‘We are suffocating’: protests spread to Lisbon and Milan as housing and living cost tensions intensify 18. October 2026 (13:02) Hundreds at Lisbon tent camp demand action, as Giorgia Meloni says march in Italy was exploited by ‘hooligans’The angry protests that have convulsed Spain and France in recent weeks have spilled over to Italy and Portugal, with rioters clashing with police and setting property on fire in Milan, and a tent encampment springing up in Lisbon over the weekend.A march in central Milan on Saturday to protest against rising living costs began peacefully but ended with masked rioters throwing stones, paving blocks and other objects at riot police and setting fire to barricades made from bar tables. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Damp squib’: Ed Davey can breathe easy as Lib Dem leadership challenge fails to materialise 18. October 2026 (13:00) Lengthy meeting heard grumbles about ‘blue wall’ policies and ‘Ming vase’ tactics but no real rancourAs political showdowns go, this week’s gathering of Liberal Democrat MPs, billed by some as a crunch moment for Ed Davey, was a touch underwhelming. “I had expected a damp squib,” one attender put it. “It was damper than I thought.”Far from generating a mass of opposition to Davey’s leadership, let alone a formal challenge to his position, the lengthy gathering in a Commons committee room on Tuesday evening brought a few minor grumbles, but little else. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Parisians wake up to protest damage and looted shops 18. October 2026 (12:58) Violence broke out across France on Saturday during the latest day of demonstrations against conditions in schools and the cost of living.(BBC News)
Jordan Steele-John hits back after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour around women - and explains where his 'Feels on Wheels' nickname really came from