Portugal Portugal braces itself for general strike The scene is set in Portugal’s capital Lisbon for a general strike, which has been called by the country’s two largest labour unions. The 26/06/2013
France 'Carlos the Jackal' life sentence upheld A French appeals court has upheld the life sentence of Carlos the Jackal, the Marxist militant once one of the world’s most wanted criminals. The 26/06/2013
Egypt Egypt: clashes in Nile Delta, Cairo on alert At least one person has been killed and scores injured in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura in Egypt – during clashes between supporters and opponents 26/06/2013
interview Doha talks are not dead: Lamy The World Trade Organisation (WTO), was set up 20 years ago with the aim of creating a prosperous and unified global trading block. That has not 26/06/2013
Insight Former Cold War foes spar over Snowden Hong Kong, Moscow, Quito, Havana… The United States’ most-wanted whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has either been in these places long-associated with 26/06/2013
USA Historic decision on gay rights in US There were celebrations outside the Supreme Court in Washington after what has been called a landmark ruling for gay rights activists. Judges ruled 26/06/2013
EU agrees huge changes to farming policy The EU has agreed wholesale changes to the bloc’s agricultural policy that will slash subsidies to the largest farms. The tentative deal between 26/06/2013
Belgium Scuffle as journalist challenges MEP over expenses Italian MEP Raffaele Baldassere didn’t take kindly to a reporter from Netherlands’ Geenstijl TV asking him why he had signed the attendance list – to 26/06/2013
Barnes and Noble: e-read it and weep In the e-reader war, the biggest US bookseller, Barnes & Noble, is losing and has conceded it cannot compete head-to-head with tablets and 26/06/2013
Syria Syrian state forces re-take border town of Tel Kalakh Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad have taken control of the town of Tel Kalakh, close to the Lebanese border. The recapture of Tel 26/06/2013
Ancelotti promises to bring style and silverware at Real Playing spectacular football and filling the trophy cabinet have always been the top requirements for any coach at Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti 26/06/2013
UEFA unveils logo for EURO 2016 The countdown for the UEFA Euro 2016 has officially begun with the unveiling in Paris of the logo for the European soccer championship. Two-time 26/06/2013
India Indian flood victims fear epidemics as rescue operations continue The floods in Northern India, triggered by heavy monsoon rains more than 10 days ago, have killed at least 822 people in the Himalayan state of 26/06/2013
Japan conversation robot 'Kirobo' ready for outer space Japanese scientists have unveiled a pair of robots. One of them, called ‘Kibo’, is destined to travel on missions to space. In Tokyo the robot 26/06/2013
US first-quarter growth was 1.8%, not 2.4% US economic growth in the first three months of this year was not as good as previously thought. The latest revised figures show GDP was held held 26/06/2013
Japan Australia and Japan in court over whaling Australia and Japan will debate the right to hunt whales for scientific research in the Southern ocean in the International Court of Justice during 26/06/2013
Australian PM Gillard ousted by her party Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been ousted by her own party, just months before a general election. An emotional Gillard told a news 26/06/2013
South Africa Leading South African figures visit Mandela in hospital Several leading South African figures and family members have been visiting the hospital in Pretoria where Nelson Mandela remains in a critical 26/06/2013
USA Historic US Supreme Court ruling, big win for gay rights The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a central portion of a federal law that restricted the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples 26/06/2013
Controversial trader Marc Rich dies The man who was known as the ‘King of Oil’ has died. Billionaire Marc Rich, who invented oil trading in the 1970s, suffered a stroke at the age of 26/06/2013
Lab-grown human organs Organ transplants have been a lifesaving development and one of the shining success stories of modern medicine. But the shortage of organs for 26/06/2013
Sandra Bullock stars in cop comedy The Heat Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy have teamed up to take on the male-dominated buddy cop film genre in The Heat, directed by Paul Feig of 26/06/2013
Play Me, I'm Yours On the streets of Paris, there’s a new addition to the urban environment: pianos, free to use for professionals and amateurs alike. The project 26/06/2013
Milan: pieces of the past and hints of the future Italian fashion house Etro is roping in inspiration from the horse-riding arenas of Mexico for its Charreria-inspired Spring/Summer 2014 men’s 26/06/2013
France Gay couple sues French mayor over refusal to wed them Two men are suing the mayor of a French village for refusing to marry them, in the first reported legal action over same-sex marriage since it was 26/06/2013
France Eiffel Tower shut down by strike The Eiffel Tower, Paris’ most iconic landmark, has been closed for two consecutive days by a strike over working conditions. There was been talk of 26/06/2013
UBS fined in tax evasion probe The French unit of Switzerland’s UBS has been fined 10 million euros by the French banking regulator ACP. The penalty is for UBS having delayed 26/06/2013
Gold bugs bail out The price of gold continues to tumble. It is down to its lowest in almost three years and is on course for a record loss in the past three 26/06/2013
USA NASA discovers 10,000th near-Earth object More than 10,000 asteroids and comets that can pass near Earth have now been discovered. The 10,000th near-Earth object, asteroid 2013 MZ5, was first 26/06/2013