A large archive around the 2027 French presidential election: official sources, political news, institutional videos and reference content — all in one place.
After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blameBy Marta Zaraska. Read by Lucy Bromilow Continue reading...
France has released footage that appears to show French naval commandos boarding a ship suspected of being part of Russia's 'shadow fleet' and subject to international sanctions. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the operation took place on the tanker, named the Tagor, with support of the UK and in strict compliance with the law of the sea. The French navy confirmed the interception occurred on SundayMacron says French navy has boarded Russia-linked oil tanker in Atlantic Continue r...
Cancoillotte is low in fat, high in protein and – until recently – little known outside of a village in eastern FranceAt the cheesemakers in the village of Franois, eastern France, a stream of what looks like runny, beige gloop is being potted, packaged and dispatched for delivery as fast as it can be made. The freezer room, normally piled high with pallets of the product, is almost empty.For what must be the first time in the history of cancoillotte – a cheese product that until recently was...
The vote to repeal ‘Code Noir’, which saw slaves beaten, raped and killed in France’s colonies, comes almost 180 years after its abolition of slaveryFor almost 180 years after France abolished slavery, the “Code Noir” (Black Code) allowing enslaved humans to be treated as property and worked, beaten, sold, raped or killed, remained in place.On Thursday, the country’s bitterly divided national assembly voted unanimously to repeal it, in a rare show of political unity. Continue reading...
Unless the mainstream gets its act together, next year’s election looks likely to hand the keys of the Élysée to the far right• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here“The real risk,” France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, reportedly said last month, “is that this tangle of ambitions reflects such a lack of engagement with reality on the part of all these candidates that voters find the whole thing grotesque.”He has a point. By this time next year, France will have...
The conservative tycoon’s grip on media and cinema is unhealthy. An EU fund could protect democracy in perpetuityThe shadow of Joseph McCarthy’s “red scare” loomed over the storied steps of this year’s Cannes film festival. Echoing the mid-20th-century blacklist, which shut out about 300 suspected communists from Hollywood, the French media group Canal+ announced an effective ban on twice that many French cinema professionals, including actors such as Juliette Binoche and film directors such ...
Cannes film festival: This could be better paced but the crisis which descends on an up-against-it dairy farm is delivered by some very memorable goonsThere’s nothing like a home-invasion suspense thriller to provide a change of pace in the Cannes competition, and Léa Mysius’s film – adapted from the French bestseller Histoires de la Nuit by Laurent Mauvignier – isn’t at all bad, although it runs out of narrative steam in the third act and one particular shock-twist appears to unshock and u...
The government’s deeply illiberal ‘Yadan bill’ may be dead. But the threat to legitimate protest certainly is notTensions in France over how to respond to a rise in antisemitism have been running high. A government-backed bill that aimed to deal with the problem was rightly denounced as an attack on freedom of expression before being quietly shelved by the government last month.Introduced in 2024 by Caroline Yadan, a member of the national assembly, the draft legislation was intended to count...
Apocalyptic forecasts are a national sport. But while polls point to a National Rally president in 2027, it’s still all to play forOne reassuring thing about France is its consistency down the years: trains still run mostly on time, coffee in the land of cafes remains undrinkable, and, whatever the season, the intellectual class continues to supply elegant variations on the same theme: France is always about to collapse.The present mood feels familiar – and fatalism, of course, is a habit in ...
For the first time ever, beer has overtaken wine as the drink of choice in France. Bad news for national identity, but potentially good news in terms of alcohol consumptionName: French beerAge: About 11,700 years. Continue reading...
La cancoillotte, a low-fat liquid cheese product, has somehow taken the country of haute cuisine by stormExciting news from over the Channel: a viral cheese has dropped, but good luck spelling, or saying, it. As Libération reports, la cancoillotte (even native speakers struggle with the pronunciation, apparently), a liquid cheese from Franche-Comté in the east, is taking over fitness social media, thanks to its 16g of “prot” per 100g (as the French muscle bros and girls say), low fat con...
From crab pincers to stingray shapes, Lucas Lecacheur’s designs push the boundaries of accepted norms – and they are functional tooSign up for a weekly email featuring our best readsA surfboard split in the middle to create crab pincers. Another that looks like an exaggerated take on a stingray. A surfboard with a webbed bottom contour, like a duck’s foot. And a fire-engine red skateboard shaped like a cartoon-like flame on wheels.All of Lucas Lecacheur’s surfboards and skateboards push the b...
