This roundup summarises the most important news stories around the world in the last month (October 2026).
It has been an autumn of protests in Europe, across Albania, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. In France, thousands of schools were closed, as unions called for a national day of action, during which parents, teachers, university students, and union members rallied in solidarity with the students. Protestors rallied against teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and deteriorating facilities. These marches in more than 40 cities drew a quarter million participants, and the numbers later totalled half a million. However, the country later reeled from one its most violent days of unrest in years, as demonstrations erupted into riots, with shops ransacked by violent fringe groups, who also clashed with the police.
In Serbia, ahead of parliamentary elections, around 150,000 supporters of the opposition student movement rallied in central Belgrade. Following the results, the country’s longstanding leader then conceded defeat to the student-led protest movement, in an election marked by high turnout.
A season of elections
Two significant elections took place in Brazil and Israel. In Brazil, the president won re-election, after finishing second in the first round. His opposition candidate would not accept the results and said he would mount a legal challenge, but he later fled for the United States after refusing to surrender his passport in connection with an investigation.
In Israel, as of this writing, exit polls and initial results showed no clear winner, likely resulting in continued negotiation in the weeks to come. Neither the prime minister’s nor the opposition bloc would reach the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.
And in Canada, residents of the oil-rich western province Alberta voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the country.
Unrest and tragedy in Spain
In Spain, the prime minister called a snap election after his legislation on housing was blocked. Later, thousands of people marched through the city of Madrid in memory of an 87-year-old tenant, who was seen as a symbol of the country’s housing affordability crisis. Later in the month, the collision of two high-speed trains killed at least 68 people. It is the country’s third rail disaster this year.
And in other news
In Panama, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake caused the collapse of dozens of buildings and prompted nationwide evacuations, but thankfully injuries and causalities were minimal. In Saudi Arabia, an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on its international airport killed at least 12 people. Separately, at least 139 migrants were killed after a boat from Djibouti to Yemen capsized. Finally, drones struck an outdoor in the disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, killing at least 153 people.
