The ruling Congress party swept to a resounding victory today in India’s mammoth national elections, defying expectations as it brushed aside the Hindu nationalist opposition and a legion of ambitious smaller parties.

UKRAINE’S main opposition party joined together with two other groups in parliament to propose defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister.

The French parliament today passed a law raising the minimum age at which women can marry from 15 to 18.

The French Senate set in motion yesterday an effort to raise the minimum age at which young women can marry for the first time since Napoleon ruled France, a move designed to discourage forced marriages.

Sinn Féin’s MEPs are to work within the United European Left and Nordic Green Alliance group in the European Parliament, they confirmed today.