police

BBC Scotland was given access to the strategic co-ordination centre at the police headquarters at Fettes.

A wall of CCTV cameras trained across Edinburgh and Glasgow flickered from empty streets to a packed Celtic stadium as officers watch for signs of disorder.

The atmosphere in the room was calm despite pockets of disorder – the situation seemed to be generally under control.

Information flashed up on screens with updates from Operation Moonbeam. As the evening progressed the screens filled up as public order units were deployed to an increasing number of places.

Teams from Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Ambulance Service, the Scottish government and Edinburgh city council were in attendance.

Officers from as far afield as Avon and Somerset, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and South Wales were ready to be deployed.

Scotland’s Education Secretary Mairi McAllan said any instances of disorder or attacks on the public or on emergency services were “completely unacceptable”.

She told the BBC’s Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “Police Scotland were well prepared. Our emergency services were well prepared. The vast majority of displays went ahead without any problems, and that’s to be welcomed.

“But nonetheless, I would want to be absolutely unequivocal. Totally unacceptable that any disorder related to fireworks should be ongoing.”

Additional reporting by Paul Ward and Patrick Jackson.

Ten suspects are accused of abusing and torturing several people in the garage of a government compound in Belgrade.

Nine active Serbian police officers and one former officer have been arrested over accusations of using excessive force against students last year during protests that culminated in October’s electoral defeat of former President Aleksandar Vucic.

The Serbian Ministry of Interior announced Wednesday’s arrests, alleging that the suspects abused and tortured several people in the garage of a government compound in Belgrade in August 2025.

In a statement, the ministry said the suspects were on duty when they “used force and threats to inflict severe pain and suffering on several injured people, in order to obtain information, intimidate and unlawfully punish them”.

Anticorruption protests began in Serbia after 16 people were killed when the canopy at a railway station in Novi Sad collapsed in November 2024. The collapse was seen as symptomatic of alleged widespread corruption under Vucic, who served as president for 12 years before conceding defeat last month after parliamentary elections.

The ministry has released only the initials of the suspects but said they served in an elite unit. According to state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia, the commander of the Special Antiterrorism Unit, Igor Zmiric, was among the detainees.

Since last month’s vote, the winning student-led protest movement has demanded reforms within state institutions, including the police and intelligence services. Protesters have also called on top officials to resign, accusing them of colluding with Vucic while he was in power.

Hopes that Belgrade would join the European Union have increased since October’s elections as the bloc offered to hold further accession talks if Serbia’s new government strengthens democracy.

In a 2025 report on Serbia, Amnesty International warned that protesters, journalists and civil society organisations “continued to face intimidation, harassment and unlawful surveillance as authorities sought to rein in widespread discontent”.

The rights group said protesters were subjected to excessive force in “multiple cases across the country”.

Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been barred from driving for six months after a hit-and-run crash into a parked car, prosecutors said.

Paul Pelosi, 86, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run and a traffic infraction of making an unlawful turn in connection with the July crash in Yountsville, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office said.

Under the plea agreement, Napa County Superior Court Judge Scott R.L. Young placed Pelosi on one year of probation and barred him from driving for six months — the maximum time allowed.

The court also ordered Pelosi to complete a 10-day work program and pay fines. As part of the plea agreement, Pelosi paid about $11,200 in restitution to the owner of the damaged vehicle.

During the crash, his brown Maserati convertible collided with an unoccupied Tesla, according to the criminal complaint filed in July.

Authorities at the time said witnesses saw the convertible briefly stop before driving away. The parked car was unoccupied, and no injuries were reported.

Prosecutors said they do not typically issue news releases regarding misdemeanor hit-and-run cases involving only property damage, but that the release was being issued due to public interest around the case.

Paul Pelosi has been issued at least eight driving violations over a more than a decade before the Yountville crash, cited for speeding, blowing through several red lights, and driving the wrong way down a one-way street, a New York Times review of court records found.

In 2022, he pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence after crashing his Porsche into an oncoming Jeep. He was fined, sentenced to five days in jail, and put on probation for three years.

Michael Mann, the acclaimed filmmaker behind crime thrillers including “Heat” (1995) and “Collateral” (2004), accidentally shot himself in the leg Saturday at a Los Angeles gun range, suffering a minor injury.

“On Saturday, at a gun range, a weapon accidentally discharged while holstered, resulting in a superficial injury to film director Michael Mann,” his representative said in a statement Sunday. “He was treated and is being released.”

Mann, 83, was engaged in target practice at a sanctioned shooting range when the accident occurred. The director has been an experienced target shooter for decades, according to a person familiar with the circumstances, who described the injury as minor and subcutaneous.

