Europe
Poland blames Starlink sabotage on Russia
Poland is blaming Russia for an arson attack on a Starlink satellite station in September and two Turkish citizens have been arrested in connection with the suspected act of sabotage, authorities said.
The suspects, whose names were not released in line with Polish privacy rules, were arrested in Germany, Polish officials said Monday. They are accused of deliberately setting fire to Starlink infrastructure on Sept. 23 in Wola Krobowska, Poland, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Warsaw.
“We have no doubt that Russian intelligence services are behind this act of sabotage,” Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s minister overseeing intelligence services, said in a news release, noting that Russian intelligence services are increasingly turning to people with ties to the criminal underworld.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in a post on X, called the incident “another act of hybrid warfare.”
Other details were not immediately available.
The Poland arson in September was one of more than 210 incidents across Europe that Western officials consider sabotage and malign activity linked to Russia tracked by The Associated Press since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A British court last year found three men guilty of arson in a March 2024 plot that targeted a London warehouse with Starlinks for Ukraine inside. British prosecutors said it was masterminded by Russia’s intelligence services.
Officials say one goal of the attacks is to undermine support for Ukraine, spread fear and discord in European societies and drain investigative resources. Russia often uses proxies for such attacks and some perpetrators say they have no idea they have been hired by Moscow.
Tech titan Elon Musk has allowed the Ukrainians to use his Starlink satellite communications system inside their own territory, including in Russian-occupied regions, but has restricted use of the satellite system inside Russia. Starlink has become deeply embedded in Ukraine’s military operations, with commanders and soldiers relying on satellite connectivity to communicate and coordinate operations.
Polish spy chief says Ukraine's allies are facing near-constant Russian subversion
Russia’s intelligence services are carrying out almost “daily acts of subversion,” Siemoniak said Tuesday at a security conference in Warsaw.
“There is not a week where activities do not happen,” and the same goes for other European countries, he said, adding that the activity is aimed at countries that support Ukraine.
He said Russia’s covert malign activity in Poland started in early 2024 as Russia recruited disposable agents on platforms like Telegram to carry out attacks, including against a shopping center.
“Our enemy — that is Russia’s intelligence services — changes its methods of operation and has unlimited resources,” Siemoniak said.
Fighting against Russia’s intelligence services is not like taking down an organized crime group where the group is convicted and the case is closed, he said. In the case of subversive activity, as soon as you cut one head off, another grows and “you never know what direction they will pursue next,” he said.
“In cases of the subversive activity, it’s like the story of the dragon whose heads keep growing and you never know which direction they pursue next,” Beate Gangås, Norway's director-general of the Police Security Service, told the conference. “We are in the most serious situation since the Second World War.”
8 hours ago
What is behind the student protests in France?
France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing France's presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.
It’s the latest challenge to Emmanuel Macron’s presidency in a country beset by crises, both foreign and domestic.
The majority of protesters have been peaceful, but violence on the fringes is having an impact, with a daily menu of fireworks thrown at police and volleys of tear gas fired at high school pupils.
On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, as France faced a new day of nationwide marches and strikes on top of the blockades at schools.
Here is what to know about the movement:
The protests started in a Paris suburb
Demonstrations first erupted last month in a high school in Creteil southeast of Paris over a lack of staff. From there, class strikes, blockades and demonstrations spread to other Paris suburbs and then nationwide, even in smaller towns. Hundreds of schools had to close because of damage or attacks on staff.
High schoolers are expressing broad grievances over schools that are under-resourced, with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff, notably in lower-income neighborhoods. French media have shown videos of scampering rats, collapsed ceilings, leaks, broken furniture and other woes in dilapidated schools.
Some students also complain that during summer heat waves, they roast in classrooms without air-conditioning, while in winter they freeze. They say school days, which often run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., are too exhausting and the university entrance system is complex and unfair. Some university students have also joined the protests.
