France: cities impose curfews on children after drug violence

25 Jul 2025
Several French cities have introduced night-time curfews for minors in response to escalating violence linked to drug trafficking. In Nîmes, where recent shootings and a brutal murder have shaken residents, authorities have imposed a 9pm–6am curfew…

France: prime minister proposes axing two public holidays

17 Jul 2025
There has been widespread criticism after prime minister François Bayrou proposed eliminating two public holidays - Easter Monday and 8 May (Victory in Europe day) - to help reduce the national budget deficit. He argues that…

Türkiye: Kurdish fighters disarm, engage in peace process

17 Jul 2025
On 11 July thirty Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters publicly disarmed in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, marking the start of a renewed peace process with Türkiye aimed at ending a forty-year conflict that has claimed around 40,000…

Russia: minister’s death a warning to ruling elite

10 Jul 2025
Russia has been rocked by the sudden death of transport minister Roman Starovoit, who was found dead from a gunshot wound just hours after being dismissed by Vladimir Putin. With the presumption that he took his…