France

A VITAL ferry route to France is being axed three weeks earlier than planned after operating for over 40 years.

Customers have been told they will receive a full refund or alternative travel routes following the shock announcement.

Brittany Ferries has confirmed that the Poole to Cherbourg route will close three weeks earlier than planned.

The last crossing was originally set to take place at the end of the month.

All passengers who were set to be travelling in the latter half of the month will receive a full refund or be provided with alternative travel on Portsmouth routes.

The early axing of the Poole-to-Cherbourg route has occurred for two reasons.

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Firstly, Brittany Ferries is selling the vessel which currently operates on the Rosslare/Cherbourg route – Cotentin.

To prepare, the vessel must be withdrawn from the service by mid-October.

Secondly, a back-up vessel, the Commodore Clipper, suffered gearbox failure earlier this month rendering the ferry out of action pending remedial work.

The gearbox issue forced the early closure of the Portsmouth-Le Havre route, but has now meant the company has needed to move Barfleur onto a new route and finish Poole-Cherbourg sailings earlier than planned.

Barfleur, the vessel which has served the crossing since 1992, is set to be moved to the Rosslare/Cherbourg route from October 12.

CEO of Brittany Ferries, Christophe Mathieu, said: “The reality is that, post-Brexit, Rosslare/Cherbourg has become a strategically significant route for Brittany Ferries, carrying nearly 25 percent of all freight traffic so we must prioritise.

“I know there will be disappointment with this operational change, and I apologise to all those travelling from Poole in the latter half of October.

“We shall of course refund tickets or provide alternative travel on routes out of Portsmouth.

“It has been a privilege to serve the Poole-Cherbourg route since 1986.”

The company revealed it would be shutting down the 40-year route owing to growing financial pressures, particularly affected by the pandemic, the EU’s Emissions Trading System and competition on the Eastern Channel.

The crossing closure is forecast to affect around 20 jobs and the decision forms part of a wider restructuring by Brittany Ferries.

Brittany Ferries has confirmed that passengers will still be able to head out to France from Poole, instead via the company’s seasonal service to St Malo.

Customers can also cross the Channel via routes from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Caen, Cherbourg, St Malo and Roscoff.

A new high-speed crossing between Poole, Guernsey and St Malo is set to be debuted in 2027.

The MS Barfleur first began her voyages between Dorset and France in 1992 and was the shortest journey over the Channel, taking just four hours and 15 minutes.

The crossing garnered a huge amount of success, leading to a £6million refurbishment of the ferry terminal in the 1990s.

The route has faced difficulties more recently, seeing a temporary closure in 2010 following a decrease in ticket sales – however it was reopened in 2013.

Tens of thousands of civil servants, including teachers, firefighters and healthcare workers, have marched in cities across France to demand higher pay, as students clashed with the police in separate protests over conditions at their schools.

Unions said some 300,000 people took part in the one-day strike action nationwide, while police on Tuesday estimated a turnout of 30,000 in the capital, Paris. The workers also demanded better working conditions and expressed anger at the government’s planned budget cuts.

Protests also took place at more than 400 schools, about 40 of which were blockaded and 44 of which faced attempted blockades.

Ten people, both students and staff members, were wounded, and at least 440 were detained, officials said.

The strikes and the student unrest came two days before the government is to unveil its draft budget and seven months before the presidential election. According to unions, the government proposes freezing base salaries for state employees in 2027 to save 2 billion euros ($2.3bn).

It would be the fourth consecutive annual freeze and the eighth during President Emmanuel Macron’s tenure. Unions say the freezes have cost workers a double-digit share of their purchasing power, and they are demanding a 6 percent raise.

‘Red alert’

Sophie Binet, general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor, called the protests “a red alert”.

“This anger is not going away. The government must look again at the budget,” she told Al Jazeera. She gave the government 48 hours to reverse the planned cuts before her union decides on further strike action.

The Education Ministry said just more than 11 percent of teachers and other school staff went on strike. French teachers are paid less on average than their counterparts in other European countries.

Fewer than 1 in 10 other civil servants took part, and fewer still in hospitals, with the loss of a day’s pay a likely factor in the turnout. France’s civil aviation regulator had warned of flight disruptions at some airports.

Professional firefighters, who say this summer’s huge wildfires exposed a lack of resources, were among those marching.

The government has already unveiled measures to help households cope with a spike in energy prices driven by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, but it has failed to quell the discontent with Macron and his administration.

Student unrest

Students, meanwhile, have been protesting outside hundreds of schools over timetables, class sizes, teacher shortages and overheated classrooms during this year’s heatwaves. The demonstrations began in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and spread to other cities.

