A dead pensioner, a snap election and protesters camping in tents: Inside Spain’s housing crisis

The Independent - Oct 10, 2026

Some 20,000 people turned out across Spain following the death of a woman evicted from her flat after an investment firm tried to increase her rent 230%. Critics say the time has come for serious reform, writes Maira Butt

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Trump says US to get diesel from Russia, relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before midterms

Oct 10, 2026

Trump says US to get diesel from Russia, relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before midterms

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said that he has struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of U.S. pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Trump said on social media on Friday that he struck the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call in which he was expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. Instead, Trump announced that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver another 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote. Trump’s shocking announcement comes after he signed a sweeping Russia sanctions law last month that aimed at clamping down on Russia’s energy economy, among other areas, that fuel its war against Ukraine. Trump, in his announcement, did not address the sanctions or Russia’s war but said, “Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, R

Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers, Vance says

Oct 10, 2026

Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers, Vance says

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is suspending tech giant Microsoft from a program to apply for green cards for workers who come to the U.S. to live and work using an H-1B visa as it accuses the company of fraud. “If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants,” said Vice President JD Vance in a White House news conference announcing the decision. The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who say that the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse. H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill. Technology companies are the biggest users, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Vance announcement came one day after Trump's Republican administration launched another broadside against international students and their ability to work in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday propos

Saudi authorities say 3 killed in Houthi-claimed attacks on Riyadh airport

Oct 10, 2026

Saudi authorities say 3 killed in Houthi-claimed attacks on Riyadh airport

BEIRUT — An airline pilot was among three Saudi citizens killed in attacks targeting Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudia airlines plane, the kingdom’s civil aviation authority said Friday. Several people “of different nationalities” were wounded. Thursday’s attacks were the deadliest in Saudi Arabia since the kingdom and allied forces in neighboring Yemen launched a major military offensive against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels last weekend. The attacks also marked a significant escalation on the latest front in the Iran war, which has kept oil prices and financial markets volatile . U.N. special envoy Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that the situation in Yemen remained “highly fluid,” with civilians bearing the brunt of escalating violence in a country already facing dire humanitarian conditions and food insecurity. Airlines cancel flights to Saudi Arabia By Friday afternoon, at least 124 flights to and from Riyadh had been canceled after hundreds more were canceled a day earlier, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Air In

Trump veers into Nobel Prize grievances during upstate New York rally on day award is announced

Oct 10, 2026

Trump veers into Nobel Prize grievances during upstate New York rally on day award is announced

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — U.S. President Donald Trump veered far from midterm election politics during a rally in upstate New York on Friday, aiming a bitter diatribe at the Norwegian Nobel Committee for giving the Peace Prize he has long sought to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief, for her work on justice and accountability for war crimes and genocide. Trump unspooled a lengthy argument explaining why the award was “an indelible stain on the country of Norway," saying he “should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn't.” Trump claimed, as he often does, to have ended eight wars, though some of the conflicts the president claims to have resolved were merely tensions, and his role in easing them has been disputed. Meanwhile, the war with Iran that he and Israel started — which Trump predicted would last mere weeks — remains unsettled and is a weight on his party as it faces a dour electorate ahead of midterm elections. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last month and published Oct. 1 foun

Panama rocked by 2 powerful earthquakes and multiple aftershocks, prompting evacuations

Oct 10, 2026

Panama rocked by 2 powerful earthquakes and multiple aftershocks, prompting evacuations

PANAMA CITY — Two powerful 7.7 and 6.6 magnitude earthquakes and a series of aftershocks roiled southern Panama Friday afternoon, collapsing buildings near the epicenter and prompting evacuations across the country. The earlier quake, felt as far away as neighboring Colombia, was centered about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba, in the central province of Herrera, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). The USGS initially reported the first quake as magnitude 8, then revised it to 7.6 and later to 7.7. Visibly shaken residents of Panama City, the capital, gathered outside as they waited for news of the quake’s impact on Friday. “We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared," Rosendo Domínguez, 60, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press by phone. “Everyone is outside, scared.” Multiple aftershocks continued to rattle Panama, including several measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2. Seismologists at the Uni

South African-born jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for work in international justice

Oct 10, 2026

South African-born jurist Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize for work in international justice

OSLO, Norway — Navi Pillay, a South African-born jurist and former U.N. human rights chief whose career has spanned from defending the rights of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela to leading a panel that found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for efforts that the award committee said promoted international law as it comes under attack. Her win is sure to be seen as a high-profile rebuke to U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have both rejected the findings of the U.N. commission she led on Gaza. The leaders also have been highly critical of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Pillay has worked at both. Hours after the award was announced in Norway, the Trump administration imposed sweeping new sanctions on the International Criminal Court as part of its campaign to dismantle the tribunal over investigations into the United States and its allies, including Israel. Trump railed against the decision on Friday, claiming he deserved the prize and dismissing Pillay as “a li

