News

A minibus carrying lorry drivers has hit a departing freight train on the loading platform at the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel, injuring the driver and 18 passengers. None of the injuries is life-threatening, and Eurostar and freight services were not disrupted. An investigation is under way. Source: BBC News, 16 October 2026.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has urged Albertans to vote to stay in Canada ahead of Monday's independence referendum, warning that the stakes are high. More than 450,000 people have already voted early or by mail, and polls suggest most Albertans want to remain. Source: BBC News, 16 October 2026.

Venezuela's former leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have pleaded not guilty to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture. They are in jail in New York, and their trial is scheduled for June 2027. Source: BBC News, 16 October 2026.

For more than three weeks, thousands of French students have barricaded school entrances and taken to the streets. Further demonstrations are planned across France this Saturday, with workers' unions and former yellow vest activists expected to join. The prime minister has suggested student anger is being manipulated. Source: BBC News, 16 October 2026.

Mauritius has imposed an overnight curfew after protests over water shortages and the cost of living turned violent. A woman was shot and wounded by police at a roadblock on Friday, and the officer has been arrested. At least 94 people have been detained, and schools have been closed. Source: BBC News, 15 October 2026.

Public backlash against the rapid spread of data centres is pushing the issue up the political agenda in the United States. Politicians across the country are scrambling to respond to residents' concerns about the buildings that power artificial intelligence. Source: BBC News, 15 October 2026.

Two people have died and nearly 600 have been rescued after severe flooding in Istanbul, where the governor says it was the heaviest rainfall in 84 years. Schools have been closed and residents told to stay at home unless essential. Source: BBC News, 15 October 2026.

Azerbaijan began enforcing new school uniform rules last Monday, turning away girls wearing hijabs. Protests followed outside schools in Baku and in southern districts, and the interior ministry says it detained 37 people on the first day. The row has also caused tension with neighbouring Turkey. Source: BBC News, 15 October 2026.

Kenya's health ministry has confirmed a second case of Ebola, a 39-year-old close relative of a businessman who died on 5 October after travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The man was already in quarantine, and the ministry says there is no evidence of spread in the wider community. Officials are still tracing 15 of the 128 people the first patient had contact with, and are urging the public to stay calm but vigilant. Source: BBC News, 14 October 2026.

Zimbabwean writer Simbarashe Kundizeza has said he wrote his short story The Blue Fighter himself, after an article claimed AI-detection software had flagged it. He won this year's £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing a week ago. The prize chair says she was shocked the claim was published before a full investigation. Source: BBC News, 14 October 2026.

Prices in the United States rose by 3.7% over the 12 months to September, up from 3.4% in August and higher than economists expected. Record diesel prices and rising energy costs are being felt by households, with many taking on extra jobs to cope. Source: BBC News, 14 October 2026.

Freshers' Week is over and lectures have started, so how do you settle in? Students at Sheffield universities say joining a sports team, building a routine and remembering that everyone else is just as nervous can make all the difference. Source: BBC News, 10 October 2026.