In addition to the 10 students and staff members who were hurt, 48 law enforcement officials were injured, authorities said, as students in some places set fire to rubbish bins and hurled projectiles, and officers responded with batons and tear gas.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFMTV that 440 people had been detained.

“We don’t have the final tally yet, but I’m told two thirds led to police custody,” he said. “Violence is never legitimate. There is nothing that justifies violence.”

Education Minister Edouard Geffray condemned the clashes on social media.

“This violence is unspeakable,” he wrote, adding that legal proceedings had begun. “To legitimize it or… call for an expansion of the blockades is to endanger both our students and public officials. It is irresponsible.”

‘Fewer cops, more money’

In Seine-Saint-Denis, a low-income suburb of Paris, Bally Bagayoko, the district’s mayor and a member of the hard-left France Unbowed party, joined hundreds of students protesting at the Lycee Paul-Eluard.

He led them in singing the national anthem and called the protests “completely legitimate”, saying poorer areas received fewer resources than wealthier ones.

Outside the Arago school in Paris, students, some with their faces covered, sat on dumpsters to block the entrance beneath a placard reading “Macron explosion”. A banner at the Helene-Boucher school read “Fewer cops, more money”.

“We want fewer police because we think there is a huge amount of police repression, both against high school student movements and social movements more generally,” said Mael Breton, a final-year student there. “This is a real problem, especially when there is such a lack of funding… here at our school and in the national education system more broadly.”

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Monday condemned the high school protests as irresponsible but acknowledged that the “difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed”.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, a hard-left presidential contender, accused the government of steadily dismantling public services as he addressed protesters in Paris and urged his supporters to mobilise against the draft budget.

A Toluna Harris poll on Monday suggested that Melenchon and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally, would advance to next year’s presidential run-off, with Le Pen best placed to win.

Tallinn accuses Moscow of responsibility for fire at Estonian company Milrem Robotics, a supplier of unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has accused Russia of “sabotage” following an August arson attack on a defence company, Milrem Robotics, a claim the Kremlin rejected.

“We can conclude with certainty that the arson attack … in Tallinn was an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation,” Tsahkna wrote on X on Tuesday.

He added that the perpetrators of the attack had been apprehended and “no longer pose a threat”, and that Estonia had summoned the Russian ambassador.

“This act of sabotage is part of Russia’s broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine,” he wrote.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegation.

“Such statements are baseless, ill-considered, have absolutely no relation to reality, and lack any form of reasoning. Consequently, we cannot and will not take such statements seriously,” he told reporters.

Estonia, a European Union and NATO member state along the alliance’s eastern flank, has accused Moscow of several hybrid provocations since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Along with its neighbours Latvia and Lithuania, it has ramped up its investment in defence in the years since and remains a staunch ally of Kyiv.

Support from allies

NATO chief Mark Rutte, speaking to journalists after Estonia’s accusation, said that “Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies. It is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine”.

“But Russia is failing. It is failing on the battlefield in Ukraine, and it is failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine,” he added.

The attack was condemned by several of Estonia’s allies, who also reaffirmed their support for Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that Paris was in full solidarity with Estonia, adding: “The proliferation of these hostile acts reflects a dangerous headlong rush by Russia – one that will only lead it into a dead end.”

“Russia’s fingerprints are all over” the attack, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys wrote on X, adding that Moscow’s “hostile activities do not stop at Ukraine’s borders”.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics added that “more support for Ukraine … will be needed and must be provided”.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called Estonia’s attribution of the attack “extremely serious”, and said the pattern of the attacks was “directed against Europe as a whole”.

TRAIN stations are no longer just a place to get from A to B, but are now attractions in their own right.

And a new awards has named some of the most beautiful ones in the world.

The World’s Most Beautiful Stations were revealed by Prix Versailles, a prestigious architecture and design award,

Prix Versailles Secretary General Jérôme Gouadain said they “give us proof that 21st-century passenger stations can be the bridges to a more desirable future”.

While none in the UK made the list, there were three in Europe.

One was Colosseo – Fori Imperiali Station in Rome which only opened last year on the city’s metro line.

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It was praised for turning “travel into an archaeological adventure” as well as its “unexpected view of the Colosseum“.

Another Italian train station on the list was Monte Sant’Angelo Station in Naples.

Said to be inspired by city’s Mount Vesuvius, Dante’s Inferno and volcanic terrain, the dark orange doughnut-like structure above ground was called a  “sculpture that the public can enter”.

The final European entry was Lyon Part-Dieu Station in France.

Despite having opened in 1983, it recently underwent a huge update last year.

According to Prix Versailles: “This regional, national and international train station, one of Europe’s top stations in terms of the number of connecting passengers transiting through it, has doubled in size thanks to the architectural teams at AREP and L’AUC, with additional access points and pass-throughs to boot.”

