Global Pulse

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  • As Merz scrambles for support, Germany’s identity crisis is laid bare

    As Merz scrambles for support, Germany’s identity crisis is laid bare

    Two years after Friedrich Merz took the chancellorship of Germany, a wave of bruising regional election results has upended the country’s political order, pushing his fragile coalition government into open crisis and exposing deep-seated national anxieties that have been simmering for more than a decade.

    Long-held global stereotypes of Germany— a nation defined by consensus-driven, predictable politics, a globally dominant industrial economy leading automotive innovation, and a global benchmark for logistical efficiency— have been completely upended by the current state of play. Countless Germans now report that their country has drifted far from the core attributes that once defined its national identity, with no clear consensus on what path forward will restore that sense of stability. That pervasive uncertainty is now embodied by Merz himself, whose center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has suffered a string of devastating defeats over the past two weeks.

    The scale of the CDU’s losses is staggering: the party was pushed out of first place in Berlin, trounced in statewide polls in Saxony-Anhalt, and ousted from the regional parliament entirely in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. While persistent whispers of a “Kanzlertausch”— or a last-minute chancellor swap— have circulated within CDU ranks, no lawmaker has yet launched an open challenge to Merz’s leadership. That small lifeline, however, does not erase the fact that the chancellor is treading on extremely thin ice: his approval ratings have hit record lows, with voters frequently criticizing him as arrogant and disconnected from everyday household concerns. Government insiders have framed this more politely as a critical “communication gap” between the leadership and the electorate.

    Supporters of Merz argue that replacing the chancellor would do nothing to address the structural challenges facing Germany, and that the government instead needs to double down on long-delayed domestic reforms in partnership with its center-left coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), while refining its outreach to voters. “Anyone who took over would face the exact same set of challenges,” Jürgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary bloc, told reporters shortly after Merz addressed party lawmakers in a closed-door Bundestag meeting. Hardt noted that the CDU performed far better in earlier regional contests this year, adding: “Friedrich Merz is aware of his shortcomings. He is working to address them, and we as a party are working to get our message right. We hope we can convince voters in the coming months that we are on the right track.”

    Merz was elected to office in 2025 on two core promises: a hardline crackdown on unauthorized immigration and a comprehensive revitalization of Germany’s flagging economy. He positioned himself as a dynamic alternative to the chaotic three-way coalition led by his center-left predecessor Olaf Scholz, whose government collapsed amid infighting and unmet policy goals. Merz’s allies point to early policy wins to back their defense of his leadership: this week, leading independent economic institutes upgraded Germany’s 2026 and 2027 growth forecasts to above 1%, and unauthorized border crossings into Germany and the broader European Union are down year-over-year.

    Even so, these modest gains have done little to ease widespread public anxiety across both policy areas. German households and businesses continue to grapple with persistently high energy costs, a lingering aftershock of the end of cheap Russian gas imports that once powered the country’s export-led economic boom. Fears are also growing that China’s expanding automotive industry is eroding the global market share of Germany’s iconic auto sector, the historic backbone of its economic strength. On the immigration front, public debate has shifted away from controlling new arrivals to deep-seated concerns over public safety, strains on social welfare systems, and slow, uneven integration of immigrant communities.

    Voters are abandoning Germany’s two traditional governing parties, the CDU and SPD, in droves, clearing a path for the dramatic rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party whose Russia-leaning policy positions have alarmed German security officials, and whose regional branches are officially classified as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence services. The AfD rejects these labels as unfair smears, and claimed its third ever state-level election victory in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania just last Sunday. “Friedrich Merz’s time in office is numbered,” AfD co-leader Alice Weidel stated in an interview this week.

    Despite repeated scandals over the past half-decade, the AfD has climbed to the top of national opinion polls, polling around 28% support nationwide, and has shaped the terms of national political debate. The party has successfully leveraged widespread nostalgia for Germany’s past era of economic stability and current voter anxiety to consolidate its power bases in the former East German states, running on a simple promise to restore the lost sense of order and national purpose. A campaign placard spotted by reporters in Berlin summed up this message: “Berlin braucht Ordnung”— Berlin needs order.

