France's Socialist incumbents held onto the country's four biggest cities — Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Lille — in local elections that offered a boost to established parties ahead of next year's presidential contest.The results suggested a retreat from political extremes in many urban centres, even as the far left and far right made selective advances in other areas.Parties across the...

An early-morning blast on a residential street in Bucha, just outside Kyiv, left two police officers with limb injuries after a second explosion detonated as officers responded to the scene.Authorities have described the incident as an act of terrorism and say a 21-year-old local has been detained in connection with the two blasts.He has been formally charged with terrorism. Police say the...

Two Russian men are set to stand trial in Angola, accused of running a covert campaign to sow dissent, spread false information and interfere in next year’s presidential vote.Igor Ratchin and Lev Lakshtanov were detained in August and face 11 counts including terrorism, espionage and illicit influence.Angolan prosecutors say their activities were part of a wider operation tied to a network that...

An explosion in the town of Bucha, just outside Kyiv, injured two police officers after a second device detonated when officers arrived at the scene.The blast happened in the early hours of Monday on a residential street.Emergency teams rushed in after a loud initial explosion and were hit by a follow-up blast that wounded the two officers in their limbs; their injuries are not believed to be...

Lionel Jospin, a leading figure of France's Socialist movement who served as prime minister during the late 1990s, has died at the age of 88.He was widely known for reshaping parts of French social policy and for his dramatic exit from politics after the 2002 presidential election.Jospin led a left-wing government in cohabitation with President Jacques Chirac from 1997 to 2002. He had been a...

France’s Socialist-led administrations kept control of the country’s four biggest cities — Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Lille — in local elections that offered a boost to established parties ahead of next year’s presidential vote.The night also saw gains for both the far left and far right, with notable wins for a Le Pen ally in Nice and for France Unbowed (LFI) in Roubaix, underscoring a...

A Russian drone hit a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, killing two people and wounding two children, local officials say.The attack came on the eve of new negotiations between Ukrainian and American delegations in the United States.The talks, which had been paused after the recent escalation in the Middle East, are expected to cover Ukraine’s response to Washington’s temporary easing of...

France heads to second-round municipal votes on Sunday in contests seen as an early barometer for the 2027 presidential campaign.Attention is focused on major cities where control could shift political momentum — notably Paris and Nice.In the capital, Socialists are scrambling to hang on after a quarter-century of centre-left leadership. Rachida Dati, the right-wing challenger, has closed the...

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned that Moscow does not appear ready to pursue genuine negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, describing the conflict as unpredictable and hazardous.She made the remarks in Strasbourg as EU lawmakers met to discuss the crisis.Von der Leyen argued that any meaningful settlement will require strong security arrangements to deter future...

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...