Ukraine has finished its share of FREYJA, a joint European project to build a system against ballistic missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists on 17 October, Ukrinform reported. He added that Kyiv wants to test the first system as soon as possible.
Ukraine still relies on US-made Patriot interceptors to stop Russian ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy told ABC News on 23 October that Ukraine had received only 24 of them from the US in three months, while it needs 350 a month on average. FREYJA can not close that gap soon, because the system is still in development.
Ukraine’s missile and launcher, partners’ radars and sensors
Zelenskyy said the partners’ share of the work, with 10 countries taking part, is still underway. He also said he had discussed the project with French President Emmanuel Macron, and he named Norway as a key partner.
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Ukraine’s missile, Europe’s sensors—FREYJA enters active development on an early-2027 clock
Zelenskyy did not say what the partners still have to deliver. In August, he said Ukraine is capable of making the missile and launcher, while partners would supply critical components such as radars and sensors.
One part not made in Ukraine
In May, Fire Point co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman said all components of the FP-7.x interceptor are made in Ukraine except one. “As for that one part we don’t manufacture in Ukraine, we’ve contracted a certain quantity of it. We already have it,” he said, but did not name the part.
In June, however, Shtilerman told the Financial Times that mass production depended on an infrared seeker Fire Point hoped to get from Germany’s Diehl Defence. Neither statement says whether the seeker is that one part.
Fire Point co-founder Iryna Terekh said in September that FREYJA was going through testing and technical integration in combat conditions in Ukraine. The company plans its first intercept of a ballistic target by mid-2027.
The official timeline has since moved closer. On 21 October, Zelenskyy wrote that officials had identified where to speed up so FREYJA reaches testing by the end of this year. A test is still a step short of an intercept.
France is gearing up for another round of anti-austerity mobilizations on Saturday, October 31. As the weekend approaches, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu have still not substantially addressed the protest demands tabled by the student movement.
For the past weeks, students and their organizations have taken to the streets in the hundreds of thousands, denouncing the state of the education sector, including overcrowded classrooms, overworked teachers, and dilapidated buildings. Authorities have responded with a full-blown crackdown – police violence, curfews, and protest bans – while avoiding meaningful conversation about the protests’ causes.
“The authorities’ top priority is to strip the movement of the political meaning it carries: the condemnation of the neoliberal policy that has ruined the French education system,” presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon pointed out in a recent interview. “Young people are pulling at the thread of a larger unraveling.”
Government tried to break student unity
Lecornu and his ministers called a meeting with high school and university student groups on Monday, announcing the government was ready to open dialogue on their demands. Yet even before the meetings kicked off, a list of government-proposed measures published by the media only fueled frustration.
These measures included a transparency-oriented reform of the higher education recruitment platform Parcoursup, the creation of 15,000 additional higher education placements, low-interest loans to regional authorities for renovating school infrastructure, and the indexation of grants to inflation.
Students criticized the officials for attempting to set a negotiation agenda before even speaking to them. They also called them out for trying to break their unity by organizing separate meetings with different groups instead of a joint discussion. In this process, they emphasized, crucial voices were left out.
Among others, the Fédération Lycéenne des Quartiers (FLQ), representing high school students from working-class neighborhoods – the demographic group from which the protest wave originated – was not invited to meet Lecornu. Students interpreted this as yet another sign of the government’s failure to grasp what is at stake. “They see us first and foremost as ‘young people from the banlieues,’ rather than young people who, like everyone else, want to make their voices heard,” FLQ’s Soumaya Sarré told Mediapart.
“Crumbs” instead of solutions
The way meetings were set up was not the only problem. Following the publication of the government’s proposals, the university students’ association Union Étudiante described them as “crumbs” and detailed how they fail to address the movement’s concerns.
“There are not 15,000 places missing but at least 250,000,” the organization warned. “Where are those 250,000 places needed for young people who have been denied their right to education because of classist and racist selection?”