Outside of Europe, Melbourne‘s Town Hall Station also made the top seven list.

Also a new railway station having opened last year, it was praised for both its “eight imposing columns like trees whose branches hold up the canopy above” as well as its “cathedral-like feel”.

Over in the US, LAX/Metro Transit Center was the only American station to be named one of the world’ most beautiful and one of the most futuristic designs on the list,

Saudi Arabia had two stations in Riyadh to have made the list.

There’s National Museum Station, inspired by the Arabian Tuwaiq Mountain and a gateway to the National Museum.

And there was also Western Station, Riyadh which only opened in May this year and was “inspired by desert dunes”.

Here are last year’s most beautiful train stations.

And earlier this summer, these were museums named the most beautiful in the world according to Prix Versailles.

The 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) concluded on Monday with artificial intelligence (AI), the Israel-Palestine conflict and the US-Israel war on Iran dominating world leaders’ addresses during the general debate.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his final address before his term ends, warned that the future of the world would be shaped by four tests: AI, climate change, wars and inequality.

“Across all four tests, the decisive issue is power. Power over force, money, energy, technology, rules and the future. That is why the UN Charter – and the work of the United Nations – matter more than ever,” Guterres said.

Speeches ranged from calls to reform the UN to appeals for upholding international law, as the global body has been undermined by the unilateral foreign policy pushed by United States President Donald Trump.

Here are the biggest takeaways from this year’s summit:

Palestine

The situation in Palestine was a key issue among members amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza despite the so-called “ceasefire” and escalating settler pogroms in the occupied West Bank.

France, Canada, Iraq, the United Kingdom and others called for Palestinian sovereignty during their speeches.

“What credibility do we have if we continue to remain inactive in the face of Gaza,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in his address.

“Some boast of a supposed peace, but this peace hasn’t reopened humanitarian routes for a single second,” he said, adding: “Must we stand by and watch this spectacle that shames us all?”

Macron, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud chaired a meeting at the UNGA on Palestinian statehood, which is being actively undermined by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has accelerated construction of illegal settlements and provided impunity to settlers in the occupied territory.

At the same time, the US-led Board of Peace unveiled a 66-project reconstruction blueprint with proposed funding of $2.4bn for the Gaza Strip on the sidelines of the UNGA.

However, the board’s plan excludes the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying it has no role in the future of Gaza. The decision was described by Palestinian political analyst and playwright Ahmed Najar to Al Jazeera as aligned with Israeli efforts to “marginalise and ultimately dismantle the agency, removing it not only from Gaza’s present but from its future”.

Dozens of delegates left the hall in protest as Netanyahu delivered his speech, in which he declared that Israeli forces would continue fighting against Hamas and Iran.

Trump defends military action on Venezuela, Iran

In his address, Trump emphasised that while others spoke of peace, he “made peace”.

Trump defended his actions in abducting the then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January and said, since his military operation, hundreds of political prisoners had been freed in the South American country and that Caracas had signed the largest oil deal in history last month, covering “65 billion barrels of oil, which will benefit both Venezuela and the United States enormously and help drive down the cost of energy all over the world”.

“It was perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor belong the spoils – you’ve all heard that,” Trump boasted.

Trump reiterated that he would never allow Tehran to have nuclear weapons and that the 12-day war in July 2025 had “obliterated their nuclear programme beneath mountains of rubble” as the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran had sunk “159 ships of their navy” to the bottom of the sea.

“I have a big decision to make – will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before … or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again,” he said, adding: “I believe we make a deal right after the elections.”

Popular Iranian officials

During sideline talks and one-on-one meetings, Iranian officials were in demand.

In his speech to delegates, President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasised that Iran had only “defended ourselves” amid attacks on his country and killings of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, scientists and children.

“We are not terrorists, our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country,” he said.

Pezeshkian added Iran would not accept that peaceful nuclear technology is held exclusively in the hands of a few countries.

“We will not bow our head and give up the right that is inherently ours,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the summit, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his counterparts from India, Qatar, Turkiye, Pakistan, Ukraine and other countries.

He also met US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in a four-hour meeting mediated by Qatar.

AI dominance

World leaders used their time at the podium to call for a global approach to using AI as interest in the technology grows, but fears that it could escalate if unchecked are also growing.

In his address, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said AI was the “most consequential technology in the history of mankind”.

“It will impact science, the economy, politics, security, and the very essence of our humanity. Humans can and should be in the driver’s seat. We have a choice: we can compete, cooperate or slow down. For me, cooperation is the best way forward,” he said.

While discussions are moving away from a good-versus-bad dichotomy, officials disagreed on approaches.

