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Moscow, Minsk Kick Off Relocation of Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

The Russian and Belarusian ministers of defense have signed documents that determine procedures regarding weapons relocation and mechanisms of placing them under the Russian forces’ control on the Belarusian territories. (AFP)
The Russian and Belarusian ministers of defense have signed documents that determine procedures regarding weapons relocation and mechanisms of placing them under the Russian forces’ control on the Belarusian territories. (AFP)
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Moscow, Minsk Kick Off Relocation of Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

The Russian and Belarusian ministers of defense have signed documents that determine procedures regarding weapons relocation and mechanisms of placing them under the Russian forces’ control on the Belarusian territories. (AFP)
The Russian and Belarusian ministers of defense have signed documents that determine procedures regarding weapons relocation and mechanisms of placing them under the Russian forces’ control on the Belarusian territories. (AFP)

Russia and Belarus have finalized the arrangements for relocating some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, signed on Thursday documents that determine joint procedures regarding the relocation of weapons and organize the mechanisms of placing them under the Russian forces’ control on Belarusian territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two months ago a decree to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Belarus's Ministry of Defense said the agreement refers to a special storage facility on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.

The two defense ministers discussed the political and military situation as well as the technical and military cooperation between the two ministries.

Control over the weaponry and decision on its use remains with Moscow, Shoigu stressed.

He added that Russia may take “additional measures” in the future “to ensure the security of the Union State and respond to the military-political situation.”

“The collective West is essentially waging an undeclared war against our countries,” added the Russian defense minister.

Shoigu arrived in Minsk on Thursday to take part in the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The participants exchange views on regional challenges and threats, improving the crisis response system, and other joint issues. CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Shoigu said during the meeting that the decision was made in the context of an extremely sharp escalation of threats on the western borders of Russia and Belarus.

Shoigu said that Iskander-M missiles, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, had been handed to the Belarusian armed forces, and some Su-25 aircraft had been converted for the possible use of nuclear weapons.

"Belarusian servicemen have received the necessary training," Shoigu was quoted as saying by his ministry.

The Russian Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Public Relations Center announced on Thursday that on the eve of May 9, Victory Day, an attempt by Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) to commit sabotage at two nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the Leningrad and Tver regions of Russia was thwarted.

The FSB noted that an attempt was made to blow up over 30 pylons of high-voltage electric power lines which, as plotted by the Ukrainian secret services, would have shut down nuclear reactors, disrupted the regular operations of nuclear facilities, and caused serious economic and reputational damage to the Russian Federation.

Moreover, six drones were downed Wednesday night in Russian-annexed Crimea.

The Russian-backed head of Crimea's administration said on Thursday that air defenses had downed six drones overnight in different areas of the region.

There were no casualties, Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.

Moreover, Russia's Wagner group has started moving its forces out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Thursday.

Prigozhin announced the capture of Bakhmut, adding that his fighters would pull out by June 1.

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World

Police Made 1,314 Arrests in France’s Protests, Says Govt

A pedestrian walks past a broken window, a day after a demonstration in favor of purchasing power, the protection of public services, and fiscal and social justice, in Paris on October 25, 2026 as part of a nationwide call for mobilization bringing together former members of the Yellow Vest movement, labor unions, high school and university students. (AFP)
A pedestrian walks past a broken window, a day after a demonstration in favor of purchasing power, the protection of public services, and fiscal and social justice, in Paris on October 25, 2026 as part of a nationwide call for mobilization bringing together former members of the Yellow Vest movement, labor unions, high school and university students. (AFP)
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Police Made 1,314 Arrests in France’s Protests, Says Govt

A pedestrian walks past a broken window, a day after a demonstration in favor of purchasing power, the protection of public services, and fiscal and social justice, in Paris on October 25, 2026 as part of a nationwide call for mobilization bringing together former members of the Yellow Vest movement, labor unions, high school and university students. (AFP)
A pedestrian walks past a broken window, a day after a demonstration in favor of purchasing power, the protection of public services, and fiscal and social justice, in Paris on October 25, 2026 as part of a nationwide call for mobilization bringing together former members of the Yellow Vest movement, labor unions, high school and university students. (AFP)

Police arrested 1,314 people in weekend protests across France, the interior ministry said Sunday, adding that 53 officers were hurt in clashes.