    The collapse of centrist support did not only benefit the far right: in Berlin, it was the far-left Die Linke party that topped the regional polls, delivering another major blow to Germany’s traditional big-tent centrist parties. Die Linke’s victory has placed the party under fresh scrutiny over ongoing allegations of antisemitism within its ranks, allegations that party leadership has rejected, reaffirming its commitment to protecting Jewish life in Germany.

    This round of regional elections has laid bare Germany’s deepest political fault lines in post-war history: the rapid erosion of support for centrist establishment parties and a deeply polarizing national debate over the growing influence of the far right. Rarely has a series of local ballots generated such profound political upheaval at the national level, or attracted such intense international attention, as Germany grapples with an uncertain future that bears little resemblance to the stable, prosperous order the country has long been known for.

  • Why is the Pope in France?

    Why is the Pope in France?

    One of the most highly anticipated papal visits to Western Europe in recent years has brought the Pope to France, with preparations in full swing for the centerpiece event of the trip. This coming Saturday, the French capital of Paris will play host to an enormous open-air Mass that organizers project will draw a crowd of more than half a million worshippers and visitors from across the country and beyond. The gathering is widely framed as the defining moment of the Pope’s time in France, drawing widespread public interest and logistical planning from local authorities, who have worked for months to accommodate the expected influx of attendees. Beyond the major Mass, the visit carries broader significance for interfaith dialogue, Catholic community engagement, and discussions around key social issues impacting France and the global Catholic Church, though all eyes remain fixed on the weekend’s historic large-scale gathering in Paris.

  • Zelensky says Russia has widened attacks to hit Ukraine’s data centres

    Zelensky says Russia has widened attacks to hit Ukraine’s data centres

    As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth year, Moscow has expanded its military campaign to systematically target Ukraine’s digital and civilian critical infrastructure, leaving four dead after a recent drone strike on a Kyiv business hub and triggering widespread connectivity disruptions across the country.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Friday’s strike on the Inkom business center in central Kyiv killed four civilians and damaged a data facility operated by Ukrainian internet provider Datagroup. Within hours of the attack, Russia’s defense ministry issued a formal statement confirming it had targeted the site, claiming the data center was being utilized by Ukraine’s military intelligence wing for operational purposes. Independent verification by the BBC has confirmed visual footage of the severe damage to the multi-story business building that housed Datagroup’s operations.

    The strike is part of a broader, coordinated Russian effort to disable Ukraine’s digital ecosystem, a campaign that Zelenskyy says is designed to inflict maximum disruption on the daily lives of ordinary Ukrainian citizens. “All this affects people’s ability to stay connected, study, work,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post Friday. “The Russians are constantly expanding their escalation operation: American and other businesses, data centres, internet providers – for Russia, all ordinary life is simply a target. It is important that the world responds to all of this and that Russia feels the response to its terror.”

    Connectivity disruptions have already rippled across Ukraine following a wave of earlier strikes earlier this week. Roughly 100,000 households across Kyiv and the surrounding region were left without internet access after Russian strikes on Wednesday, with multiple private companies already beginning the process of transferring sensitive data from damaged onshore servers to secure offshore facilities to avoid total data loss. Even in cities hundreds of kilometers from Kyiv, the impact of the digital infrastructure attacks was felt: in the northwestern city of Lutsk, all electronic public transport information boards went dark on Friday after the strike knocked out core data services the system relies on. Local city officials directly attributed the outage to damage from the Kyiv attack.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized that Russia’s targeting of data centers goes beyond disrupting everyday life, threatening systems that save lives. “Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential – they save lives. This is critical civilian infrastructure… It is not a military target. It is essential to keeping everyday life functioning,” he said Wednesday.