There have been broader concerns in France that the country's education system is losing ground to other countries and failing in its mission to enable children from disadvantaged backgrounds to move up the social ladder. Scores in reading comprehension and mathematics have plunged, according to the latest PISA report, which evaluates students worldwide.
A muscular police response has drawn criticism
Riot police have liberally used tear gas and wielded their batons to disperse crowds. Police made more than 6,600 arrests nationwide as of last week, an unusually high number for a French protest movement.
A police tear gas grenade shattered a 14-year-old’s jaw and many of his teeth. A 15-year-old lost a hand in an incident involving a police stun grenade. Other adolescents have also suffered life-changing injuries blamed on police weaponry during protests.
Macron’s government has repeatedly said that it respects the right to peaceful protest, but it has also issued written orders for police to break up protests that block access to schools and to rapidly put a stop to violence and vandalism.
Police and school staff have been targeted with powerful fireworks and other injury-causing projectiles. The interior ministry says acid has been hurled in some cases, and that people intent on destruction and looting have grafted themselves onto the high schoolers’ movement.
Presidential candidates are seizing the moment
Candidates campaigning to succeed Macron in a coming presidential election in April and May have seized on the demonstrations as a political issue. Macron is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.
Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has positioned himself firmly on the side of the students and has decried police actions. His party invited high school activists on stage at a rally Sunday, then proposed lowering the voting age to 16 and scrapping selective admissions at universities.
Meanwhile, far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called for broader police powers against rioters. Conservative former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, one of Le Pen’s main challengers for the presidency, has condemned those who “break things, burn things or assault people.”
Some other European countries have seen unrest
Taking grievances to the streets is hardly unusual in the country that spawned the French Revolution of 1789. To name just a few, there were mass student protests in 1968, weeks of suburban unrest in 2005, yellow vest protests in 2018-2019, and demonstrations in 2023 against raising the retirement age.
But some other countries have also seen some student unrest.
In neighboring Belgium, some schools closed in Liege, a day after violence in the city and arrests there.
Several Italian cities also saw student protests last week, though on a smaller scale than in France and focused on a broader set of domestic grievances.
9 hours ago
Drone attacks hit two ships in Black Sea off Bulgaria, sinking one
Two ships were struck by drones in the Black Sea off Bulgaria on Tuesday, sinking one vessel and triggering emergency rescue operations, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.
Rescuers evacuated all 15 crew members from one of the ships, the Malta-flagged Chelsea 3, with five receiving treatment for minor injuries, Radev said in a video posted on social media.
The crew comprised seven Ukrainian and eight Azerbaijani nationals. They reported that three aerial drones hit the ship’s deck and hull, he said.
One crew member from the sunken vessel was rescued, while Radev provided no details about the fate of the others aboard. The two attacks took place 18 miles (29 kilometres) and 17 miles (27.5 kilometres) from the Bulgarian coast.
Speaking at an emergency meeting of Bulgaria’s Security Council on Tuesday, Radev described the attacks as “absolutely unacceptable” and said his country was seeking assistance from NATO and the European Union.
Although authorities had no clear evidence identifying those responsible, Radev said that “logic, as I have already stated, indicates that the result is in favor of the Russian Federation.”
The latest attacks came exactly a week after sea and aerial drones struck two other commercial vessels in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. A Togo-flagged ship sank, while a Bulgarian ferry evacuated all 18 crew members from a Pulau-flagged vessel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s military had not conducted any operations near the sites of last week’s attacks and blamed Russia.
A day earlier, a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying corn caught fire after a drone attack and later sank in the Black Sea off Romania’s coast. Two people were killed and 11 crew members were rescued, Romanian authorities said.
Russia did not immediately comment on Tuesday’s incident.
Radev said he would summon Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova for a meeting on Tuesday.
11 hours ago
Nobel Peace laureate defends international justice amid US criticism
Navi Pillay, the South African-born jurist awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week, said on Monday that she initially needed written confirmation of the award before believing the news, reflecting her approach as a judge of relying on evidence.
“I received the letter in writing … so now I have read it for myself, and it's true,” Pillay, 85, told The Associated Press in an interview.