While Guterres and the European Union called for safety standards and international rules, Trump said AI innovation should not be constrained by international regulation, adding that the US should control its AI sector.

Xi skips the UNGA

Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the UNGA despite being in the US for a summit with Trump. He sent Vice President Han Zheng to attend.

Xi rarely attends the UNGA. He had sent Premier Li Qiang in his place last year. In 2024, Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the annual gathering.

Without mentioning Iran in his address, Han reiterated Beijing’s position that “sovereignty and security of countries in the Middle East, including the Gulf, should be respected”.

“China calls for advancing the governance of the West Bank and the post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza in accordance with the principle of the Palestinians governing Palestine. It also calls for bringing the Palestinian question back onto the right track of the two-state solution at an early date,” he said.

Han also called for a “people-centred approach and develop AI for the positive and for good, narrow the digital divide, and promote development that is universally beneficial”.

He has not contacted his family in the UK

A dad has vanished in France after losing contact with his family back home in the UK. Andrew Shirlaw, known by his family as Andy, has disappeared whilst travelling through France.

The 65-year-old’s family have been left worried after he failed to contact them for days. His disappearance has been described ‘completely out of character’ by his daughter Gabriella.

Andrew went missing on September 22. Hi s last known location was Paris, France. It is believed that he had planned to travel down to the south before eventually finishing his trip in Toulouse.

Friends of the family who last saw him in Paris are extremely worried about his disappearance. Andrew’s family have described him as around 6ft tall with a slim build.

He often wears glasses and a hearing aid whilst sticking to a style of patterned shirts, shorts and sandals. |He is fluent in French and is known to be very talkative and open to interacting with strangers.

Andrew’s daughter has released a statement after reporting him missing. Gabriella Payne said: “Our dad, Andrew Shirlaw, Andy, aged 65, has been missing since Tuesday, September 22.

“His last known location was Paris, and we believe he was planning to travel south, eventually ending in Toulouse. We are extremely concerned because it is completely out of character for Andy not to maintain contact with us.

‘’Friends who saw him in Paris were also concerned about him before we lost contact. Andy is British but speaks fluent French with an English accent.

“He is very slim, around 6ft tall, often wears clear glasses and sometimes a hearing aid. He is very talkative, eccentric and will often strike up conversations with strangers.

“If you have seen Andy, spoken to him, travelled with him, or have any information at all about where he may be, please DM me or contact the local police. Even if you’re not in France, please share this post — particularly with anyone you know in Paris, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Toulouse or elsewhere in France.

Spain’s Swiftair was fined 225,000 euros ($256,000) in France for corporate manslaughter over the 2014 Air Algerie disaster in Mali.

A Paris court has found Swiftair guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2014 Air Algerie crash that killed 116 people in northern Mali.

On Monday, a French judge ordered the Spanish airline to pay the maximum fine in France of 225,000 euros ($256,000) for corporate manslaughter after a three-week trial earlier this year.

Air Algerie Flight AH5017 was flying from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria when it crashed less than an hour after takeoff in July 2014, killing everyone on board.

The Swiftair-owned McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was operated by the Spanish airline on behalf of the Algerian carrier.

Investigators said the aircraft went into a stall when it was hit ‌by ⁠ice as an anti-icing system remained switched off.

On Monday, the court ⁠said “negligence” in Swiftair’s training with icy conditions had played a role.

The captain had failed to complete an adequate proficiency check, while the crew lacked the required refresher flights following a period of inactivity.

“This ruling comes as a relief to families who have been fighting for more than 12 years for justice to be done,” said Sebastien Busy, a lawyer representing a group of relatives.

The airline has 10 days to appeal the ruling.

Swiftair attempted to have the trial dropped on the grounds that a Spanish court previously dismissed the case without any charges.

In a statement to AFP, Swiftair reiterated that the trial should not have gone ahead and that safety regulations had been followed.

The ruling marks the second time an airline has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter in France after Air France and Airbus were both ⁠found guilty earlier this year over the 2009 crash of a jetliner flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The crash killed all 228 people on board, marking the worst aviation disaster in French history.

The vote marks the first time the far-right party gained enough seats to form its own caucus.

France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies have secured a record 14 seats in the Senate, effectively quadrupling its number in the 348-seat chamber just months before a presidential election.

Sunday’s indirect election ⁠of senators marked the first time Marine Le Pen’s party won enough seats to form its own caucus.

“The results have exceeded our expectations,” Le Pen, the party’s leader and presidential candidate, said in a post on X.

“This is a historic victory, and a major milestone with the formation for the first time of a group in the Senate.”

RN entered the Senate for the first time with two seats in 2014, when it was known as the National Front, and won three seats in 2023.