    While Ukrainian defense technology advisor Serhii Beskrestnov acknowledged that local connectivity disruptions are likely to continue and that consumer internet costs may rise to cover repair and rebuilding expenses, he sought to reassure the public that a total nationwide blackout of internet services is not possible. Beskrestnov stressed that Ukraine’s digital network was built with a highly decentralized architecture, meaning that even with targeted strikes on major facilities, the country “will not be left without internet access.” Datagroup also moved quickly to limit service disruption, confirming that all of its offerings continue to operate via preconfigured backup infrastructure while technical teams assess the full extent of the damage from Friday’s strike. Russia’s defense ministry added that it has targeted a range of other major digital and telecommunications facilities across Ukraine in recent days, including facilities operated by New-Telco, United DC, Kyivstar and Parkovyi.

    The shift to targeting digital infrastructure comes as Russia has already ramped up strikes on other critical civilian systems ahead of the approaching winter months, including energy generation facilities and railway lines, in a bid to break Ukrainian public resilience. Ukraine has responded with its own long-range strikes targeting Russian oil refineries and military logistics hubs, arguing that these sites support Russia’s war financing and operational capacity.

    The escalation of Russian attacks on infrastructure connected to Ukraine has spilled beyond Ukraine’s borders, raising new alarm among NATO member states about potential hybrid attacks targeting European infrastructure. In a separate development Friday, Polish prosecutors announced they had opened a formal investigation into an arson attack on a Starlink satellite internet station in the Polish village of Wola Krobowska that occurred on Wednesday. The station is part of a network that routes internet connectivity from Europe to Ukraine, using SpaceX’s Starlink satellite systems that have become a critical communication lifeline for Ukraine throughout the war. Poland’s national prosecutor’s office said there is reasonable suspicion that the perpetrators carried out the attack on the orders of Russian intelligence services; Moscow has not yet issued any comment on the allegation.

    In recent weeks, multiple NATO countries have issued warnings that Russia is preparing to launch a series of hybrid attacks on critical infrastructure in European allied states to test Western commitment to supporting Ukraine, claims Moscow has repeatedly denied. Earlier this month, German authorities blamed Russian actors for an attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport, while French authorities have ordered a sweeping national plan to harden security for critical infrastructure and defense industry sites across the country.

  • U2 celebrate 50th anniversary at the school where they formed

    U2 celebrate 50th anniversary at the school where they formed

    Half a century after four teenage strangers gathered around a Dublin kitchen to form what would become the world’s most iconic rock bands, U2 has returned to where their journey started. On September 25, 2026, exactly 50 years after their first audition, the legendary quartet played a surprise seven-song set for current students on the playground of Dublin’s Mount Temple Comprehensive School – the same institution where all four members were pupils in the mid-1970s.

    Stepping onto the temporary stage built in the playground, frontman Bono greeted the cheering crowd with a playful quip: “We’ve escaped from the lab. How’s the experiment working for you?” Though most of the school’s current students were not alive when U2 reigned as the world’s biggest band, the reception was nothing short of hero worship. Young fans waved hand-painted signs reading “I love U2”, “It’s a beautiful day – no school”, and “Bono, my mum says hi!” as the band launched into a career-spanning set that pulled from five decades of hits, alongside their brand-new single *Silencio*.

    The set included staples *I Will Follow*, *Vertigo*, *With Or Without You*, *Beautiful Day*, *Out of Control* and *One*, and even featured guest accompaniment from student musicians of Ireland’s Music Generation education programme – an initiative U2 helped found and fund 15 years ago. During the performance, teachers at first had to pull down students who had climbed onto their classmates’ shoulders for a better view, but many soon dropped their discipline and joined in the dancing. Standing on the ground where U2 played their very first debut gig in 1976, Bono was visibly overcome with emotion, pausing mid-speech before managing to express his gratitude: “Thanks for, er… Yeah… I didn’t… Wow.”

    The band’s origin story, shared in new interviews with BBC News, is equal parts messy chance encounter and happy accident. It all began when 14-year-old drummer Larry Mullen Jr pinned a handwritten note to Mount Temple’s noticeboard that read simply: “Drummer seeks musicians to form band.” Mullen Jr. revealed the idea was never actually his – it was his frustrated father, tired of his son practicing alone at home, who pushed him to find collaborators. “I wasn’t very good at many things, and playing the drums was included in that. So I think he, out of frustration, said I should try and play with other people,” Mullen Jr. explained, with Bono joking in response: “And unfortunately, he got the three of us.”