She received the award for promoting international law at a time when the global legal system is facing mounting challenges.
Pillay's career has included defending the rights of imprisoned Nelson Mandela, chairing a United Nations commission that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza, and serving as a judge at three international courts.
“To be honored for that kind of work is tremendous, not only for me, but for all my colleagues,” she said.
On the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee sought to highlight the importance of the rule of law at both national and international levels.
“The rule of law, national and international, underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts nonviolently. Peace requires justice,” committee Chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes said.
Pillay's award is widely viewed as a high-profile rebuke to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both of whom have rejected the findings of the UN commission she led on Gaza. Both leaders have also strongly criticised the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, where Pillay previously served as a judge.
“I value the focus of the selection committee on this important area, because it does affect the whole world if the rule of law is not respected,” she said.
Pillay criticised Trump, who has long sought the Nobel Peace Prize, describing Washington's attacks on the ICC as “completely unlawful” and “negative and cruel.”
“Heads of countries have a particular responsibility to spell out the principles, which is that you respect the law, you respect international law,” she said.
Hours after the announcement of her award in Oslo, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sweeping new sanctions against the ICC as part of a campaign to dismantle the institution.
Pillay urged countries to defend the court and the broader international legal order, calling for “collective action, not just words” from the international community.
She said impunity was unpopular across the world and that people wanted justice. Public frustration, she added, stemmed partly from the fact that powerful countries such as Russia and the United States are not members of the ICC but hold permanent seats on the UN Security Council, where they can veto efforts to hold them accountable.
Pillay faced strong criticism from Israel over her role as chair of the UN commission on Gaza, which concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in the territory with the specific intent of destroying Palestinians there.
She dismissed Israel's response, saying the conclusions had been challenged only by the United States and Israel.
“We just have this condemnation by the state of Israel because they are the ones that we have held responsible,” she said.
Human rights organisations and many genocide experts have reached similar conclusions.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel strongly denies the allegations.
Pillay acknowledged that the current global situation may appear challenging but noted that international law is a relatively recent development in human history.
“Justice is slow, so we must not be impatient,” she said.
However, she cautioned against complacency and urged people to assess events as a judge would by examining the evidence rather than accepting claims at face value.
“Don't fall for false propaganda or just repeat slogans,” Pillay said, urging people to verify the evidence for themselves.
1 day ago
139 migrants, including children, die as boat capsizes off Djibouti
At least 139 people, including children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti in East Africa, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Sunday.
The death toll includes only those buried by Djiboutian authorities. Other victims have been buried by fellow migrants, but their bodies will not be included in the official count until authorities can verify them, Alexandre Coissac, IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, told The Associated Press by phone.
“What is terrible is that they were buried with no names, in a common grave, like in a war situation,” Coissac said. “They all have a mother, a father, and we may never learn what happened.”
Coissac said the migrants boarded the boat on the evening of Oct 8 and that it sank shortly afterwards near the shore, mainly because it was overcrowded.
“The local authorities did their best,” he said, adding that they were overwhelmed as bodies continued to wash ashore in large numbers.
Authorities were taking survivors to the IOM rescue centre in Obock, where they were receiving medical treatment after swallowing seawater, along with psychological support, Coissac said.
“They’re all in a state of shock,” he said, recalling his visit to the shipwreck area on Saturday. “I tried to talk to some of them but it’s very difficult.”
Some survivors at the IOM centre already know that their family members died in the shipwreck. Others were given access to phones to inform relatives back home that they had survived.
At least 84 people remained missing in what was among the deadliest shipwrecks on the popular but perilous migration route from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, where many migrants seek employment in wealthy Gulf countries.
According to the IOM, the boat was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized on Thursday night or Friday morning. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, the agency said.
The Geneva-based UN migration agency said 305 people were aboard the vessel and warned that the death toll could rise further.
Personal belongings believed to have belonged to the migrants, including shoes, were seen on a beach in a video shared by the IOM. Rescue operations continued as concerns mounted over those still missing.
Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel through Djibouti each year and cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait towards Gulf countries in search of safety and economic opportunities, the IOM said in a statement.
The migration route remains in use despite a recent escalation in fighting in Yemen, on the opposite side of the strait.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” Coissac said. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities.”
In recent weeks, at least 2,000 Yemenis have received assistance in Djibouti as fighting has intensified in Yemen between the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
This movement is in the opposite direction to that of the migrants who died in the shipwreck and differs from the usual migration pattern of recent years. Tens of thousands of people crossing from eastern Africa to Yemen each year have typically been seeking work in countries such as Saudi Arabia.
More than 900 migrants died or went missing along the route last year, according to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.
“No one gets into a boat like that unless they believe there is no other safe way,” IOM Director-General Amy Pope said. “We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I am asking governments and donors to act before the next boat goes down.”
2 days ago
Zelenskyy rejects Trump’s call for new Ukrainian leader as drones hit Russian data centre
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said Russia was solely responsible for the war in Ukraine and offered to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, pushing back against US President Donald Trump’s call for a new Ukrainian leader.
Zelenskyy said any de-escalation must be reciprocal and backed by credible guarantees. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also defended Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian people had the right to decide who leads their country.
Trump on Saturday said Ukraine should get a new president who could reach a deal to end the war, blaming Zelenskyy for high diesel prices in the United States. Trump had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy Russian diesel amid rising fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged a data centre operated by Russian technology giant Yandex in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, on Sunday, disrupting its services. It was the third strike on the company’s facilities in four days.
Yandex said operations at the facility had been completely halted, but no injuries were reported. Previous attacks hit its data centres in Russia’s Ryazan and Kaluga regions.
Elsewhere, Zelenskyy said 23 people, including four children, were killed in a Russian bombing in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday. More than 30 others were wounded, with eight remaining in hospital, regional officials said.
In Russia’s Bryansk border region, a Ukrainian drone strike killed a man and wounded two women, local officials said Sunday.
2 days ago
Russian strike on Ukrainian public buses kills 30 as Kyiv blackouts worsen
A Russian guided bomb exploded near public buses packed with passengers in eastern Ukraine, killing 30 people, authorities said Thursday, as a wave of Russian attacks also worsened power outages in the capital, Kyiv.
The morning strike hit near a bus stop in the war-ravaged city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, prompting the suspension of public transport in the area.
“There is no doubt that Russia is cynically targeting civilians,” said Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city's military administration. He added that subsequent Russian attacks involving small drones hampered rescue operations.
Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a long-range aerial war, while their ground forces remain largely deadlocked along the front line, more than four and a half years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
Russia has intensified its aerial attacks in recent weeks, putting further pressure on Ukraine ahead of winter and targeting infrastructure vital to its war-battered economy. Recent targets have included energy systems, major industries, railways, post offices, shopping centres, telecommunications networks, gas stations and grain exports.
Thursday's attack came a day after a Russian missile strike killed 22 people, including five children, in the northern Ukrainian town of Pryluky. Rescuers were searching through the rubble of a residential building, while at least 54 people were wounded.
Several survivors were sleeping in heavily damaged apartments because they had nowhere else to go.
Ukraine seeks more defence support from NATO
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Pryluky on Thursday alongside visiting British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who announced new sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy warned that Russia would likely intensify its daily missile and drone attacks as winter approaches and called on NATO countries to provide additional defence support.
“It is important that support in words takes concrete form in new packages for Ukraine's defense,” he wrote in an online post.
“Supplies of anti-ballistic capabilities, ammunition for our combat aircraft and investments in interceptors — all of this is directly helping save lives every day.”
In audio clips released in response to journalists' questions on Thursday evening, Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian delegation would meet representatives of US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, in the United States for two days beginning Friday. The talks would focus, among other issues, on strengthening Ukraine's air defences.
Ukraine's energy company DTEK said national grid operator Ukrenergo had ordered emergency power cuts in Kyiv. During the emergency shutdowns, the regular scheduled rolling power outages imposed across the country would be suspended.
