Europe

The man who succeeded Angela Merkel has forced early voting, and few expect the social democrat to stay in power with the centre-right Christian Democrats ahead in the polls

At a time when so many European leaders are facing intense political pressure to resolve the migrant crisis, the Italian PM's ability to reduce illegal migration by 60% has turned heads

The MENA region looks increasingly appealing to China as a tariff-free trade route into the European Union

The European "three no's" have remained the cornerstone of the European policy for many years

Set up after World War II with ten members, there are now 32 nations seeking a consensus as they deal with an aggressive Russia and a rising China alongside terrorism, cyber war and budget controversy

Macron's gamble in dissolving parliament has backfired, and the legislature will be reshaped after a surge in support for populism. But an outright majority after run-off voting looks unlikely.

Macron and Scholz have suffered humiliating defeats triggering concern of a bigger shift to the right in France and Germany. If this happens, Europe's power balance could fundamentally transform.

For decades the far right sat on the periphery of Western politics, dismissed as angry skinheads or deluded neo-Nazis by the centrist mainstream. No longer.

A big pro-EU bloc should still hold sway even if the ultra-nationalists make gains. More broadly, the results will act as a barometer of public mood in the first vote since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Twin fears of an inward-looking Donald Trump and a westward-looking Vladimir Putin have left officials in Europe's treasuries urgently revising their budgets to make room for more defence spending.