    Auditions were held just a few days later, on 25 September 1976, in the Mullen family kitchen. Bono, then going by his birth name Paul Hewson, was 16 and nearly skipped the audition entirely – he thought he was too old to fit in with a group of younger students. It was only a ride from his friend Reggie Manuel on a rickety old Yamaha DX100 motorbike (which Bono jokes he still tells people was a Harley Davidson) that convinced him to attend. The first rehearsal was far from promising: there was more chatting than playing, future bassist Adam Clayton was selected more for his “best hair” than his (non-existent) bass skills, and Bono – who hoped to play guitar – forgot to bring his instrument. But even that chaotic first day had a hint of what was to come: halfway through the rehearsal, a group of screaming young fans already tried to climb the Mullen family garden wall. Clayton recalled that moment sealed the deal for him: “Larry already had a fan club, and we thought, ‘Well, if he’s got a fan club, that looks pretty good to us. Maybe if we hang out with this guy, it might stretch a little further.’” Mullen Jr. infamously turned a garden hose on the crowd, a move he still defends as playful kindness on a hot day, leading Bono to joke: “It’s been the story of our lives ever since. He doesn’t even want to have fans, but we quite like them.”

    From that humble kitchen starting point, the band that was first called Feedback, then The Hype, and finally U2 would go on to conquer the world. They have sold more than 175 million records worldwide, packed stadiums across every continent, and reinvented rock stadium touring with boundary-pushing productions like the 1992 Zoo TV Tour, which revolutionized the use of large video screens and multimedia backdrops for live shows. Over decades, they shifted from scrappy punk upstarts to arena rock icons, then embraced electronic and dance experimentation on 1990s albums *Achtung Baby*, *Zooropa* and *Pop*, never sticking to one sound. Guitarist The Edge, born Dave Evans, credits the band’s 50-year longevity to their lack of formal musical training: “It’s been a guiding light, in some ways, the limitations of the band. We’re in this place where, musically, we never know what’s about to happen. It can fall apart or it can become something extraordinary. And that’s the beauty of U2.” A core decision to split all earnings equally among the four members has also helped them stay close for five decades.

    Back at Mount Temple on Friday, Bono paid tribute to the school that nurtured the band’s early days, dedicating the performance to the late school councillor Jack Heaslip, who later served as a traveling chaplain for U2’s tours before passing away from motor neurone disease in 2015. He noted that the support of teachers allowed the band to realize their potential right where they were: “maybe all we needed was around us, just under our feet.”

    The surprise homecoming gig also doubled as a launch pad for U2’s next chapter. Ahead of the show, the band officially announced their 16th studio album, *Carnaval de Luz*, set for release this November. The record will cap off a three-part project that began with February’s fiery *Days of Ash* EP, which addressed global crises including ICE killings in the U.S., the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Palestine conflict, followed by April’s softer *Easter Lily* EP. The band describes *Carnaval de Luz* as “a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs”, with Bono promising “loud guitars, deep bass [and] ecstatic rhythms.” The album’s closing track, *Torn*, holds extra historic weight: it was co-written with country icon Dolly Parton, and marks Parton’s final recorded performance before her death last month. The track is described as “a tender country song detailing broken family ties, that holds wider resonances.” BBC News will publish a full interview with the band about the new album and *Torn* in the coming weeks.

  • British climber dies after falling 60m on Spanish mountainside

    British climber dies after falling 60m on Spanish mountainside

    A fatal mountaineering accident has claimed the life of a 28-year-old British climber on one of northern Spain’s tallest peaks, while a second hiker suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a separate incident on the same range Thursday.

    According to Spain’s Civil Guard, the British climber fell roughly 60 meters into a steep vertical gully as he approached the summit of 2,650-meter Torrecerredo, located in the Cantabrian Mountains’ popular Picos de Europa range. The incident unfolded roughly 20 meters below the peak as the climber began his descent.

