France is back on the streets under one of the biggest police deployments in years; Israel is clearing a whole Hebron neighbourhood; and Ukraine says its Starlink link is fully back. Ten stories as of Saturday morning, October 24.
1. Paris and across France. More than 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed nationwide for another day of mass protests, and by early Saturday afternoon police said they had arrested at least 135 people and seized a variety of weapons, while describing the situation as calm, Al Jazeera reported. The Paris march ran from Porte d’Italie toward Porte de Vincennes; at least 24 metro stations were shut, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay closed for the day, and Art Basel Paris cancelled its weekend programme. In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse about 150 people, and in Orléans thousands shouted anti-fascist slogans at the National Rally’s party congress. The student-led movement drew more than half a million people on October 17. Macron met student representatives Friday for the first time and promised more teachers and an overhaul of the Parcoursup admissions system, but they are calling for more marches. The Yellow Vests say they will protest on October 31.
2. Hebron / occupied West Bank. Israeli forces were razing the Ein Deir Baha district on Saturday after Friday’s checkpoint shooting that killed two soldiers. The Hebron municipality estimates 35 hectares (86 acres) have been destroyed or marked for destruction and about 1,500 people evicted, The Guardian reported; a municipal spokesperson put it at about 300 families. The whole city of 250,000 is sealed off by checkpoints, and the Wafa news agency reported plans to displace a further 2,500 people. “We are being collectively punished for something we neither did nor supported,” local activist Issa Amro said. Israel votes Tuesday.
3. The Gulf / Iran. Iran’s armed forces chief, Gen. Ali Abdollahi, said in a statement on state media that “the US president can only dream” of U.S. forces entering the Persian Gulf again, after Trump told a Florida rally Friday that the U.S. “may do another Epic Fury,” Al Jazeera reported. Brent crude is around $117, its highest since April. At a coordination meeting in Istanbul, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a new attack on Iran “would widen the war.” BBC News reports that Saudi authorities say at least 21 people have been killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since the start of October, and non-emergency U.S. embassy staff have been ordered out of Saudi Arabia.
4. Kyiv / Ukraine. Ukraine says its military Starlink and Starshield connections are stable again at speeds above 400 km/h, after more than a week of restrictions that cut drone links, BBC News reported. Who ordered the limits is still unclear; Trump denied doing so. Zelenskyy announced the restoration himself:
Meanwhile, the fighting goes on. Al Jazeera reports Ukraine hit a petrochemical plant in Togliatti and an electronics plant in Oryol, where the regional governor reported three deaths. Russian strikes killed people in Lozova, Chernihiv, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.
5. Karak / Jordan. King Abdullah visited Karak and promised an “iron fist” after gunmen attacked a church funeral, killing eight people and wounding 40, Al Jazeera reported. Tolls differ between outlets, with NPR reporting seven dead. Nobody has claimed it, and Jordan has declared three days of national mourning. Prime Minister Jafar Hassan called it “a result of a terrorist ideology and blind extremism.”
6. Nairobi / Kenya. A 65-year-old woman has become Kenya’s second Ebola death in the country’s first-ever outbreak, BBC News reported. She was a close relative of the first victim, and seven other patients are in isolation. The health ministry says all cases are in “one cluster, with no evidence of community spread.” More than 4,000 people have died across Africa since the outbreak was confirmed in DR Congo in May. Separately, a 16- to 18-storey building under construction collapsed in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area, and rescuers are searching for seven people believed trapped in shops at its base, BBC News reported.
7. Washington / Alaska and Maine. The Justice Department has sued to block certification of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses by less than the vote of a second Dan Sullivan on the ballot, arguing the shared name will confuse voters, BBC News reported. “I’m the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters. Polls show Democrat Mary Peltola narrowly ahead. Also Friday, the White House said it will ease some of its 50% tariffs on Canadian goods from October 30, after Maine Sen. Susan Collins said she had lobbied for the change, BBC News reported.
8. Taiwan. Typhoon Champi glanced off Taiwan’s northeast coast early Saturday, killing a man swept away by waves off Liuqiu island and injuring 527 people, The Guardian reported. Taipei and much of northern and central Taiwan had a second day of office and school closures. DW reports 259 flights were cancelled Saturday. The storm is weakening as it heads north toward China’s Zhejiang coast.
9. São Paulo / Brazil. Brazil picks its president tomorrow. Some 33.4 million people skipped the first round, a 21% abstention rate and the highest for a general election since 1998, and a Quaest poll shows Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula in a statistical dead heat, Al Jazeera reported. In São Paulo’s former factory belt, BBC News found voters who backed Lula in 2022 now switching to Bolsonaro, frustrated by prices, crime and corruption.
10. Melbourne / Australia. Independent MP Helen Haines, who lost both legs when she was hit by a car outside her electorate office in Wangaratta on Monday, has been upgraded from critical to serious but stable, BBC News reported. The 43-year-old man accused of the attack faces three charges, and police say more could follow, including attempted murder.
Coming Up
Oct 25: Brazil runoff and Serbia’s snap election. Oct 27: Israel’s Knesset election. Oct 27–28: Fed meeting. Nov 3: U.S. midterms. The full board is on The Watch.