The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. Saturday at the Range LA, according to TMZ, which first reported the incident. Police and paramedics responded, and Mann was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Mann is known for his painstaking attention to detail and realistic depictions of gun violence, perhaps most famously in the elaborate bank robbery shootout in “Heat,” in which Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer’s heavily armed crew exchange gunfire with police on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. He is developing a sequel to the film, which is expected to begin shooting early next year.

Mann also helped define the look and feel of the influential 1980s television series “Miami Vice,” serving as executive producer before directing a 2006 film adaptation. His other credits include “Thief” (1981), “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992), “The Insider” (1999), which earned seven Oscar nominations, “Ali” (2001) and “Ferrari” (2023).

The family of Henry Nowak have said the trauma of learning he had been murdered was made worse by watching police footage of officers handcuffing him as he lay dying.

They told ITV their “world has changed twice”, first when they were told he had died, and again when they watched the body-worn camera video.

His killer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely told police Henry had racially abused him, and officers handcuffed the student as he repeatedly said he had been stabbed.

His father Mark, stepmother Katie, mother Lucy and sister Olivia were speaking to ITV for the documentary Dear Henry: Our Fight For Justice.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced an independent review into the murder, led by former lord chancellor Alex Chalk, which will look at “any missed opportunities to intervene”.

Henry, 18, was stabbed five times as he walked home from a night out with friends from his football team in Southampton on 3 December 2025.

Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.

It took officers another 24 hours to identify Henry’s body and tell his family.

“I jumped out of bed and I saw the police car on our driveway,” said Katie.

“One of the police officers was holding his hat in his hand, and I just knew straight away that something horrific had happened.”

She said Mark fell to his knees when he heard the news.

“He let out a cry that I’ll never forget,” she said.

“I just remember saying ‘it’s Henry’ and breaking down in tears,” Mark said. “It’s just unbelievable pain.”

Dozens of officers, some accompanied by police dogs, moved into Rossio Square in Lisbon early on Sunday.

Police have used shields and batons to disperse housing protesters who stormed a tent camp in Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, a week after similar operations drew criticism from protesters and rights groups.

Dozens of officers, some accompanied by police dogs, moved into Rossio Square at about 4:30am (04:30 GMT) on Sunday, a day after thousands marched demanding the government withdraw a rental bill they say would deepen the country’s housing crisis.

Protesters had erected more than 50 tents following Saturday’s march through Lisbon. Police commander Iuri Rodrigues issued three warnings to remove the tents, saying they had been erected illegally and that anyone resisting their removal could face disobedience charges.

Hundreds of demonstrators shielding the camp were dispersed, while police also dismantled a smaller encampment in Porto’s Dom Joao I square.

Earlier, lawmaker Pedro Delgado Alves said Rossio Square was peaceful and that nothing justified “a police intervention involving force, physical violence or baton charges, the kind of scenes we witnessed last week”.

The intervention followed operations in the same squares the previous Sunday, when police arrested 25 people in Lisbon and six in Porto. Housing campaign group Casa para Viver said 60 people were injured across those operations, which police described as “proportionate”.

Rising housing costs

The protests reflect growing anger over housing costs across Europe, including demonstrations in Spain and opposition to government economic policies in France, Germany and Albania.

Portugal faces one of Europe’s severest housing affordability crises, with young people among the hardest hit. House prices have more than doubled since 2017, while rents on new leases have almost doubled.

The Bank of Portugal estimates a nationwide shortage of 300,000 homes, equivalent to Lisbon’s entire housing stock.

Demonstrators want the minority centre-right government to scrap legislation that would make evictions easier and remove rent caps on new leases, saying it would worsen affordability and leave tenants more exposed.

Protesters hurled petrol bombs and paving stones at police in Albania on Saturday. Police have been accused of responding with excessive force. The clashes are the latest in weeks of violent protests led by students demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama resign.

Authorities vow firm action against violence as yellow vest and student movements announce widespread demonstrations.

France’s interior minister has announced the deployment of 70,000 police officers across the country in preparation for planned protests on Saturday, coinciding with Halloween.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Thursday that security measures, including the use of armoured vehicles and water cannon introduced last week, will be strengthened.

Nationwide protests over the rising cost of living have rocked France, with some degenerating into large-scale looting and riots.

“The day of October 31 presents a very high risk of public disorder,” Nunez said at a news conference.

About 70,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilised, matching the number deployed at last week’s protests, he said, calling the move an “exceptional measure”.

Demonstrations last Saturday drew about 410,000 protesters nationwide, according to the interior ministry, though unions put the figure at roughly double that. The ministry said more than 2,700 people were arrested a week earlier.

