Massive Protests Rock France as 600,000 Take to Streets, Hundreds Arrested; U.S. Issues Travel Warning

Massive Protests Rock France as 600,000 Take to Streets, Hundreds Arrested; U.S. Issues Travel Warning

Emmitt Barry

France was rocked by its largest demonstrations since September on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded streets nationwide demanding higher wages and relief from rising living costs, while fresh violence prompted hundreds of arrests and a U.S. travel warning.

France’s Interior Ministry estimated that approximately 600,000 people participated in more than 200 demonstrations, while the CGT labor union placed turnout at nearly 1.6 million, according to the Associated Press and Financial Times. Authorities deployed approximately 70,000 police officers nationwide as clashes erupted in several cities, resulting in at least 448 arrests and injuries to 53 police officers.

The Eiffel Tower also closed to visitors as workers, students, and retirees joined the nationwide demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Paris issued a security alert on November 4 warning Americans about nationwide strikes, potentially violent demonstrations, transportation disruptions, and possible curfews. The State Department maintains a Level 2 advisory for France, urging Americans to exercise increased caution because of terrorism and civil unrest. 

The escalating protests are placing additional pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government as it struggles to pass a deficit-reduction budget amid parliamentary divisions and growing public dissatisfaction ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election.

Putin Receives Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Moscow - Kremlin

Putin Receives Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in Moscow - Kremlin

Sputnik

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. 

"President Vladimir Putin received Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, who is currently in Moscow, in the Kremlin," Peskov said.

Rezaei delivered a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to Putin, IRIB reported without disclosing its contents.

On November 2, media reported that Putin and Rezaei had held a phone conversation, during which they discussed the situation in the Middle East, among other issues.

Following the meeting, Rezaei confirmed that he had delivered a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who wanted it conveyed to Putin as soon as possible. The Russian president, in turn, sent his warm greetings to Iran's Supreme Leader. 

The two discussed major regional developments, particularly the postwar situation and future security arrangements in the Middle East

Putin condemned the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, described the war against Iran as unjust, and expressed readiness to help bring the conflict to an end

The talks also covered the construction of gas pipelines from Russia to Iran, which would help Tehran address domestic gas shortages while enabling it to sell Russian gas to neighboring countries

Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter missile launchers

Russia agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter missile launchers

Pjotr Sauer

Russia arranged to supply Iran with 90 launchers for advanced guided missiles, according to leaked defence industry documents that shed light on the depth of military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

The documents, obtained by Dallas Analytics, a Ukrainian private intelligence firm, and shared with the Guardian, detail plans to supply Iran with launchers for the LMUR, a guided missile fired from attack helicopters which Russian forces have used extensively against Ukrainian targets since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

A production schedule drawn up in May 2024 by Vympel, a leading Russian designer of missiles and launch systems, lists an order for 90 launchers under an export contract designated “K-10”, with deliveries scheduled between late 2024 and December 2025. Separate internal paperwork explicitly identifies K-10 as Iran.

The records do not establish whether the launchers were ultimately delivered. However, a separate production schedule listing six Yak-130 jet trainers destined for Iran in 2023 is consistent with publicly reported deliveries of the aircraft.

The files offer fresh insight into Russian-Iranian military cooperation at a sensitive moment as Washington weighs its next steps in its war against Iran after the US midterm elections.

Observers widely regard Moscow as one of the main winners of a prolonged war in Iran, which has brought Russia strategic and economic advantages.

Russia has benefited from an increase in global energy prices triggered by disruptions to shipping through the strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Higher oil revenues give the Kremlin an additional source of funds for its war in Ukraine and could help ease pressure on Russia’s strained budget.

The war has also diverted international attention and western military resources away from Ukraine, further straining Kyiv’s access to crucial US-made Patriot air defence interceptors.

Donald Trump has repeatedly played down the extent of Moscow’s support for Iran. Last month, the US president wrote that Russia was doing “very little, if anything” to help Tehran, arguing that he did not want to drive Moscow away from negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

Ueno Bank collapse in Paraguay prompts President Santiago Peña to resign

Ueno Bank collapse in Paraguay prompts President Santiago Peña to resign

Escarlata Sánchez

The accounting black hole at Ueno Bank wipes out public funds, leaves thousands without access to their deposits and drives Paraguay into its worst institutional crisis in years.