Asymptomatic people allowed off ship from Wednesday afternoon but those infected ordered to remain in isolationA norovirus-hit cruise ship carrying mainly passengers from the UK and Ireland has had a French lockdown order lifted.All 1,701 people onboard Ambition were prevented from disembarking for more than 24 hours after it docked in Bordeaux on Tuesday after one person died of a heart attack and dozens became ill with a vomiting virus. Continue reading...
Captain of French football team expressed concerns about far-right National Rally party gaining powerThe French football captain, Kylian Mbappé, has angered Marine Le Pen’s far-right party after expressing concerns about it winning next year’s presidential election.Mbappé, 27, who grew up in Paris’s northern suburbs in a family with Algerian and Cameroonian heritage, told Vanity Fair this week: “I know what it means and what consequences it can have for my country when people like them come t...
After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blameWhen her phone rang at around 5pm on 8 September 2016, Rosy Auffray was still at work. It was one of her daughters, distressed, calling to tell her that their father, Jean-René, had not come back from his daily run. Only the family dog had returned, alone and exhausted. Rosy rushed back home.When she arrived, Rosy noticed that the dog was behaving bizarrely: she refuse...
French president reaches out to new allies after setbacks in relations with his country’s former colonies in west AfricaA French-African summit held every few years since 1973 is taking place in a non-francophone country for the first time on Tuesday as Emmanuel Macron tries to rebuild France’s role on the continent after setbacks in its former colonies.More than 30 heads of state and government are meeting in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, for this year’s iteration of the summit. Named Africa For...
Exclusive: Spanish health minister says MV Hondius passenger, now in a ‘critical state’, had been suffering flu-like symptomsA French woman who tested positive for hantavirus after she was evacuated from a cruise ship reported symptoms to doctors onboard but was told it was probably just anxiety, the Spanish health minister has said.Javier Padilla Bernáldez said the woman, who had been travelling on the ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak, had been suffering flu-like symptoms b...
Authorities investigate Florent Montaclair over award given to himself and others including Noam ChomskyAt a ceremony at the French national assembly attended by Nobel prize winners, former government ministers, MPs, decorated scientists and academics, all attention was on a previously unknown literature professor.Florent Montaclair, then 46, a balding, bespectacled figure in an ill-fitting suit and rosé-coloured shirt, was receiving the 2016 Gold Medal of Philology - the study of linguistics...
Emmanuel Macron sang Les Feuilles Mortes, made famous by Italian-French actor-singer Yves Montand, during an official dinner in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The country's prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, accompanied the French president on drums. The dinner was part of a state visit, during which Macron has expressed support for Armenia's pro-Europe PM, who faces a tough challenge in next month's parliamentary electionsMacron backs Armenia’s pro-Europe PM as re-election campaign draws to ...
French president pitches in for Nikol Pashinyan, who faces stiff challenge from pro-Russia parties in vote next monthEurope live – latest updatesEmmanuel Macron has made an unabashed pre-election pitch on behalf of Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, saying the country’s destiny lies with Europe.The French president also accused Russia of abandoning Armenia after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war that led to Azerbaijan displacing tens of thousands of Armenians. Continue reading...
Ministers take action after survey shows almost half of students had gone without food for financial reasonsFrench universities have begun offering €1 (86p) meals to all students regardless of income in a measure designed to address financial hardship.Student unions have been pushing to extend the €1 rate – down from the usual €3.30 – for a three-course meal to all students, which was previously only available to those with low incomes or receiving financial aid. Continue reading...
The controversial leader will seek presidency for the fourth time – despite previously vowing to stand asideJean-Luc Mélenchon, France’s radical left leader, has confirmed he will run again for president next spring, saying it was urgent for the country to stand up against war being waged by the US and Israel in the Middle East.The 74-year-old veteran leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), announced in an interview with the French broadcaster TF1 that he would run for the presidency for the fou...
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, accused of mischief and public nuisance over alleged stunt in mall A French teenager has been charged with committing mischief and public nuisance in Singapore after posting a video on social media of himself licking a straw from an orange juice vending machine and then putting it back.Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, was charged on 24 April and has not entered a plea, the city-state’s largest English-language newspaper, the Straits Times, reported. He a...
