New Tik-Tok channel explores humanity through unique lens

Netanyahu basks in Trump endorsement week before election

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday basked in Donald Trump's endorsement days before close-fought elections, airing a call in which the U.S. president predicted he would win and suggested they may again attack Iran together. A day after Trump publicly endorsed Netanyahu for the October 27 vote, Netanyahu put out a video of a telephone call in which the two right-wing leaders lavish praise on each other. "I think you're going to have a tremendous victory, actually," Trump can be heard saying on speakerphone. "You're the man I want by my side, Bibi," Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. Netanyahu — while reminding the famously loose-lipped president that they were on an open line — hailed Trump for joining Israel in attacking Iran in late February. "Donald, we have a job to finish," a beaming Netanyahu said. "We'll finish it together. We'll finish it, and no one else will do it." Netanyahu did not elaborate but again described Iran's clerical state, which remains in power nearly eight months after the joint attack, as "the greatest danger." Net

US highlights quantum technology cooperation with S. Korea, other partners

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department on Monday highlighted cooperation with South Korea and other partners on quantum technology, underscoring the importance of joint research, secure supply chains and international standards in the emerging strategic industry. The department's Bureau of Economic Affairs said in a post on X that Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Adam Cassady and Brad Blakestad of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy led a U.S. delegation to the sixth Quantum Development Group (QDG) meeting held in South Korea. "Quantum will reshape how we secure communications, discover new medicines, and strengthen our economy. Who sets the rules matters," the department said. It said the U.S. delegation worked with trusted partners on research, supply chains and standards during the meeting, highlighting Washington's efforts to shape the global development of quantum technologies. "By investing in American ingenuity, the United States is making sure quantum breakthroughs strengthen our security, grow our economy, and create high-paying jobs at

France announces curfews in Paris, other cities

PARIS — France announced partial curfews in Paris and other cities on Monday after weekend demonstrations over soaring prices degenerated into some of the worst street violence in recent years. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu did not rule out imposing a state of emergency after the interior minister said police had "lost control." Tourists in Paris had a taste of the disruption on Monday when they found the Louvre closed because of a small group of student protesters. Facing accusations that it failed to anticipate and respond to the violence, the government has vowed to re-establish order, while officials scrambled to contain public anger. The unrest, erupting just six months before France elects a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, threatened to continue, with organisers calling for a new round of protests next Saturday. Authorities said partial curfews would be enforced from Monday evening to Tuesday morning in a number of cities including Paris, Lille and Lyon, to protect businesses. In the capital, a curfew was ordered from 11:00 pm (2100 GMT), while demonstrations were banned

Nasdaq climbs as chip and AI-linked stocks bounce back

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led Wall Street gains on Monday as investors returned to the chip sector and other AI-related stocks following last week's bruising selloff, while investors waited for key corporate earnings reports. The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq had posted their biggest weekly drop since late June on Friday, as concerns that higher interest rates could curb investments in AI infrastructure weighed on technology stocks, particularly data center operators. The selloff reflected mounting investor unease over how the costly AI build-out will be financed, a question that has increasingly pressured companies underpinning the U.S. bull market, which recently marked its fourth anniversary. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was last up about 2 percent, putting it on course to snap an eight-day losing streak in which it fell about 15.7 percent for its longest run of declines since October 2008. "Rubber bands can only stretch so far in one direction before they snap and start reversing, and you finally saw that enough-is-enough moment in the semiconductors after Friday's close

Australian MP remains fighting for her life after 'losing a leg' in car attack outside her office, Prime Minister reveals

The 65-year-old mother-of-three has undergone surgery at hospital for her 'severe' lower body injuries but remains in a critical condition, with reports that she could have lost both legs.

Watchmaking terms explained: From chronographs to grand feu enamel

From chronographs and perpetual calendars to guilloche and grand feu enamel, we decode the terminology behind fine watchmaking and the craftsmanship that goes into every timepiece.

Why Trump has renewed his criticism of Zelensky

Zelensky should get ‘somebody else’ to negotiate to end Ukraine war, Trump says

US ⁠President Donald Trump on Monday said he thought someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ‌should negotiate on Kyiv’s behalf as it seeks to end the war with Russia. “Maybe it’s time for Zelensky to ⁠get somebody else to negotiate,” said ‌Trump, who on October 10 had called for Ukraine to ‌replace the president. Trump also told ⁠reporters ⁠that Russia has been “fine” with regards ‌to Ukraine. “They haven’t been doing much,” he ‌said. Trump added ‌that the US continued ‌to...

A Cosmic Treasure Hunt? Japan's Mission To Bring Home Pieces Of Mars' Moon Takes Off

The mission aims to make Japan the first country to retrieve samples from a Martian moon. If successful, the spacecraft will reach Mars around August next year.

