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...

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...

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...

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...

A bitter disagreement over the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline has stalled a vital €90bn EU loan to Ukraine and laid bare how a single member state can disrupt bloc decisions.No crude has passed from Russia through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia since a Russian strike hit the Brody pumping station in western Ukraine on 27 January.Satellite imagery and on-the-ground reports show a massive storage...

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...

Another surge in energy prices has jolted Europe, reviving memories of the 2022 shock that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.This time the trigger is instability in the Middle East, which has disrupted key shipping routes and sent markets into a fresh tailspin.The EU had vowed to end its heavy dependence on Russian fuels after 2022 and moved quickly: Russia now supplies almost none of the...

A senior UK minister has dismissed claims that Iran possesses missiles capable of reaching London, saying government intelligence does not back that assertion.Housing Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC there is no official assessment showing Iran is targeting the UK or has the capacity to do so.He declined to disclose operational details about a recent missile incident. The remarks follow an...

Danish authorities reportedly prepared to disable key Greenland airstrips to stop a potential US seizure of the Arctic territory, the Danish broadcaster DR has reported.DR says its account is based on a dozen sources inside Denmark's government and military, plus officials in France and Germany, and the Financial Times later said two European diplomats corroborated parts of the story.According to...

Unconfirmed US reports say Iran launched two ballistic missiles toward the US-UK base on Diego Garcia, but neither weapon hit its target.One missile reportedly malfunctioned mid-flight and the other was intercepted by a US naval vessel, though the exact timing of the launches remains unclear.The BBC says the accounts are credible, and Britain’s Ministry of Defence accused Iran of escalating...