A sudden blank screen startled the almost three million customers of Ueno Bank in the early hours of Tuesday 3 November. At around 03:24, the app of the Paraguayan institution, a key player in the system that manages state funds worth millions and has grown at breakneck speed in its three years of existence, stopped displaying users' accounts and showed a single message: "We cannot display the balance".

At the same time, the Central Bank of Paraguay issued a tough statement on its social networks: the institution was being taken over and its liquidation process was beginning. This "resolution procedure" for Ueno Bank was triggered by a broader financial alarm after a critical collapse in its solvency ratio was detected, which had fallen below 50%.

The impact was immediate and set off an unprecedented political earthquake that has ended the government of Santiago Peña. Since Tuesday, crowds of angry users have gathered around the headquarters in Asunción and the country's 75 branches in an attempt to save their money.

The scene outside the branches, closed and guarded, has turned into one of extreme tension and desperation. The distress in front of the branches translated into daily emergencies that quickly became unsustainable. Some people, in tears, begged to withdraw their money to pay for medicine for a seriously ill child; a few kilometres away, a construction worker was just as desperate when he realised that, without access to his savings, he would not even be able to buy food for his children that day.

The bank held around 850 million dollars (about 758 million euros) in public funds, including money from the Social Security Institute that underpins pensions and healthcare for workers. The spectre of an Argentine-style corralito immediately set off alarm bells among the population. "Who will answer for a lifetime of savings? Will there be impunity?" read the placards held by demonstrators standing their ground outside the bank's offices.

The whole country held its breath ahead of the press conference by the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP). The official confirmation was categorical: "We proceeded to close the institution; neither the app, nor the cards, nor any service is active from today," said board member Liana Caballero. It was of no use that the authorities tried to calm tempers by reminding people that the law provides for a guarantee fund to reimburse each client up to 75 minimum wages (around 228 million guaraníes or 37,700 dollars, about 33,620 euros); mistrust and suspicion had already taken hold on the streets.

The opposition points to the BCP leadership as accomplices by omission in the fraud, but the coup de grâce is aimed directly at the head of state. Santiago Peña has found himself in the eye of the storm: at the request of 35 lawmakers, the Chamber of Deputies was to meet tomorrow in an extraordinary session to vote on whether to open impeachment proceedings against him, but President Santiago Peña has decided to resign beforehand.

The indictment accuses Peña of "poor performance of his duties", backed by serious charges ranging from conflict of interest and alleged embezzlement of pension funds to giving institutional protection to the Central Bank. In the midst of the storm, the president cancelled his entire official agenda on Wednesday and chose to remain silent until late in the afternoon, when he reappeared online to announce the departure of the head of the central bank and to call on the courts to establish responsibility.

The legal net closed in on Wednesday with the arrest of eight senior executives of the bank, including its chief executive, Miguel Vázquez. At the same time, the knock-on effects quickly hit the real economy: the Association of Importers and Traders warned of an immediate 35% slump in sales at the country's major retailers. With money blocked and out of reach, domestic consumption ground to a halt overnight.

The War With Iran Is Not Over: Are Tactical Nukes On The Horizon?

A Lot Of People Think That The Midterm Election Results Mean That The War With Iran Is Over, But The World Will Be Shocked By The Death And Destruction That Are Ahead

Michael Snyder

The war with Iran is not over. There isn’t going to be peace in the Middle East. In fact, the most apocalyptic chapters of the Great Middle East War are still ahead of us. If President Trump decides to bomb the living daylights out of Iran before January 3rd, 2027, there is very little that the Democrats can do to stop that from happening. After the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd, 2027, the Democrats will have more power but President Trump will still be able to simply veto any bill that they pass. Of course it is entirely possible that President Trump could change his mind and choose not to attack Iran at all, but if that happens I guarantee you that Israel is going to go in anyway. If Iran responds to new airstrikes by the United States and/or Israel by using unconventional weapons or by destroying the nuclear facility at Dimona, there is nobody on the entire planet that will be able to stop what happens next.

