Lebanese authorities are investigating how a former Syrian militia commander suspected of committing crimes during the government of ousted President Bashar Assad was abducted in Lebanon and taken to Syria, judicial and security officials said. Syria's intelligence department said Thursday that it »»»

Concluding a three-day visit to Lebanon, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix reaffirmed the importance of Security Council resolution 1701 and the U.N.'s commitment to supporting peace and stability in Lebanon as UNIFIL prepares for its drawdown and planned withdra»»»

Doha, Qatar: Poland's reclassification from an emerging market to a developed market reflects three decades of economic and institutional progress, supported by market reforms, European Union membership and deeper integration into Western European supply chains, Qatar National Bank (QNB) said in it»»»

A tanker was struck by an "unknown projectile" off Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast, forcing the evacuation of its crew, a maritime monitoring agency said on Saturday. The vessel was hit on Friday, 68 nautical miles off the coast of Jubail, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, adding»»»

Tesla Inc.’s new "flying” car drew awed reactions from Wall Street and EV fans alike. It even won over one of Elon Musk’s notable adversaries. "Wow the new Roadster looks quite amazing,” Sam Altman posted Friday on X. "Good job @elonmusk.” The OpenAI chief executive officer was among a number of bi»»»

About 80 Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees and threw stones at Palestinians in a West Bank village Friday, injuring at least two people, including a US photojournalist with The Washington Post. The coordinated attack came as violence by settlers is on the rise during the olive harvest in the»»»

US President Donald Trump on Friday put a sweeping package of sanctions and tariffs targeting Russian energy revenues on hold, saying the waiver was in the country's national interest. The relationship between Washington and Kyiv has been fraying since Trump struck a deal with Moscow easing sanctio»»»

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, October 16: French papers look ahead to Saturday's call for mass protests, which will bring together a number of social movements. Next, climate change has devastating consequences on communities in Afghanistan. Also, Libération publishes a special edition written in the styl»»»

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday blamed the involvement of “foreign hands” for escalating protests, which he said are aimed at hindering Albania's bid to join the European Union. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Albania's capital since Tuesday, demanding Rama’s resi»»»

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday announced the appointment of an interim administration to prepare elections in the northern Tigray region previously controlled by the Tigray People's Liberation Front that has clashed with government forces since September. The recent conflict rev»»»

This October marks 10 years since French police dismantled the notorious Calais "Jungle" camp. FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin returns to the region to explore what has changed for migrants over the past decade. She joins Annette Young and Dr Marissa Quie of Cambridge University to discuss migration ro»»»

Lyon: Oscar-winning directors Ethan and Joel Coen are set to reunite for a new movie, ending a multi-year directing break following their celebrated collaboration on cinematic classics such as Fargo, Barton Fink, and No Country for Old Men. Both of them have latterly turned to personal projects, wo»»»

Several major sporting events in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled or postponed as a result of repeated deadly attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the Kingdom's airports and infrastructure. FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks with Guy Barton, Visiting Fellow at Lancaster University and co-creato»»»

New York: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Friday at the end of a volatile week marked by unease over rising US inflation and hefty artificial intelligence spending. Appearing at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Federal Reserve Chief Kevin Warsh said the global economy had showed u»»»

Indian authorities on Friday detained Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the satirical youth movement "Cockroach Janta Party", ahead of a new protest in New Delhi, live images from the group showed. Police earlier closed a central New Delhi park in an attempt to stifle near-daily demonstrations ca»»»

Pope Leo XIV celebrated a mass at Rome's Gemelli hospital Friday after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung, photos released by the Vatican showed. Doctors said his recovery was progressing normally but that further tests would show whether the cancer had spread. Pope»»»

Presidential candidate Iliana Iotova called on Friday for the next budget to support Bulgaria's poorest and most vulnerable people as part of efforts to overcome poverty. Speaking in Vratsa, Iotova said every effort must be made to lift Bulgaria out of poverty. Around 30% of the population lived in»»»

KALEMIE, DR Congo: US businessman Erik Prince and his mercenaries have emerged as key players in the war-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fighting for its government as Washington vies for strategic minerals in the country, researchers and local sources told AFP. Numerous foreign parami»»»

Following US President Donald Trump's October 9 announcement of an agreement signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel into the United States, a number of pro-Russian social media accounts began claiming that a Russian oil tanker was already carrying thousands of barrels»»»

As the international context becomes more challenging for the European Union, the bloc is looking to boost its ties with like-minded allies. Canada is part of that architecture that the EU says it wants to build. The big news of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union spee»»»

Qatar will help revive Lebanon's ailing energy sector and solve its chronic problems in providing reliable electricity, the Lebanese and Qatari prime ministers said Friday. "We have agreed to establish a comprehensive framework for cooperation in the energy sector and to present viable solutions," »»»

The Israeli Embassy in Tirana has announced its temporary closure amid the ongoing protest situation in the Albanian capital, with no reopening date set. In a notice published on its official page, the embassy said its reopening would depend on how the situation develops. “Due to recent development»»»

Bulgarian Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva has asked Health Minister Katya Ivkova for an update on plans to consolidate adopted children’s medical and vaccination records in the National Health Information System (NHIS), the Ombudsman’s Office said. The request follows a complaint from a Sofia woman wh»»»

BELGRADE - Serbia's Security Information Agency (BIA) marked its day and 127 years since the establishment of its first predecessor, the Department for Confidential Police Affairs, on Friday. BIA Director Vladimir Orlic laid wreaths at monuments to the first heads of the Department for the Protecti»»»

Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Chair and Democratic Bulgaria (DB) MEP Radan Kanev, speaking to reporters in the parliamentary lobby on Friday, described Bulgaria’s position in negotiations on the European Union’s long-term budget as "absurd, dangerous and inexplicable". The Bulgarian government sa»»»

Syrian authorities have announced the arrest of a former paramilitary leader who is the main suspect in a massacre of nearly 250 civilians by Assad-allied forces during the country's civil war. A Syrian security source told AFP that Ali Kayali was apprehended in Lebanon during an operation coordina»»»

As student protests converge with broader public discontent over the rising cost of living in France, Genie Godula is joined by Sébastien Vieille, national secretary of the SNALC teachers’ union. He offers an assessment of a movement confronting political uncertainty, deteriorating school infrastru»»»

A teacher and at least 32 pupils were killed when a school roof collapsed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday, authorities said. At least twenty people were injured, three of them severely. The roof of a school collapsed in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, killi»»»

Mansour Abbas has done nearly everything Israel asks of its Palestinian citizens. The leader of a small Arab political party condemned Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. He rarely speaks about the war in Gaza or Israel's occupation of the West Bank, instead focusing on local issues like crime. He broke a»»»

Hundreds of people gathered outside Bulgaria’s Presidency yesterday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Rumen Radev and President Iliana Yotova, protesting what organizers described as the government’s pro-Kremlin policies. The national demonstration was scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM, and m»»»

Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said Bulgaria had asked NATO for aircraft, air defense and counter-drone systems, and air patrols as attacks on vessels in the Black Sea intensify, while former prime ministers, ministers, military officers and diplomats issued an appeal urging the countr»»»

Irish author Sally Rooney can no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for the activist group Palestine Action, her publisher Faber said on Wednesday. Rooney has previously expressed her support for the group, which was banned as a "terrorist" organisation by the UK government in J»»»

EU Council President Antonio Costa on Friday warned against withdrawing support from Ukraine, maintaining that it was time instead to step up the pressure on Russia. His remarks came ahead of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Follow our liveblog fo»»»

Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry launched coordinated police operations in Sofia, Burgas and Aytos on Friday to combat vote-buying ahead of the October 25 elections, with officers also uncovering a laboratory producing synthetic drugs at a private residence in Burgas. The operations began early in the »»»

“We have collected signatures requesting another extraordinary parliamentary sitting to discuss the pardon of Ognyan Atanasov, known as the Escobar from Petrich," Continue the Change floor leader Nikolay Denkov told journalists in Parliament. Responding to comments that the push was election-relate»»»

Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan attended on Thursday the European People's Party (EPP) statutory summit in Brussels, where he presented Romania's priorities, highlighting the importance of responsible governance, continued reforms and the efficient use of public ...»»»

The recent incidents in the Black Sea are "Russia's attempts to destabilise societies," Romania's President Nicusor Dan, attending the European Council meeting, said on Thursday."These are attempts by Russia (... ) to destabilise ...»»»

Prime Minister-designate Luca Niculescu submitted the list of ministers and the government program to Parliament on Thursday evening. The program, prepared for the 2025-2028 period, "focuses on execution: clear directions, concrete measures, and results that citizens can verify," proposing a shift »»»

Industrial production in the eurozone fell by 0.5% in August 2026, while Bulgaria recorded a monthly increase of 0.8% after a sharp decline in July, according to Eurostat data. Despite the recovery, Bulgaria continued to rank among the EU countries with the steepest annual falls in industrial outpu»»»

At least five people were killed and 16 wounded Thursday in a Houthi missile and drone attack on the palace located in Yemen's interim capital – the southern port city of Aden, used by the country's internationally recognised government, an official said. At least six explosions struck Thursda»»»

A protester who heckled Donald Trump at his midterm rally in Youngstown, Ohio, was physically assaulted and removed from the event, but fake AI-generated photos recreating the incident are going viral online. The images carry digital watermarks identifying them as AI-generated. While footage confir»»»

Rescuers searched on Thursday for seven missing sailors after drones struck two chemical tankers near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze and raising fresh security concerns along a vital shipping route used by Ukraine. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Europe editor Armen Georgian, Nicolae Stef»»»

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought European backing Thursday after vowing to resume strikes on Russian oil refineries despite US President Donald Trump’s demands, as tensions with Washington escalated over sanctions, energy infrastructure attacks and restrictions on satellite communicati»»»

France and Germany have backed looser EU emissions rules for carmakers and agreed to include Britain in a “made in Europe” scheme, in a provisional deal reached Thursday that could reshape the bloc’s automotive and climate policies. France and Germany have backed a further scaling down of EU emissi»»»

Operation Economic Outcast expands with sanctions on Cuban and Iraqi banks WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on a Cuban state-owned bank and an Iraqi bank, accusing both of helping Iran access the global financial system. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Cuba’s Ban»»»

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new torture charges brought against them by US authorities, calling them “false allegations". The couple has been held in a New York jail since their capture in early January and is facing a »»»

​Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Thursday rejected calls to resign as thousands of student-led protesters smashed windows and fought running battles with riot police firing water cannon and tear gas in the capital. The demonstrators accuse officials of corruption and neglecting education and sa»»»

Can a flick of a switch really be enough for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to end Ukraine's hopes of holding out against Russia? With Kyiv already reeling from daily strikes by Russia's new motor-powered drones, the United States decision to slow SpaceX Starlink service felt immediately Wednesday when»»»

Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Nobel Peace laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk, Director of the Centre for Civil Liberties, says that with the diesel-supply deal with Moscow Donald Trump "is openly financing this war, by lifting sanctions is providing Russia with opportunities to earn more money" »»»