The European Union on Friday pushed back against a US threat to ban any diesel exports unless the 28-member bloc releases more of its fuel stocks, “fully” rejecting the move, an EU official said.  

Smit Machchhar, the Indian captain who was attacked by his co-pilot onboard the Flydubai flight 1073 in an apparent attempt to crash the plane, on Friday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that although he was severely injured in the altercation, “I could not let all those people die”. Although collapsed, he made a last-ditch effort and managed to push the door to the cockpit open.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his election rival Flavio Bolsonaro are leaving no controversy unturned in their last-ditch efforts to discredit each other and win over voters ahead of Sunday's nail-biter election.

Some 400 French schools have been closed and will remain shuttered on Friday as the student protests that began in high schools in the Paris region last week have spread across France and grown increasingly violent. The students are protesting grievances including teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings. The government has blamed the hard left for initiating the movement.

Russian airstrikes hit Kyiv’s Southern Bridge, the city’s mayor said on Friday. Russia also targeted a school and apartment buildings in the capital, killing at least one person. Ukraine, meanwhile, launched an overnight drone attack on the Russian city of Volgograd, targeting industrial facilities. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis struck an electricity distribution station supplying the Prophet’s Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Medina, the Saudi-led coalition said Thursday, drawing condemnation across the Muslim world. The Houthis denied involvement in the drone attack, which came as fighting intensified between government forces and rebels in Yemen.

A record 52% of Europe faced intense heat stress this summer, the EU’s climate monitor said Friday, as climate change fuelled widespread heatwaves and tens of thousands of excess deaths. Europe recorded its third warmest summer, while western Europe experienced its hottest, with several countries setting national temperature records overall.

G20 trade ministers failed to agree on tackling excess industrial capacity and eliminating forced labour from supply chains, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Thursday. Speaking during talks in Milwaukee, Greer highlighted overcapacity, a criticism often directed at China, which rejects it. The United States holds this year's rotating presidency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the co-pilot accused of attacking a flydubai flight carrying mostly Israelis had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination”, as UAE authorities investigated a possible terror link. The captain and passengers overpowered the suspect before the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

French investigative outlet Mediapart said on Thursday it had authenticated antisemitic messages allegedly sent by far-right politician Jordan Bardella in 2013. Bardella denied writing them and said he would sue for defamation and forgery. The allegations come seven months before France’s presidential election, with Marine Le Pen leading opinion polls.

The United States on Thursday urged European allies to release strategic diesel reserves immediately to curb prices driven higher by the US war on Iran. EU states will discuss a coordinated response on Friday, as Washington increases pressure following President Donald Trump's suggestion that he could ban US diesel exports.

British police on Thursday arrested a British-Iranian dual national in connection with the security incident at the Fairford airbase Wednesday. Five other men initially arrested over the incidence were later released without charge on bail.

With looming elections and a draft budget that aims to address a €305.7bn financing requirement, French households are increasingly in the red. Will wages ever manage to outpace energy inflation?

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was hailed as a "hero" on Thursday after fighting to retain control of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight when his co-pilot allegedly attacked him, leaving him wounded but helping avert disaster.

French Prime ​Minister ‌Sébastien Lecornu ⁠is due on Thursday to present a belt-tightening government budget for 2027, with savings predicted to come from freezing wages in the public sector and all but the lowest ‌pensions. A series of targeted tax measures are expected as well.

The pilot of the FlyDubai flight is suspected of having stabbed his copilot midflight in an apparent attempt to crash the plane. The incident has turned focus to similar incidents in the past, where deliberate crashes or near crashes have been instigated by on or off-duty crew.

French security forces on Wednesday detained over 600 people while dozens of police and gendarmes were wounded as protests that have seen blockades of high schools and violent clashes escalated, the interior minister said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the United States has slashed the number of its generals and admirals by 20 percent, in a move he said is aimed at "accountability."

FlyDubai, the budget airline owned by Emirates Airlines, has temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel after one of its pilot stabbed his copilot midflight in what appears to have been an attempt to crash the Tel Aviv-bound passenger yet. Israel’s defence minister has labelled the incident as a thwarted “terror attack”. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.

Christa Pike, who has been on death row for more than 30 years for torturing and murdering a classmate, was on Wednesday set to be executed, but the lethal injections meant to kill her failed. Pike was then transported to a medical facility, but except for the fact that she is still alive, her lawyers said they had not been informed about her condition.

El Salvador will hold presidential elections on February 28, 2027, the electoral tribunal said Wednesday, opening the way for President Nayib Bukele to seek a third term after constitutional changes removed presidential term limits. Bukele has drawn praise for sharply reducing gang violence but faced criticism over rights abuses during his crackdown.

Russia launched its heaviest combined assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in months on Wednesday, killing seven people and triggering emergency power cuts in Kyiv and nearby regions. The strikes came as officials warned of a difficult winter as Russian forces target power and heating systems.

The Federal Reserve's watchdog on Wednesday found no grounds for a criminal referral over a roughly $1 billion cost overrun on renovations to the central bank's Washington buildings, while faulting project oversight. The findings prompted President Donald Trump to renew his call for former Fed chief Jerome Powell to resign.

A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement clearing Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery after 12 US states challenged the deal on antitrust grounds. The agreement includes safeguards for CNN’s editorial independence and requires the merged studio to release at least 30 films a year for its first two years.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Wednesday that he had left the team's training camp in Denmark after coach Jorge Jesus told reporters that the striker would be dropped for their next match.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday insisted that there were "strong indications" that Tehran was involved in a security incident on Sunday near an airbase in England that the US military uses in its war against Iran. The British government has still not explained the nature of the incident – in which five British men were arrested only to be later released on bail – and no explosives were found at the scene. 

A British-French agreement aimed at reducing the number of people trying to cross the English Channel in small boats has been scrapped, London said Wednesday. The pilot programme was intended to break the business model of "people smugglers" by exchanging undocumented migrants who had made the crossing for people who legally applied for asylum.

A US appeals court ordered a "short stay of execution" for death row inmate Christa Pike, less than two hours before she was scheduled to be the first woman put to death in the state in more than two centuries. The court halted the execution to give it time to consider Pike's claims that her history of severe sexual abuse had not been taken into consideration during sentencing.

Pro-Russian influence operations have caused a surge of 850% in fake news stories mimicking real media brands, according to a report published this week by disinformation specialist, NewsGuard. Out of the 15 most imitated news outlets, eight are French – including FRANCE 24.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday met Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid on the second day of a two-day state visit. Watch the press conference live in the player above.