Move comes as airline industry reacts to uncertainty over Iran war and increase in price of Brent crudeBusiness live – latest updatesAir France-KLM has cut its capacity growth forecasts for this year as the Iran war drives up its fuel costs by billions of dollars.The French-Dutch airline expects its fuel bill to increase by $2.4bn (£1.8bn) this year as a result of the surge in costs since the Middle East conflict began. In response, it has trimmed its expectations for capacity growth to betwe...
Xavier Giannoli says criticism that Les Rayons et les Ombres invites sympathy for characters is ‘profoundly dishonest’ The director of a box office hit film about Nazi collaboration and its Oscar-winning star have described criticisms they have whitewashed wartime atrocities as dishonest and “a scandal”.Xavier Giannoli and the actor Jean Dujardin were responding to a bitter row that has divided French historians over the film Les Rayons et les Ombres (Rays and Shadows), which recounts the sto...
Pierre Guillon de Prince believed to be first in France to formally apologise for ancestors’ allegiances to slaveryAn 86-year-old man has issued what is believed to be the first formal apology by someone in France for their family’s role in transatlantic slavery.Pierre Guillon de Prince’s ancestors, based in Nantes, which was the country’s largest port for transatlantic slavery, were shipowners who transported about 4,500 enslaved Africans and owned plantations in the Caribbean. Continue read...
A country girl’s search for answers in the belle époque is ingeniously intercut with the adventures of her ragtag descendants in Cédric Klapisch’s filmThe original French title of Cédric Klapisch’s new film is La Venue de L’Avenir, or The Arrival of the Future; it is an entertaining sentimental fantasy, a chocolate-boxy ensemble picture in Klapisch’s distinctive style, inventing a romantic backstory to the career of Claude Monet and his contemporary, the pioneering photographer Félix Nadar.Th...
A long list of contenders want to be president in 2027. But with anti-establishment sentiment dominating the national mood, outsiders have the advantageWanted: politician capable of appealing to the moderate right, centre and moderate left to beat hard-right populist Jordan Bardella in the run-off of France’s 2027 presidential election. The search began in earnest after last month’s municipal elections, in which the left held on to most big cities while conservatives or the far-right National...
The family of Marie-Thérèse, from Brittany, fear for her health after she was cuffed and placed in a detention centreAn 86-year-old French woman who moved to the US to marry her 1950s sweetheart is being held in a crowded detention centre in Louisiana after she was arrested by immigration agents and cuffed by her hands and feet.The family of the woman, named only as Marie-Thérèse, said they feared for her health as French consular officials attempted to secure her release. One of her sons tol...
Lafarge fined more than €1m and its former boss jailed for paying nearly €5.6m to groups including Islamic State A French court has fined the cement group Lafarge more than €1m (£870,000) and sentenced its former boss to six years in prison for paying protection money to Islamic State and other terror groups to maintain its business in war-torn Syria from 2013 to 2014.The ruling follows a 2022 case in the United States in which the French firm pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material ...
Jess Bassett was frustrated to find chips with everything on a recent holiday, but Brittany Ferries’ offering on the return trip was a delightful surpriseEllie Violet Bramley’s efforts to find the perfect kids menu resonated deeply with me as a mum just back from a trip to France, where every child’s option was nuggets, burger or fish with chips (‘Before I can stop her, my daughter is licking crumbs from the table’: my search for the perfect kids’ menu, 7 April).Perhaps naively, I’d imagined ...
Local elections have led to a surge of racism in a country that still struggles to see itself as anything other than whiteSaint-Denis is just over 9km from the centre of Paris but is in the poorest department in all of metropolitan France, a region marked by unemployment, low incomes and social disadvantage. But Saint Denis’s town hall was the backdrop to memorably joyous celebrations on the evening of 15 March. A delirious crowd carried the new mayor shoulder high, chanting his name over and...
In Les Rayons et les Ombres, Jean Dujardin plays a real-life press baron partying during the horrors of the second world war. Director Xavier Giannoli discusses bringing this still sensitive topic to lightXavier Giannoli’s new film Les Rayons et les Ombres (Rays and Shadows) is told from the postwar perspective of Corinne Luchaire, a French actor who was once hailed as “the new Garbo” but grew too close to the Nazis during the German occupation years. As Luchaire records her thoughts on a bor...