Union Étudiante similarly criticized the lack of clarity surrounding proposed financing for infrastructure investment, employment plans, and the promise to “reform” rather than abolish Parcoursup.
Roughly 800,000 people participated in nationwide protests on October 24. Source: Union Étudiante/X
This last demand has become emblematic for the student movement over the past weeks of protest. Young people on the streets have repeatedly explained how the tool allows university selection to maintain racist and classist tones – all while pushing tens of thousands of students without placements toward the private sector.
“We are not asking for a reform that offers more transparency or clarity; we already know how the selection process works, and it will remain unjust even if the selection criteria are made public,” Union Étudiante wrote. “The problem is selection itself. Why should young people be denied the right to pursue higher education? We must abolish all forms of selection while keeping a centralized platform for enrolling in academic programs.”
Mobilizations against racism and the far right
Trade unions and progressive organizations continue to support the students ahead of Saturday’s demonstrations, while building toward a general strike on November 5. The networks remain connected over shared austerity-related problems, linking budget cuts in public services, attacks on pensions, and precarious working conditions.
In between regular nationwide mobilizations, the past few days have also seen significant protests against racism and the far right. After a racist attack in the Trappes working-class suburb of Paris last Friday – where one person was killed and five, including a 12-year-old, were seriously injured – calls are circulating for solidarity assemblies.
“This crime did not come out of nowhere,” wrote Saint-Denis mayor Bally Bagayoko. “For years, the perpetrator blamed ‘Black people and Arabs’ for all his misfortunes.”
“He claimed he wanted to avenge a looting that never actually happened – a piece of false information broadcast on television,” he added.
“This hatred has its architects: those who, hour after hour on the airwaves, designate our neighborhoods as the problem and ‘the other’ as a threat.”
The far-right National Rally – whose program ahead of the 2027 presidential election endorses exactly this vision of “the other” – held its congress in Orléans over the October 24-25 weekend. Approximately 26,000 people joined a local march against the policies endorsed by the party, signaling continuous resistance in the lead-up to the April 2027 presidential election.
If ever enacted, proposals by Marine Le Pen and the AfD leader, Alice Weidel, to hollow out EU institutions would be a continental act of self-harm
Following the Brexit referendum in 2016, Marine Le Pen was in a predictably celebratory mood. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, she told one interviewer, was the first breach in the “Brussels Wall”. Ms Le Pen’s Front National party was at that point committed to taking France down the same path, given the chance. But as the UK’s self-inflicted economic wounds became a cautionary tale for the rest of Europe, the notion of Frexit was put on ice.
Instead, Ms Le Pen now hopes to lead far-right allies in hollowing out the EU from within. This month, both she and the leader of Alternative für Deutschland, Alice Weidel, outlined their visions of a “Europe of nations” in which EU institutions would be stripped of both cash and power. Ms Weidel’s “new deal for Europe” would abolish elections to the European parliament, and seek German opt-outs in areas such as migration, defence and common borrowing. Ms Le Pen’s party, now called National Rally, proposes slashing French contributions to the EU budget by 60% over a five-year presidential term, and ending the role of Brussels in proposing common policies for the 27 member states.
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Expanded land seizures, military restrictions, mass displacement, and over 100 new Jewish settlements have transformed an already fragmented territory — and the very fabric of Palestinian life.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said that the West Bank operation had completed its goals, but the prime minister and defense minister refused to allow the more than 2,000 displaced residents to return to their homes
Israelis in West Bank communities tell reporters they used to vote for PM, but soured on him after Oct. 7 attack, feel Smotrich, Ben Gvir 'won't let this happen'
Anthropic, developer of AI chatbot Claude, has filed its prospectus and is expected to go public on Wall Street in November at a valuation of up to US$2 trillion. That would make it the highest-valued initial public offering (IPO) ever, ahead of SpaceX’s $1.77 trillion listing in June. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is expected […]
Marine Le Pen could scarcely have chosen a more favourable backdrop for her presidential campaign. A weakened president approaches the exit, demonstrations expose deep public frustration, and scenes of disorder reinforce her central argument: France’s governing establishment has lost control. The cards are all falling in her favour. Whether she can play them successfully remains the question.
