‘This was a slaughter, not an operation’: the favela reeling from Rio’s deadliest police raid 29. October 2025 (19:55) Residents of Vila Cruzeiro gather bodies after more than 130 were killed in pre-dawn assaultDay had yet to break over Vila Cruzeiro but already dozens of corpses were splayed out along the favela’s main drag after more than 130 people were killed during the deadliest police operation in Rio’s history: grotesquely disfigured, blood-smeared bodies that had been dragged out of nearby forests and dumped on blue tarpaulins and black plastic sheets covering the street.“I’ve brought 53 down myself … there must be another 12 or 15 up there in the bush,” said Erivelton Vidal Correia, the head of the local residents’ association, bleary-eyed from a sleepless night spent hauling bullet-riddled local men down from the hills. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
CBS News staffers lose jobs in ‘bloodbath’ as part of sweeping cuts from Paramount 29. October 2025 (19:54) Paramount laying off about 1,000 staffers, including some in news, on Wednesday amid longer-term cost-cutting planFor months, CBS News staffers have been on edge waiting for a long-expected round of layoffs as part of the $2bn in cost-cutting that had been promised after parent company Paramount’s successful merger with Skydance Media.Those cuts began on Wednesday morning and are expected to affect fewer than 100 people. The company declined to provide a specific number. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Patients go to court to stop embryos being destroyed after admin error 29. October 2025 (19:50) Lawyer says ‘difficult to understand’ rules on storage consent led to confusion and left clients ‘in limbo’A group of more than 15 fertility patients are taking legal action to prevent their frozen embryos being destroyed as a result of administrative errors that could deny them a chance to have children.The group, which includes people with cancer and fertility problems, froze gametes or embryos to improve their chances of conceiving later on, but were informed by their clinics that owing to administrative errors they had not renewed their consent in time and would not be able to access their embryos or extend their storage without a court order. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hundreds reportedly killed at Sudanese hospital as evidence of RSF atrocities mounts 29. October 2025 (19:39) Rapid Support Forces, which claimed control of El Fasher on Sunday, reportedly killed at least 460 people ‘in cold blood’Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces killed hundreds of patients and staff inside a hospital in El Fasher, according to the World Health Organization and the Sudan Doctors Network, after the paramilitary group claimed control of the city on Sunday.The WHO secretary general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “appalled and deeply shocked” at reports that more than 460 people had been killed at the Saudi maternity hospital, without assigning blame, in a post on X. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Louvre suspects ‘partially admit’ their role in jewel heist 29. October 2025 (19:31) Police are no closer to recovering gems valued at £76m, despite the arrest of two men last weekTwo men arrested on suspicion of stealing crown jewels worth an estimated €88m (£76m) from the Louvre in Paris have “partially admitted” their role in the heist, the prosecutor has said, but police are no closer to recovering the gems.Laure Beccuau said the pair, arrested on Sunday, would be brought before magistrates “with a view to being charged with organised theft, which carries a 15-year prison sentence, and criminal conspiracy, punishable by 10 years”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US military to reduce number of troops in Romania as start of European drawdown 29. October 2025 (19:10) Army says 2nd Infantry Brigade combat team of 101st Airborne to redeploy to Kentucky ‘without replacement’The US military is reducing the number of troops it has stationed in Romania, scaling back Nato’s deployment to countries along Europe’s eastern border with Ukraine, US and Romanian officials have announced.In a statement on Wednesday, the US army said that the 2nd Infantry Brigade combat team of the 101st Airborne division would redeploy to its home-based unit in Kentucky “without replacement” as part of a plan to “ensure a balanced US military force posture”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Greek police increase security after protests against Israeli cruise ship 29. October 2025 (18:38) Measures are being taken at the harbours of Patras and Katakolo after demonstrations earlier this weekGreek authorities have stepped up security in two harbours in an attempt to keep protesters away from a cruise liner carrying Israeli tourists on an 11-day tour around the Mediterranean.The measures taken at Patras and Katakolo in the Peloponnese followed demonstrations when the MS Crown Iris docked at Kalamata earlier this week. In July passengers on the same ship were prevented from disembarking and it was forced to divert to Cyprus after local people staged a protest in support of Palestine on the Cycladic isle of Syros. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Geert Wilders convinced Dutch voters the far right could run the country. What is their verdict now? 29. October 2025 (17:40) A failed two-year experiment has lessons for the rest of Europe about the appeal – and the limits – of populism• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhat happens when you put far-right populists in charge? Entrusted with ministerial responsibilities, can they deliver the radical solutions that they often preach? Or do they, sooner or later, when faced with complex policy dilemmas, end up self-destructing, leaving an even bigger mess in their wake?That is the question Dutch voters had to weigh on Wednesday after a tumultuous two-year experiment in which Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) joined a rightwing coalition to run the Netherlands for the first time. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK newspaper apologizes for fake De Blasio interview criticizing Mamdani 29. October 2025 (17:36) The Times deletes article after its reporter was duped by impostor pretending to be former New York mayorThe British newspaper the Times has apologized and deleted an article after discovering its reporter had been duped by someone pretending to be Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City.The newspaper removed the article from its website after the real De Blasio released a statement calling the quotes attributed to him “entirely false and fabricated” and lambasted the Times for its “absolute violation of journalistic ethics”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Search under way in California after jail accidentally releases murder suspect 29. October 2025 (17:09) After staff realized suspect had been freed, officers began search and confirmed he was ‘no longer in the area’A manhunt is underway in California after a murder suspect was accidentally released from jail last week.The Contra Costa sheriff’s office said that it was investigating the release of 20-year-old Isaiah Jamon Andrews of Kent, Washington. Andrews was released on 22 October from the Martinez detention facility in northern California. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