However, military transports continue to carry heavy equipment to the region, and a third U.S. aircraft carrier is still on the way…

Some time about the middle of this month the USS Theodore Roosevelt will be in position.

Will that be the moment when the U.S. and Israel start conducting airstrikes?

The number one target that the U.S. and Israel would like to take out is the nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain.

The problem is that it is hundreds of feet underground…

Some estimates put the heart of Pickaxe Mountain as far as 100 meters (nearly 330 feet) underground—meaning even the most destructive non-nuclear U.S. bombs, such as the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or “bunker busters,” would be hard-pressed to destroy it.

But using nuclear weapons would be absolutely insane.

Unfortunately, that is precisely what some are suggesting that we should do.

A B61-13 tactical gravity bomb would likely get the job done, but it also has “around 24 times the yield of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima”…

Instead, it is more likely to use a tactical nuclear weapon, although any form of nuclear strike remains very unlikely. The U.S. has an estimated 200 B61 gravity bombs, half of which are deployed in bases across Europe. They can be launched from fighter jets like the F-35A.

The U.S. is rolling out the upgraded B61-13, which is designed to blast apart well-defended targets. Only strategic bombers can carry the B61-13, which has a yield of up to 360 kilotons—around 24 times the yield of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Hypothetically, the U.S. could drop several GBU-57s on Pickaxe Mountain, opening up the way for a follow-up tactical nuclear strike with a B61 gravity bomb.

If we use a tactical nuclear weapon on Pickaxe Mountain, the entire world will be absolutely horrified.

And it would also give Iran a perfect excuse to use everything in their arsenal against Israel.

If the Iranians destroyed the nuclear facility at Dimona or used unconventional weapons against Israel, the Israelis would likely respond by using nuclear weapons against Iran.

We are dangerously close to a point of no return.

If there is any sort of attack on Iran at all, the Iranians are threatening to use “new conventional weapons technology”…

“If America or the Zionists take any action, Iran will respond differently than before, using a new doctrine and new conventional weapons technology,” said Hamidreza Moghaddamfar, an adviser to the IRGC’s commander in chief.

Should Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain allow their territory to be used for attacks, he added, “Iran’s strikes will go further” than the US bases. He said the assassination of Iranian officials or commanders would draw “surprising responses”.

Iran, Mr Moghaddamfar said, had “set aside the principles of symmetry and proportionality a long time ago”, and would retaliate “beyond any geographical limits”.

In addition, the IRGC is warning that they now have missiles that can “target areas beyond the Middle East”…

Ziaeddin Aghajanpour, head of the ministry’s political-ideological organization, made the remarks at a government event in Karaj, near Tehran.

“Our scientists, experts and intellectuals in the defense ministry and armed forces have produced surprise weapons, and the missiles we have developed can target areas beyond the Middle East,” he said. “We also warned the Americans that if they do not stop their hostile actions, we will target all US interests in the region, and you saw that we did so.”

Netanyahu wanted to attack Iran in October, but Trump was able to persuade him to wait until after the elections.

Now the elections are behind us, and Netanyahu appears to be quite eager to take action.

In anticipation of what could be coming, a number of municipalities in northern Israel are already opening up their bomb shelters…

Several municipalities in northern Israel have opened public bomb shelters as concerns grow over a possible resumption of hostilities with Iran, while the United States is reportedly reinforcing air defence capabilities in the region.

Kiryat Shmona and Safed have opened public shelters, while authorities in Karmiel have made shelters across the city accessible to residents, according to Israeli media reports.

Karmiel Mayor Moshe Kuninski said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure amid the evolving security situation. He urged residents to continue their normal routines while adhering to instructions issued by Israel’s Home Front Command.

From this point forward, any moments of peace will just be temporary.

The Great Middle East War has already been raging for more than 3 years, and there is no end in sight.

Israel and Iran are ultimately headed for a final showdown, and the level of violence that we will witness will shock the entire globe.