French far-right leader Bardella denies anti-Semitism accusations
France 24 •

French far-right leader Bardella denies anti-Semitism accusations

🇫🇷 ✡️ Far-right #NationalRally (RN) party leader Jordan #Bardella has denied accusation by French investigative website #Mediapart that he made anti-Semitic comments on private chats in 2013. It comes as RN candidate Marine #LePen is polling well in the lead for the 2027 presidential election.

France's Le Pen defiant after top ally hit by antisemitism claims
France 24 •

France's Le Pen defiant after top ally hit by antisemitism claims

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on Tuesday vowed to hit back at allegations of antisemitism targeting her de-facto number two Jordan Bardella, which have punctured her buoyant campaign at a time she is riding high in the polls. Le Pen, who is aiming to win the Elysee at her fourth attempt next year in a far-right breakthrough that would send a shockwave across Europe, lambast...

Calais Jungle: A child and 2 women killed during Channel crossing attempt

Calais Jungle: A child and 2 women killed during Channel crossing attempt

France 24 •

A 10-year-old child and two women died Monday on the treacherous migration route across the English Channel from France, apparently trampled to death on a boat packed with more than 100 people, French authorities said. The so-called “taxi boat" ran into difficulty off the northern French coast, with its passengers asking for help, authorities said. Such inflatable boats attempt the dangerous cross...

Economist formally apologises for ‘sexist’ campus talk as students urge suspension

Economist formally apologises for ‘sexist’ campus talk as students urge suspension

SCMP •

An economist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has issued a formal apology for a campus talk criticised as “sexist”, as an online petition calling for his suspension from college duties drew nearly 100 signatures. Terence Chong Tai-leung, an associate head of New Asia College and an associate professor in CUHK’s Department of Economics, posted the apology on his personal Facebook page ...

Spanish royals welcome French President Macron in official ceremony

Spanish royals welcome French President Macron in official ceremony

France 24 •

Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron during an official ceremony upon their arrival at Madrid's Royal Palace. French President Macron is on a two-day official visit in Spain. This state visit will serve to highlight and strengthen the ties and bilateral relations between the two countries. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports f...

Nor’easter unearths pieces of 19th-century shipwreck in Massachusetts

Nor’easter unearths pieces of 19th-century shipwreck in Massachusetts

The Guardian •

Storm seems to have exposed segments of the Warren Sawyer, a wooden vessel that ran aground in 1884The nor’easter storm that pummeled New England over the weekend looks to have exposed large segments of a 19th-century schooner shipwrecked in the so-called graveyard of the Atlantic.The Warren Sawyer was sailing from New Orleans to Boston carrying cotton and scrap iron when the three-masted wooden v...

OpenAI cancels release of newest model due to safety concerns

OpenAI cancels release of newest model due to safety concerns

France 24 •

OpenAI will not release its newest artificial intelligence model, known as Astra 6.1, after internal testing by the ChatGPT-maker revealed it did not meet safety standards, the company confirmed Monday. Concerns about AI safety have escalated in recent months after models developed by OpenAI and rival lab Anthropic were involved in security incidents during testing.

Legal aid chief denies stricter vetting as aid for policy challenges hits decade low

Legal aid chief denies stricter vetting as aid for policy challenges hits decade low

SCMP •

Hong Kong authorities approved only two legal aid applications for judicial review challenges against government policies and decisions last year, the fewest in the past decade, although its director has dismissed claims of tightened scrutiny or diminished access to justice. The Legal Aid Department received 110 applications concerning judicial reviews of government policies and related organisati...

US Navy launches drone command that could reshape Taiwan war planning

US Navy launches drone command that could reshape Taiwan war planning

SCMP •

The US Navy has set up a dedicated command to turn its growing array of aerial, surface and underwater drones into an integrated fighting force – a capability US commanders have linked to disrupting a PLA attack on Taiwan. The Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Centre, formally established on September 24 in Virginia, will develop doctrine and tactics for unmanned systems, trai...

How years of thin investment have stalled Germany’s rail network as China’s speeds ahead

How years of thin investment have stalled Germany’s rail network as China’s speeds ahead

SCMP •

Wang Xixi still remembers her first experience with Germany’s trains 21 years ago. It left her with a question: how could a railway be so empty, clean and punctual, and still make money? The carriages were bright, the toilets almost spotless and the fittings modern. During four years as a student in Bavaria, travelling on a regional rail pass, she barely remembers a delay. At the time, China’s hig...

Spanish government approves measures to ease housing crisis after outcry over eviction

Spanish government approves measures to ease housing crisis after outcry over eviction

The Guardian •

Decrees include extending ban on evictions of vulnerable people after 87-year-old was forced out of her homeSpain’s Socialist-led coalition government has approved a range of measures aimed at easing the country’s housing crisis, including extending a ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, after a public outcry over the eviction of an 87-year-old disabled woman from her Madrid apartmen...