The arrests occurred as violence broke out on the margins of mass demonstrations in major cities on Saturday over the high cost of living.

It was the second consecutive weekend of unrest in France, which is heading to presidential elections in April and May to choose a successor to Emmanuel Macron, who is reaching his two-term limit.

The interior ministry said police responded to 75 fires during Saturday's protests, adding that 24 shops were looted.

"Several investigations have been opened," it said in a statement, without giving details. It said that the rest of Saturday night, after the clashes had died down, was "calm".

The ministry statement on Sunday did not say how many protesters were hurt.

Late Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez spoke of two serious injuries among protesters: one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand.

- Protesters hurt -

The Toulouse prefecture, which reports to the interior ministry, told AFP that a 20-year-old man was seriously hurt with a wound to his hand.

A street medic who tended demonstrators told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the man had "several fingers" blown off his right hand.

The prefecture covering Clermont-Ferrand said a man there also had a hand hurt, but did not suffer the loss of any fingers.

A French regional daily, La Nouvelle Republique, reported that a man in Poitiers was hurt in his left eye, showing a photo of a man holding his face.

The newspaper's photographer told AFP he was a 19-year-old who was wounded during a charge by riot police firing stun grenades and tear gas.

There have been several instances in recent weeks, during student protests in France, of people being maimed by police stun grenades or tear gas grenades.

It was not known if the injuries reported from Saturday were from those police weapons. Officials said investigations had been opened in at least some of the cases.

World

Far-right Leader Le Pen Kicks Off Tilt at French Presidency amid Nationwide Protests

26 September 2026, France, Paris: Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen arrive at Place de la Concorde ahead of Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Paris. Photo: Pierre Teyssot / Agf/AGF via ZUMA Press/dpa
26 September 2026, France, Paris: Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen arrive at Place de la Concorde ahead of Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Paris. Photo: Pierre Teyssot / Agf/AGF via ZUMA Press/dpa
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Far-right Leader Le Pen Kicks Off Tilt at French Presidency amid Nationwide Protests

26 September 2026, France, Paris: Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen arrive at Place de la Concorde ahead of Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Paris. Photo: Pierre Teyssot / Agf/AGF via ZUMA Press/dpa
26 September 2026, France, Paris: Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen arrive at Place de la Concorde ahead of Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Paris. Photo: Pierre Teyssot / Agf/AGF via ZUMA Press/dpa

Marine Le Pen, France's far-right candidate to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in elections in six months, was to give her first campaign speech on Sunday, a day after protests sweeping the country again flared into violence.

Le Pen -- the frontrunner according to surveys -- is seen benefiting from the convulsions France has been going through for weeks, punctuated by mass rallies and violent clashes on Saturday and a week earlier, said AFP.

More than 400,000 people marched in major French cities on Saturday to protest the rising cost of living, with groups of masked youths breaking away to provoke police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon. Police made more than 1,000 arrests.

Officers faced "an extremely elevated level of violence" from black-clad "ultra-left" extremists who had trailed in the demonstrations, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Saturday.

A week earlier, on October 17, similar nationwide marches took place, also against rising inflation sent surging by the war in the Middle East. They, too, degenerated into street violence, with public buildings vandalized and hundreds of shops looted.

The mass rallies were fed by four weeks of student protests across France, over classroom conditions and access to university places, which at times also descended into clashes.

Unions and Yellow Vest protesters have vowed to keep up their street marches in the weeks ahead, pointing to a febrile period as the elections draw near.

- Anger at Macron -

Le Pen, who will address 10,000 members of her National Rally (RN) party in the city of Orleans, has accused Macron's centrist government of being soft on violent protesters and lacking authority.

Police were on Sunday filtering traffic going into Orleans, after thousands of counter-protesters opposed to Le Pen and her anti-immigration, nationalist RN marched in the city on Saturday chanting anti-fascist slogans.

Police put their numbers at 13,000, while organizers estimated the turnout at twice that.