Launching her campaign in Orléans, Le Pen promised national renewal and tougher policing. Reuters reported a poll placing her at 32–33.5 per cent, against 17 per cent for Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Those numbers are a snapshot, but they suggest something politically consequential: the candidate once treated as an outsider now occupies the strongest starting position.
Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, increasingly resembles a lame-duck president. Constitutionally unable to seek another consecutive term, he faces a succession contest in which his endorsement may carry limited weight. His admission of failures in anticipating the unrest compounds the damage. A presidency built around authority and personal command is approaching its conclusion with both visibly diminished.
For Le Pen, the advantage is obvious. Every confrontation between police and rioters supplies another opportunity to ask whether the government can perform its most basic duty: protecting the public. Citizens do not need to endorse her entire programme to find that question persuasive. They need only conclude that those already governing have exhausted their answers.
Yet the origins of the demonstrations matter. The Associated Press describes a movement rooted in education funding, rising living costs and inequality. Peaceful protesters cannot reasonably be bundled together with looters. Nor does the reporting establish that these disturbances are an expression of Islamism or Muslim demographic change. Misdiagnosing the crisis would weaken any serious argument for restoring order.
The broader integration debate nevertheless deserves frank treatment. A republic cannot function confidently if its citizens believe that common laws, civic obligations or freedom of expression are negotiable. Governments should confront Islamist intimidation, religious coercion and deliberate separatism wherever evidence establishes them. They should also expect newcomers to learn the language, respect constitutional principles and participate in national life.
Those expectations are legitimate. Treating an entire Muslim population as inherently unintegrated is not. Religious identity alone establishes neither hostility to France nor unwillingness to belong. The useful political distinction is between citizens who uphold democratic rules and individuals or organisations that seek to undermine them. That standard should apply consistently, whatever the religion or ideology involved.
Across Europe, political leaders would be wise to recognise the electoral danger of appearing evasive about integration. Voters seeking enforceable rules should receive practical answers: effective language teaching, access to employment, credible policing and action against extremist networks. When mainstream parties substitute moral lectures for measurable results, they leave an opening for opponents promising clarity and control.
Le Pen’s opportunity is to connect these concerns with a wider sense of abandonment. Disorder, strained services and anxiety about belonging can become parts of one political story: the state demands obedience and taxation but delivers too little security or reassurance. Her opponents will struggle if their response consists principally of explaining why voters should fear her.
But favourable circumstances do not eliminate her weaknesses. Her conviction over European Parliament funds, which she is appealing, sits awkwardly beside a campaign demanding accountability and respect for law. Her promises of spending restraint, lower business taxes and resistance to further retirement-age increases also invite scrutiny. Winning confidence requires explaining how competing commitments can be reconciled.
The challenge for her rivals is therefore substantive. They must demonstrate that public order and legitimate protest can coexist, that integration involves shared duties, and that economic grievances deserve workable remedies. Simply rebuilding an electoral barricade against Le Pen may prove insufficient if voters associate its defenders with the failures that brought France here.
For now, momentum belongs to her. Macron looks depleted; the streets convey insecurity; the establishment struggles to offer a convincing successor or a persuasive account of renewal. None of this guarantees a Le Pen presidency. It does mean that her opponents can no longer rely on her reputation to defeat her. They must recover the public’s confidence in their own capacity to govern. Otherwise, France’s crisis may become her decisive electoral advantage.
Israel’s intensified military operation in Hebron has forced more than 3,000 Palestinians from their homes three days after it began following the deaths of two Israeli soldiers, according to municipal data and NGOs that described the offensive as collective punishment.
