Italy’s governing coalition suffered a surprising blow as voters rejected a constitutional reform in a weekend referendum, handing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a significant political defeat.Preliminary results showed roughly 54% voting against the proposal and about 46% in favour, with turnout close to 60%.Early exit polling pointed to a narrow lead for the no camp that widened as counting...

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides has called for a frank review of the UK’s two sovereign military bases on the island, saying their presence is a legacy of colonial rule and needs to be discussed once tensions in the Middle East ease.The bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia were established under the 1960 treaty that granted Cyprus independence, with Britain retaining sovereignty over roughly...

A string of attacks on a major gas field shared by Iran and Qatar has pushed energy markets higher and put fresh strain on the U.S.-Israel partnership.Israeli forces struck facilities in the South Pars field, one of the world’s largest gas reserves, and Iran responded by targeting an energy complex in Qatar.The tit-for-tat exchange prompted a fierce post from US President Donald Trump on his...

Cyprus president Nikos Christodoulides said the island's two British military bases are a legacy of colonial rule and called for an open review of their status once the Middle East crisis eases.He made the remarks as he arrived in Brussels for an EU leaders' summit, signalling that talks with London will be on the agenda in due course.Under the 1960 treaty that granted Cyprus independence, the UK...

President Trump defended special envoy Steve Witkoff after a leaked recording purportedly showed him advising a senior Russian aide on how to appeal to the US president over a proposed Ukraine peace plan.Trump told reporters he had not listened to the tape but characterized Witkoff’s approach as typical dealmaking — trying to pitch the plan to both Moscow and Kyiv.The leak surfaced shortly...

The Royal Navy intercepted and shadowed two Russian ships as they sailed west through the Dover Strait into the English Channel, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.HMS Severn moved to intercept the corvette Stoikiy and the tanker Yelnya in the past fortnight before handing monitoring duties to a NATO vessel off the coast of Brittany.Severn remained nearby, observing from a safe distance and...

Leaders from Europe, Canada and Japan have urged further work on a US-drafted 28-point plan intended to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, expressing serious reservations about several of its provisions. At the G20 summit in Johannesburg, officials from Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Germany and Norway — together with two senior EU...