By Paul Kirby in Paris French elections 2022 The two candidates fighting for the French presidency have launched bitter attacks on each other in a final bid to win over millions of undecided voters before Sunday’s election. Centrist Emmanuel Macron is aiming to become the first sitting president to win a second term for […]
By Toby Luckhurst BBC News, Lviv Russia-Ukraine war Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to seal off Ukrainian defenders inside the besieged port city of Mariupol. Mr Putin told forces to abandon plans to storm the sprawling Azovstal steel works there, where Ukraine is still resisting the invaders. But an official in […]
By Matt Murphy BBC News Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès says she will temporarily step down to care for her husband, who has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Ms Wilmès, who also serves as deputy prime minister, will take leave until “the end of the summer”, when her family will reassess the situation. She says […]
By Hugh Schofield BBC News, Paris French elections 2022 The first sign that everyone in France will have been looking out for in the debate was whether Marine Le Pen would again be as cringingly awful as she was five years ago. That was when – in the equivalent pre-election encounter with Emmanuel […]
Russia-Ukraine war Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia has launched an assault to seize the eastern Donbas region. Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed on Tuesday along the eastern front line, after Mr. Zelensky said the battle for the Donbas had begun. Ukraine’s top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russia was trying breakthrough Ukrainian […]
By Jessica Parker BBC Brussels correspondent French elections 2022 European Union officials return to work on Tuesday after basking in a balmy bank holiday. But, just over the border, the EU’s future is being fought over in the French presidential election. Far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, insists she has no secret “Frexit” agenda. But opponents […]
Russia-Ukraine war Ukrainian officials have rejected demands by Russian forces that defenders of the city of Mariupol should lay down their arms. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in an interview with ABC that Ukrainian forces still in the city would “fight to the end”. Troops of the Azov Battalion are still holed up in […]
By Joel Gunter Serhiivka, Ukraine Russia-Ukraine war The small village of Serhiivka, in eastern Ukraine, was completely quiet on Sunday – hardly a person on the streets or milling around the centre of the village, where you would normally find life. There used to be 1,500 people here, before the full-scale invasion of […]
Russia-Ukraine war Russia has banned Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior ministers from entering Russia over the UK’s “hostile” stance on the war in Ukraine. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other senior politicians – mostly members of the Cabinet – have also been barred. Moscow said the decision […]
By Anna Foster BBC News, Kyiv, Ukraine Russia-Ukraine war At the base of a block of flats in Bucha, the sound of sawing echoes around the deserted communal garden. In one of the doorways a blackened kettle boils on an open fire, blowing clouds of steam into the bitter air. This place should be […]