Bally Bagayoko, who was targeted by racist abuse after winning Saint-Denis mayorship, vows to tackle inequality to stem deepening divisionsA French mayor who faced a barrage of racist insults that are being investigated by police has called for France to urgently tackle race hatred and stem the rise of far-right ideas ahead of next year’s presidential election.“It has become a lot easier for racist views to be expressed … and unfortunately racist comments are becoming trivialised,” said Bally...
Political veteran says she faced ‘French misogyny and machismo’ while making Paris greener and more peacefulOn a sunny spring morning, the highway along the right bank of the Seine is packed with joggers, cyclists, families out for a stroll, roller skaters, dog walkers, picnickers and others taking the air.In a few months, sand will be spread along a stretch to create the annual artificial Parisbeaches, enjoyed by all but especially city dwellers struggling to make ends meet and unable to aff...
Drop into any of the French capital’s ‘third places’ and you’ll find food, culture, community – and an antidote to the disaffection extremists feed onParis’s success in removing cars from its streets has been more widely praised than its progress in opening up mixed-use spaces. But the city’s enthusiasm for bringing what urbanists call “third places” to life is exactly why I found myself, just hours after voting in the first round of Paris’s municipal elections, dancing in telecoms company Or...
Trump administration announces deal with TotalEnergies to redirect investment in wind to oil and gas insteadAs a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran drives up global fossil fuel prices, the Trump administration has announced it will pay French energy major TotalEnergies $1bn to kill plans to construct wind farms off the US east coast.The deal is the latest blow to the US offshore wind industry, which has faced repeated disruptions to multi-billion-dollar projects under Donald Trump. Cont...
Victories in Paris and Marseille suggest a united left can reclaim centre-ground voters. But the end of Macronism is leaving a complex political landscapeIn 2002, divisions on the left allowed Jean-Marie Le Pen to shock France by reaching the run-off in that year’s presidential election. Lionel Jospin, the defeated Socialist candidate in the poll, would subsequently recall the humiliation to remind progressives of the need for unity in the face of the far-right threat. Mr Jospin’s death, anno...
Outcome suggests that when mainstream parties cooperate they can still block Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally Europe live – latest updatesFrance’s local elections, closely watched for clues to next year’s presidential vote, have given parties of the centre a welcome and unexpected lift as the far right and radical left fell some way short of their ambitions.The 35,000 municipal ballots often focus on local survival and their outcomes do not always reflect national voting patterns, but...
It may be time for a new generation to lead La France Insoumise. But local elections have shown the movement’s resilienceAs the results of the French local elections sink in, it is useful to reflect on the shifting moral boundaries in public debate that characterised the campaign. In the weeks leading up to the first round of voting on 15 March, criticism directed at the radical-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) and its confrontational leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, reached new levels of inte...
Victorious Socialist Paris mayoral candidate Emmanuel Grégoire arrived to give his victory speech to supporters while riding a bicycle to show that the city would continue its pro-cycling and environmental policies. Surrounded by supporters Grégoire said his victory sent a clear message:'Paris is not and will never be a far‑right city.' Grégoire was projected to have won with about 52% of the vote. This marked a clear win against his main opponent, conservative Rachida Dati. Socialist Emmanue...
The densely dog-populated city will soon elect a new mayor and candidates want pet-owners on their sideIn a race that is expected to come down to a few thousand votes, every last one counts – including, for the candidates seeking to become the next mayor of Paris, those of the French capital’s disgruntled dog owners.Both favourites in Sunday’s second-round vote, the leftwing frontrunner Emmanuel Grégoire and the former conservative culture minister, Rachida Dati, have promised an array of can...
Macron says Iran war will not distract France from support of Ukraine as he confirms boarding of Mozambique-flagged vessel this morningMeanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed the seizure of the tanker, which he said belonged to the Russian shadow fleet.In a strongly worded post on X, he said:“The French navy boarded this morning in the Mediterranean a new vessel from the shadow fleet, the Deyna.The war in Iran will not divert France from its support for Ukraine, where Russia...
Strong showing for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s LFI party will suggest its electoral base is firm despite recent controversyFarouk stood at his doorstep on a row of redbrick terrace houses in the northern French town of Roubaix – once the glory of the textile industry before decades of factory closures and unemployment made it the poorest town in mainland France.“It feels like there’s a lot of darkness in the world and we just want to let in a little light,” said the 73-year-old former market shoe tr...
A relaxed, Gallic approach to the last day of le weekend could be just what we all need to feel healthier and happierName: French Sunday.Age: As a viral happiness trend, quite new. As an idea, quite old. Old Testament, even … Continue reading...