Warning on Halloween masking

The “yellow vest” movement and student unions have called for a new day of protests on Saturday.

Nunez warned demonstrators against using Halloween as “a legitimate reason to hide one’s face” to cause disturbances in public areas.

He told reporters demonstrations would be allowed, but “not in city centres, where there is a risk of public disorder”.

The interior minister issued a warning to far-right groups that clashed with left-wing protesters at rallies in about 15 French cities.

“We will tolerate no excesses,” he said, and pledged an “extremely firm” response.

Nunez accused the “ultra-left” movement and some yellow vest activists of circulating messages on social media promoting demonstrations on Halloween evening that called for a “revolution”.

“These gatherings will be banned,” he said.

The yellow vest movement has already announced a “third act” of its protests on Halloween and called for demonstrations outside the National Assembly and all town halls in the country.

UN experts have condemned police crackdowns, warning they deter demonstrators from exercising their rights.

United Nations experts have expressed alarm at the “excessive use of force” by French authorities in dispersing the recent nationwide student protests.

“The scale of the arrests and detention, affecting several thousand people, mainly minors, appears disproportionate and deters demonstrators from exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” the four experts, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, said in a statement on Wednesday.

They included Gina Romero, special rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly, and Farida Shaheed, the UN expert on cultural rights.

“Although authorities launched several initiatives to facilitate dialogue and respond to students’ demands in October, the priority given to a primarily security-focused response to the protests has led to the root causes of the mobilisation being sidelined,” the statement said.

France has seen ongoing student protests since mid-September, sparked initially over conditions in high schools, where young people complained about the deteriorating buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher absences. Students have also joined nationwide demonstrations to express anger over the rising cost of living, which led to riots and looting on the sidelines.

The French government deployed 70,000 security forces and arrested 1,000 people during demonstrations on Saturday, which drew 410,000 protesters nationwide, France’s Interior Ministry said. A week earlier, public buildings were vandalised, hundreds of businesses were looted and 2,700 people were arrested, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez vowing to be “extremely vigilant, extremely firm” to quell future unrest.

“What we are seeing right now is a general outburst of resentment against [French President Emmanuel] Macron and his policies that have destroyed our rights, destroyed our living conditions,” Alice Cohen-Morzadec, a spokesperson for the Union Etudiante, told Al Jazeera.

Analysts say the French government has struggled to address students’ demands due to a severe fiscal crisis and planned budget cuts, which have led to a drop in the country’s education budget.

Police response to protests

French authorities have been criticised for their approach to security during some of the protests, and in one case a teenager in the northern city of Lille lost a hand when a grenade exploded as school protesters clashed with police.

“The serious and, in some cases, irreversible injuries sustained by underage demonstrators during law enforcement operations are unacceptable and unjustifiable,” the UN rapporteurs said.

The statement added: “The experts recalled past discussions urging French authorities to undertake a comprehensive review of their policing strategies and practices in order to enable demonstrators to express their concerns and to facilitate a peaceful resolution of social conflicts.”

“The experts are in contact with French authorities on the issue,” the statement concluded.

Previous episodes have been branded as some of the most “harrowing” on TV

Another chilling episode drops tonight as the ‘best’ series returns to TV.

A “relentless pursuit of justice” and a world of “secrecy, control and fear” is at the heart of a harrowing investigation tonight as one of Channel 5’s “best” documentaries returns.

The perfect watch for fans of 24 Hours in Police Custody, the third instalment of Murder Scene: The Incident Room returned to Channel 5 last month, giving viewers unprecedented access into criminal investigations across the UK.

Dubbed by viewers as one of the “best”, previous episodes have left fans “angered” as they are plunged into real-world crimes that have shocked a community and beyond. One person branded an episode as “one of the most harrowing pieces of television i’ve ever watched”.

Another brutal episode is set to air tonight (Wednesday, October 28) at its usual 8pm slot on Channel 5, marking the fifth episode of the season. But it will be a chilling watch as one young woman has been reported missing.

However, it is not an ordinary missing persons case as detectives soon discover that the 20-year-old had already warned police that her life was in danger.

An official synopsis reads: “When 20-year-old Banaz Mahmood disappears from South London, detectives launch an urgent search. But this is no ordinary ‘missing persons’ case.

“Banaz had already gone to police, warning that her life was in danger. She claimed members of her own family were threatening to kill her.

“Newly-promoted Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode leads a high-stakes investigation that quickly uncovers a world of secrecy, control, and fear.

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“Banaz had fled an abusive marriage and begun a new relationship – a move that, within her tightly-bound community, risked devastating consequences.”

