“Dozens of students dragged rubbish bins into position outside a high school in northeastern Paris early on Thursday, erecting fresh barricades before police moved in with tear gas as France’s nationwide protests show few signs of ending. The Helene Boucher Lycee has been a flashpoint for clashes in the French capital, and is one of hundreds of schools disrupted by protesters Thursday. … Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September, when students, most of them under 18, started protesting to demand more education funding, according to the Interior Ministry. The Education Ministry said that 375 schools were either fully or partially closed on Thursday.” (10/08/26)
“House GOP leadership is ratcheting up pressure on its Senate counterparts to pass legislation making daylight saving time permanent after President Donald Trump called on Congress to act. The House’s No. 2 leader, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital that ‘there’s no reason Americans should lose an hour of sunlight at the end of the day when more daylight means more time with our families, more activity for our businesses and safer communities.’ ‘President Trump has been pushing to make daylight saving time permanent, and House Republicans delivered by overwhelmingly passing the Sunshine Protection Act. It’s a commonsense change and the Senate should take it up,’ Scalise said.” (10/08/26)
“Amazon has eliminated approximately 1,000 roles across several teams, including its Stores business, customer service, marketplace support, and retail engineering operations. Business Insider reported that employees received emails on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, stating that their roles had been eliminated. An Amazon spokesperson told the publication that ‘a small number’ of positions, mainly in the Stores business, had been removed that day. Messages reviewed by the publication from an internal Slack channel with almost 37,000 members indicated that employees in India and the UK were among those affected.” (10/08/26)
“Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Spanish woman whose dramatic eviction last month sparked mass housing protests that led to an early election, has died, the Madrid tenants’ union said on Wednesday, as thousands demonstrated over her death. Abascal had been in hospital for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23 from her home of more than 70 years, when police and social workers removed her by stretcher. Her case ignited protests over a mounting housing crisis including a shortage of homes and surging rents. Activists camped out in a major Madrid square. …Trade unions on Wednesday announced a nationwide general strike over housing issues on November 11. The protests, along with parliament’s rejection last week of decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures, prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call an early election for November 29.” (10/08/26)
“A gilded statue of US President Donald Trump naked went on display in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on Tuesday. Danish artist Jens Galschiot is exhibiting the satirical statue, titled ‘Orange Plague’ and also known as ‘King of Injustice’, at the parliament’s headquarters in the eastern French city. It shows the president sitting naked on the shoulders of a much smaller man. In his hand, he holds a long golf club. Including its pedestal, the statue is around 2.5 metres tall and, according to the artist, is coated with 23-carat gold. An orange cloth covering it was removed when it was unveiled on Tuesday. The statue stands at one of the parliament’s busiest intersections connecting two buildings. It is scheduled to remain on display through Thursday.” (10/08/26)
“Thames Valley Police has accepted that the search warrants it used to search Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s homes earlier this year were unlawful, the High Court has heard. The force accepted that the information given to the Old Bailey about warrants relating to their decision to search the former Prince Andrew’s Sandringham home and the Royal Lodge in Windsor was incorrect. Andrew was arrested by Thames Valley Police in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He denies any wrongdoing. The warrants were issued before his arrest and his lawyers are challenging their lawfulness. … His arrest in February arose after the US Department of Justice published documents which suggested he had forwarded confidential information to the convicted sex offender when Mountbatten-Windsor was a UK trade envoy in 2010.” (10/08/26)
“A judge ruled that the state must preserve all evidence in the botched [killing] of Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike. Pike’s attorneys argued for the order saying the evidence would be relevant in case the state tries to [kill] her again. … Judge I’Ashea Myles ordered the evidence be preserved, and gave a long list of specific items to be saved.” (10/07/26)
“Vice President JD Vance and Labor Department officials announced Thursday that the Trump administration is suspending Microsoft, Adobe and others from a key employment-based, green-card program, accusing major tech firms and outsourcing companies of abusing the visa system at the expense of American workers. … Vance said Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards, calling it a ‘scandalous system.'” (10/08/26)
“Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been detained for the third time in two days during a protest demanding the resignation of the election chief over a controversial revision of voter lists. Gandhi and other opposition lawmakers were apprehended by police on Wednesday as they marched towards Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in India’s capital, New Delhi. … Opposition parties, their student units and the “Cockroach” youth movement have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the poll body he heads of benefiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.” (10/08/26)
“U.S. authorities charged former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with conspiring to torture his fellow citizens in order to maintain his hold on power. The new indictment, unsealed Thursday, adds pressure on the ousted authoritarian leader already fighting drug trafficking offenses. Maduro, who was previously charged with participating in a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S., is now also facing allegations of human rights abuses during his reign as president of the oil-rich South American nation.” [editor’s note: Unless Venezuela is a US state or territory, there’s no US jurisdiction to try those allegations – TLK] (10/08/26)