Authorities have urged families to prepare emergency kits, stock drinking water and maintain backup power supplies as Russia continues its intense attacks.
Kyiv police said bomb disposal experts had defused two unexploded ballistic missile warheads, each weighing about half a tonne, that landed near residential buildings.
Late Wednesday, Russian drones struck the city's Obolonskyi and Desnianskyi districts, killing four people and injuring 12 others, including four children, police said.
Ukrainian attacks damage data centre and oil refinery
Russian technology giant Yandex said one of its data centres in the western Ryazan region was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the facility offline.
Ukraine also said on Thursday that its forces had struck a major oil refinery complex in Salavat, about 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) east of Moscow.
Ukraine's General Staff described the complex as one of Russia's largest oil refining and petrochemical facilities. The claim could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian drones also reached Russia's Omsk region in western Siberia, more than 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Omsk regional Governor Vitaly Khotsenko said air defences had shot down most of the drones, but one “reached a northern industrial hub”. He provided no further details.
Russian independent news outlet Astra reported that the Omsk oil refinery was on fire following the attack, but there was no official confirmation.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his government had presented proposals to both Russia and Ukraine aimed at protecting civilian shipping in the Black Sea. He warned that escalating military offensives could disrupt commercial trade and grain exports.
Separately, Lithuania deployed around 100 additional soldiers to help secure its border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, the Baltic country's Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said.
Located between Lithuania and Poland, Kaliningrad is separated from mainland Russia and remains a major security concern for NATO's eastern flank.
4 days ago
Russian strikes kill at least 21 in major attack across Ukraine
Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv and around a dozen other Ukrainian regions overnight into Wednesday, killing at least 21 civilians, including four children, and injuring around 60, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack came a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that intelligence indicated Russia was preparing a “massive” strike.
Despite anticipating the attack, Ukraine was unable to fully repel the barrage, which coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday.
The casualties and destruction highlighted Ukraine’s difficulties in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles and newly deployed jet-powered drones amid Moscow’s increasingly intense aerial campaign.
Ukraine has been facing shortages of ammunition for its US-made Patriot air defense systems, limiting its ability to counter Russian ballistic weapons. Kyiv is also racing to develop a new generation of interceptors capable of engaging Russia’s high-speed, jet-powered drones.
Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a sustained long-range air war while their ground forces remain largely deadlocked, more than four and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the latest attacks, saying Russia was pursuing “a deliberate strategy of terror” aimed at making daily life impossible for Ukrainians seeking peace.
A Russian strike destroyed an apartment building in Pryluky in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, killing 15 people, including four children, and injuring around 50, according to local authorities.
Deaths were also reported in three other Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Zelenskyy said.
“The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” he said in a social media post.
In Kremenchuk in the Poltava region, two people were killed and seven others injured, according to Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the regional military administration. A rescue operation was still underway.
Diakivnych said the attacks were intended to spread fear among civilians.
“That is exactly what the enemy is counting on. For us to be afraid to fall asleep. To let our children out of our sight. To plan anything. So that everyone thinks: next time it could be my address,” he said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out a “massive” overnight strike targeting industrial facilities involved in producing and storing missiles and drones across Ukraine.
It also claimed that port and ship-repair facilities in the southern Odesa region, along with vessels carrying cargo for the Ukrainian military, were hit.
Ukraine strikes Russian oil facilities
Ukraine responded by launching long-range drones and missiles against Russian oil refineries and storage facilities, according to Zelenskyy.
He said Ukrainian forces targeted two oil facilities and a training ground in Russia’s Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions.
Russian officials did not immediately comment on the claims.
Zelenskyy also suggested that Ukraine had carried out an attack in the Black Sea, posting images that he said showed an oil tanker on fire near the Russian resort city of Sochi.
The images could not be independently verified.
Some Russian online media outlets also published the images late Tuesday, while unconfirmed reports said the vessel was carrying oil from Novorossiysk to India and had been attacked by Ukrainian sea drones.
