an injured person into an ambulance after a fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, outside of Wainwright, Alberta, October 17, 2026.
  •  

On the campaign trail with Gabriel Zucman, the economist who wants to tax California's billionaires

The 39-year-old French-American Berkeley professor is campaigning to have voters approve, in a November 3 referendum, a measure that would temporarily impose a 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires living in the state. Some of his colleagues consider that his activism has begun to overshadow his scientific approach.

© Ian Bates for M le magazine du Monde

Gabriel Zucman at the University of California, Berkeley, on September 29, 2026.
  •  

Rubio warns of West Bank 'crisis' as settlers attack diplomats and a French mayor

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against a brewing 'crisis' in the territory a day after an American photojournalist was injured in a brutal attack. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a statement that Israel must 'urgently halt criminal violence' and arrest those responsible.

© Emad Diab / Emad Diab via REUTERS

Vehicles at the site where Belgium's foreign minister says masked settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank attacked Palestinians, Catholic representatives and Western diplomats and officials, in Taybeh, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 17, 2026.
  •  

Smiling pope returns to Vatican after cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV's discharge on Saturday, four days after undergoing lung cancer surgery, ended a stretch of uncertainty that shook the Vatican and the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, less than two years into the Chicago-born pope's papacy.

© Andrew Medichini / AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Pope Leo XIV, followed by surgeon Stefano Margaritora, leaves Rome's Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic on October 17, 2026, after Tuesday's surgery to remove lung cancer.
  •  

US ambassador urges Israel to prosecute over 'act of terror' against American photographer

Heidi Levine had been covering Palestinians' annual harvest of olives, which has been repeatedly disrupted by Israeli settlers. Settlers beat her and stole her passport, telephone, wallet and equipment, according to witnesses. She was taken to the hospital with broken vertebrae, and is now in moderate condition.

© Ali Sawafta / REUTERS

Heidi Levine, a photojournalist with the "Washington Post," speaks to journalists at the hospital after sustaining multiple injuries during an attack by Israeli militant settlers on Palestinians harvesting olives, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 16, 2026.
  •  

Escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan leads to heavy human toll

In eastern Afghanistan, a Pakistani airstrike killed a shepherd and five of his family members. Islamabad has sought to pressure the Afghan Taliban into acting against armed groups attacking Pakistan, but the bombings and diplomatic deadlock have raised fears of a protracted conflict.

© Sandra Calligaro/item for Le Monde

Abdulraouf Shahed and his son visited the graves of their relatives, killed in a Pakistani airstrike on October 1, 2026, at the Pashad cemetery in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, on October 5, 2026.
  •  

Ukraine's increasingly powerful intelligence services worry its political leaders

The war has revolutionized the Ukrainian intelligence community, just as it has been undermined by inter-agency rivalries. Its rising power has raised questions about civilian authorities' oversight of its activities.

© RAFAEL YAGHOBZADEH FOR LE MONDE

Masi Nayyem, a former HUR officer, in his law firm's offices in Kyiv, on October 12, 2026.
  •  

Morocco forms new government, but, except for women, very little changes

Thirty-two ministers were sworn in before King Mohammed VI on Friday, October 16, but 40% of them were already in office. Women, meanwhile, lost ground in the government hierarchy.

© DRISS BEN MALEK/MAGHREB ARABE PRESSE/AFP

King Mohammed VI of Morocco stands alongside Prime Minister Fatima Zahra El Mansouri and members of the government appointed on October 16, at the Royal Palace in Rabat, on October 16, 2026.
  •  

Belgian police fire tear gas at protesters

High school students have staged protests in recent weeks against higher university registration fees, but Interior Minister Bernard Quintin blamed the troubles on 'organized violence.'

© Yves Herman / REUTERS

Demonstrators take part in a students' protest in Brussels, Belgium, on October 17, 2026.
  •  

Israeli settlers attack European diplomatic cars in West Bank and beat French mayor, say witnesses

Cars from the French, Belgian and Polish missions had brought diplomats to visit Taybeh, a largely Christian village in the occupied West Bank, when settlers descended to stop Palestinians from gathering olives, witnesses said.

© Leo Correa / AP Photo/Leo Correa

An Israeli settler moves with his donkey toward the Palestinian-Bedouin compound belonging to the Kaabneh family on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Taybeh, October 1, 2026.
  •  

Ukraine grapples with Trump's betrayal

Facing the prospect of defeat in the midterm elections on November 3, American President Donald Trump chose to sacrifice Ukrainian civilians, clinging to the illusion that buying Russian diesel will lower fuel prices at the pump in the US.

© BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP

Donald Trump steps off Air Force One, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on October 16, 2026.
  •  

'Cockroach' party founder released from Indian police custody

Abhijeet Dipke, 31, was detained on Friday in New Delhi as he headed to join a rally that the CJP protest movement had called in the capital's central Connaught Place district.

© ARUN SANKAR / AFP

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke speaks during a press conference in New Delhi on October 15, 2026.
  •  
❌