ALMOST entire Europe witnessed worst riots in recent years last week, ringing alarm bells for government and residents. Violent clashes spread across England, France, Albania, Italy, Portugal and Belgium on 17 October 2026, as demonstrations over rising living costs, declining public services, housing affordability and education standards escalated into confrontation with police and arson, looting and attacks on public buildings. Worst hit was Paris which saw normal life completely paralyzed and enormous damage to government buildings and private property. One could see hundreds of burnt vehicles everywhere. Riots seemed to be well-coordinated and planned as the turnout of public was massive and so seemed to be their agenda, basically driven by a combination of the cost-of-living crisis, soaring housing costs, failing public services and student grievances, which escalated into clashes with police, arson and looting. High inflation, surging food and fuel costs—exacerbated by geopolitical disruptions like the conflict affecting energy supplies—have strained household budgets. In France, one in three persons reportedly ends up each month with their bank account overdrawn. The protests were triggered by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home after an investment fund hiked her rent by 230%. She later died in hospital. Protesters called for rent freezes, halting the evictions of vulnerable people and the regulation of short-term rentals.
Similar pleas were made across the Iberian border in Portugal, when hundreds gathered in central Lisbon. Portuguese housing prices more than doubled between 2015 and 2024, roughly twice as fast as the EU average, according to official data. Squeezed household budgets were also at the center of marches in Milan, Italy. Masked rioters seemingly later seized on the protests to throw stones, paving blocks and other objects at riot police and setting fire to barricades made from bar tables. There were also clashes between police and protesters in Turin and Bologna. Meanwhile, protests in Albania against the Prime Minister, Edi Rama, entered their seventh day. Demonstrators have said they are unhappy with perceived corruption, lack of jobs and poor education standards.
The education protests in France began in September, a week after the start of the school year. Protests soon began springing up in Portugal and Belgium. In France, demonstrations reached a high point as about half a million people turned out to protest against the surging cost of living and join the students demanding better conditions at their schools. That day there were also marches in Belgium, Portugal and Italy. In Albania, protests have been taking place since the summer, triggered by a luxury coastal development backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In France, the government has said it will deploy 3,000 more substitute teachers to deal with shortages and include students in decision-making for schools. It also scrapped plans to increase some university registration fees, which it had announced for next year’s budget. Fuel protests in mid-September led to an announcement by the Élysée that the government would increase petrol subsidies for certain industries.
Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, attempted to pass emergency housing legislation that included a ban on evictions until 2030 and the regulation of temporary lettings and lettings by room. The legislation’s defeat at the hands of right wing and far-right parties in parliament led Sánchez to call a snap election for 29 November, as he told the public he needed a “broader progressive majority” to get new reforms through. Housing campaigners have vowed to keep up the pressure on politicians to address soaring costs, announcing plans for a general strike on 11 November.
French President, Macron said a distinction must be drawn between what he described as genuine, peaceful demonstrators who were making demands over the cost of living and the education system and others who “destroy, ransack and loot”. His interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, appeared to signal the French government was not willing to concede further, as he blamed “far-left” protesters and “criminals who looted and ransacked” buildings across France. The country will go to the polls in April 2027. France’s Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, in the mean while has called for “very limited” and “localized” curfews. Meanwhile, the protests continue. In Paris, about a dozen demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Louvre on Monday, leaving tourists milling outside the world’s most-visited museum.
Across the Atlantic in USA, according to a leading global watchdog, US democracy is now more imperiled than at any point since the 1960s. Press freedom is under threat on many fronts – from criminal investigations to politicized regulation, frivolous lawsuits and catastrophic funding cuts to public media. With the midterm elections approaching, these attacks are accelerating. Most recently, Trump banned CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House, in retaliation for “negative” coverage. While a federal judge has restored White House access for now, saying the ban is likely unconstitutional, the case is still in the courts. At the same time, Trump is using the FCC – which is supposed to be an independent regulator in the public interest – to settle political scores: The FCC targeted ABC after Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about the First Lady and Trump suggested that the agency should punish the host of Meet the Press for making a factual statement the president disliked.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, fired the editor of Stars and Stripes newspaper for “insubordination” shortly after they reported on a suicide attempt aboard the USS Lincoln, the Navy aircraft carrier, reported to be in dire straits after 10 months at sea. Together these efforts make it more difficult to get fact-based reporting to US voters ahead of critical elections that will determine control of Congress and the future of Trump’s agenda. Making matters worse, many of the US’s largest news organizations are now owned by billionaires whose personal and business interests may imperil the outlets’ editorial independence. Media critics have observed how CBS News, now owned by a Trump ally, has softened its coverage; CNN could be taken over by the same billionaire; and Jeff Bezos has imposed extreme staff cuts and editorial interventions at the Washington Post.
