PARIS — France’s Interior Ministry said more than 600,000 people rallied Thursday across France, including in Paris, to demand higher wages and school funding in nationwide strikes and demonstrations. After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere, most of which were peaceful. The Interior Ministry said the figures were still provisional. Hundreds of thousands of people joined nationwide strikes and demonstrations in France on Thursday to demand higher wages and support the student protest movement, piling fresh pressure on the beleaguered government. After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere. The Paris march began peacefully on Thursday afternoon at Place de la République. The large crowd included many students carrying signs reading, “Inequalities seriously jeopardize our future” and “We can’t spend our whole lives just trying to make a living.” They were joined by workers and retirees

NEW YORK — Another wipeout for stocks tied to the buildout of AI data centers is overwhelming Wall Street on Thursday and more than erasing all its gains from the day before, which was its best in three months. The S&P 500 fell 3.2 percent after opening with a loss that accelerated through the morning. It’s on track for its worst drop since President Donald Trump shook markets worldwide in April 2025 after announcing his “Liberation Day” tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,146 points, or 2.1 percent, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 5 percent lower. Stock markets worldwide felt pressure from continued drops for companies that benefited from the boom for the artificial-intelligence technology industry, and South Korea’s Kospi index tumbled 5.3 percent. Such stocks have been swinging for months on worries that the construction of further AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money . Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections added another challenge. The nationwide victories by Democrats raised the possibility th

WASHINGTON — Korean American Rep. Dave Min (D-CA) of the U.S. Democratic Party won reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives, securing a second term in Congress, according to a race projection. The AP has called the race for Min over Republican Jenny Rae Le Roux in California's 47th congressional district as vote counting continued following Tuesday's midterm elections. With 62 percent of the vote counted, Min had secured 56.9 percent, leading Le Roux by 13.8 percentage points. Min, 50, was born in Rhode Island in 1976 to Korean immigrant parents. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School before working as an enforcement attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He later taught law at the University of California, Irvine, before entering politics. Min first ran for Congress in 2018 but finished third in the Democratic primary. He later won a seat in the California State Senate in 2020 and worked on legislation involving gun control and environmental protection. He made a successful second bid for the U.S. House in 2024, narrowly defeati

LONDON — Russell Brand, the risque comic who bragged for years of his sexual exploits, was convicted Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others on allegations dating back years. The British actor-comedian faces a “significant” prison term when he is sentenced Monday, Judge Joel Bennathan said. Brand had been free, but he was taken into custody after the judge rejected a bail request to let him see his kids because of the possibility he might flee. “I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course,” the judge said. “But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.” Brand was a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator," prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones said at trial. The 51-year-old father of three denied the charges and testified that he was obsessed with sex as a young man and once led a promiscuous life but had never forced anyone to do something against their will. He was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted inde

PARIS — The world is on track for 2026 to be the second-hottest year on record as an exceptionally strong El Nino weather pattern turbocharges human-driven global warming, the EU's climate monitor said Friday. This year still has a "20 percent chance of tying or exceeding" 2024 as the warmest ever seen, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a monthly bulletin. Global temperatures are now "virtually certain" to exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in 2026, Copernicus said. The four-year average from 2023 to 2026 is also expected to top 1.5C, the preferred limit set in the Paris Agreement to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The world experienced its warmest October on record, with average global surface air temperatures 1.75C above pre-industrial times, an era defined as 1850-1900, Copernicus added. "October has continued the pattern of remarkable global warmth, with record global and surface ocean temperatures," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which operates Copernicus. "An exceptiona

WASHINGTON, United States, Nov 6, 2026 (AFP) - A US federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's massive triumphal arch project on Thursday, casting doubt over the future of the project hours after it was green-lit by a public commission. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, ruled that the Trump administration cannot start construction on the arch for two weeks while the court considers challenges to its legality. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) had voted 8-4 to approve the project earlier Thursday, despite hearing hours of testimony from dozens of furious opponents who questioned its legality and purpose. Chief among the complaints was the location of the 250-foot (76-meter) tall structure: adjacent to the hallowed Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of American service members. The giant arch would be much taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, its inspiration. It would also tower over the Lincoln Memorial, directly across the Potomac River. The four dissenting commissioners had called for the decision

SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley bosses who spent two years cozying up to U.S. President Donald Trump now face a Democratic Congress already threatening subpoenas, after midterm elections in which antipathy toward artificial intelligence swayed voters. "AI company CEOs should be called to testify under oath," Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Tuesday. Senator Ed Markey, for his part, warned tech executives they would need to "plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we'll be printing." It is a cold shower for tech bosses who rallied behind Trump after his 2024 win, with Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and others front and center at his January 2025 inauguration. Musk went furthest, spending more than $250 million to help elect Trump and then taking charge of his DOGE cost-cutting drive. He poured nearly half a billion dollars more into backing Republicans in the midterms. Once they take control of both chambers on January 3, Democrats will control the committees that can compel an executive to testify or hand over internal do

NEW YORK — Three people accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to steal about $129 million have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said Thursday. Over more than a year and a half, Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, targeted thousands of companies across the world in their AI scheme, according to the indictment filed in a U.S. District Court in New York. Their victims included hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology company in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts and a pet food company in Florida, according to court documents. The defendants, from Spain, the UK, Israel and United Arab Emirates, were also charged with money laundering, according to the indictment. The case docket, which typically lists information on defense lawyers, was still listed as sealed in online court records as of Thursday evening. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately res

NEW YORK — Four men named in a former Cornell University student’s lawsuit are joining a co-defendant’s effort to block New York’s attorney general from leading a reopened criminal investigation into the woman’s gang rape allegations, according to court filings on Thursday. The co-defendant’s lawyers said the men agreed to be added to a court petition that seeks Attorney General Letitia James' removal from the case because of social media posts she made prior to her involvement in which she condemned the alleged assault and expressed support for the accuser. The development comes a day after James appointed Jacqueline Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw sex crimes cases against music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs , as outside counsel for the investigation. She and a team of lawyers and investigators will be responsible for evidence gathering, witness interviews and other investigative steps. They will report to James. A judge heard arguments last week on one of the accused men’s request to remove James but said he wouldn't rule without knowing if the six other la

WASHINGTON — Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa said on Thursday that the state will introduce laws to protect its residents with regards to data centers, citing their impact on rural communities. With plentiful energy supplies, relatively cheap land and a pro-business policy, Texas has become one of the leading regions in the world for data center developments. "Data centers have moved into mostly rural communities, and there are no rules and laws to protect Texans," Democrat Hinojosa, who beat Republican incumbent Greg Abbott in Tuesday's election, told CNN in an interview. "We will have laws to protect Texans, and we need to stop what we are doing with data centers until we have those protections," she said, adding that communities should have "a seat at the table" on if and how data centers operate in their areas. US President Donald Trump's administration has strongly backed data center expansion as a national priority, but the public is increasingly opposed to such projects, citing concerns about electricity demand, water consumption, wildlife impacts and public access to federal

WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a video message on Thursday vowing to fight efforts in Congress to impeach him and defending the Iran war as “courageous and historic” after voters punished Republicans over it in this week’s midterm elections. Hegseth's remarks, posted on social media, came as taunts from his foes in Congress intensified and President Donald Trump swatted away questions about whether he might fire Hegseth. Trump has commended his Pentagon chief. The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, asked in a post: "Why is Pete Hegseth still around?" Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has been a polarizing figure who has made enemies even within his own Republican Party. Critics in Congress are targeting his conduct of the Iran war, which Vice President JD Vance has said cost Republicans control of Congress, his firing of top military officers and strained relations with lawmakers as the administration seeks a $1.5 trillion defense spending package. Democrats, who won control of Congress in Tuesday's elections, have promised to inv

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said on Thursday that an infant had died in connection with the ongoing measles outbreak in the state. The coroner listed measles as the immediate cause of death, the department said, declining to release further details to protect the family's privacy. The death comes as the United States faces its highest number of measles cases in decades, fueled by outbreaks in several states and declining childhood vaccination rates in some communities. Wisconsin had reported 431 cases across 13 counties as of November 3, with nine people hospitalized for severe symptoms. "This is the largest number of measles cases we've seen in Wisconsin in more than 35 years," state epidemiologist Ryan Westergaard said in a media call. "The 431 cases we've identified are almost certainly an underestimate. Not everyone who becomes infected gets tested or comes to the attention of public health," he added. State health officials said they have worked with local and Tribal health departments to respond to the outbreak through case tracking, testing and vaccination efforts. Th

