Seules les manifestations organisées à la demande des syndicats seront autorisées samedi, a annoncé jeudi Emmanuel Macron après avoir réuni à l'Élysée "l'ensemble des services de renseignement". Les autorités ont par ailleurs annoncé que les manifestations seraient interdites jeudi à Paris et à Lyon en raison des risques de troubles. Le Premier ministre Sébastien Lecornu doit recevoir en début d'après-midi les partis à Matignon. Suivez notre direct.

De violentes intempéries ayant entraîné des inondations ont frappé le sud-est de la France en début de semaine. La préfecture des Bouches-du-Rhône a fait état de trois morts mardi, portant le bilan à quatre morts. Les secours recherchent toujours une personne portée disparue dans le Var.

Thélyson Orélien, a celebrated novelist, used artificial intelligence while writing a breakout book, his publisher says.

© Nasuna Stuart-Ulin for The New York Times

Some democracies seem caught in a trap: Spend more and risk market panic, or cut benefits and empower the far right.

© Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters

Since high school students began protesting in France in September, they’ve been joined by young demonstrators in at least seven other European countries.

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Speaking in Qatar, President Emmanuel Macron railed against foreign leaders who he said had made false claims about unrest in France for their own political ends.

© Pool photo by Benoit Tessier

En marge des manifestations du 17 octobre, de nombreux magasins ont été pillés en France. Depuis, la police est à la recherche des auteurs de ces pillages et des objets volés. Sur X, l’antenne de la police nationale du Val-d’Oise affirme avoir retrouvé certains biens… mais la photo mise en avant n’est pas authentique.

Le gouvernement a annoncé mardi l’envoi de la force Sentinelle, samedi, pour "des missions de sécurisation statique" habituellement assurées par des policiers. Des précédents existent mais sont peu nombreux dans l’histoire de la Ve République, les soldats n’étant pas formés au maintien de l’ordre.

Des comptes affichant des positions proches de l’Alliance des États du Sahel (AES) affirment que l’ambassade de Côte d’Ivoire à Paris aurait été incendiée pendant les violences qui ont eu lieu en marge de la manifestation du 17 octobre. La photographie censée le prouver a été générée par IA.

At the Tribunal de Paris, judges have supervised a carousel of expedited and often chaotic hearings for those detained during recent unrest.

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Speaking in Qatar, President Emmanuel Macron railed against foreign leaders who he said had made false claims about unrest in France for their own political ends.

© Pool photo by Benoit Tessier

Paul Barril, le cofondateur du Groupe d'intervention de la gendarmerie nationale créé en 1974 est décédé mardi soir à l'âge de 80 ans. Cet ancien capitaine de gendarmerie avait été impliqué dans de nombreux scandales en France et sur le continent africain, notamment au Rwanda où il avait été mis en cause pour complicité lors du génocide des Tutsi.

Depuis Doha, la capitale du Qatar, où il achève une tournée de trois jours dans le Golfe, Emmanuel Macron a de nouveau appelé à la "fermeté" face aux auteurs de violences et, promettant la "transparence", il a convoqué une réunion jeudi avec les services de renseignement, accusés d'avoir mal anticipé la mobilisation du 17 octobre.

Plusieurs drones "non autorisés" ont survolé des sites militaires dans la région de Toulon lors d’un exercice de défense du port militaire mené entre le 5 et le 16 octobre. La Marine nationale précise qu’aucune infrastructure sensible n’a été menacée et indique qu’une enquête judiciaire a été ouverte.

The Avant-Première preview of the Art Basel Paris fair attracted major collectors despite an escalation of anti-government protests, riots and looting across French cities.

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In a symbolic move, the French Senate approved the repeal of regulations that had remained on the books long after slavery’s abolition.

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“Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres” has appeared on signs at recent demonstrations. It doesn’t make much sense (it means, “In the name of God, it’s the darkness”) but is seen as shorthand for a generational divide.

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The targeted restrictions are part of a state effort to reassert control after the country’s largest riots in years, as those arrested in the chaos face expedited trials.

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President at Kansas rally tries to turn protests into cautionary tale for US as Republicans face potential midterm losses

• Explainer: why are people protesting across Europe?

As Republicans confront mounting political headwinds ahead of November’s midterm elections, Donald Trump is attempting to turn unrest in France into a cautionary tale for American voters, recasting the demonstrations that began as student protests against crumbling schools and the soaring cost of living as evidence of the dangers of immigration and the erosion of western civilization.

At a rally in Kansas on Monday evening, Trump described France as a once-great nation that had been “conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists”.

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© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

The student protests that snowballed into violent riots made it clear that almost 10 years of his presidency have not fixed France’s problems.

© Yves Herman/Reuters

The police’s treatment of the student last month sheds light on how a wave of school unrest evolved into national protests that spilled into widespread riots on Saturday.

