“French security forces detained more than 600 people while dozens of police and gendarmes were wounded as protests that have seen blockades of high schools and violent clashes escalated, the interior minister said on Wednesday. The movement in the lycées, attended by students aged 15 to 18 for their final three years of secondary education in France, has angered the government. Since last week, students have staged protests outside schools over grievances ranging from timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers to overheated classrooms during this year’s heatwaves. The protests started in the Île-de-France region around Paris but have now spread to other cities nationwide.” (10/01/26)
“Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined the attorneys general of Arkansas and Louisiana in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block abortion shield laws in three states. Marshall joined the attorneys general of Arkansas and Louisiana in filing a lawsuit Wednesday, arguing that California, Massachusetts and New York are interfering with Alabama’s ability to enforce its abortion ban. The case asks the Supreme Court to invalidate laws that protect abortion providers from investigations, prosecutions and other legal action originating in states where abortion is prohibited. … Federal regulations allow abortion pills to be prescribed through telehealth and dispensed by mail, meaning a provider in a state where abortion remains legal can potentially prescribe medication to a patient in a state with an abortion ban.” (10/01/26)
“Egyptian police arrested six journalists from a fact-checking and investigative media outlet, accusing them of spreading misinformation on behalf of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which the publication denied. The arrests comprised the entire newsroom of Matsaddash, a digital platform that has operated since 2018, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), which is providing the journalists with legal representation. According to the EIPR, plainclothes security personnel had started raiding the journalists’ homes on Monday evening and confiscated electronic devices.” (10/01/26)
“Chinese automotive groups have cause to celebrate their go-global strategy amid breakneck export growth in recent years, with deliveries in 2026 expected to beat expectations already buoyed by an international energy shock caused by conflict in the Middle East. Leading carmakers from BYD to Chery Automobile have doubled down on overseas expansion, with some evolving into powerful contenders in markets such as Europe and Africa, which were once dominated by the likes of Volkswagen. … The government-backed industry body recently forecast that overseas Chinese vehicle sales – which comprise passenger cars, buses and lorries – could top 12 million units in 2026, up 44 per cent from last year’s 8.3 million.” (10/01/26)
“About one in eight new cancer cases worldwide in 2024 — 2.3 million cases — have been linked to infections, according to a new analysis from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The researchers identified 12 specific infections that were linked to human cancer cases, including Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, Schistosoma haematobium, HTLV-1, Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis, Merkel cell polyomavirus and HIV. The following five infections contributed to nearly all the global cases: H. pylori, ~760,000 cases; HPV, ~750,000 cases; HBV, ~360,000 cases; EBV, ~260,000 cases; HCV, ~160,000 cases.” (10/01/26)
“Americans are deeply frustrated with President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and rising prices, with most panning his performance and blaming his policies as higher costs threaten his party’s chances in November. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only 17% of U.S. adults approve of the Republican president’s handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low. A majority, 65%, of U.S. adults now blame Trump’s policies for persistently high costs more than factors outside of his control, signaling growing weariness over his aggressive use of tariffs and continued unhappiness with the war with Iran.” (10/01/26)
“Glaciers in Switzerland – the home to the most in the Alps – lost 5.5% of their ice volume this year, the second-biggest percentage drop on record due to heat waves and low winter snowfall, experts report. ‘Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions,’ the GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a statement released Thursday. The trend has worsened in recent years: Over the past five years alone, the volume of ice in Switzerland has declined by nearly a fifth, the experts say.” (10/01/26)
“European Union officials met Thursday to strengthen border controls and curb migration as activists presented new evidence they say shows the bloc’s border agency provides surveillance data to Libya’s coast guard to intercept migrants at sea. Home affairs ministers from the EU’s 27 countries gathered in Luxembourg to discuss border surveillance and other policies, including setting up ‘return hubs’ in third countries and efforts to increase deportations across the bloc. Ahead of the meeting, European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner said he would call for a vast expansion of Frontex, including new powers, more funding and a larger workforce. The EU has hardened its migration policy over the past decade, with most member countries supporting more deportations and stricter border controls.” (10/01/26)
“Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Wednesday, two days after the United States revoked his visa over alleged links to drug trafficking, a government source told AFP. ‘The arrest of Prosecutor Mariaca has been confirmed,’ said a source from the Ministry of Government, who requested anonymity. Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, who has likewise been sanctioned by Washington, was also arrested, according to local media. Both were among the nearly 20 people from Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador whom the U.S. State Department accused this week of corruption, links to drug trafficking, or conspiring against their respective governments.” (10/01/26)
“The Trump administration has told Germany and France to draw down emergency diesel inventories to help to ease global fuel prices or face a potential US diesel export ban, said three people close to the discussions. The warning marks an escalation of pressure on Europe as US President Donald Trump considers a potential diesel export ban to bring down US fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections.” (10/01/26)
