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Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to make public address after hundreds of thousands rally to demand more funding for education.

France has temporarily banned police from using stun grenades at student-led protests, the interior minister said, amid growing accusations of police brutality following several days of student demonstrations nationwide.

The announcement on Wednesday came a day after hundreds of thousands of students and supporters marched across France to demand more funding for education and better conditions in high schools, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to convene an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and other key ministers to try to defuse the crisis.

Lecornu will make a public address later on Wednesday on the school protests as well as the country’s finances, his office said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told radio broadcaster RTL early on Wednesday that he had suspended police use of stun grenades at the protests.

A 15-year-old lost a hand in the northern city of Lens on Monday after police fired a stun grenade.

Earlier, a 14-year-old student was hit in the face by a tear gas grenade at such close range that he lost several teeth. A policeman was charged on Tuesday over the incident in the capital, Paris.

Police have opened 18 internal investigations into allegations of misconduct since the protests began, Nunez said.

Rights groups, students and parents’ groups have accused authorities of using disproportionate force against minors. The government says the protest movement has been hijacked by outsiders and morphed into urban violence.

The Ministry of the Interior said 6,100 people have been arrested since the protests began last month, the overwhelming majority of them minors.

More than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors, the Ministry of Justice said, without specifying the crimes.

At least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in clashes, according to Lecornu’s office.

Students demand school funding

Protests started in late September with students blocking entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds over complaints of dilapidated facilities and teacher shortages and demands for more funding for education.

Parents, teachers and union workers joined the demonstrations in Paris and other cities on Tuesday amid accusations that police were using disproportionate force.

Sporadic violent clashes have broken out between police and protesters at what otherwise have been largely peaceful demonstrations.

Lecornu on Tuesday condemned the violence and told lawmakers that it would not be tolerated, while also rejecting accusations that the government had ordered “police repression” against protesters.

Executions in Tennessee have been halted for the rest of the year, Governor Bill Lee has said, after two attempts to execute death row inmate Christa Pike by lethal injection failed.

In a statement to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, Lee said lawful executions were among the state’s “most serious responsibilities”, adding that he has ordered a third-party review “to determine exactly what occurred”.

Tennessee prison officials on Wednesday attempted to administer two lethal doses of pentobarbital to Pike but she survived and was taken to hospital. Her medical condition is unclear.

Pike, 50 was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer.

She was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat, tortured and killed 19-year-old Slemmer.

Pike would have been the first woman to be executed in Tennessee for over 200 years.

Speaking to reporters at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday morning, Lee said: “I’m highly disappointed, along with Tennesseans, about what happened last night.”

Governor Lee has not made clear who will conduct the independent review of the state’s execution procedures.

His order to pause all executions will overlap with the planned 3 December execution of convicted murderer Gary Sutton.

In court filings, Pike’s lawyers said she needed “life-saving measures” after her botched execution.

The Tennessee Department of Correction, which handled the execution, issued a statement defending its handling of the case.

“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the State’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the attorney general’s office,” the statement said.

“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening.”

This is the second time in 2026 Tennessee officials attempted and failed to execute a prisoner.

In May, the execution of Tony Carruthers was called off after staff were unable to find a vein to administer a lethal drug. Carruthers was given a one-year reprieve.

WHEN Joey Essex was pictured getting close with newly single Love Island star Priya Jaswal earlier this month, many hoped it was the start of the latest reality TV romance. 

But The Sun can reveal that despite their late-night flirtation things have not been heating up between the Towie icon and the Surrey-born beauty for one very surprising reason. 

Even though Joey has acquired something of a lothario reputation – dating a bevvy of beauties including Jesy Potts and Sam Faiers, since rising to fame on the ITV reality show in 2011 – he’s got his eyes on a very different sort of prize, I’m told. 

A source tells me: “Priya and Joey spent the evening laughing and joking away so many assumed it could turn into something more serious.

“But Joey is taking a break from women and sex at the moment. In fact, he’s taken a vow of chastity.

“He’s got this big boxing match next month and he’s taking it very seriously.

“He is determined to win and has been sweating it out in the gym and is going to give it everything he has got.

“So Joey is on a strict sex ban until after the fight.”

The 36-year-old TV star is scheduled for a Misfits Boxing match on October 10 against comedian Dapper Laughs – real name Daniel O’Reilly – at the Copper Box Arena, London. 

Misfits was launched in 2022 by YouTube star KSI and his manager Mams Taylor as the home for celebrity-style crossover bouts.

The effectiveness of sex bans before big sporting bouts is contested, but it is thought that Muhammad Ali abstained for six weeks prior to matches, as he believed avoiding sex preserved testosterone, focus and leg strength.

Joey is not the only modern day boxer to take a pre-match vow of chastity.