    Local emergency services received the first distress call at approximately 13:45 local time, or 11:45 GMT, triggering an immediate response that combined ground police units and aerial support. To reach the remote accident site on the mountain’s eastern face, two specialized mountain rescue technicians were lowered to the scene via winch, where they confirmed the climber had died from his injuries. Recovery teams later retrieved the climber’s body and personal effects from the gully, before transporting the remains to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Asturias for formal identification procedures. As of the latest update, Spanish authorities have not released the climber’s identity, consistent with ongoing investigative protocols.

    A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office confirmed Saturday that the department has initiated contact with Spanish local authorities following confirmation of the British national’s death. “We are in contact with local authorities following reports of the death of a British national in Spain,” the spokesperson said in a brief statement.

    In an unrelated second incident on the same mountain range Thursday afternoon, regional emergency management agency Sepa Asturias responded to a second call for help, after a 54-year-old French female hiker sustained a leg injury during her trek. The agency transported the injured woman to a local hospital for treatment; no further details on her condition have been released as of press time.

    The Picos de Europa range, which includes Torrecerredo, is a top destination for domestic and international climbers and hikers, drawing thousands of outdoor enthusiasts each year thanks to its dramatic alpine terrain and scenic vistas. While mountain accidents are relatively rare in the well-monitored range, steep gullies and rapidly changing weather conditions create ongoing hazards for even experienced climbers.

  • Why is the Pope in France?

    Why is the Pope in France?

    When Pope Francis touches down on French soil, the warm and widespread public enthusiasm that has greeted his visit has sparked widespread curiosity across global and European media circles. To understand the core of this positive reception, veteran BBC correspondent Hugh Schofield has delved into the context and underlying dynamics shaping the trip and the public response to it.

    According to Schofield’s analysis, leaders within the Catholic Church frame the outpouring of enthusiasm around the papal visit as a clear reflection of a broader, growing shift toward spirituality among the French population. For years, demographic and cultural shifts in Western Europe have been associated with declining institutional religious participation, particularly in traditionally Catholic nations like France. But Church officials argue that changing attitudes in recent years have created a renewed hunger for spiritual connection and community that has translated into excitement around the Pope’s trip.

    The visit comes amid a range of social and cultural conversations in France that touch on the role of faith in public life, community cohesion, and moral guidance for a population navigating post-pandemic social shifts, economic uncertainty, and growing cultural division. Unlike many high-profile papal visits that center heavily on political or diplomatic engagements, this trip has drawn organic, grassroots attention from French residents across age groups, according to on-the-ground reporting. Church leaders emphasize that this organic enthusiasm is not just a show of support for the Pope as an individual, but a visible sign of a broader reawakening of spiritual interest across the country that has been building slowly over the past decade.

    Observers note that the Pope’s own focus on issues like economic inequality, climate action, and social inclusion has also resonated with many French people who may not regularly attend religious services but align with the Vatican’s stance on these high-profile public issues. This overlap has helped expand the appeal of the visit beyond active practicing Catholics, contributing to the broad enthusiasm that has been visible across the country since the Pope’s arrival.

  • Students strike across Germany in protest against military service

    Students strike across Germany in protest against military service

    A wave of coordinated school strikes has spread across Germany, as young demonstrators rally in major cities and towns to oppose the federal government’s potential gradual reintroduction of compulsory military service, a policy shift driven by shifting European security dynamics following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    Organizers behind the movement, which carries the name School Strike Against Compulsory Military Service, confirm the protests were sparked by recent official actions that exposed the path toward mandatory service. Bela Breitner, one of the strike’s lead coordinators, emphasized that German federal leadership is actively advancing plans to bring back compulsory service incrementally. At a large rally in Hamburg, hundreds of young protesters filled city streets, waving placards and holding towering banners emblazoned with the uncompromising message: “We won’t take part in your wars.”

    The push to expand Germany’s military capacity comes as Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made strengthening the Bundeswehr, Germany’s national armed forces, his top national security priority. In January of this year, a new framework law establishing a voluntary military service scheme went into effect, designed to boost recruitment numbers to meet expanded defense goals. But the legislation leaves the door open for the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, to approve a form of mandatory service if volunteer recruitment falls short of targets or the regional security situation deteriorates further.

