A young environmentalist, Rémi Fraisse, 21, was killed by a grenade fired by French police on the night of 25-26 October while he was protesting against the building of a dam in the southwest region of Tarn. The government said nothing about it for two days (although it was quick to honour the memory of an oil company boss who died in a plane crash). The Socialist head of the region’s executive council, Thierry Carcenac, said it was “stupid and dumb” of the protestor to die for an idea. His own (...)

The Ukraine government has withdrawn state financial support from the two rebel ‘republics’ of eastern Ukraine, and the Russian government meddles there but gives little practical assistance. Money is running out, work has run out. And winter has hardly started.