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'The graffiti defacing Paris's Statue de la République is indefensible, but breathes new life into an ugly monument'

The statue designed by Léopold Morice in the 19th century, which serves as a rallying point during protests, gradually lost its original meaning and has now become a symbol of authority and an outlet for public anger, writes Le Monde columnist Michel Guerrin.

© BENJAMIN CARROT FOR LE MONDE

The Statue de la République covered in graffiti, Paris, October 23, 2026.
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'Who is the Israeli army really fighting in Gaza?'

Threats of 'retaliation' after the release of nothing more than simple kites highlight Israel's ongoing struggle to even identify an enemy within the Palestinian enclave.

© EYAD BABA/AFP

People search through the rubble of a building destroyed by an airstrike in Nuseirat, in the Gaza Strip, on October 23, 2026.
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Israeli strike on Gaza university kills three

'Over the past six days, 10 students and educators have been killed by the occupation's fire,' according to Gaza's education ministry.

© OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP

Mourners grieve next to the bodies of three Palestinians during their funeral at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on October 25, 2026.
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2027 French presidential election: 'Glucksmann is the domino that rattles the whole political structure'

Raphaël Glucksmann's victory in the center-left primary immediately impacted the polls. Radical-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon was slightly unsettled, and centrist Gabriel Attal even more so, columnist Françoise Fressoz notes.

© MARIE MAGNIN/DIVERGENCE FOR LE MONDE

Raphaël Glucksmann, candidate in the 2027 presidential election, during the election night for the Social Democratic left primary, in Paris, October 11, 2026.
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After racist killing in Trappes, Mayor Ali Rabeh declares: 'The French president was not the protector he should have been'

In an interview with Le Monde, the mayor of the town west of Paris, reelected in March, lamented that far-right rhetoric has 'ended up penetrating the collective unconscious,' and said he felt a 'climate of simmering civil war.'

© HERVÉ LEQUEUX/HANS LUCAS FOR LE MONDE

Ali Rabeh, mayor of Trappes, October 23, 2026.
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Venezuelan opposition leader Machado returns from exile

Maria Corina Machado covertly left her homeland in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. While based in Panama, she has tried at least seven times to return but has been blocked by Venezuelan authorities, according to her party.

© HANDOUT/AFP

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arriving at the Church of Santa Rosa in Barquisimeto, Venezuela on October 25, 2026.
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Marine Le Pen vows to restore 'rule of law' at presidential campaign kickoff

Le Pen – the frontrunner in the French polls – accused Emmanuel Macron's government of being soft on violent protesters and lacking authority in her first campaign speech on Sunday in Orléans.

© NICOLAS ECONOMOU/REUTERS

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during a political rally to launch the presidential campaign, after the party's congress in Orléans, France, October 25, 2026.
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Storms batter Europe hitting power supplies, flights and phones

More than 82,000 homes in Britain, nearly 60,000 in France and at least 10,000 in Germany had power cuts inflicted by the passage of storms Boelo and Austen.

© JANE BARLOW/JANE BARLOW/PA VIA AP

A car drives on the flooded A8 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, after Storm Boelo passed through the area.
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In Israel, 'Haaretz' fights for its independence and the freedom to report

Amid Israel's heated election campaign, the progressive newspaper is one of the last news organizations openly critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies. It has published investigations into the right-wing and far-right coalition. The government has accused it of treason and taken retaliatory measures over its coverage of the war in Gaza.

© LUCIEN LUNG/RIVA PRESS FOR M LE MAGAZINE DU MONDE

Editors and copy editors at the newspaper Haaretz at work, September 27, 2026.
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Second weekend of French protests unfolds without serious incidents: 'The right to protest is just as important as the right to vote'

Despite permits and routes often being decided at the last minute, nearly 410,000 people – 800,000 according to the CGT trade union – marched peacefully on Saturday across France, protesting the high cost of living, supporting high school students and defending civil liberties. Clashes broke out in Nantes, Rennes and Marseille at the end of the day, but they were nowhere near the scale of the events of October 17.

© BRUNO AMSELLEM/DIVERGENCE FOR LE MONDE

At the end of a protest against the high cost of living and in support of high school students demanding more resources. In Strasbourg, October 24, 2026.
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Obama delivers scathing criticism of Trump's 'chaos and cruelty' while campaigning for Democrats

'The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions [...] he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for,' said the former US leader, encouraging voters to cast early ballots for the upcoming midterm elections.

© REBECCA COOK/REUTERS

Former US President Barack Obama at a rally in Detroit, Michigan, US October 24, 2026.
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Brazil's Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro neck and neck after bitter runoff campaign

Trailing far-right Flavio Bolsonaro after the first round of the presidential election on October 4, President Lula has since benefited from a massive turnout from supporters. He has also taken a few last-minute measures in an attempt to secure a fourth term.

© EVARISTO SA/AFP

Towels bearing the likenesses of presidential candidates Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro for sale in Brasília on October 22, 2026.
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Before the first NFL game in France, American football already tried to win over the country in 1938

This iconic American sport will be celebrated in a match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Stade de France. On the eve of World War II, a 24-player team had already crossed the Atlantic to bring it to the country.

© KEYSTONE/GAMMA-RAPHO

The American football game at the Parc des Princes in Paris on December 10, 1938.
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'Donald Trump goes further than the eccentric scientist from 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.' He is shrinking America'

The US president's decision to assist Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine – most notably with the diesel fuel deal – marks the latest chapter in his ongoing campaign to dismantle America's superpower status, analyzes Le Monde columnist Alain Frachon.

© CLIFF OWEN/AP

Donald Trump at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, October 21, 2026.
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