Minnesota teen accused of plotting terror attack at Mall of America to remain jailed

A federal judge has ruled that a teen accused of planning a terror attack on the Mall of America in Minnesota will remain in custody

UN agency slashes Gaza food 'lifeline' over funding shortfall

The World Food Programme will cut monthly aid to 500,000 people in Gaza due to a funding shortage, despite ongoing food shortages.

The French youth revolt

A protester holds a smoke flare and French flag during a demonstration at Paris’s Place de la Republique on October 17, 2026. | Kiran Ridley/AFP via Getty Images This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here. French protests have long been the stuff of legend, literature, and Broadway musicals. But even by those storied standards, last weekend’s demonstrations were pretty remarkable. More than half a million people took to the streets in occasionally violent protests that are posing a mounting political challenge for the French government. The movement began roughly a month ago over concerns about the sorry state of public high schools, which are frequently underfunded and understaffed.  But in the weeks since, the student protests have rapidly expanded to encompass a wider range of grievances around inequality, high living costs and public services. The ranks of the protesters have also swelled to include some more opportunistic looters and agitators.   In Paris, masked rioters trashed businesses and set fires, while students blocked the Louvre Museum on Monday, forcing it to close. In Limoges, a city of roughly 130,000 people, the spire of a 19th-century town hall dramatically collapsed in flames. The national government has responded with curfews for parts of cities including Paris, Nice, and Lille, as well as emphatic condemnations of the violence. In a televised address on Sunday night, French President Emmanuel Macron also promised to partner with students, teachers, trade unions and other groups to identify “joint solutions.” But it’s unclear what solutions could possibly speak to the whole of this newly expanded movement. The initial student protesters were after concrete educational reforms, like smaller class sizes and less chaotic schedules. The demands now are more diffuse and disjointed, reflecting the sense that — as Macron himself put it — “there is no desirable future” for young people in France. It’s a situation that the French far right is already exploiting, just six months before the country’s next presidential election. Go a little deeper View Link If you’re getting a bit of déjà vu here — that’s French for “already seen,” FYI — please know you have good reason. The French also turned out for gigantic mass protests against a proposed retirement age increase three years ago. And a gas-tax hike five years before that. Some historians trace French protest culture all the way back to the 1300s. While it’s not necessarily true that the French demonstrate more than people in other Western countries, their protests do tend to attract outsize global attention. Youth protests over education, living costs, and government corruption have also recently taken place in Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Albania, for instance. I’d hazard that you’ve heard less about them. But there’s a twofold explanation for why France’s protests loom so large. First, protest occupies a special place in French history and culture — and the world knows it. As one political scientist explained in a 1994 paper on the history of French protests, the French have an unusual, centuries-long track record of turning demonstrations into actual political change, arguably starting with the French Revolution. More recently, in 1968, student protests expanded into a larger worker strike that nearly toppled the government. Many of today’s young protesters have specifically referenced that heritage in interviews and slogans. But that’s not the only reason that French people always seem to be protesting. Conditions in France are also, well … pretty protestable. Consider just the narrow issue of public education, which sparked the current hullabaloo.  By some estimates, higher-education funding per student has fallen by 20 percent in just the past 10 years. High school classrooms are frequently overcrowded, and a government report cited by The Guardian concluded that the country’s aging schools are in need of billions of dollars of building repairs and climate mitigation. The government has pointed to France’s strained finances as a constraint on addressing these issues. (And, in fairness, France’s finances are indeed very strained.) There’s a sense, however, that young people are bearing the cost of that crisis more than other populations. Cost-cutting measures that would affect older people — such as raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 — have been delayed in the face of fierce opposition. And by “opposition,” of course, I mean protests.  One link for later ➨ Make your AI fallback plan. Artificial intelligence will cost many people their jobs; in some places, it already has. But instead of panic-learning the first available trade, first consider where you find meaning in your current occupation. That should help guide you to a fallback career that will still feel valuable, even if it’s…you know. Not your first pick. My colleague Sigal says she’d become a rabbi; I think I’d like to teach again.  Before you go… Did you know…that a single episode of Sex and the City is credited with launching the early aughts cupcake craze? Today’s food trends are much shorter-lived, by comparison. And they typically start on TikTok or Instagram.  Today’s trivia: What mass-market, imported beer is named for a river in the Netherlands? (You can find this and other brain puzzles in Vox’s daily crossword. Look for the answer in tomorrow’s edition.) Yesterday’s trivia: Last week we asked you for the author of the 1952 self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking. That would be Norman Vincent Peale, the Protestant minister who also preached at President Donald Trump’s childhood church and officiated his first wedding.