Hunger and malnutrition stalk Gazans, a year on from ceasefire

Oct 10, 2026

Hunger and malnutrition stalk Gazans, a year on from ceasefire

KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories — Every day, Gazan mother Niyaha al-Masri spends six exhausting hours or more queueing at a community kitchen in the hope of getting some food for her family. It has been a year since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was supposed to allow food to flood into the ruined territory, yet widespread hunger persists there. Masri has little choice. Without the kitchen run by humanitarian groups, she and her eight children would have "nothing at all," the 35-year-old told AFP. Each day she sets out early in the morning and returns in the afternoon, this time bringing four containers of rice, lentils and a little chicken, which the family throws itself at. Among them is her husband, wounded in both legs by an airstrike, meaning he "cannot go and fight with the others" to get food. This will be the only meal of the day for the family of 10, living in a tent in Khan Yunis. There was no breakfast and they will have no dinner. What little flour they have, Masri explained, has to be rationed. In August 2025, a United Nations-backed body, the IPC, declared a state

Year later, Gaza ceasefire promises mostly unfulfilled

Oct 10, 2026

Year later, Gaza ceasefire promises mostly unfulfilled

JERUSALEM — One year after U.S. President Donald Trump declared the war in Gaza to be over, few of the long-term promises of the ceasefire have come to fruition. Here is a list of some of the key points of the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire and where things stand: Hostages released, calm in Israel Three days after the agreement was announced, Hamas freed the 20 remaining living hostages seized during the group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest day in Israel's history. The captives' return was a key priority for Israel, whose public had agonized over their fate. The ceasefire anniversary also marks one year of quiet for Israel from the Gaza front, with no rocket attacks by Hamas. The group's missile inventory was depleted by near-constant Israeli bombardment, which damaged or destroyed the vast majority of buildings in the Palestinian territory. The U.S. military set up a command post with foreign allies near the Gaza border to monitor the truce. No Israeli withdrawal or let-up Israel has reduced its level of attacks but has kept striking Gaza on a near-daily basis. Israeli strikes have killed s

India cracks down on youth protests as anger grows against Modi and election chief

Oct 10, 2026

India cracks down on youth protests as anger grows against Modi and election chief

NEW DELHI — Indian authorities deployed a sweeping security crackdown across New Delhi and detained thousands of protesters Saturday as India's youth “Cockroach” movement sought to intensify a nationwide campaign against a contentious voter list revision that has fueled anger at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government and election authorities. Police intercepted demonstrators before they could reach Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in the heart of India's capital, chasing off some and detaining many others. Some were dragged away before being bundled into police vehicles and taken to temporary detention centers. Several “Cockroach” movement leaders were detained before arriving, effectively crippling the protest ahead of its start. The crackdown extended beyond the protest venue, with police stopping buses, cars and other vehicles at checkpoints on routes into the capital and searching for demonstrators. Jantar Mantar was barricaded, while anti-riot vehicles equipped with tear gas launchers were stationed along key routes. Restrictions on mobile

Spain's slow response to crisis in Ceuta leaves teen migrants on streets

Oct 10, 2026

Spain's slow response to crisis in Ceuta leaves teen migrants on streets

CEUTA, Spain — Hundreds of teenage migrants lined up outside a church in Ceuta in early October, hoping Spain's visiting minister of youth would bring them some good news: passage to continental Europe or at least a spot in a shelter. For two months, they had slept on cardboard sheets and ripped sofas in squalid tent camps, or on the streets of the Spanish city in North Africa that juts into the Mediterranean like a thumb. On clear days, southern Spain is visible on the horizon. Among them was a 17-year-old aspiring model from northern Morocco. In late July, he crossed into Ceuta with around 80,000 others in what would become Spain’s deadliest border crisis. “Pray for me!” he told an Associated Press reporter. But instead, the teens were led down a steep hill to a soccer field so as not to overwhelm the minister. Within hours, many were back on the streets and hillsides. Another setback for the young migrants, the scene also illustrated the Spanish government’s slow, often improvised response to the migration crisis in the territory. Thousands of minors reached Ceuta alone and,

A dead pensioner, a snap election and protesters camping in tents: Inside Spain’s housing crisis

Oct 10, 2026

A dead pensioner, a snap election and protesters camping in tents: Inside Spain’s housing crisis

Some 20,000 people turned out across Spain following the death of a woman evicted from her flat after an investment firm tried to increase her rent 230%. Critics say the time has come for serious reform, writes Maira Butt

Portugal hits Ronaldo with provisional suspension for walking out on national team

Oct 10, 2026

Portugal hits Ronaldo with provisional suspension for walking out on national team

Portuguese Football Federation announced on Saturday that it has provisionally suspended star attacker Cristiano Ronaldo and opened disciplinary proceedings against the 41-year-old over his decision to walk out on the national team last month.

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