The interior minister acknowledged that the police were underprepared for the scale of the riots. But Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended their efforts and pledged to restore order.

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The National Rally, already ahead in the polls, presented itself as the party best placed to restore law and order.

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The Amazon rainforest has been a crucial battleground in the country’s presidential runoff.

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As unrest surged across France this weekend, the most surprising attack came in the quiet city of Limoges, where rioters set fire to the city hall.

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After anti-government protests devolved into chaos, leaders from across the political spectrum blamed one another for the unrest, even as it largely subsided on Sunday.

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Extremists assaulted residents and broke a European diplomatic vehicle’s window, witnesses said, as settler violence surges in the territory during the olive harvest.

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Riots broke out in several French cities alongside peaceful marches of tens of thousands of people demonstrating against rising living costs and poor school conditions.

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Student demonstrations converged on Saturday with a broader protest movement against rising living costs, heightening a national reckoning.

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Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of a working-class suburb near Paris, has been a regular presence at student demonstrations, prompting both applause and condemnation.

A bitter generational battle over resources is boiling over as economic growth on the continent stalls.

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Three thieves broke into a private museum in central France and took off with a 330-pound book cover created by the surrealist master Salvador Dalí.

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Ukraine has loosened its reliance on Washington but still depends on the United States in three military areas that let US President Donald Trump keep pressuring Kyiv, The Telegraph wrote on 12 October. That pressure now centers on the energy ceasefire Trump declared on 11 October, with US officials reportedly warning Kyiv not to hit Russian energy during the truce. Kyiv backs a mutual truce, but Moscow has not confirmed it, and Russian strikes on Ukraine’s grid have continued.

The paper named three such ties: satellite intelligence, Patriot interceptors, and American weapons bought with European money. A pause in any of them would hit just as Russia’s winter campaign begins. Ukraine says an intercepted document reportedly lays out up to 1,000 Russian missiles, drones, and bombs for 60 critical sites this winter, so any pause in US intelligence, interceptors, or PURL deliveries would land as that campaign gets under way.

Satellite intelligence: the US still holds the key

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other US services still pass precise satellite data that help Ukrainian forces hit targets inside Russia, by the paper’s estimate. Trump briefly suspended that flow in March 2025 to pressure Zelenskyy. A Ukrainian official told Axios that Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner threatened during 9 October talks in Miami to cut off US intelligence.

Patriot interceptors: no quick substitute

The Telegraph called interceptor missiles the second and probably sharpest dependency. Only American Patriot systems can down Russia’s most powerful missiles, which strike Ukrainian cities daily, the paper wrote. Kyiv’s PAC-3 stocks ran dry mainly because US reserves were diverted to the Middle East after America’s war against Iran, the paper added. Kyiv had warned in March that a long Middle East war would squeeze its PAC-3 supply.

Five European defense firms—Destinus, MBDA Deutschland, Safran, Airbus, and Thales—signed a letter of intent in July to develop a joint interceptor, but a testable prototype is not expected before next year, the paper wrote. Ukraine is also building its own interceptor with European allies under the FREYJA program.

US arms bought with European money

The third is buying American arms with European money through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), a NATO-run purchasing scheme. US officials have reportedly warned Europe that Trump may halt those supplies if Ukraine keeps striking Russian oil refineries.

Breaking a weekslong silence, Thélyson Orélien, a Haitian-Canadian writer, still rejected accusations about his new novel, ‘It Was Either That or Die.’

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France has seized an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet after intercepting it more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on 12 October.

The seizure targets a network Russia relies on to keep oil revenues flowing despite Western sanctions imposed over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The shadow fleet allows Moscow to continue exporting oil and funding its war in Ukraine. 

The French Navy boarded the DF Peak over suspicions that it was sailing under a false flag and involved in illegal fuel transportation, Macron said. French forces escorted the vessel to an anchorage near Réunion for further checks as part of a judicial investigation. 

La France est déterminée à lutter contre la flotte fantôme, partout dans le monde.

Ce matin, à plus de 450 nautiques au sud de La Réunion, notre Marine nationale a arraisonné le pétrolier DF Peak, suspecté de naviguer sous un faux pavillon et impliqué dans des activités… pic.twitter.com/GS91egdvzN

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 12, 2026

What is Russia’s shadow fleet?

Russia’s shadow fleet consists of oil tankers used to keep Russian oil and petroleum exports moving despite Western sanctions imposed after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The vessels often operate through opaque ownership structures, change names or flags, and use registration practices that make it harder to establish who controls them and where their cargo originates. These methods help Russia maintain oil revenue while limiting the impact of sanctions and restrictions on shipping and insurance. 

The fleet also raises safety and environmental concerns. Many of the vessels are older tankers operating with unclear insurance coverage or limited oversight, increasing the risk of accidents and oil spills.