It emerged as the single largest party in the lower-house National Assembly after President Emmanuel Macron called snap polls in 2024, though it fell well short of a majority.

Le Pen is preparing to run in next year’s presidential election when centrist Macron steps down.

RN president Jordan Bardella said the party’s senators would form an alliance with the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR).

The right, centre and left-wing Socialists looked set to remain the three major forces in the upper house, according to initial results.

They flew to France for lunch, spent seven hours exploring the town then headed home

A pair of best friends nipped to France for lunch and came home the same night, spending less than £75 on the whole trip. Mel Evans travelled to Beauvais with her friend and work colleague, Joanne Howard.

Mel managed to snap up return flights from Birmingham for just £48. The retail workers took an 8.45am Ryanair flight and landed at Beauvais Airport at 10.55am local time before taking an 85p bus into the town centre.

“We had seven hours to explore before we needed to get the bus back to the airport,” said Mel, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire. “The itinerary was to visit the cathedral and wander around the pretty streets and shops, look around the local markets and have some lunch and a drink.

“I love architecture and got lost looking at the cathedral, chateau and old houses. I was in my element. When we got there, we headed straight to the market and had a walk around. They had fish, meat, clothing, bags, purses and all sorts.

“We then headed to the cathedral. There was a lovely street nearby where I took pictures. We walked around the cathedral, then went inside and watched the astronomical clock.

“There was a craft fair, so we bought a few souvenirs for £5. We then headed to the Oise museum, which looked like a château from the outside. It had beautiful grounds.

“We then headed for lunch in the main square. After lunch, we walked around the town some more, stopping in shops and churches. We had a £2.50 ice cream, and found a street with old buildings. Then we looked around a second market and headed back to the main square for a £2.15 coffee until it was time to head for the bus.”

Their two main meals and two drinks cost £38 before they caught the bus back to the airport and boarded their 10:50 pm flight home. They landed back in the UK at 11 pm and, after travelling home, Mel was finally in bed by 12:30 am.

Mel and Joanne have been friends for 12 years and have already been on four day trips abroad together to Milan, Bergamo, Alicante and Oslo. Mel says everything went according to plan – and she would happily do it all over again.

Mel said: “I’m the planner, and Jo turns up; she’s very happy to go with the flow and my itinerary. It works well. There were no hiccups at all.”

Mel and Joanne’s trip began on 19 Sept with a £9.50 parking fee at Birmingham International train station, where they left their car for 24 hours before taking the free shuttle to departures. Their flight took around one hour and 10 minutes. After paying 85p each for the bus into Beauvais, they began exploring the town.

Mel then enjoyed a burger while Joanne had an omelette in the main square alongside two Coke Zeros. With no delays or other problems, the pair had plenty of time to enjoy their whistle-stop visit before catching the 85p bus back to Beauvais Airport.

The whole trip cost less than £75 each. Mel said: “At the end of the day, before flopping into bed, I felt very grateful I’d been able to travel. The next day is when I feel tired. I like that you can explore other countries in a day without having to book annual leave. You can explore the world one day at a time.”

Mel and Joanne have more day trips planned for the rest of the year, with France, Italy and Spain all on their travel radar.

Mel added: “We love day trips. It gives us something to look forward to, and we have a few more booked for this year. Friends and family think it’s great how we nip to France, Italy or Spain just for a day.

“My family call me Judith Chalmers because I’m always away. Day trips aren’t for everyone, as they are long days, but for how nice it feels to sit in a local cafe or park in another country makes it all worthwhile.

“I definitely recommend it to anyone. My biggest tip is to use a site such as Skyscanner to search for flights. Midweek tends to be cheaper than the weekend, and it’s best to book around 12 weeks in advance.”

Head of the Roman Catholic Church holds ’emotional’ two-hour meeting with seven abuse victims in French town of Lourdes.

Pope Leo XIV has thanked a group of survivors of clerical abuse “for their painful testimony” and “reaffirmed his commitment” to end harm by Catholic priests at a meeting in southwestern France, the Vatican said.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is on a four-day visit to France.

On Sunday, the pontiff visited the pilgrimage town of Lourdes, where he privately met seven survivors of child abuse, now adults, and promised to further efforts to reform the Church in the wake of the global sexual abuse scandal.

The group said in a later news conference that the meeting was emotional and touching.

“When he saw the state I was in, he took me into his arms,” survivor Jean-Marie Delbos said, adding, “It was an extraordinary moment.”

The 80-year-old was abused as a pupil at the nearby boarding school of Notre-Dame de Betharram, where staff have been accused of physical and sexual abuse over several decades.

The survivors said they felt heard and that they were impressed by Leo’s compassion and knowledge of their individual cases.

