BBC News

Violent anti-government protests took place in towns and cities across France, with shops, businesses and public buildings vandalised, looted and set on fire. The interior minister said more than half a million people took part, and about 400 were arrested; President Macron condemned the violence and promised to prosecute and punish those responsible. The largest protests were in Paris, while civic buildings were targeted in cities including Lyon, Limoges and Marseille. The Europe editor noted the fifth day of violence in Albania over living costs and alleged government corruption, violent demonstrations in Italy, and similar scenes in Spain, Greece and Belgium, and said Europe was divided and looked politically volatile.

Scotland's First Minister John Swinney told the SNP annual conference in Aberdeen that the stars were aligning for supporters of Scottish independence and described unionists in Westminster as united in panic. He promised state intervention to reduce bus fares, funding for community groups to tackle racism, and a million pounds to educate boys and young men about the dangers they can pose to women and girls. Separately, France, Belgium and Poland condemned an attack by masked Israeli settlers on a delegation of European diplomats in the occupied West Bank; Israel's defence forces said they were investigating, while Benjamin Netanyahu's office cast doubt on what it called unproven allegations and claimed a coordinated campaign to smear Israel.

Ukraine's President Zelensky said Donald Trump's decision to block new US sanctions against Russia would only encourage Moscow to keep attacking Ukraine; the sanctions would have targeted Moscow's oil and gas exports, and the Kremlin welcomed the US decision as historic. Pope Leo was discharged from hospital in Rome four days after an operation to remove a cancerous growth from his lung; he walked unaided, greeted well-wishers, and planned to greet crowds in St Peter's Square the following day.