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Clocks in Europe go back an hour overnight as the debate over scrapping the change continues
Spain, Italy and Germany will set clocks back one hour overnight, with Spain and Italy moving from 03:00 to 02:00, while the EU debate on ending the seasonal switch remains stalled.
Shamonda virus: France reports first human case, Spain and Portugal urge calm
A patient in France has died after becoming the first known human infected with the Shamonda virus, a pathogen that normally affects cattle. The WHO considers the case isolated, while Spanish and Portuguese officials say there is no cause for alarm.
King Felipe VI has cataract surgery on left eye in Oviedo, stays overnight
The routine operation on the Spanish king's left eye lasted about half an hour at the Fernández-Vega Ophthalmology Institute, according to Casa Real (the Royal Household). He will spend the night at the clinic and is due to resume his official duties on Monday, 26 October.
Pope Leo XIV needs no further treatment after lung cancer surgery, Vatican says
Papal doctors said on Wednesday, 21 October, that tests on the lung tumour removed on 13 October confirmed a localised adenocarcinoma and that no further therapy is needed.
Thousands protest across Poland on 22 October for free, legal abortion access
Demonstrators in Warsaw, Gdansk and more than 20 other cities called for free, legal abortion on Thursday, 22 October 2026. The protests followed the passage of two reform bills by parliament on 20 October, which the president is expected to veto.
Moderna and Merck's personalised mRNA vaccine cuts melanoma relapse risk 42%
Moderna and Merck's personalised vaccine, given after surgery alongside pembrolizumab, cut recurrence or death by 42% over a median follow-up of 24.6 months. A benefit on overall survival has not yet been shown.
About 10,000 march in Athens as Greek students and teachers protest across the country
Students, teachers and doctors joined rallies in Athens and dozens of other Greek cities on Wednesday, 21 October, pressing for higher pay and safer schools. Police deployed about 3,000 officers in the capital, where police estimated around 10,000 protesters in central Athens.
Madrid teachers march demanding talks on seventh day of indefinite strike
Thousands of public-school teachers marched from Atocha to the Madrid education department on Thursday, 22 October, asking councillor Mercedes Zarzalejo to open negotiations. The protest fell on the seventh day of an indefinite strike.
Pope Leo XIV phones Zelensky on Oleshky aid as he recovers from lung surgery
Pope Leo XIV is convalescing at the Vatican after surgery on his right lung and was discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital on Saturday, 17 October. On Monday, 19 October, he spoke by phone with Volodymyr Zelensky about the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, a city in the Kherson region.
Kyle Kennedy, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died at 42 on 21 September
Her death was made public on 20 October through an obituary, and the cause has not been released. The Westwood municipal office confirmed that she died on 21 September at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts.
Meloni says Italy was first in Europe with a national fentanyl plan at San Patrignano meeting
Italy and France opened a meeting of the European Coalition against Drugs at San Patrignano on 23 October, where Meloni and Mattarella stressed prevention, tighter controls and cooperation against trafficking.
Pope Leo XIV urges Catholic schools to welcome anxious, anonymous students
Speaking to 1200 participants from 60 countries at a Vatican congress on pastoral care in schools and universities, the pope said many students feel anonymous and fear an uncertain future. He asked Catholic institutions to become places where young people feel expected.
Navarra tops Spain's 2025 quality of life index as Canarias stays at the bottom
Spain's score rose to 101.74 points in 2025, according to INE data published Friday, 23 October. Navarra kept first place at 105.43 points, while Canarias scored 99.40, above only Ceuta and Melilla.
Pope Leo XIV's operated lung recovers well, Vatican says as he resumes work
Doctors say the lung operated on 13 October is recovering well, and Pope Leo XIV has resumed working from Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
Agenas: 2 million more bookings in 2026, but about 4 million services delayed
Agenas reports 21.8 million bookings in the first nine months of 2026, up more than 10%, while about 4 million visits and tests fell outside guaranteed waiting times.
Covid inquiry finds care home failures let virus spread like wildfire in the UK
The sixth UK Covid-19 Inquiry report, published on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, finds care homes were left exposed, with about 30,000 hospital discharges made while testing was too scarce to screen residents.
Regular tea drinking linked to 11% lower vascular disease risk in Chinese study
A study of 485,934 adults in China found regular tea drinkers had an 11% lower risk of vascular disease, while tea served burning hot was linked to higher risk.
Selena Gomez says nicotine vaping changed her voice and that she has quit
In an Instagram story posted on Sunday, 18 October, Selena Gomez, 34, said nicotine vaping had changed her voice. She says she has stopped and urged fans not to start, calling the habit not worth it.
WHO-backed Tumaini trial starts vaccinating people against Bundibugyo Ebola in DR Congo
The first participants received the Ervebo vaccine in Bunia on Friday, 23 October, as part of a trial that will test candidates against Bundibugyo, the Ebola species behind the outbreak. No vaccine is yet approved for that species.
Spain's STI cases stabilise in 2025, but chlamydia keeps rising to 44,511 cases
Spain recorded 44,511 chlamydia cases in 2025, up 3.9% on 2024, while gonorrhoea held steady and syphilis and lymphogranuloma venereum edged down. The annual report from the Health Ministry and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III was published on 22 October 2026.
DRC confirms eighth Ebola province as Kenya reports its eighth case
North Ubangi became the eighth province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to record Ebola cases, as national figures reached 9,455 cases and 4,561 deaths. Kenya, meanwhile, confirmed its eighth case in a patient who cared for the country's first patient.
Italy's births fall to record low of 355,772 in 2025, and 2026 keeps dropping
Istat reported on 21 October 2026 that the average Italian woman had 1.14 children in 2025, and births from January to July 2026 were down another 1.1%.
Kenya confirms four more Ebola cases, bringing its total to seven
Kenya's Health Ministry confirmed four new Ebola infections on 17 October 2026, three of them among health workers who treated the country's first patient. The cases are linked to an eastern DR Congo outbreak that the national health authority says has killed 4,510 people.
Italy gets first nasal adrenaline spray for anaphylaxis as experts push HPV vaccination
Allergy specialists meeting in Salerno announced the spray, while experts in Genoa pressed for higher HPV and flu vaccine uptake.
Government accepts all 27 recommendations of school antisemitism review in England
Schools and colleges in England will have to recognise antisemitism as a distinct category of harm, after the government accepted all 27 recommendations of Sir David Bell's review, presented to Parliament on Wednesday.
Employer health premiums rise 9% for workers, small firms pay most, KFF survey finds
Workers at firms with fewer than 200 employees contributed an average of $9,687 toward family coverage in 2026, compared with $6,840 at larger firms, while total family premiums now average $28,303.
Romania's health minister says sector needs 11.5 billion lei and orders CNAS audit
Alexandru Rogobete said on Wednesday, 21 October, that the health sector needs about 11.5 billion lei to pay overdue supplier invoices, with the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) as the main source of the shortfall.
About 200 French schools close as student protests spread and Greta Thunberg joins
More than 6,600 arrests have been made nationwide since the protests began in September. On Tuesday, 13 October, about 200 schools closed, and Greta Thunberg joined pupils outside a lycée in Saint-Denis.
Madrid education strike turnout disputed as students seek resignations over UCM police charges
Organisers say around 60% of public education staff struck on 16 October, a figure the regional government puts at 26.7%. Student groups want the Government delegate and the UCM rector to resign over police charges that they say injured ten people.
Breast cancer patients in Spain demand public funding, equal access and care beyond treatment
On Monday, 19 October 2026, around a hundred patients protested outside Spain's Health Ministry in Madrid, while the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) called for care that goes beyond treatment.