Tyson Fury has also switched to no-sex preparations, instead of his previous method of masturbating furiously before matches. 

In 2022, ahead of his fight against Derek Chisora, Fury told Barstool Sports: “You know how I used to masturbate seven times per day to give me power?

“This time I’m celibate. I’m celibate for seven weeks until the fight. It’s a new method, I’m trying something out.

“I’m going in there with a loaded gun, someone’s getting in severe trouble.

“I’m gonna be testosteroned out of my head completely. Seven weeks’ worth.”

Joey’s stringent new regime will be a bitter blow for gorgeous Priya, 25, who is newly single after splitting from Love Island villa beau Aidan Murphy hours before the NTAs. 

Joey and Priya were inseparable at the after party at London’s O2 arena, looking cosy as they chatted for hours and then left the bash together.

They then carried on partying at the after-after party in the Skybar at the nearby Intercontinental Hotel.

A source said at the time: “Joey and Priya really hit it off and got close. We’ll have to see what happens.

“Obviously Priya is very fresh to showbiz and just out of her connection with Aidan so we’ll see.”

However, according to sources, the pair swapped numbers and exchanged messages since their fun night out together. 

It is not the first time that Joey has been linked to a Love Island beauty. 

The London-born star even did his own stint in the villa in 2024, entering on the evening of Day 1 as the first “bombshell” of the series. Essex was the first celebrity to appear on the revived version of the show.

Joey was linked to model Grace Jackson, with whom he reportedly enjoyed a whirlwind romance for around six weeks in early 2024 after meeting in Dubai.

However, their relationship ended abruptly, leaving Grace feeling “hurt and confused” by Joey’s decision to break up.

The situation took an unexpected turn when Grace entered the Love Island villa on June 13, 2024, much to Joey’s shock.

It certainly called fireworks and became the drama of the season.

He was initially coupled up with Samantha Kenny, but later swayed toward bombshell Grace, leading to explosive arguments and mixed signals.

Joey then later turned his attention to another bombshell, Jessy Potts. This transition caused massive fallout with Grace, resulting in explosive arguments that dominated the screen time.

But it was not meant to be. Joey Essex and Jessy Potts confirmed their split on September 18, 2024.

The break up came just seven weeks after they left the Love Island villa together.

Despite their initial connection, both Joey and Jessy cited their busy schedules as a significant factor contributing to their breakup.

Jessy said that they “tried to make it work”, but the demands of their post-villa lives made it challenging to maintain their relationship.

More recently Joey confirmed on The Sun’s Showbiz Fix that he is a single man, and if his boxing career continues to thrive, it might just stay that way.

FAA halts East Coast flights due to equipment outage, affecting major US airports in New York, Newark, and Philadelphia.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted flights to several busy East Coast airports amid an equipment outage, snarling more than 1,000 flights.

On Monday, the FAA issued ground stops at large commercial airports, including New York’s John F Kennedy International (JFK) and LaGuardia; Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, as well as Boston Logan and Philadelphia International Airport.

The flights were halted on the day that 130 world leaders and dozens of ministers were arriving in New York for the annual high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media platform X that flights have resumed into New York’s LaGuardia and into Philadelphia, but that ground stops are still in effect at Newark, JFK, and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The ground stop has also been lifted in Boston.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told reporters on Monday that it had “lost the primary circuit” at what is called Philadelphia TRACON, or Terminal Radar Approach Control, which controls air traffic into Philadelphia and airports across the busy northeast US airspace.

Bedford said that the backup fibre had a break and told reporters that it could take up to 13 hours to repair. He said the cut was between the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Newark, New Jersey, which is home to Newark Liberty International Airport.

“An Amtrak construction crew accidentally cut into a fiber line in New Jersey which caused a telecom outage and forced FAA to pause flights in the Northeast,” Duffy said in a post on X.

Newark delays

At Newark alone, more than 1,000 flights had been delayed or cancelled. Throughout the US, there were nearly 4,000 delayed flights and 500 cancelled.

United Airlines said it would waive change fees for impacted travellers. Newark serves as a major hub for the airline.

“Flights that had been destined for Newark have either been held at their departure airport or diverted to alternative airports. Once the FAA outage is resolved, we will work to safely get our customers to their destinations and have issued a travel waiver to give our customers flexibility to manage their travel plans,” a representative for United Airlines said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

Newark has recorded the highest levels of delays and cancellations of any airport, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight disruptions in real time. As of 3pm Eastern Time in the US (19:00 GMT), 31 percent of departing flights from Newark had been cancelled, along with 29 percent of inbound flights. Meanwhile, 17 percent of departing flights from the United hub had been delayed, as had 17 percent of inbound flights.

A ground stop was also issued at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, a private airport neighbouring New York City.