The Hebron municipality updated the number to 3,189 displaced people from an earlier count of 3,170, affecting some 488 families mainly from the Deir Bahha and Al Jalda neighborhoods, according to municipal data. The operation was launched after the two soldiers were killed near a checkpoint last Friday and has left hundreds of residents trapped in their homes while mass arrests reached at least 70 Palestinians.
More than 200 children under two and of early age and about 250 people over 60 were among those affected. With a local state of emergency declared, a crisis group of authorities and citizens set up shelters and temporary accommodation with support from local families.
The offensive included a campaign of mass destruction of homes and the demolition of entire blocks and residential buildings by the Zionist Army, which justified the actions by saying it had destroyed infrastructure built in violation of the law, according to the report. Local sources and agencies such as Wafa denounced that the offensive formed part of a strategy of indiscriminate punishment against urban residents, according to the report.
The forced displacement of Palestinians by the Israeli military in the occupied west bank city of Hebron continues, as a city-wide siege remains in place. It's also triggered a humanitarian crisis, with the municipality scrambling to provide food and shelter pic.twitter.com/Z0sunIfbFz
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended continuing the operations and said the Army was preparing for a scale unprecedented since the 1967 Six-Day War. Reports from media such as Ynet revealed disagreements between Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who advocated ending the operation because of limited tactical results and the discovery of a small number of weapons.
The United Nations and Palestinian factions such as Hamas strongly condemned the siege.
UN Human Rights Chief @volker_turk calls for an end to #Israel’s aggressive operation in the #WestBank city of #Hebron, which forcibly displaced nearly 2,000 Palestinians, demolished homes and commercial property, and deprived residents of the ability to move freely.
Utilizando la muerte de dos soldados como pretexto, la ocupación impone un asedio punitivo sobre la población civil de Hebrón, demoliendo manzanas enteras en una acción catalogada por organismos internacionales como un crimen de castigo colectivo.
“Meus parabéns, Lula, pela sua reeleição. A França e o Brasil têm muito a construir juntos. Diante dos grandes desafios do nosso tempo, reforcemos nossa parceria estratégica e façamos viver a amizade entre nossos dois países a serviço de um mundo mais justo”.
O primeiro-ministro da Espanha, Pedro Sanchéz, foi outro a usar as redes sociais para exaltar a vitória de Lula sobre a extrema-direita.
“Grande vitória de Lula! O que aconteceu no Brasil acontecerá na Espanha. A virada do progressismo global acaba de começar”.
O presidente do Equador, Daniel Noboa, também foi ao X, antigo Twitter, para felicitar o presidente brasileiro.
“Parabéns, Lula, por esta vitória. Nossa região tem inimigos comuns, desafios compartilhados e muito a ganhar quando trabalhamos juntos”.
Noboa é um político de direita e um dos aliados do presidente dos Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, na América do Sul.
Outros líderes da América Latina também felicitaram o brasileiro pela reeleição. Entre eles, a presidente do México, Claudia Sheinbaum, e o presidente do Uruguai, Yamandu Orsi.
O primeiro-ministro do Canadá, Mark Carney, também exaltou a relação entre seu país e o Brasil ao congratular o presidente reeleito.
“A relação entre o Canadá e o Brasil floresceu sob nossa parceria. Vamos aproveitar essa oportunidade para torna-la ainda mais forte, juntos – para criar novas grandes oportunidades de comércio, proteger o meio-ambiente e construir maior prosperidade para os povos de ambos países”.
A primeira ministra do Japão, Sanae Takaishi, disse esperar que Lula “continue a guiar o Brasil com sua forte liderança” e se mostrou ansiosa para trabalhar com o brasileiro e estreitar “ainda mais a parceria estratégica global numa gama ampla de áreas”. Entre essas áreas, Takaishi citou um acordo entre Japão e Mercosul.
A China divulgou um comunicado por meio do porta-voz do ministério chinês dos Negócios Estrangeiros.
