More than 600,000 people took part in nationwide protests and strikes in France on Thursday as unions demanded higher wages and better public services, with some clashes reported in several cities. The left-wing CGT union estimated participation at 1.6 million, calling it an unmatched mobilization since 2023.
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump hosted a rare meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House on Nov. 5, 2026, following a six-day ceasefire in the southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky. The event marked the first time since the war began that senior officials from both sides met at the White House.
The biopic 'Jimmy,' starring KJ Apa as James Stewart, is described as too straightforward and simple-minded, according to The Guardian.
A British healthcare worker infected with Ebola is being evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the UK for treatment, the UK government confirmed on Wednesday.
British comedian Russell Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court. He was acquitted of two rape charges and one charge of attempted indecent assault. Judge Joel Bennathan ruled that Brand must be remanded into custody and will be sentenced on Monday. “You’ve been convicted of a number of offences including rape,” Bennathan said. “The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term.”
At least a dozen commercial flights made either unscheduled or high-alert landings in Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, Czechia and Bulgaria, according to authorities in the various countries. This comes after a series of bomb threats leveled against several European flights earlier this week, prompting similar unscheduled landings.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday for colluding with foreign forces under the city's national security law. He had pleaded guilty in September 2025 to the charge, which will be served concurrently with his existing four-year, eight-month sentence for a separate national security case. Judge William Tam described the offense as "grave in nature" and set a starting sentence of 13 years, which was reduced due to the guilty plea. Wong will serve only two months and two days of the new sentence beyond his current incarceration.
Conservation officers in British Columbia confirmed that a 20-year-old woman and her mother were killed in a suspected grizzly bear attack involving multiple bears, according to the Guardian.
Israel’s Central Elections Committee certified the results of the October 27 parliamentary election on Wednesday, confirming that no evidence of fraud or foreign interference had been found. The committee said the results accurately reflected voter choices and were legally binding. “The review found no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results,” the committee stated.
South Africans voted on Wednesday in local elections widely seen as a test of the African National Congress (ANC), the once-dominant party that led the country out of apartheid but has lost support due to corruption and poor service delivery. Polls suggest the ANC could receive less than 40% of the vote, down from 45.6% in 2021 and 40.2% in 2024.
King Charles III on Tuesday expressed “profound personal sorrow” over the transatlantic slave trade during the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda but did not offer a formal apology. The British monarch called the slave trade a “shameful chapter of history” and a “monstrous injustice,” acknowledging its lasting impact on the region.
An Indian tourist has died after two helicopters collided near the base camp of Mount Everest, according to officials who confirmed the incident to the BBC.
The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed because of a series of deadly attacks on the host country, according to the BBC.
US President Donald Trump has notified Congress of his intention to remove South Africa and Rwanda from a preferential trade programme, from 1 January 2027, according to BBC.
Dozens of supermarkets across seven European countries have been hit by a cyber-attack affecting their refrigerators and freezers, according to BBC.