6 days ago
French riot police use tear gas as 266,000 rally over school funding
French riot police used tear gas to disperse crowds in Paris and other cities Tuesday as more than 266,000 people joined nationwide demonstrations in support of high school students demanding increased education funding, according to government figures.
The protests, which drew 56,000 people in Paris, added to pressure on the administration of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.
As students blockaded schools, demonstrators carrying flags and placards took to the streets in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities. The protests have expanded from a movement that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September into a nationwide campaign, becoming the latest in a series of demonstrations during Macron's nearly decade-long tenure.
"We need to listen to them," said Léa Monimart, an adult demonstrator in Lille. "They are 17 years old; they are not completely clueless, and they know what they are talking about. It's important to show that there are adults who support them."
The Interior Ministry said 266,000 people demonstrated across France Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris, where small groups clashed with riot police in a city square following an otherwise largely peaceful march.
Nearly 500 people were detained, the ministry said. The arrests, use of tear gas and other riot-control weapons against teenagers have intensified anger among some parents and teachers. Some student groups have called for further protests Thursday.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez defended the police response as proportionate in "almost all cases," saying some demonstrations had descended into riots and required police intervention.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government and school authorities must listen to students' concerns and work toward solutions.
Speaking in parliament Tuesday, Lecornu condemned what he called "ultra violence" targeting schools. Addressing criticism of police tactics, he said any "accidents" would be investigated and rejected allegations that police were racist as a "lie."
Class boycotts, arrests fuel tensions
More than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades, along with a police crackdown that has resulted in more than 6,500 arrests, most involving minors, have become a major flashpoint during the early stages of the presidential election campaign.
University student Felix Barney called the police response disproportionate, saying it does not make "any sense to hit minors."
"Riot police, batons, rubber bullets, tear gas," said Aurélien Le Coq, a lawmaker from the far-left France Unbowed party, whose presidential candidate has strongly backed the protests.
"The violence is 'absolutely unbearable,'" Le Coq said.
Nuñez continued to defend police tactics despite a growing number of serious injuries attributed to riot-control weapons. In the latest incident, a 15-year-old boy lost a hand Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade. Nuñez said 715 police officers had also been injured.
The student protests have gained broad public sympathy amid widespread dissatisfaction in France. Concerns range from soaring fuel prices linked to the Iran war to wider frustrations over limits on public spending, increasing poverty and wealth inequality under Macron, who cannot seek a third consecutive term.
Against this backdrop, students' complaints that inadequate education funding is putting their futures at risk have resonated with many people.
"You say 'young people are the future,' so listen to them," read a handwritten placard tied to a metal barrier outside a Paris school.
Ministry opens portal for student complaints
At Hélène Boucher high school in Paris' 20th district, protesters overturned trash cans and bicycles to form a makeshift barricade.
The school was among hundreds across France that remained closed. Authorities began closing schools last week in an effort to ease tensions following widespread damage to school property and rising injuries among students, staff and police.
According to the Education Ministry, classes were fully or partially suspended at 891 schools Tuesday.
Amid criticism that it was failing to address the protesters' concerns, the ministry launched an online portal allowing high school students to anonymously report problems they face at school and suggest changes they want to see.
6 days ago
Hungary plans to introduce wealth tax from 2027
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced Tuesday that the government plans to introduce a wealth tax from Jan. 1, 2027.
The tax will be 1 percent on wealth exceeding 1 billion Hungarian forints (3.1 million U.S. dollars) and 1.5 percent on wealth exceeding 100 billion forints (310 million dollars), Magyar said in a Facebook video.
It will cover property, investments and company stakes, including assets held abroad or through asset-management structures, he added. Debts will be deductible from the tax base, while property and vehicle taxes can be credited against the liability.
The first annual self-assessed payment will be due by Aug. 31, 2027, based on assets held at the end of 2026, Magyar said.
The proposed measure will undergo broad public consultation before being adopted.
7 days ago