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Nur Sadek was once on track to become an Islamic scholar. His mother dreamed of raising a son who would serve as a faith leader in their western Myanmar village. Sadek’s family belongs to the Rohingya ethnic minority. The predominantly Muslim group shares an area in Myanmar's Rakhine State with Buddhists and a smaller Hindu population. Ethnic and religious divisions have long shaped the region’s history. He fled alongside loved ones in 2017 after soldiers opened fire on his community and bullets struck the tin roof of his home. He ran with nothing but the clothes on his back and never returned. Around 700,000 Rohingya escaped a military crackdown that year and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh , according to the U.N. refugee agency, known as UNHCR. More have sought refuge in other countries across Asia, including India, Indonesia and Thailand. As of February 2026, about 126,000 Rohingya were registered with UNHCR in Malaysia , a Muslim-majority country where Sadek now studies law and advocates for Rohingya rights. The Southeast Asian nation does not legall

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine exchanged airstrikes overnight as the second day of talks on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and security guarantees once the fighting ends wrapped up in Brussels on Thursday. The latest Russian aerial barrage underscored the scale of the rebuilding task, as did the continuing search for people missing beneath the rubble after a deadly airstrike in southern Ukraine on Monday. Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Russian targets. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down nearly 500 drones overnight. A Ukrainian attack on a bus killed five people and wounded 13 others Thursday in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region, according to Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-backed leader. Further details were not immediately available. Meanwhile, rescue teams continued searching for more than 30 people believed trapped in the wreckage of a former school and a nearby shelter hit by Russian guided bombs on Monday. The attack in Komyshuvakha, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, struck as residents waited for humanitarian aid.

SEATTLE — The Democrats' sweeping victories in Tuesday's (local time) U.S. midterm elections brought relief to many Koreans frustrated with President Donald Trump, but that relief did not necessarily translate into support for the Democratic Party. "Democrats didn't win. Republicans lost." That was how Bo Young Lee, a Korean American business executive, summed up the election results. "Ultimately, the results on Tuesday were a byproduct of citizens' frustration with the Trump administration, rising costs, and the attacks on democracy," Lee, an international speaker specializing in artificial intelligence ethics and corporate diversity, told The Korea Times. Another Korean American voter, a 47-year-old Texas resident who has traditionally supported Republicans, said she crossed party lines for the first time in Tuesday's election. "I voted Democratic simply because I wanted anyone but the Republicans," she said on condition of anonymity. "It was the first time in my life I'd ever voted for a Democrat." Her decision came as Texas, long considered a Republican stronghold, delivered some of

WASHINGTON — U.S. first lady Melania Trump on Thursday called for continued cooperation between Russia and Ukraine toward lasting peace after helping broker a local ceasefire in southern Ukraine last month. Speaking at the White House with representatives from both countries in attendance, the first lady highlighted the humanitarian achievements of the recent ceasefire in Oleshky in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. The ceasefire, which began Oct. 27, lasted six days, according to foreign media reports. "Every significant transformation begins with a small spark," she said. "Ignite hope, foster cooperation and brighten a path toward lasting peace." The first lady said she began working with Russian and Ukrainian officials through her representative, Marc Beckman, in September after learning of the humanitarian crisis in Oleshky. She said both countries signed written agreements recognizing her as the exclusive intermediary, leading to a ceasefire agreement on Oct. 23. "We have chosen humanity over war," she said, expressing hope that the local ceasefire would help pave the way for broa

GENEVA — Nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people are living in countries increasingly exposed to climate-related droughts, floods and extreme heat, the UN refugee agency said on Friday, warning ahead of the COP31 climate summit that more funding is needed to help vulnerable communities adapt. Nearly three-quarters of the world's forcibly displaced people are living in countries such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh that are exposed to severe climate-related risks, according to the report by the agency, known as UNHCR, published ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Antalya, Turkey. The findings show the overlap between conflict, displacement and climate change, the report said. "Climate adaptation in fragile and displacement-affected areas is a matter of survival," said Anton Leis Garcia, UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for operations. "We need climate financing to reach the communities where the needs are greatest," he said. The report highlighted the experience of a Sudanese refugee who fled conflict in al-Fashir in June 2023 to the Farchana refugee settlement in eastern

