Monaco Journal - News from Monaco, Monte-Carlo and the world

England and Portugal are in pole position to win their respective 2026 World Cup qualifying groups with two games to spare, with several other European nations also hoping to secure berths at the finals in the upcoming matches.

Does protecting children justify snooping on private messages? That is the sensitive question facing EU countries Wednesday as they wrangle over a push to combat child sexual abuse material online.

An agitated bear roamed the aisles of a supermarket in central Japan, injuring two men and frightening shoppers while separately a man was found dead in a suspected mauling, officials and reports said Wednesday.

At the foot of the Simandou mountains in southeast Guinea's lush tropical forest, thousands of workers, trucks and excavators are digging up the hills.

Collin Morikawa admitted Wednesday that rowdy US fans crossed a line at the Ryder Cup but said he was not to blame despite calling for "absolute chaos".

Standing by a barn brimming with hundreds of bleating sheep, Jesus del Socorro Cuevas leads the far right's charge against "dictatorial" EU environmental regulation in his corner of rural Spain.

A historic Paris Fashion Week has wrapped up after 10 days of Spring-Summer 2026 womenswear shows, featuring many new faces and hailed by critics as marking a "return to elegance".

They were an electoral powerhouse, the party of political titans Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Benjamin Disraeli. But Britain's once-towering Conservatives end their annual meeting on Wednesday with their very future under threat.

The seas around New Zealand are warming much faster than global averages, scientists said Wednesday in a new study warning how climate change could batter the island nation.

In the swamplands along Bangladesh's mighty Padma River, snakes slithering through villages have become an unrelenting menace, leaving residents terrified and hospitals overwhelmed with bite victims.

Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm smashed home runs to spark the New York Yankees over Toronto 9-6 on Tuesday to stay in contention in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Australian police foiled an alleged organised crime hit by a so-called kill team near a Sydney daycare facility, authorities said Wednesday.

Qatar's prime minister and senior delegates from the United States and Turkey will join Hamas and Israeli negotiators on Wednesday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the Gaza war.

Gold prices broke $4,000 for the first time Wednesday as investors piled into the safe haven over expectations for US interest rate cuts and worries over the US government shutdown.

When Donald Trump was elected, Indian garment exporter R.K. Sivasubramaniam thought the new US president would boost business and invested heavily in anticipation of a boom.

The NBA returns to the lucrative China market this week with two pre-season games following a six-year absence after a team official tweeted his support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

The development of new compounds and novel ways of storing energy are some of the research fields commentators say could be contenders for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry announced Wednesday.

When it comes to this year's Nobel Peace Prize, one thing is almost certain: US President Donald Trump will not win, no matter how much he wants it. But who will?

Qatar's prime minister and Turkish delegates will join Hamas and Israeli negotiators in Egypt on Wednesday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the Gaza war.

Women are genetically at higher risk of clinical depression than men, Australian researchers found in a study published Wednesday that could change how the disorder is treated.

Dolly Parton's sister on Tuesday asked fans to pray for the American country singer, who has postponed several concerts due to health issues.

Two hundred Texas National Guard troops have arrived in Illinois, a Pentagon official said Tuesday, ahead of a planned deployment in Chicago that is strongly opposed by local Democratic officials.

Spanish emergency services have found two bodies buried in the rubble after a building under construction collapsed in central Madrid Tuesday, with two more people still missing and several workers injured, authorities said.

Swedish center Jesper Boqvist scored the winning goal in the third period to give reigning champion Florida a 3-2 victory over Chicago in the 2025-26 NHL season opener on Tuesday.

It was just past 2:00 am when a mysterious number rang Nobel laureate John Clarke, what he deemed "obviously a joke call" that grew increasingly surreal when he heard "a voice from Sweden."

Mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor has been issued an 18-month suspension after missing three drug tests in a 12-month period, anti-doping authorities said Tuesday.

President Donald Trump said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would be "very happy" after their trade talks at the White House Tuesday, but offered no immediate concessions on lifting steep US tariffs.

Ecuador's president emerged unharmed from an apparent gun attack on his motorcade Tuesday, a top minister said.

Melchie Dumornay scored twice as Lyon got revenge on Arsenal to open their Women's Champions League campaign with a 2-1 victory in London, while Barcelona thrashed Bayern Munich 7-1 on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that there was a "real chance" to end the war in Gaza, as Israel remembered victims of the October 7 attacks two years ago on Tuesday.

Former England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes ego and club rivalry prevented the Three Lions from winning international tournaments during his time as a player.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been fined $250,000 by the National Football League after directing an "obscene gesture" to fans during last weekend's defeat of the New York Jets, US media reports said on Tuesday.

The injury-hit Cincinnati Bengals signed veteran quarterback Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday following the injury to starter Joe Burrow.

President Andry Rajoelina's appointment of an army general as new prime minister was met with little enthusiasm in Madagascar Tuesday, as protesters gathered again ahead of a looming deadline set by the youth-led movement for a national strike.

Now that the United States claims legal justification for attacking what it says are Venezuelan drug runners in the Caribbean, one hot question is whether something bigger against President Nicolas Maduro is afoot.

The European Union wants to clamp down on "conversion therapy" targeting LGBTQ people, the bloc's equality chief told AFP on Tuesday, but Brussels will stop short of introducing a ban on such practices.

Dominique Pelicot, one of France's worst sex offenders, took the stand Tuesday to push back against the only man to appeal a conviction for raping Pelicot's ex-wife while she was drugged, saying he knew exactly what he was doing.

US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that there was a "real chance" to end the war in Gaza, as Israel marked the second anniversary of the October 7 attack on Tuesday.

UK prosecutors Tuesday said they would appeal a court's decision to drop a charge of supporting "terrorism" brought against a Northern Irish singer from punk rap group Kneecap.