🇪🇸 El accidente ferroviario ocurrido en Toledo vuelve a poner el foco sobre la seguridad del transporte ferroviario en España. El siniestro se suma a una serie de incidentes que han generado preocupación en los últimos años.

François Picard is pleased to welcome Dr Joseph Downing, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics at Aston University. In modern France, the politics of insecurity increasingly extends beyond questions of crime and public order to encompass deeper struggles over national identity, disappearance of the political centre and erosion of democratic values. The emergence of far-right extremist violence, alongside the persistent stigmatization of ethnically diverse working-class suburbs, raises urgent questions about the relationship between political rhetoric, radicalization and the erosion of democratic moderation. Downing examines these interrelated challenges against the backdrop of a deadly shooting in the Paris suburbs, allegedly motivated by racist and anti-Muslim hostility. For Downing, the attack illustrates a broader shift in Europe's extremist landscape, in which the rise of far-right political violence demands greater public and institutional attention: "This is really one of the first and one of the most serious right-wing nationalist, nativist-inspired terror attacks that you see in France." Yet Downing's analysis reaches beyond the horrific attack. He challenges the political representation of France's working-class suburbs as centres of Islamist radicalism, describing such portrayals as a divisive rhetorical strategy that stigmatizes communities whose residents are overwhelmingly engaged in ordinary civic and economic life. His central political concern is the weakening of the democratic centre. Amid rising living costs, social insecurity and the circulation of polarizing identity narratives through digital media, he argues that political movements on the ideological fringes gain an advantage by offering apparently simplistic, and often divisive solutions, to deeply complex problems. "The centre of politics in France, as in many other democracies, is struggling to hold." Perhaps most revealingly, Downing identifies the deliberate or careless conflation of racial identity, migration status and religious extremism as a particularly damaging feature of contemporary political discourse. By treating French citizens of African or Arab heritage as perpetual outsiders, political commentators risk reinforcing the very divisions that undermine national cohesion. The interview therefore opens onto a wider question at the heart of contemporary democratic politics: what happens when narratives of national insecurity become more politically influential than the social realities they claim to describe? Downing's reflections illuminate not only the challenges facing France but also the wider vulnerabilities of democratic societies confronting political polarization, economic anxiety and the normalization of exclusionary rhetoric.

A man suspected of a gun attack in the Paris suburbs last week, killing one person and wounding seven including a child, has admitted to "targeting individuals who appeared to be Muslim, African, or North African," prosecutors said on Thursday. The attack came amid an increasingly tense political climate, with just six months to go before next spring's presidential election. 

A man suspected of a gun attack in the Paris suburbs last week, killing one person and wounding seven including a child, has admitted to "targeting individuals who appeared to be Muslim, African, or North African," prosecutors said on Thursday. The attack came amid an increasingly tense political climate, with just six months to go before next spring's presidential election. 

🇸🇳 À quelques jours des JOJ Dakar 2026, plongez dans les souvenirs de trois anciens olympiens sénégalais. Rencontres avec des légendes comme Serena Williams et Mohamed Ali, moments forts et émotions olympiques… Ils nous racontent leur histoire !

Luego de trasladarse a Estados Unidos tras su derrota en las elecciones presidenciales contra Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, el senador ultraderechista de Brasil, Flávio Bolsonaro, provocó una nueva controversia al publicar una carta abierta en la que se autoproclamaba "presidente electo legítimo" y denunciaba un supuesto fraude electoral. Posteriormente, eliminó la publicación y difundió una nueva versión del documento, en la que sustituyó ese título por el de "líder de Brasil". Nuestra corresponsal desde Río de Janeiro, Valeria Saccone, nos contó sobre las reacciones en territorio brasileño.

Erin Ogunkeye welcomes Lt. General (ret.) Ben Hodges, former commander of US Army Europe and NATO Allied Land Command. The dismissal of senior military officers without public explanation raises fundamental questions about institutional trust and the relationship between civilian authority and military leadership. For General Hodges, the reported firing of Lt. General Brett Sylvia reflects a potentially troubling pattern within the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Equally striking is his criticism of the reluctance of retired senior commanders to speak publicly against policies they consider damaging. Hodges said he was "disappointed and surprised" by the limited public resistance among former four-star generals.