But they hoped the words would be accompanied by action.

Jerome Guillement, who has written about a priest abusing him as a teenager, said at the news conference that the pope understood the “systemic” nature of sexual abuse in the Church.

“From his point of view, the perpetrators are individuals, but what allows it to continue is the systemic dimension within the institution,” he said.

“He certainly believes that the Church has done a great deal in France, but he also believes that the Church in France still has a tremendous amount left to do.”

Local leaders hoped Leo’s visit would help repair the Church’s standing after a 2021 independent inquiry found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.

The pope told an estimated 150,000 people gathered for a Mass in a field near the famed Catholic shrine in Lourdes earlier on Sunday that the Church must have the courage to face its past.

Veronique Garnier, another survivor who met with the pontiff, said she had found the Mass, in which Leo referred to abuse without directly apologising for it, troubling and wondered why she had attended.

But she said she was encouraged by her meeting with Leo.

“I do indeed believe there is hope – hope that there can be change and truly listening to us at a deep level, rather than just superficially with beautiful words that are never followed by any real action,” she said.

Leo also spoke about the abuse scandals in a closed-door meeting with French bishops on Sunday, according to a Vatican-provided text.

He was expected to visit the northeastern city of Metz on Monday before returning to Rome the same day.

Dove Cameron and Damiano David have tied the knot!

The 30-year-old former Disney star and pop starlet married the 27-year-old Italian rock singer in a civil ceremony Thursday at the town hall in Montalcino, Italy, per Vogue, which first shared details of their nuptials.

The couple began dating in 2023 after meeting at the MTV Video Music Awards a year prior, where they were both contending for best new artist — Cameron took home the prize.

After a long stretch on Disney playing identical twins on the show “Liv and Maddie” and the daughter of Maleficent and Hades in the “Descendants” film series, Cameron successfully entered the mainstream music landscape with her sultry vocal flair. In 2022, she released the smoky electro-pop, queer anthem “Boyfriend,” which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the theatrical “Breakfast,” a man-eater melody that declares she’s in charge.

David is the frontman of the Italian rock band Måneskin, which formed in Rome in 2016 and won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021 with their song “Zitti e Buoni.” Now David is focused on his solo career; in 2025 he released his debut album, “Funny Little Fears,” which reached critical acclaim on various European charts, reaching gold status in France, Italy and Poland.

Cameron revealed the pair’s engagement in January, uploading a picture to her Instagram account that zoomed in on the engagement ring. The proposal took place in an “intimate moment” back in October 2025, the “56 Days” star would later tell Vogue in a Jan. 26 article.

The couple — who live in a quiet Rome neighborhood — kept hush about the wedding plan details, sharing with Vogue earlier this month only that a date was set for September.

Kylian Mbappe scores the only goal of France’s win in Turkiye, but Real Madrid striker immediately forced off by injury.

Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal of the game before having to come off grimacing with a knee injury, as France won 1-0 in Turkiye in the UEFA Nations League in new coach Zinedine Zidane’s first game in charge on Friday.

The Real Madrid star was moved out to the left wing by his new coach after being used through the middle of the France attack under former coach Didier Deschamps at the recent World Cup, which he ended as the top scorer with 10 goals.

It was from the left that Mbappe, France’s all-time top scorer, notched his 67th international goal, controlling and firing into the net low at the near post after being set up by Michael Olise.

He winced in pain as his teammates came across to celebrate the goal at the Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit, about 100km outside Istanbul.

Mbappe tried to carry on after receiving treatment, but eventually slumped to the ground and looked concerned as he prodded the outside of his left knee, before walking off to be replaced by Desire Doue.

France and Real will now nervously wait to discover the extent of the injury, with Les Bleus playing three more games over the next 10 days before the club season resumes.

The sight of his star player and skipper coming off overshadowed Zidane’s first match since being appointed coach in late July on a deal to 2030.

The France legend and 1998 World Cup winner is making his return to elite coaching for the first time since his second stint in charge of Madrid ended in 2021.

France, beaten in the semifinals at the World Cup by eventual winners Spain, are in Group A1 of this edition of the Nations League and will now go to Brussels to face Belgium on Monday. Belgium won 2-0 away to Italy on Friday.

Zidane, whose last match as a player came for France against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final, will then make his home debut as coach against the Italians at the Stade de France next Friday.

His first team selection was not dramatically different from the side that regularly played at the World Cup, although Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert was in at left-back while Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki came into the starting XI.

Olise, the Bayern Munich star who lit up the World Cup, was unlucky not to open the scoring late in the first half when his superb strike was tipped over by home goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.