DF Peak previously sailed under different name

The DF Peak was previously named Kaliningrad and sailed under the flag of Benin. It has been subject to US, UK, and EU sanctions since 2024, according to Reuters. Ukrainian military intelligence has also linked the tanker to Russian crude oil transportation and the shipping company Sovcomflot. 

The tanker was last tracked near Madagascar on 12 October after departing from Venezuela, according to shipping data cited by Reuters. French authorities said the vessel would be taken to Réunion for a closer examination of its registration and activities. 

Russia condemns seizure

Russia’s embassy in France condemned the seizure, calling it a violation of international law and describing the operation as “piracy,” according to Russian state media cited by Reuters. The embassy said France had not notified Moscow about the seizure and that it was checking whether Russian citizens were among the crew. 

The seizure is part of wider European efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia’s oil exports and target vessels suspected of using false flags. France has seized at least five Russian-linked tankers since 2024, Reuters reported. 

The attack targeted a Danish software system in more than 400 supermarkets, forcing some shops to throw out frozen produce. The attackers have not been identified.

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Shocked by the U.S. agreement with Russia, which Ukraine has called “a gift” to President Putin, officials in Europe have coalesced around a cautious diplomatic message.

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Nearly a decade after his first election as president, Emmanuel Macron is presiding over a tense country sliding toward the fiscal brink.

© Abdul Saboor/Reuters

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Russia interfered in the 2016 referendum that took Britain out of the European Union, in podcast excerpts released on 11 October, the Associated Press reported. His remarks are believed to be the first time a British prime minister has publicly acknowledged such meddling.

Russia’s information war keeps running through Europe’s ballots. German security sources said in August that Moscow was escalating disinformation before state elections, and Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation found more than 200 Russian fake news sites aimed at France last year.

One question, one clear answer

Burnham told The Rest Is Politics podcast that he asked his advisers whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 vote. He asked after taking office in July.

“I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was,” he said.

He argued that such things must now be put clearly on the record. He did not say how Russia interfered or offer evidence, and Moscow has long denied interfering in foreign votes.

Burnham said he had discussed Russian interference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin the previous week. “You know he was saying to me that the AfD are clearly linked to Russia, funded I believe,” Burnham said, referring to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party. Putting such interference on the record would help “voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia,” he added.

Years of silence

In 2020, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee found that the government had actively avoided investigating whether Russia meddled in the referendum. The report noted open-source signs of Russian attempts to sway the Brexit campaign. The government, it said, had never looked for hard evidence.

The government rejected the committee’s call for a review.

“We have seen no evidence of successful interference in the EU Referendum,” it said.

That same year, London said Russian actors had almost certainly tried to interfere in the 2019 general election. The government said they did it by amplifying leaked UK-US trade documents online.

From 2019 to 2016

Three weeks ago, Burnham stopped short of this. At the UN General Assembly on 22 September, he said the Kremlin spends around £1.3 billion each year on manipulating information. That is roughly $1.7 billion at recent exchange rates. He cited evidence that Russian agencies tried to interfere in the 2019 general election, but he did not mention 2016.

In the same speech, he said Britain had already helped Moldova protect its elections from Russian interference.

Le Marché des Enfants Rouges, which opened in 1615 as a vibrant food hall, was a fixture for chefs, cooks and tourists.

© Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

Europe keeps buying record amounts of Russian gas even as it plans to punish its war machine against Ukraine. The EU ports took in a record 12.18 million tons of Russian liquefied natural gas from January to September, 9.5% more than in the same period of 2025, according to a study by the German group Urgewald based on Kpler tracking data.

Europe spent about 7.88 billion euros on that Russian gas in nine months, revenue that helps fund a war Russia wages with daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. The flow continues even as the EU prepares its largest-ever package of sanctions against Russia’s military industry.

The gas comes from Russia’s Yamal project, which sent 167 cargoes to EU ports over the nine months, roughly one every 1.6 days. Europe took 85% of the project’s recorded deliveries by volume, remaining by far its biggest market, Urgewald reports.

Europe’s share grew even as Yamal’s worldwide deliveries fell 1.3%, so the EU absorbed a larger slice of Russia’s Arctic output. In September alone, EU ports received 792,440 tons worth an estimated 818 million euros, nearly three-quarters of it going to France.

Washington could pull the plug by 18 October

The imports run up against a looming US decision. The Trump administration has until 18 October to complete its first review under the Lindsey Graham sanctions act, signed into law on 18 September, which allows Washington to sanction this gas trade at any time, the group notes.

However, after the US allowed Russian diesel to enter the US and global market, the decision will likely remain stalled.