“A China está disposta a trabalhar com o Brasil para continuar a avançar na construção de uma comunidade de futuro compartilhado entre os dois países”.
Vladimir Putin, presidente da Rússia, falou em “reconhecimento dos brasileiros às suas notáveis qualidades de liderança, seu apoio à política de desenvolvimento socioeconômico sustentável do país e a proteção de sua soberania e legítimos interesses no cenário global”.
Já Ursula Von der Leyen, presidente da Comissão Europeia, publicou um comunicado se dirigindo a Lula e exaltou a bandeira do multilateralismo, muito defendida pelo brasileiro em seus discursos no exterior. “Parabéns ao amigo Lula pela sua vitória eleitoral. A democracia e o multilateralismo venceram no Brasil”.
O prefeito de Nova York, Zohran Mamdani, em entrevista à imprensa nesta segunda-feira (26), disse que estava indo para casa quando viu vários novaiorquinos saindo de um bar gritando o nome de Lula o que mostrou, segundo ele, animação dos moradores da cidade com a vitória do candidato do PT.
“Eu vi o quanto ele significa para tanta gente nessa cidade, nesse país e por todo o mundo, honestamente”. Nas redes sociais, Mamdani também mandou um recado para Lula. “O povo unido jamais será vencido! Parabéns, presidente Lula.”
*com informações de Matheus Crobelatti e Pedro Rafael Vilela
Activists say struggle must go on until their ‘maximum’ demands are met over teacher shortages and building repairs
French children should continue to barricade their schools and take part in street protests, a student union said on Monday after the government announced a package of education measures to try to stem the crisis.
“Today we’re at the negotiating table, we’re able to negotiate with the government,” Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens told France Info television. “We’re in a power struggle and we still need to call for continued mobilisation to meet a maximum of our demands.”
Amid widespread protests, Muriel E Cockcroft has sympathy for French youth but fears how much steam will be let out at the next convulsion
I’m writing in response to your editorial (The Guardian view on France’s protests: a polarised country is in a perilous political moment, 19 October). While the focus is on Emmanuel Macron, let us not forget the hierarchical structure of French administration, from mayors to MPs to senators to prefects and heads of region. All are part of the government, but few stood up to bring leaky school roofs and missing teachers to national consciousness. I deplore the senseless destruction of shops and state buildings. But I also deplore the fact that students had to protest to be heard. In the many administrative tiers of this highly hierarchical country, no one acted and inertia prevailed.
Centrally, the government is financially challenged but refuses to acknowledge that having a huge deficit, an ageing population and a low retirement age are perhaps connected. Modest attempts to increase the retirement age also provoked violent protests. Financial tools for individual retirement remain complex and restricted. Thus, this sclerotic system presses on until the next crisis.
Moktar, 21, pulls up his neck gaiter, tightens the hood of his puffer jacket and steps out of the house in the late afternoon, dressed in immaculate black from head to toe. Behind the little mustache and the thick-lensed glasses with gold-rimmed temples, he smiles — a third-year college student from a very modest Tunisian family. Friendly, sharp, with an unusually political sense for his age and skin toughened by his surroundings, Moktar grew up in one of the poorest buildings in the L’Abreuvoir neighborhood in Bobigny (population 48,873), right opposite one of the drug-dealing hotspots where traffickers, police, customers, and addicts come and go all day. “Ballon here,” reads graffiti on the wall, advertising the nitrous oxide gas sold for inhalation.
Israeli has subjected Hebron to severe collective punishment - including mass forced expulsions & economic strangulation - that has impacted 900,000 Palestinians. Hundreds of Israeli settlers rule the city center
President Trump said Sunday his trade war with Canada will be over “soon,” as the dispute poses ongoing political problems for Republicans in the midterms. During a rally in Port Huron, Mich., Trump reiterated his view that Canada “has been ripping off” the U.S. “for years.” The president used that justification in imposing 50 percent…
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