France goalkeeper Mike Maignan responded at the start of the second half as he tipped over an attempt by Abdulkerim Bardakci for Turkiye, who finished bottom of their group at the World Cup, despite a 3-2 win over cohosts the United States.

Mbappe’s goal came shortly after, and the visitors later saw Jules Kounde hit the post before Turkiye were reduced to 10 men late on.

Cakir came flying out of his area to halt Bradley Barcola as the France substitute raced through on goal. German referee Felix Zwayer initially waved play on before undertaking a VAR review, after which he decided the goalkeeper had handled the ball, which meant a red card.

Turkiye, coached by former Italian international Vincenzo Montella, will host Italy next on Monday.

France will have a new face on the touchline for the first time in 14 years when they face Turkey on Friday.

Zinedine Zidane replaced Didier Deschamps after France’s fourth-place finish at the World Cup, but his appointment had been an open secret long before Les Bleus’ third-place play-off loss to England.

Talks between the former Real Madrid manager and the French football authorities kicked off as early as February 2025 – after Zidane’s former team-mate Deschamps announced a few weeks earlier he would step down following the 2026 World Cup.

When he was unveiled in Paris, Zidane was keen to highlight the time he had spent waiting on the sidelines and preparing for the job.

“I had several offers in the last four or five years, but I turned them all down,” an emotional Zidane said. “The national team is the only thing I wanted.”

While his enthusiasm at taking the job was the overarching theme of his first news conference in the French capital, the midfield legend offered few clues to France fans as to how he would approach the role.

Even a question on Kylian Mbappe’s captaincy was bypassed: “The most important thing for him now is to rest, we’ll have the chance to speak in September.”

Mbappe, speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, has since said having the former Real Madrid star as his national team coach was “like a film”.

When asked about his preferred style of play, Zidane opted against going into tactical detail.

“I can’t explain to you in just a couple of words how we’re going win. I have to arrive, meet with the players, and explain my plans to them. After that, it’ll be up to me to keep this team winning.”

However, Zidane confirmed his intention “to do things differently” and he has called up five uncapped players for this international break.

He went on to signal that there would be a degree of “continuation” from the work of his predecessor, which he made sure to praise.

“I’m going to try do what I know how to, but it won’t be a complete break either.”

So what will Zidane bring to the France dugout?

France is sending military assistance to Saudi Arabia to protect the Yanbu oil facilities as the Kingdom battles the Iran-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. The move comes amid growing concerns about the remaining flow of oil from the region, which France, as well as the rest of Europe, relies upon heavily.

In a live television interview Thursday night Paris time, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was sending an unspecified number of troops and equipment to the Saudi Arabia to protect the Yanbu energy hub, located on the Red Sea.

“This is the agreement we have finalized ​with ⁠the Saudis,” Macron explained. “We are going to send ⁠military resources, that is to ​say, soldiers, radar systems and defense ⁠systems, to protect this site — ⁠not ​to get us involved in any conflicts, but to ⁠protect this site.”

The French leader did not elaborate on the exact equipment he would send, how many troops, or when they would arrive. Nor did he address what would happen if French personnel were killed or injured or equipment damaged or destroyed. We have reached out to the French Embassy for further details. Based on his mention of radars and seeing that the threat to Saudi oil infrastructure is almost entirely from aerial attacks from drones and missiles, these will likely be air defense forces.

The decision was prompted by repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks as well as suspected strikes from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure. Yanbu in particular is a key installation. As we have explained in the past, Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels of oil per day through pipelines to its Yanbu port on the Red Sea in an effort to minimize the energy shortages due to the hostilities around the Persian Gulf.

Before Macron’s announcement on Thursday, the Houthis claimed they had carried out two more waves of attacks on Saudi targets, including one on the Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu, “using a number of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones.”

In addition, the Houthis claimed they struck Riyadh.

There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of an attack on the Saudi capital. Saudi civil defense did not issue an emergency alert for Riyadh on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Houthis said they struck “enemy command and control centers, operations rooms, weapon depots, missile launch platforms, and military sites belonging to Saudi-led enemy formations in Jizan,” a Red Sea port city.

“The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that it had shot down six ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, in what appeared to be one of the largest cross-border attacks by the group since its conflict with Saudi Arabia [flared back up],” The New York Times reported.

The missiles were aimed at the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, claimed on X. “Escalations and violations by the terrorist Houthi militia will be dealt with firmly,” he stated, without specifying where the missiles were intercepted.

TWZ cannot independently verify any of these claims.

Today’s attacks are the latest in the escalating conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, the Houthis imposed a blockade on the Bab al-Mandab Strait (BAM) and began striking Saudi ships in the southern part of the Red Sea as well as critical energy terminals on that body of water and Saudi refineries. Iranian proxies have also struck the vital East-West pipeline that carries oil to the Red Sea to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran vastly curtailed shipping after the launch of Operation Epic Fury. The East-West pipeline reportedly reopened after being shut down following a long-range drone attack.