    Under the current law, all 18-year-old German residents are sent an official questionnaire to gauge their interest in joining the armed forces. For men, completing the questionnaire and attending a mandatory fitness medical exam is required by law, regardless of whether they express interest in serving; for women, participation in the process is fully voluntary.

    Protesters say the trigger for mass action came when dozens of 18-year-olds in the northern German towns of Kiel and Flensburg received official summonses for mandatory medical exams, even after they explicitly marked on their questionnaires that they had no interest in enlisting. A 16-year-old protester from Hamburg, Elias Bernhard, told reporters on the ground that survey responses already make clear young Germans overwhelmingly reject mandatory military service. “That is why I am out on the streets today,” Bernhard said. “That is why we are serious about striking until compulsory military service is off the table. We will carry on.”

    In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense clarified that the legal obligation for medical exams applies to all men liable for military service born after December 31, 2007 – even those who have stated they have no desire to serve. As of July, roughly 1,000 18-year-old men who declined to express interest in military service have already completed the mandatory exams, the spokesperson confirmed. Organizers of the current strike movement report that more than 100 separate demonstrations are scheduled across the country in the coming days, with major actions planned in Berlin, Frankfurt, Kiel, and Hamburg, in addition to the rallies already held.

    The current debate marks a dramatic reversal of decades of post-Cold War defense policy in Germany. During the Cold War, Germany maintained a large standing conscript army, similar to many other Western European nations. After the collapse of the Iron Curtain and German reunification, the country gradually downsized its armed forces, and former Chancellor Angela Merkel fully abolished compulsory military service in 2011.

    Today, the shift back toward expanded conscription stems from two key pressures: heightened perceptions of Russian security threats following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and persistent pressure from Germany’s long-standing ally the United States to increase European defense spending and capacity. Merz has publicly pledged to transform the Bundeswehr into the most capable conventional land force in Europe, with a target of growing active-duty troop numbers from the current 186,700 to 260,000 by the early 2030s, supported by an additional 200,000 reservists. The expansion is designed to meet new NATO collective defense force requirements and shore up Germany’s position as a leading security provider in Central Europe.

  • Hundreds of thousands expected in Paris for Pope’s visit

    Hundreds of thousands expected in Paris for Pope’s visit

    Pope Leo XIV launched a highly anticipated four-day apostolic journey across France on Friday, marking one of the most high-profile Vatican visits to the historically Catholic European nation in decades. The tour, which will take the pontiff from the streets of Paris to the Pyrenean sanctuary of Lourdes before concluding in the northeastern city of Metz, is expected to draw millions of worshippers and observers across all three stops, with its centerpiece a massive open-air Mass scheduled for Saturday afternoon in the heart of the French capital.

    Local authorities have completed extensive preparations for the Parisian gathering: a custom-built altar has been erected on Place de la Concorde, and security forces have sealed off large sections of the iconic Champs-Élysées to accommodate the expected crowd. Organizers project that as many as 600,000 Catholic faithful will pack the famous avenue, stretching all the way to the Arc de Triomphe and beyond, to attend the service. Following the Mass, the pontiff will travel via Popemobile through the gathered crowds to the fire-ravaged Notre-Dame cathedral ahead of an evening gathering with 80,000 young people at Paris’s Stade de France. The Pope will also hold a meeting with a group of migrants during his time in the capital.

    On Friday morning, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Pope Leo at Paris’s Orly Airport, ahead of scheduled closed-door talks at the Élysée Palace focused on pressing geopolitical conflicts and the societal impacts of artificial intelligence. Macron will join the Pope for a joint address in Metz on the final day of the visit, but will not attend any of the papal Masses — a deliberate choice to uphold France’s longstanding legal principle of strict separation between church and state. In his place, first lady Brigitte Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will represent the French government at the Champs-Élysées Mass. Several high-profile candidates for 2027’s French presidential election are also scheduled to attend, including nationalist right leader Marine Le Pen, centrist figures Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, and conservative leader Bruno Retailleau.