As officers retraces her final weeks, they soon uncover “escalating tensions, violent threats and evidence that suggests this disappearance may have been planned”.

The synopsis adds: “With suspects denying involvement and crucial questions unanswered, the investigation gathers pace. But without clear proof, the case risks slipping away.

“What follows is a relentless pursuit of justice that spans years, continents, and complex political barriers. At its heart lies a young woman who repeatedly tried to make her voice heard – and a team of detectives determined not to let her be forgotten. This is a story of honour, betrayal and an investigation that refused to give up.”

Murder Scene: The Incident Room returns tonight at 8pm on Channel 5. Episodes can also be streamed online.

Officers baton-charge demonstrators in overnight operation as activists demand government action on soaring rents and home shortages.

Police in Portugal have cleared a camp in central Lisbon set up to protest against the country’s deepening housing crisis, baton-charging demonstrators and making 25 arrests.

Dozens of officers, some with police dogs, moved in on the camp in Rossio Square shortly after 2am (02:00 GMT) on Sunday.

They had warned protesters that their tents would be dismantled if they were not removed, threatening disobedience charges for those who resisted.

Protesters had pitched more than 100 tents after Saturday’s protest march by thousands along one of Lisbon’s main avenues.

A smaller camp of about 50 tents was also dismantled in Porto’s Praca D Joao I public square, where police made six arrests.

Police said the operation was “proportionate” and that the 25 people arrested in Lisbon were later released and are due in court on Monday.

While police reported seven minor injuries among officers and protesters in the two operations, the activist group Casa para Viver (Homes to Live) said 60 people were hurt and called for a fresh protest outside parliament on Tuesday.

“Choosing the early hours of the morning to unleash dogs and baton-charge peaceful protesters is a political decision. It shows this government would rather repress those denouncing the housing crisis than address it,” the group said.

Home affordability crises

Portugal is grappling with one of Europe’s most acute home affordability crises, as prices have more than doubled since 2017 while rents for new leases have nearly doubled, with young people among the hardest hit.

Protesters say soaring rents and higher living costs are squeezing households and turning housing into a growing source of discontent.

The Bank of Portugal estimates a shortfall of 300,000 homes nationwide, equivalent to Lisbon’s entire housing stock.

The protesters are demanding that the government scrap a bill to make evictions easier and end rent caps on new leases, which passed a first parliamentary reading, although the far-right Chega party abstained.

The protests in Portugal echo recent demonstrations in Spain over home shortages and surging rents.

There have also been protests in cities including Paris, where small student demonstrations over school conditions broadened into wider protests against government economic policies.

PARIS — Some 70,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France on Saturday while the Louvre and several other major Paris museums will be closed as authorities seek to prevent renewed violence during planned protests.

Protests last week devolved into mayhem, with people setting fires, storming public buildings, smashing shop windows, looting and clashing with police. It was France’s most violent unrest in years.

Demonstrators plan to take to the streets again Saturday to denounce the high cost of living. Students, members of the CGT labor union and activists from the “yellow vest” movement, whose demonstrations against social injustice shook France in 2018 and 2019, are all set to join.

While some protests have been banned for security reasons in several cities, including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, marches are expected in many other places including in Paris and Marseille.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed, along with helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons. In addition, elite police units will help secure public buildings like city halls in a “highly mobile” security operation, he said.

“There have been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism. There have also been renewed calls for looting, with those messages clearly being spread by rioters,” Nuñez said at a news conference.

“We will be absolutely uncompromising” with those involved in violence, he added, warning that police will have a “very firm approach to making arrests, and there will be legal consequences.”

Paris museums to be closed

In a statement to the Associated Press, the Culture Ministry said the Louvre, the Orsay and Picasso museums as well as the Grand Palais would be closed. The ministry called on all institutions under its authority to adopt any necessary measures to ensure “visitor safety, staff protection and the preservation of artworks,” according to the statement.

After two days when admission was by invitation only, Art Basel Paris opened to the public Friday — but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organizers to cancel the weekend program. One of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art fairs, Art Basel includes exhibitions by 211 international galleries at Paris’ Grand Palais.

“This decision has not been taken lightly, and the safety of everyone involved in the fair remains our utmost priority,” organizers said in a statement Thursday.

Saloni Doshi, an art collector who traveled to Paris from India for the fair, grew worried Saturday as she saw the fires and panicked people, and she received phone calls from friends asking whether Paris was safe. She agreed with the organizers’ rationale to close.

Antoine Donzeaud and Elisa Rigoulet, the owners of the gallery exo exo, felt the same.