MILAN — Bomb threats targeted more than a dozen flights in Europe on Thursday, leading to a slew of emergency landings and military escorts in some cases, authorities said. No hazardous or suspicious materials have been found in what a British official called “malicious" hoaxes. Several similar threats targeted planes earlier this week, prompting searches and diversions, with at least 25 flights targeted, officials said. Europe has experienced a slew of other disruptions recently, such as attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions and mysterious triggers to alert apps. While fake bomb threats are relatively common, it is unusual to see so many in a single day. They come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and warnings from authorities that Russia may be ramping up so-called hybrid threats in Europe. It wasn't known whether this week's threats were linked, who sent them or what they hoped to achieve. An email containing the threat to Rome-bound planes was sent on behalf of a group that described itself as anti-feminist, according to a copy provided by an a

LONDON — Ten countries including the U.K. Friday urged an immediate end to "unjust prosecutions" under Hong Kong laws after pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 more years in prison. Wong, 30, on Thursday received a new sentence for colluding with foreign powers after spending almost six years behind bars for subversion under the national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese government. This law is being used "to target individuals for political expression," a joint statement by four European Union states as well as Japan, Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand said. They called for an "immediate end to all unjust prosecutions" and urged the authorities in China and Hong Kong to uphold their international commitments. They also urged the Chinese authorities to honor the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong under an internationally binding agreement signed by Britain and China ahead of its 1997 handover. Wong first rose to prominence during earlier protests in 2014, known as the Umbrella Movement, and has been in a

BRUSSELS — The European Union on Friday announced tighter health safety rules for baby formula following a contamination scandal involving cereulide, a toxin which can cause severe vomiting in newborns. The 27 member states approved the introduction of a "permanent food safety criterion for cereulide in infant formula", the European Commission said in a statement. In December 2025 food giant Nestle recalled dozens of infant formula batches in around 60 countries over the potential presence of the toxin. Similar recalls by manufacturers including Danone and Lactalis followed, up to April 2026. The EU said the contamination originated from the use of a Chinese-imported ingredient, an oil containing arachidonic acid. The presence of cereulide in products resulted from "deficiencies in the production process," the EU Commission's statement said. "Member states have approved strict maximum safety limits for the presence of the toxin in dried and liquid products."

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to the deaths of more than 400 people was sentenced on Friday to 200 years in prison for the murders of 191 people. The High Court in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa issued the sentence for Pastor Paul Mackenzie. He was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult after he ordered his followers to starve themselves to death in order to meet Jesus. Justice Diana Kavedza said that Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, bore the “primary criminal culpability” for relocating his followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death. Mackenzie was charged with the murders alongside 28 of his followers, including guards who enforced his fasting directives and gravediggers who helped conceal the mass graves. All denied the charges, except for one person who confessed and pleaded for leniency. On Oct. 19, the court found all 29 of the accused guilty of the murder of 191 people. In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre (320-hectare) Chakama Ranch in coa

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Smith starts at fly-half after coming through Friday’s final training session.

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Elon Musk suffers massive $113 billion wealth loss following Republican midterm defeatElon Musk's fortune has fallen by approximately $113 billion in just two days following the Democrats' victory in the US midterm elections, as shares in Tesla and SpaceX suffered heavy losses.According to...

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In a rare intervention and his first since Andy Burnham reignited the Brexit debate, Andrew Bailey said being able to trade more easily with Britain’s nearest neighbours would help the economy

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said walkouts will start on November 26 and continue into the new year.

Comedian is facing a long custodial sentence after being convicted of raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three other women at the height of his fame in the 2000s

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Sky reported the security threat hours after Irish broadcaster RTE reported a similar scare

Horse racing correspondent Jonathan Doidge has three selections from Aintree and one from Doncaster for Saturday’s action.

Dr David Sabatini's career had collapsed in 2021 following accusations of sexual grooming and harassment