    Earlier unconfirmed reports claimed tensions had emerged between Macron’s team and Vatican organizers over the scope of ceremonial elements for the visit, with the French president reportedly disappointed that the Pope declined a more formal public procession. Élysée officials pushed back on these claims this week, noting that while traditional ceremonial honors including a cavalry escort down the Champs-Élysées were extended to the Pope — who holds status as a head of state — it was always understood the pontiff might not accept the offer. Officials did confirm that Pope Leo turned down a planned meeting with artisans leading the reconstruction of Notre-Dame cathedral, citing the already overcrowded schedule of the visit.

    On Sunday, the Pope will travel to Lourdes, the iconic Catholic pilgrimage site in the French Pyrenees, where 150,000 people have already registered to attend his Mass. During his stop in Lourdes, Pope Leo will also hold a private meeting with survivors of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy, a key priority for his papacy. The tour will wrap up on Monday in Metz, where the pontiff will honor Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the European Union and a devout Catholic who is currently a candidate for beatification by the Church.

    Born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955, Pope Leo XIV has deep ancestral ties to France: his paternal grandmother was born in Le Havre, Normandy in 1894, and the Prevost family name itself originates from her mother’s French maiden name.

    France’s relationship with the Catholic Church has been long and complex over centuries. While it was historically known as the “Eldest Daughter of the Church” — a title rooted in the (historically inaccurate) claim that it was the first kingdom to convert to Christianity — the nation has seen centuries of shifting dynamics between Paris and Rome. The 14th century saw the papacy take up exile in Avignon, southern France, while French forces repeatedly intervened in Italian politics when popes held secular as well as spiritual power. Napoleon Bonaparte infamously held two popes in captivity during his rule.

    Recent popes have made frequent visits to France: Pope John Paul II traveled to the country multiple times between 1980 and 2004, while Pope Francis made three visits, but chose to avoid Paris in favor of stops in Strasbourg, Marseille and Corsica. Today, like much of the rest of Western Europe, France has undergone widespread secularization: fewer than half of the French population identifies as Catholic, with regular church attendance falling from 35% in 1960 to less than 5% today. The number of active priests in the country has also shrunk by two-thirds, dropping from 25,000 in 1990 to fewer than 9,000 today.

    Even amid this long-term secular shift, Catholic leaders say they have seen growing signs of renewed spiritual interest across French society in recent years. The number of adult baptisms in France has more than doubled over five years, reaching 10,000 in 2025. Reflecting on this trend, Cardinal François Bustillo, Bishop of Ajaccio, noted that while secularization has created a void in the space once filled by religious values, many people are now searching for connection to their cultural and spiritual roots. “It was John-Paul II who awoke the East. Now Leo XIV will awake the West,” Bustillo said. Church officials attribute the massive crowds expected for the Pope’s visit to this growing spiritual thirst across France and wider Europe.

  • Italy ministers agree to ban burqa and niqab in school and cap foreigners in class

    Italy ministers agree to ban burqa and niqab in school and cap foreigners in class

    Italy’s conservative-led government has greenlit two divisive new education policies: a ban on full-face Islamic veils in all school settings, and a legal cap on the share of students with limited Italian language proficiency in any single classroom. The new rules, which were formally approved during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, impose a 30% maximum limit for students with poor Italian language skills or non-Italian citizenship in the first year of primary, middle, and high school respectively.

    Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni framed these measures as common-sense policies designed to facilitate integration rather than divide communities. In an announcement Sunday, Meloni emphasized that students must attend school with their faces fully visible, arguing that no person should mandate that a young woman hide her identity in the name of cultural or religious tradition. The ban specifically targets burqas, which are full-body veils that cover the entire face with only a mesh screen for vision, and niqabs, which are face veils that leave only the area around the eyes exposed. The regulation does not extend to hijabs, which leave the face uncovered.

    Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara has defended the 30% cap, clarifying that it is rooted in linguistic need rather than a ban on citizenship, while framing the full-face veil ban as a step forward for gender equality. According to Valditara, the cap is intended to prevent the formation of so-called “ghetto classes” where students with limited Italian are concentrated in a small number of classrooms, slowing their language acquisition and social integration. Local education authorities will be required to redistribute students with limited Italian evenly across neighboring schools; when redistribution is not feasible, exemptions will be granted alongside additional targeted Italian language instruction. The new decree also requires schools to report cases where persistent language barriers among parents hinder a child’s integration to social services, who will then offer free Italian language courses to parents.

