Reuters

France’s worst bout of civil unrest in years has plunged President Emmanuel Macron’s final months in office deeper into turmoil, exposing the powerlessness of a leader struggling to contain social anger with little money to spend, scant political capital and an increasingly fragile grip on public order.

President Emmanuel Macron appealed for calm on Sunday, a day after France suffered one of its worst days of unrest in years, with thousands arrested and shops looted or damaged after protests over high prices and declining public services.

Spain's hard-left parties on Saturday presented separate candidate lists for a snap election after talks on a nationwide pact collapsed, reducing Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez' chances of staying in power at the head of a leftist coalition.

Clashes broke out between police and protesters in cities across France on Saturday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in some of the country's most violent protests in years over rising costs and declining public services.

Spain's Central Electoral Board (JEC) opened disciplinary proceedings against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday over an October 6 press conference after a cabinet meeting to announce new housing legislation, parliament's press office said.

Romania's leftist Social Democrats said they will join the government of Prime Minister-designate Luca Niculescu while other parties pledged their votes, edging the country closer to ending a political crisis that has pressured its investment-grade rating.

Tens of thousands of students stormed the streets of Tirana on Wednesday, setting alight a government building and two banks and hurling stones at police during a protest over rising education costs and corruption. 

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and hard-left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon are gaining momentum ahead of next year's presidential election, a poll showed on Wednesday, with political polarisation widening as Emmanuel Macron's era draws to a close.

Ukrainian drones hit Russia's biggest data centre, owned by the country's largest bank and technology company, Sberbank, but did not disrupt its operations, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.

Germany's labour minister and co-head of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) quit unexpectedly on Monday, adding to uncertainty around Chancellor Friedrich Merz's struggling coalition after bruising state election defeats last month.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and hard-left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon widened their lead over other candidates and would face each other in a run-off in all tested scenarios, a poll showed on Monday, stressing growing polarisation as President Emmanuel Macron's era ends.