If Le Pen wins the two-stage presidential elections in April and May, she has vowed to cut the cost of living through capped household energy bills, reduced taxes and trimming France's contribution to the European Union.

She is also critical of NATO, and of France's support of Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion.

The RN, which portrays itself as a party of law and order, has also sided strongly with the police in the current unrest.

The head of Le Pen's party, Jordan Bardella, whom she intends to make prime minister if she becomes president, has visited police stations to underline that credential.

French voters, angry over Macron's perceived detachment over his two terms and his recent orders to curb the protests, are turning to more extremist politics, polling shows.

An Ipsos survey published Saturday suggested Le Pen would score 32 to 34 percent of the vote in the first round of the election, with a far-left rival, Jean-Luc Melenchon, getting 17 percent. Centrist candidates from mainstream parties trailed them.

Asked about the protest violence, a majority of the 1,500 people questioned in the survey -- 58 percent -- said they felt anger.

It found 81 percent believed the government was "responsible for this situation", while 79 percent thought radical political groups were, 62 percent blamed the left, and 52 percent blamed the police.

- No money -

Whoever wins the presidency will find limited room to throw money around to placate various clamoring interest groups.

France's public debt and budget deficit have climbed well beyond the ceilings EU member countries are meant to stick to.

Macron's government is trying to get a cost-cutting budget adopted, but faces headwinds from both the sustained protests demanding more spending and the political jockeying by parties eyeing power.

As Macron sees out the final months of his presidency, he has to tread a line between cracking down on street violence and opening dialogue with unions, students and other groups to attempt to restore order.

Although the French president has not invoked a state of emergency, he has ordered bans on non-union demonstrations deemed "illegitimate", and officials under him have imposed bans on protests in city centers and localized curfews in certain zones.

Many protesters on Saturday raged against the measures, describing them as an assault on the French right to protest.

The Yellow Vest movement, which challenged Macron eight years ago with street disruptions, has called for another day of protests next Saturday.

And the powerful CGT union, prominent in the demonstrations, is urging a campaign of strikes starting from November 5.

World

Iran Parliament Speaker Calls for Cutting Gas Consumption by 10 Percent as Winter Nears

Traffic moves past an installation depicting butterflies forming the Iranian national flag in Tehran on October 21, 2026. (AFP)
Traffic moves past an installation depicting butterflies forming the Iranian national flag in Tehran on October 21, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran Parliament Speaker Calls for Cutting Gas Consumption by 10 Percent as Winter Nears

Traffic moves past an installation depicting butterflies forming the Iranian national flag in Tehran on October 21, 2026. (AFP)
Traffic moves past an installation depicting butterflies forming the Iranian national flag in Tehran on October 21, 2026. (AFP)

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday called for a campaign to cut gas consumption by at least 10 percent, with officials anticipating shortages as winter approaches.

While a major producer, Iran has long suffered shortages of natural gas, essential for powering heating systems, which have been exacerbated by war with the United States and Israel that began in February.

During the most intense phase of the fighting, which lasted nearly 40 days, the two countries struck key Iranian infrastructure including natural gas refineries, according to Tehran.

Winter in Iran often sees temperatures drop below freezing, especially in the country's north.

"To get through the approaching winter, a nationwide effort is essential ... to reduce gas consumption by at least 10 percent," said Ghalibaf in a video carried by Iranian media.

"Anyone who saves gas, regardless of the amount, will immediately receive the corresponding proceeds in their bank account, allowing everyone to see the tangible impact of those savings on their household budget."

Earlier in October, First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref said the government anticipated a daily "gas shortfall of 100 million to 250 million cubic meters during the cold season because of the damage caused by the war," according to the official IRNA news agency.

He added that he hoped to restore the supply of around 100 million cubic meters by the start of winter.

An April ceasefire brought an end to the initial phase of intense bombardment, but the two sides have continued to vie for control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas used to travel.

Iran has claimed control over the strait since the outbreak of the war and has regularly targeted vessels that attempt crossings without its authorization.

In response, Washington has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports and in August announced what it called an "economic asphyxiation" campaign on Iran aimed at strangling its already battered economy.