    Data from research institute Fondazione ISMU shows that non-Italian citizens currently make up around 11.6% of Italy’s total student population. The 30% cap applies differently across education levels: for primary school, it covers non-citizen students not born in Italy or those who have not completed at least two years of nursery school in Italy. For lower and upper secondary school, the cap applies to non-citizen students who have not successfully completed at least three years of the Italian education system.

    This policy is not entirely new ground for Italy. A 2010 ministerial guidance introduced during the tenure of former Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini already set a 30% “rule of thumb” cap for non-Italian citizen students. What this new decree does is codify that existing guidance into binding law, and expand the scope to include the veil ban. As a decree law, the measures take effect immediately, but they must receive formal ratification from the Italian parliament within 60 days to remain in force.

    Opposition parties have harshly criticized the new policies, arguing that the government is prioritizing political gain over student welfare, and accusing Meloni of pandering to hard-right factions ahead of next year’s general election. Critics specifically point to the hard-right party Futuro Nazionale, led by retired military general Roberto Vannacci, who has positioned himself as a more extreme alternative to the current ruling coalition from the right. Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, has dismissed the plan as nothing more than political propaganda that is impossible to implement. Anna Ascani, deputy leader of the Democratic Party and vice-president of the lower chamber of parliament, went further, accusing the government of spreading propaganda at the expense of Italian schoolchildren.

    Valditara rejected these accusations during a video press conference from New York, telling reporters “We are not chasing Vannacci; if anything, he is chasing us.” Vannacci himself has stated that he supports the measures, but argues they should have been implemented years ago. Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party which is part of the ruling coalition, recently introduced a separate package of policies targeting what he calls “political Islam,” and has accused Vannacci of consistently voting against the current government. Salvini also stated that he hopes Futuro Nazionale will support his party’s new proposals, adding another layer of tension to intra-coalition politics on the Italian right.

  • Priest killed and four injured in knife attack at Polish abbey

    Priest killed and four injured in knife attack at Polish abbey

    A brutal knife attack at a Catholic abbey in the southeastern Polish town of Jarosław has left one priest dead and four other people wounded, according to Polish law enforcement and government officials. A 31-year-old Ukrainian national has been taken into police custody following Thursday morning’s stabbing incident on the abbey grounds, authorities confirmed.

    Local law enforcement agencies have sealed off the perimeter of the abbey to preserve evidence for the ongoing investigation. Initial reports from Polish media outline that the attacker first stabbed a priest at a nearby cafe before moving into the abbey compound and attacking four additional people. Police have confirmed that the victims of the attack include four men and one woman, though the name of the deceased priest has not been made public to protect the privacy of his family.

    The attack has drawn swift condemnation and response from senior officials on both sides of the Poland-Ukraine border. Polish President Karol Nawrocki released a statement Thursday noting that the violence “has shaken us all and demands a firm response from the state.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk added that the perpetrator “will be punished with the full severity of Polish law,” while Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński announced that psychological support services have been activated for all people impacted by the traumatic incident.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also released a statement expressing his country’s shock at the violence, saying “we are shocked by this evil.” He echoed Polish officials in calling for full legal accountability, adding that “the perpetrator of this evil must bear full responsibility according to the law” and that Ukraine is anticipating “a quick and thorough investigation of all circumstances.” The Ukrainian Embassy in Warsaw also issued a formal condemnation of the attack, noting in a statement: “In such difficult moments, it is especially important to support each other, remain steadfast in respect for human life, and not allow pain to escalate into hatred or new violence. Responsibility for a crime must be based solely on the law.”

    At present, Polish law enforcement is still working to establish a clear motive for the attack. The incident comes amid a period of increased tension between Polish citizens and the more than one million Ukrainian refugees who have settled in Poland following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Over recent months, Poland has recorded multiple violent incidents involving locals and Ukrainian refugees, prompting officials on both sides to call for calm and due process in the wake of this latest attack.