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Received yesterday — 8 May 2026 France 24 - International News

One Page Peace Plan for Iran? Starmer’s Sinking Ship, Musk V Altman

8 May 2026 at 18:22
In a week thats’s seen renewed hope for ending the war in Iran, ten weeks since it started, with four weeks of stalemate, a ceasefire and skirmishes over the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Intermittent peace talks have boiled down to a fourteen-point, one-page “memorandum of understanding”, crafted by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which has been sent to Pakistani mediators and is being reviewed by Iran.

Labour suffers losses across the UK as Reform surges: “Starmer’s survival depends on improvement”

8 May 2026 at 18:20
Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure after Labour’s bruising local election results. The party lost hundreds of council seats in England, fell behind Plaid Cymru in Wales as Reform UK surged, and continued to struggle in Scotland where the Scottish National Party remains dominant. Reform UK has made major gains across England, Wales and Scotland, raising fresh questions over Starmer’s leadership and Labour’s direction. France 24’s Gavin Lee is joined by Tom Baldwin, former Labour Head of Communications and author of Keir Starmer: The Biography, to discuss the fallout from Labour’s losses and whether pressure is already building within the party to replace the Prime Minister.

French couple on hantavirus cruise ship says ‘no panic onboard’

8 May 2026 at 16:29
A French couple who is currently travelling on the MV Hondius, which was recently hit by a hantavirus outbreak, has issued a statement urging media not to “overdramatise” the situation, adding that there is “no panic” among the passengers onboard. "To call this an epidemic is wrong. To imply it's a pandemic is dishonest,” they said.

UK: The end of the traditional two-party system? Starmer faces crushing defeat in local polls

8 May 2026 at 15:53
Early results from the UK local elections point to a crushing defeat for Starmer’s Labour Party. The hard-right Reform UK looked set to pick up some 400 seats, stealing hundreds from both the Conservative Party and Labour. The Greens and the Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, recorded relatively modest but significant gains. According to analysts, this could mark the end of the traditional British two-party system, with voters shifting to the two extremes of the political spectrum. Story by Eliza Herbert.

Substantial win for Nigel Farage's Reform UK in local elections

8 May 2026 at 15:40
The labor party is on the ropes in England as the results of local elections being counted show the far-right making substantial gains. The governing party has lost control of a number of councils... and pressure is piling on Keir Starmer -- with some calling for the Prime Minister to resign. Details by FRANCE 24's correspondent in London, Bénédicte Paviot.

Middle East war back on? UAE responds to fresh attacks, US and Iran trade fire

8 May 2026 at 15:28
The United Arab Emirates says it's responded to fresh missile and drone attacks by Iran this Friday. The strikes come hours after the US says three of its navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz were targeted. President Donald Trump ordered retaliatory strikes - but then downplayed the hostilities and said the ceasefire still stands. Analysis by Douglas Herbert, FRANCE 24 international affairs commentator.

'We need a decisive European pillar inside NATO': Parliamentary Assembly President Perestrello

8 May 2026 at 15:11
Over the past year, NATO has been dealing with an unprecedented split between the US and other members of the alliance. Our guest is Marcos Perestrello, the president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a body that brings together legislators from NATO member countries. Perestrello is a former secretary of state for national defence in the Portuguese government.

Dr Winter warns UK PM normalised far-right, 'legitimised migration talking points, policy positions'

8 May 2026 at 15:06
As British voters head to the polls for local elections, Peter O'Brien is pleased to welcome Dr Aaron Winter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Lancaster University. He offers a stark diagnosis of Britain’s political drift: Dr Winter argued that the real story was not simply electoral volatility, but the gradual normalization of far-right narratives within mainstream politics itself. Labour’s attempts to neutralize the far right by echoing parts of its rhetoric have not weakened extremist currents but legitimized them. “We’ve seen this strategy fail again and again and again,” he warned.

EU enlargement: New horizons, from East to West

8 May 2026 at 14:36
Nine countries are currently in the process of acceding to the European Union: North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey. The European club seems to be growing ever more appealing, to the point where Iceland could also reintroduce a membership application. 

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