Erin Ogunkeye welcomes Lt. General (ret.) Ben Hodges, former commander of US Army Europe and NATO Allied Land Command. The dismissal of senior military officers without public explanation raises fundamental questions about institutional trust and the relationship between civilian authority and military leadership. For General Hodges, the reported firing of Lt. General Brett Sylvia reflects a potentially troubling pattern within the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Equally striking is his criticism of the reluctance of retired senior commanders to speak publicly against policies they consider damaging. Hodges said he was "disappointed and surprised" by the limited public resistance among former four-star generals.

El presidente del Comité Electoral de Israel solicitó una investigación a los servicios de inteligencia para determinar posibles intervenciones extranjeras a favor de los partidos árabes durante las elecciones parlamentarias del pasado 27 de octubre. Las acusaciones, que apuntan principalmente a actores externos como Qatar, fueron rechazadas con contundencia. Estas denuncias provienen de diversos sectores del espectro político israelí, incluyendo al primer ministro, Benjamin Netanyahu, y a la oposición, lo que refleja una creciente tensión en torno a la influencia externa en los comicios.

En République démocratique du Congo, des scènes de joie en Ituri après la sortie des derniers patients d’Ebola à Mongbwalu. Soignants et habitants célèbrent ce moment d’espoir.

Le personnel médical et des habitants d’un centre de traitement dans l’Ituri ont dansé et chanté pour célébrer une première depuis le mois de mai : le centre de soins géré par l’organisation humanitaire Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ne traite plus aucun patient confirmé d’Ebola.

Following Spain's deadly high-speed train crash, Delano D'Souza is joined by Francisco Badea, Director of FEM Expert Engineering, Railway Structural & PRM Certification Expert. Batea challenges explanations that reduce railway disasters to isolated human mistakes. “It is basically an absurdity to say that it depended on one person and one human mistake,” he argues, emphasizing that modern railway networks operate through multiple layers of protection, including automated safeguards, train-detection technologies, operational protocols and institutional oversight. “The system has been designed in a way that this type of accident should never happen.”

En Espagne, le sport est lui aussi en deuil. Après la collision entre deux trains ce mercredi 28 octobre à Urda, dans le sud de Madrid, de nombreuses équipes et sportifs espagnols ont rendu hommage aux victimes de l'accident. 

Medical staff and residents at a treatment centre in Ituri danced and sang to celebrate a first since May: the centre is no longer treating any confirmed Ebola cases.

Le président israélien Isaac Herzog a appelé jeudi 29 octobre à ne pas stigmatiser tout le vote arabe israélien, alors que le camp de Netanyahu et ses alliés accusent les partis de cette minorité de fraudes électorales via des financements étrangers, une enquête a été ouverte.

Une attaque de drone russe a tué treize personnes jeudi 29 octobre à la ​gare ‌centrale de Dnipro, dans l'est ⁠de l'Ukraine, en touchant un quai ‌bondé de voyageurs qui s'apprêtaient à monter ⁠dans un train. Le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky a exhorté l'Occident à mener des actions "justes et résolues" suite à ces frappes meurtrières.

À l'approche des midterms qui se dérouleront mardi 3 novembre 2026 aux États-Unis, les sondages indiquent 36 % d'opinion favorable au président ultra conservateur, Donald Trump. En Californie, son ministère de la Justice voulait écarter le butin de 20 000 électeurs dont il contestait la citoyenneté, une demande rejetée par un juge fédéral mercredi 28 octobre. La bataille judiciaire est déjà engagée par l'administration Trump qui tente tout pour remporter ces élections de mi-mandat.

Un informe forense, que lleva once meses investigando las causas del incendio en un complejo ubicado en la zona de  Tai Po (Hong Kong), determinó responsabilidades tanto de la constructora como del Gobierno. Las pesquisas revelaron que, además de la empresa constructora, por sus deficientes supervisiones durante la obra, las autoridades también fueron culpables al ignorar repetidos llamados preventivos. Ante las conclusiones, el jefe del Gobierno de Hong Kong, John Lee, reconoció la responsabilidad institucional en el incidente y ofreció una disculpa pública.

Le changement climatique est une “urgence sanitaire mondiale”, affirment 146 chercheurs du Lancet Countdown dans un rapport publié le 28 octobre 2026 par la revue médicale The Lancet. Entre 2016 et 2023, la chaleur liée au réchauffement aurait “causé près de 3 millions de décès”. Cette alerte intervient à quelques jours de la COP31, prévue du 9 au 20 novembre en Turquie.