Body is latest in series to be found in Dijon. Scientists trying to work out why Gauls buried some of their dead in this wayChildren at a primary school in eastern France found a strange attraction next to their playground this week: a skeleton sitting upright, peeking out the top of a circular pit.It is the latest in a series of bodies discovered in the city of Dijon that were buried in a seated position facing west. Continue reading...
A National Rally victory in France’s second city in municipal elections that start on Sunday would be hailed by the party as a step towards taking the presidency next yearNathalie, a market trader in her 40s, had woken early to prepare a pan of paella rice. She was spooning it into tubs at a market in southern Marseille last week when a crowd of far-right canvassers approached, promising cleaner and safer streets if she voted for them in the local elections.“Our cash tin was stolen right her...
Ballots are set to provide clearest indication so far of political temperature in runup to presidential electionFrance’s voters go to the polls on 15 and 22 March for two rounds of municipal elections that will provide the clearest indication so far of the country’s political temperature in the runup to the presidential election next year.The ballots in 35,000 communes across France, ranging from small hamlets to large cities such as Paris, Lyon and Marseille, are a key test of the far-right ...
Syndicat de la Librairie Française accused online retailer of trying to ‘flood the market with fake AI-generated books’Amazon has withdrawn from the Paris book festival after a boycott by France’s booksellers’ association prompted a row over the company’s sponsorship of the event.The festival, due to take place from 17 to 19 April, will now go ahead without the backing of the US retail company, after a mutual decision by organisers and Amazon to end their partnership. Continue reading...
With elections next year, Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders are trying to secure institutions against the National Rally threatEuropean governments have quietly begun adapting their policies for the hitherto unthinkable prospect that France, a founder member of the EU, may elect a far-right nationalist president next year. Germany may be Europe’s biggest economy and most populous state, but nuclear-armed France is the pivotal military power.More than a year before the French choose a...
A spot of ‘equine therapy’ marks Chinese year of the horse as designer turns fashion week show into a momentSpeaking after her show at Paris fashion week, British designer Stella McCartney marked 25 years in the industry by letting slip she was to receive the most prestigious French accolade, the Légion d’honneur, on Thursday – and making a jumper using yeast.Never mind that she has not turned a profit since 2017. The fashion designer knows how to turn a show into a moment, opening with “some...
From hefty literary magazines to thriving newspaper kiosks and book sales, the French publishing industry refuses to let printed matter dieIt took me nine months of 20-hours-a-week French language instruction, and the mycelial network of a year spent in Strasbourg, to feel courageous enough to walk into a bookshop to buy something more challenging than Le Petit Prince. I was immediately humbled: there was an entire new universe, just barely linguistically accessible, and I had no idea who was...
French president will make his speech this evening; first wave of European travellers arrive home, but thousands remain stuck in regionAhead of von der Leyen’s call with Zelenskyy later today, the European Commission was also asked about Ukraine’s 2027 target for joining the bloc.A spokesperson for the commission said that it was Ukraine’s ambition, but the EU “cannot have it as our reference” as it needs to go through the formal process and get the political agreement of all other member sta...
At the start of Lent, men dressed as rampaging creatures pursue women through medieval villages. The families who maintain these traditions are sceptical of change, but increasingly female revellers want to play more active partsIn the early afternoon of Ash Wednesday, dread creatures dressed in white walk the streets of the medieval southern French village of Cournonterral. They wear long masks of black badger hair, top hats crowned by feathers and sprays of boxwood, and body armour comprisi...
Warmth was result of high pressure developing across central Europe, which brought southerly windsThe end of winter brought unseasonably high temperatures across much of Europe but particularly so in northern Spain and south-west France as numerous February temperatures records were broken.Cities across Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Basque Country, including Bordeaux, Bilbao and San Sebastián, matched or exceeded their long-term February records, with temperatures of 27.1C and 27.6C recorded in ...
For once we can celebrate a British custom: grabbing lunch away from your colleagues to do whatever you likeIt’s often striking to me – as a British person and a Francophile – what prompts bewilderment among the French. Most recently, an article in Le Monde describes a concerning trend: younger adults are choosing to dine alone during their lunch breaks, flying in the face of longstanding workplace tradition. Almost one-third of employees under 25 regularly lunch alone, according to a survey ...