Originally, the law covered Yamal’s leadership, foreign vessels that knowingly carried Russian LNG, and foreign ports that serviced US-sanctioned ships. Yamal depends on specialized Arc7 ice-class tankers and on nearby European ports where they can unload and quickly return, so closing that route would make the Arctic trade far harder to sustain.

Europe’s own ban is still months away

The EU’s measures so far have barely dented the trade. A ban on short-term LNG contracts took effect in April and has had no visible effect, while the full import ban under long-term contracts only starts on 1 January 2027, Urgewald says.

Every month of largely uninterrupted trade means more revenue for Russia while Ukraine suffers daily attacks, sanction campaigner Sebastian Rötters says. The next EU package should close the remaining loopholes, above all those keeping the Arc7 tanker fleet running.

The aging Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, pushed off the planned vote until late 2027. Palestinians haven’t had major elections for about two decades.

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Officials also said that six suspects had been arrested in the robbery, which targeted a museum in southern France last month.

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Student demonstrations in recent weeks re-lit a centuries-old torch of civil resistance. How do they compare to previous movements in France?

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Mass protests over decrepit schools and absent teachers are in their third week, with more planned. Officials have failed so far to quell a movement drawing many adult supporters.

© Stephane Mahe/Reuters

Anger about classroom overcrowding, teacher shortages and broken-down buildings has boiled over in recent weeks, and threatens to coalesce into broader grievances in a heated political season.

© Stephane Mahe/Reuters

French activists were set to rally across France on Thursday, in another test of whether a nationwide pro

Far-left leaders are cheering on the students. Government officials accuse them of stirring up the unrest for political gain.

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Pour cette émission consacrée à la rentrée littéraire, Augustin Trapenard accueille Thélyson Orélien, pour son premier roman, "C'était ça ou mourir", publié ...
— Permalien

The Kremlin is signaling that it will hold the Russian assets of European companies hostage to pressure Europe into rethinking its sanctions, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on 30 September. Moscow has already put well-known European retailers and food makers under Russian "temporary management." A senior Russian official has now hinted that European banks could be next.

As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, it has long turned hostages and threats into weapons. Its record includes nuclear threats against Europe from its Oreshnik missile launch sites and a fresh warning over Kaliningrad. It has played games with Europe's largest nuclear plant that it occupied in 2022, applied gas and water pressure on its neighbors, and Kyiv accuses it of blackmailing the families of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Europe's companies are now one more lever in that kit.

"Let them be scared"

Russia is taking "asymmetric measures" to make Europe rethink its sanctions, a senior Russian government source with direct knowledge of the seizures claimed, Reuters reported. "Let them think about what measures they are taking and what sanctions they are introducing," the source said.

Asked whether the Russian units of Italy's UniCredit and Austria's Raiffeisen could be placed under temporary management, the source answered: "Let them be scared."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed the decisions were driven by "the increasing level of involvement of these unfriendly countries in direct battlefield hostilities" against Russia. He suggested the moves were "reversible," but added: "For now, we do not see any grounds for a reversal."

Nestlé, Auchan, and Metro under "temporary management"

Putin's decree of 17 September placed 16 companies under the "temporary management" of a firm called L.E.V. Management, with no end date. They include the Russian units of France's Auchan and Lemana PRO, formerly Leroy Merlin, and of Switzerland's Nestlé. A second decree, on 28 September, handed the Russian assets of German wholesaler Metro AG to UK Torg Rus.

Both decrees amend Putin's April 2023 decree No. 302, which lets Moscow take over the property of firms tied to countries it labels "unfriendly." Because the "temporary" management has no expiry date, ISW considers it effectively nationalization. Independent outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe identified L.E.V. Management's director as retired Russian Major General Andrei Krayushkin.

European companies as corporate hostages

The Kremlin likely wants to use the seizures to take European companies as corporate hostages, ISW assessed. It also likely expects a temporary fiscal boost from the revenues of the seized businesses.

The strategy assumes that European firms will judge the benefits of staying in Russia to outweigh the risk of losing their assets, the think tank said. Whether a company is seized depends entirely on Moscow's relations with the country where it is headquartered, ISW added.

Seizing others' property is an old Moscow habit

Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia has introduced temporary administration at 135 foreign-linked firms, mostly from EU countries, according to TASS data cited by Reuters. Earlier targets included French food group Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg.

The method was tested on Ukraine first. Russia's proxies in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts stole most Ukrainian assets there in 2014 and 2015. In March 2017, after Ukrainian activists blocked rail trade with the occupied areas, they placed the remaining Ukrainian-registered firms under "temporary administrations," a label close to the one Moscow uses today. The published Donetsk list alone ran to 43 assets, from coal mines and ironworks to the Donbas Arena stadium. Much of the coal and steel business later ended up with firms tied to Serhii Kurchenko, a fugitive oligarch from Yanukovych's era.