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Le Pen’s ‘Renaissance’: 4th time lucky?

25 October 2026 at 19:05
Just before half past four, Marine Le Pen took to the stage under the stadium strobe lights at the Zénith Arena in Orléans. The radical-right leader, whom analysts say is on the doorstep of the presidency, is polarising, yet deeply and increasingly popular with her base, and has topped the popularity polls for months in France. This came 24 hours after the latest protests across the country, which included over ten thousand anti-Le Pen demonstrators outside the venue yesterday.

After French riots, curfews & calm... is a new storm brewing? Plus Ukraine & Israel

23 October 2026 at 19:48
This week has seen mass protests hijacked by violent rioters across France, with the looting of shops, trashing of public buildings, the burning of Lyon's Tourist Information Office and the iconic Limoges City Hall.  After the riots came the curfews and the contemplation: who did what and why weren't they stopped? French President Emmanuel Macron blamed seditious groups, ultra-left anarchists and opportunist criminals, with a qualified mea culpa: authorities made mistakes in anticipation and dropped the ball in intelligence gathering.

'US tilting toward Russia: Europeans are standing more and more solidly with Zelensky'

16 October 2026 at 19:33
As transatlantic relations confront renewed geopolitical uncertainty, former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivers a pointed assessment of Washington's shifting approach to Russia's war on Ukraine and the profound implications for European security. At the heart of his analysis lies a fundamental question: can Europe develop the political unity, strategic independence and military capabilities necessary to defend its interests in an increasingly unpredictable international order? Ilves' response: "If there's any time for Europe to begin to act as Europe and not as being strictly self-interested, then this is the time for it."

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