The stark reality facing Macron is that if Saudi oil infrastructure and transport nodes near the Red Sea are destroyed or the pipeline that feeds it is shut down for months the last major oil lifeline from the region — and especially to Europe — will be closed off, sparking a deeper energy crisis.

Iran has already severely curtailed the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. The movement of oil has been further impeded by a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. However, transits have been increasing as of late, thanks in large measure to U.S. military escorts that U.S. Central Command claims have allowed more than a billion barrels of crude to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Still, the traffic is far below what it was before the war broke out.

Having both the Strait of Hormuz largely closed and energy exports out of the Red Sea shut down simultaneously is a nightmare scenario. By Thursday evening Eastern time, the per-barrel price of Brent crude oil shot up to nearly $107, according to OilPrice.com. It had fallen below $100 per barrel just two days earlier.

Given all this, the French president sought to offer reassurance about oil supplies, according to France 24.

“He said he had carried out ‘intense diplomatic activity,’ meeting in recent weeks with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Nigeria, all hydrocarbon suppliers, to ensure France keeps receiving the same volumes,” the publication noted.

“We have replenished gas stocks and also oil stocks” for the months ahead, the French president also said.

Macron’s decision follows one by the U.K.’s  Royal Air Force (RAF) on Tuesday to deploy one of its Voyager aerial refueling jets to help Saudi Arabia defend against Houthi attacks. As with the French move, it is a response to concerns about the flow of oil.

“Escalating tensions in the Gulf could have negative consequences here in the UK—such as rising prices, disruptions to energy supplies, and increased costs for British businesses,” the U.K. Defense Ministry (MoD) explained in announcing the deployment. “The Houthis pose a threat to stability in the Middle East; therefore, it is in the UK’s national interest—economically and in terms of security—that they do not succeed in their aims.”

“We unequivocally condemn Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and our position is clear: both Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government have the right to self-defense,” the ministry added. 

The jet will operate from a U.K. air base in Cyprus and will begin air-to-air refueling operations in the coming days, the BBC reported.

The French and British deployments contrast decisions by the U.S. and other nations not to get involved with the Saudi-Houthi fight.

Last week, Trump turned down a direct plea from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom’s de facto leader, to attack the Houthis. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Turkey, which signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia, have yet to provide any direct military aid. The pact holds that an attack on one is considered an attack on all; however, it doesn’t stipulate exactly what actions should be taken.

The security situation in Yemen has drastically deteriorated since the launch of Epic Fury after the Houthis joined the U.S.-Iran conflict on the side of their major supporter.

The Houthis have been directly attacking Saudi Arabia over claims that the kingdom has imposed a blockade on them. Beyond that, the mostly dormant civil war between the Houthis and internationally recognized Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, reignited in the wake of operation Epic Fury. The Houthis have made large territorial gains in the renewed conflict, including capturing the port city of Mokha and two key islands in the Red Sea. This has strengthened the Houthi hold on the BAM. You can read more about that in our story here.

3. The Houthis have reportedly attempted to seize ROYG-controlled islands in the Red Sea from which Houthi fighters could launch attacks on international shipping. Houthi forces reportedly landed on the Hanish Islands in the southern Red Sea on the morning of September 10 after… pic.twitter.com/tiFPgNDOHZ

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) September 11, 2026

The civil war in Yemen erupted in 2014 and expanded a year later when a Saudi-led coalition joined forces with the government ousted by the Houthis. The fighting between Saudi-led forces and the Houthis largely abated after a tenuous ceasefire took hold in 2022. The Saudis held off on getting involved in the recent Red Sea conflict, which saw the U.S. and coalition warships duking it out with the Houthis and eventually led to a U.S.-led air campaign over Yemen. The United Kingdom was another significant player in that air campaign.

Meanwhile, exacerbating concerns about the flow of oil from the Red Sea, “a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned Thursday that Iranian forces and their Houthi allies in Yemen could respond to any new U.S. attacks by opening ‘a new front’ in its war with the U.S. by targeting energy supplies in the Red Sea,” CBS News reported.

The statements came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again threatened Iran.

“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?” Trump asked rhetorically. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

Trump added that he believed he would make a peace deal with Iran after the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, which will decide the control of Congress.

As we noted yesterday, with gasoline and diesel price increases damaging the economy, the war and Trump’s handling of it have been unpopular with voters.

The fact that France is sending forces to Saudi Arabia is an ominous development and another indication that the current spate of unrest that began with Epic Fury does not appear to show any signs of ending anytime soon.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com