Dennis Haskins, US actor who played Mr Belding in Saved by the Bell, dies aged 75

Dennis Haskins, US actor who played Mr Belding in Saved by the Bell, dies aged 75

The Guardian •

Agent calls death of Haskins, who played the school principal in three programs, ‘a tragic loss’The US actor Dennis Haskins – most known for co-starring in the popular Saved by the Bell television series franchise – has died, his agent confirmed on Tuesday. He was 75.Alluding to Haskins’ Saved by the Bell character, the fictional high school principal Mr Richard Belding, agent Jay Schachter said i...

JMW Turner’s ‘great love letter’ to Rome makes brief return to city before UK auction

JMW Turner’s ‘great love letter’ to Rome makes brief return to city before UK auction

The Guardian •

Rome, From Mount Aventine will also visit Hong Kong and New York before it is expected to sell for record priceA JMW Turner painting of Rome that has been described as his “great love letter” to the city and has fleetingly returned there after almost 200 years is expected to set a new record when it goes up for sale in December.One of the few works by Turner that remains in private ownership, Rome...

Burnham confirms he wants to abandon pension triple lock after election to pay for social care – UK politics live

Burnham confirms he wants to abandon pension triple lock after election to pay for social care – UK politics live

The Guardian •

Burnham makes first speech to party conference as PMBurnham to signal willingness to look at scrapping pension triple lock to fund social careAngela Rayner, the housing secretary, has apparently confirmed that Andy Burnham will float the prospect of getting rid of the pensions triple lock to help fund the creation of an NHS-style care service.Asked about the prospect on Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction...

Burnham says national care service will be ‘free at point of use’ and not funded by borrowing – UK politics live

Burnham says national care service will be ‘free at point of use’ and not funded by borrowing – UK politics live

The Guardian •

PM also addresses housing and help for bills but warns he must ‘be honest about what country can afford’Burnham to signal willingness to look at scrapping pension triple lock to fund social careAngela Rayner, the housing secretary, has apparently confirmed that Andy Burnham will float the prospect of getting rid of the pensions triple lock to help fund the creation of an NHS-style care service.Ask...

Former special counsel Jack Smith accused of targeting ‘entire Republican party’ in heated Senate hearing – US politics live

Former special counsel Jack Smith accused of targeting ‘entire Republican party’ in heated Senate hearing – US politics live

The Guardian •

Chuck Grassley, Republican chair of Senate judiciary committee, accuses Smith over criminal investigations into Donald TrumpSign up to the US Breaking News emailFor some context, it’s worth remembering that Smith had a two-volume report of his findings as a result of his criminal investigations – that resulted in two indictments against the president after his first term. The first focused on...

Former special prosecutor Jack Smith faces questions at Capitol Hill hearing – US politics live

Former special prosecutor Jack Smith faces questions at Capitol Hill hearing – US politics live

The Guardian •

Smith faces Senate judiciary committee, where many Republicans have accused him of politically motivated scrutinySign up to the US Breaking News emailFor some context, it’s worth remembering that Smith had a two-volume report of his findings as a result of his criminal investigations – that resulted in two indictments against the president after his first term. The first focused on Donald Tru...

Nvidia and AMD chiefs join Tsinghua advisory board as US-China chip tensions persist

Nvidia and AMD chiefs join Tsinghua advisory board as US-China chip tensions persist

SCMP •

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang and AMD chief Lisa Su have joined an influential advisory board at a prestigious Chinese university, placing the two key American AI tech leaders in a high-level forum known for connecting global executives with senior Chinese officials. Huang and Su were among three new members appointed to the advisory board of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Man...

Burnham says ‘Britain has been on wrong path for long time’ in first speech to party conference as PM – UK politics live

Burnham says ‘Britain has been on wrong path for long time’ in first speech to party conference as PM – UK politics live

The Guardian •

PM expected to call for a debate on the pension triple lockBurnham to signal willingness to look at scrapping pension triple lock to fund social careAngela Rayner, the housing secretary, has apparently confirmed that Andy Burnham will float the prospect of getting rid of the pensions triple lock to help fund the creation of an NHS-style care service.Asked about the prospect on Sky’s Electoral Dysf...

New English homes in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable, says Aviva boss

New English homes in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable, says Aviva boss

The Guardian •

Amanda Blanc says flooding threat is ‘absolutely increasing’, as she also warns ministers over ‘kite flying’ before budgetBusiness live – latest updatesThe boss of Britain’s biggest insurer has said that homes being built now in England could become uninsurable in the future because they are sited in flood-risk areas.Amanda Blanc, the chief executive of Aviva, said the flooding threat was “absolut...

RAF Fairford: Rubio says ‘foreign actor’ behind suspected plot as some evacuated residents begin to return home – as it happened

RAF Fairford: Rubio says ‘foreign actor’ behind suspected plot as some evacuated residents begin to return home – as it happened

The Guardian •

US secretary of state and Donald Trump express concerns about decision to bail suspects; some residents reported as hesitant to return homeRubio says foreign actor was ‘clearly’ behind suspected RAF Fairford plotTell us: have you been affected by the incident at RAF Fairford?Former national co-ordinator for UK counter-terrorism policing Nick Aldworth said investigators make bail decisions based on...