“We understand this decision, which we consider reasonable and consistent with the urgency of the social demands currently unfolding in France,” they said in a text message.

But some visitors were disappointed.

“It’s very sad, because we just came here to the fair, and we could not get in because they canceled it for the weekend,” said Fabián Hernández, 32, from Mexico City. “So it’s very busy today, and it’s disappointing to me because I love the art fair, you know? But it is what it is.”

An anti far-right protest is planned

A demonstration Saturday in the city of Orléans, about 70 miles south of Paris, will also be closely watched.

About 50 organizations have called for a protest against the far right on the sidelines of the two-day congress of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist, anti-immigration party ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Organizers include labor unions, left-wing political parties, student organizations and anti-racism groups.

Hugues Moutouh, the prefect of the Loiret region, said that 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators from across the country were expected.

Le Pen, whom opinion polls place as the front-runner in next year’s election, accused left-wing organizations and political parties of trying to “disrupt a political party’s democratic congress” on news broadcaster Franceinfo.

Still, she said she had “no concerns” about security because the government had “recognized the need for measures allowing the congress to proceed safely.”

Gadeva and Corbet write for the Associated Press. AP writers David Biller and Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.

Nigerian police say a large group carried out the attack on Binnari village in Taraba State.

Gunmen have killed at least 10 people in an attack ⁠⁠on a village in eastern Nigeria, police said, as the country continues to battle banditry and armed groups in several parts of Nigeria.

Nigerian police said on Saturday that 10 bodies had been recovered as of Friday evening after a large group of gunmen on motorcycles attacked Binnari village in Taraba State.

According to police, the attackers also looted food from shops.

Survivors told the AFP news agency that at least 20 people were killed, while human rights group Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday that the death toll was 40.

Amnesty International also said that while police ⁠had earlier confirmed the killing of 10 people, more bodies were recovered later on Saturday.

The gunmen opened fire just after Friday prayers, residents said.

“After the attackers left, we counted more than 20 bodies, and some people were still missing,” Binnari resident Sa’idu Nuhu told AFP.

Resident Isiyaku Musa also gave a death toll of at least 20.

Malam Abubakar Saifullahi, a community leader, told AFP that the attackers arrived on about 50 motorcycles, two men apiece, before raiding the village.

“They looted shops and took cash, foodstuffs and other provisions. They also took motorcycles abandoned by people fleeing the attack,” Saifullahi said.

Amnesty International criticised the Nigerian authorities, saying they “continue to leave rural communities in some parts of the north at the mercy of gunmen that are repeatedly committing atrocities with impunity”.

Banditry problem

Banditry has become a growing issue in northwest and central Nigeria, with powerful gangs battling overstretched police and military across hard-to-reach, rural locations.

Taraba, a central-eastern state, also faces the non-ideological threat of “bandit” gangs.

Bandits raid villages, kidnap people for ransom, and levy “taxes” on farmers or miners in rural areas of Nigeria with little state presence.

Nigeria has also been fighting an armed rebellion since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising.

Separately, on Saturday, the Nigerian military said it had killed 15 “terrorists” in northeastern Borno state in an air strike.

No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus, while police said a ‘suspicious person’ has been taken into custody.

German police have detained a suspect after a fire engulfed the Eagle’s Nest, Adolf Hitler’s notorious Nazi-era mountain retreat in Bavaria, prompting an overnight emergency operation involving about 200 firefighters.

No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus. Police said investigators were examining whether a “suspicious person” taken into temporary custody was connected to the blaze.

The fire alarm was triggered by a smoke detector at about 9:50pm (19:50 GMT) on Friday. Emergency crews could see flames rising above the building as they approached and found it “completely ablaze”, according to police.

The retreat’s remote Alpine location, at an altitude of more than 1,800 metres (about 6,000 feet), complicated efforts to extinguish the fire, police spokesperson Lisa Maier said.

While authorities have not announced a cause, German media reported that investigators suspected arson.

The newspaper Bild said emergency responders had encountered a motorcyclist travelling towards them on their way to the scene and that he was subsequently detained. His possible involvement remained under investigation.

Maier said inquiries were continuing, with police planning a news conference later on Saturday.

Built between 1937 and 1938, the stone-and-granite retreat stands on the Kehlstein mountain above Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden in southern Germany.

Designed as a monument to Hitler’s rule and a setting for receiving foreign diplomats, it offers sweeping views across the Bavarian Alps. Hitler himself visited the resort.

The site, which remains part of the legacy of Nazi Germany, survived World War II undamaged. It has operated as a restaurant since 1952 and also houses an exhibition examining its Nazi history.