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...

Air traffic control recordings reveal a tense exchange moments before an Air Canada plane collided with a firefighting vehicle at LaGuardia Airport Sunday evening.The aircraft had just arrived from Montreal with 72 passengers and four crew on board.Officials say the jet touched down safely but was struck by the ground vehicle while taxiing, a crash that killed two pilots. Emergency services...

Ministers are considering slowing HS2 trains as a way to reduce costs after the high-speed rail project ran into delays and ballooning budgets.The transport department has asked the company building the London-to-Birmingham section to study whether trains could initially operate at a lower top speed.A formal update on the programme’s timetable and cost is now expected only after the May...

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has publicly addressed her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, saying she was misled and expressing regret for not checking his background more closely.The 20-minute interview with public broadcaster NRK came after seven weeks of silence, following the release of millions of documents by the US Department of Justice.Those files showed the crown princess exchanged...

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...

Dame Jenni Murray, the broadcaster best known for presenting BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, has died at the age of 75.She led the programme for more than three decades and left in 2020 as its longest-serving host.Murray joined Woman’s Hour in 1987 and became famous for sharp, revealing interviews with a wide range of public figures. Her guests included political leaders and cultural icons,...

Crown Princess Mette-Marit has agreed to speak publicly about her contacts with the late Jeffrey Epstein in an interview due to air on NRK on Friday.The conversation, filmed at the couple’s Skaugum residence alongside Crown Prince Haakon, comes as her son’s high-profile trial reaches its conclusion.Marius Borg Høiby’s seven-week trial in Oslo District Court began in February and has drawn...

Dianne Buswell and Joe Sugg have become parents to a baby boy.The couple have named their son Bowden Mark Richard Sugg, and he arrived on Monday, March 16.Joe shared several Instagram photos to announce the news, including a close-up of the newborn asleep, a black-and-white shot of Dianne holding him skin-to-skin in a hospital bed, and an image of Joe carrying Bowden in a car seat, likely on the...

A Norwegian prosecutor has asked a court in Oslo to sentence Marius Borg Høiby, the son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, to seven years and seven months in prison.Høiby faces 40 counts including the alleged sexual assault of four women, domestic violence and other offences.Investigators say some of the alleged incidents happened while the women were asleep or unconscious. He has denied the four...

Jeremy Clarkson brushed off a jibe about Ed Miliband after a social media user asked if he would follow advice to serve warmer beer.The former Top Gear presenter replied tersely on X, suggesting Miliband lacked common sense.The comment came as Clarkson posted a lighthearted video intended to cut through growing anxieties over the conflict in the Middle East and talk of a possible wider...