French military helicopters supported Belgian forces in the seizure of an oil tanker allegedly linked to Russia's 'shadow fleet' in the North Sea late on 28 February, President Emmanuel Macron said.Prosecutors said the tanker, identified as the Ethera, was falsely flying the flag of Guinea and was believed to be on its way back to Russia when it was seized in Belgium’s exclusive economic zone.Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said the ship’s captain, a Russian citizen, was being questione...
Rare joint statement from leaders of European nations makes clear they did not participate in US-Israeli strikesUS-Israeli attack on Iran – live updatesUS and Israel strikes on Iran – what we know so farEuropean leaders have urged Iran to seek a “negotiated solution” as they attempt to end the outbreak of war between the US, Israel and Iran through diplomatic means. They also clarified that they did not participate in the strikes.In a rare joint statement, the leaders of France, Germany and U...
The fallout from the violent death of Quentin Deranque exposes Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s flaws – and leaves the wider left facing an impossible dilemmaIn 2023 Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the firebrand leader of the radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI), made a fundamental miscalculation. He publicly promoted a small group of young antifascist activists. La Jeune Garde, founded in Lyon in 2018, were politically inexperienced and had organised a series of sometimes violent confrontations with far-rig...
France suspects Russian ‘provocation’ amid worries Moscow will interfere in European elections as part of broader strategy against Ukraine. What we know on day 1,466The Swedish military confirmed on Friday that a drone it jammed near a French aircraft carrier this week was Russian, amid concerns Moscow is deploying hybrid war tactics against European nations that have backed Kyiv. On Thursday a Swedish navy vessel jammed the drone 13km (eight miles) from France’s flagship, the Charles de Gaul...
Back then, France punched above its weight when it came to tech. The EU needs it to rediscover its taste for the cutting edgeIn the 1960s, France became the third country, after the US and Soviet Union, to independently place a satellite (Astérix) into orbit, and the only country to send an animal into space and – crucially, for Félicette the catstronaut – bring it back alive. A decade later, the Franco-British Concorde flicked passengers across the Atlantic in three and a half hours and the ...
The film-maker’s passionate and richly textured new short Papillon (Butterfly) tells the heartbreaking story of French-Jewish swimmer Alfred Nakache, who was stripped of his citizenship in Vichy France“My father would’ve loved me to swim competitively. I was in a club when I was young, but I always set off a little bit late in races – and so I had no chance of winning.” French animation director Florence Miailhe chuckles about her swimming career being over before it began. Happily, the same ...
Charles Kushner had been summoned to explain comments relating to the killing of far-right activist Quentin DeranqueDonald Trump’s ambassador to Paris has been banned from meeting French government ministers after failing to show up for a meeting at the foreign ministry to explain US comments about the killing of a far-right activist.Charles Kushner, whose son Jared is married to the US president’s oldest daughter, Ivanka, was summoned to the 7pm meeting by the foreign minister, Jean-Noël Bar...
French clown who established his own theatre school to teach actors and comics how to find their ‘inner idiot’In 1980 the École Philippe Gaulier opened its doors in Paris to help performers find and celebrate their “inner idiot”. The school quickly became the prime destination for clown training, attracting theatre students, actors and curious others from around the world.Philippe, who has died aged 82 following a lung infection, made the concept of le jeu – play – central to his teaching. Fo...
FCAS, which also involves Spain, is imploding at a high-stakes moment for Europe, as threat rises from RussiaFrance and Germany’s plan to build a fighter jet of the future, planned to come with a swarm of drones and a “combat communications cloud”, is collapsing.Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said this week that the €100bn programme no longer worked for him. He insisted it was “not a political dispute”, but a technical one. France needs a jet that can carry nuclear weapons and launch ...
In rare interviews, some of those sent back across the Channel after arriving in the UK on small boats describe what happened next – and the risks of a system organised to get rid of themWhen Keir Starmer stood alongside the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at Northwood military base last July and announced a “groundbreaking” treaty to stop small boats overfilled with migrants from crossing the Channel, he said there was no “silver bullet”. But, he added, the plan would “finally turn the ta...
Aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across country with flooding under way or expected on Garonne, Maine and Loire rivers France has issued red alerts for flooding in three départements as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation. Continue reading...
Foreign minister puts pressure on Emmanuel Macron amid doubts over US’s commitment to European defenceEurope live – latest updatesFrance needs to boost its defence spending to make European self-sufficiency a reality, Germany’s foreign minister has said.As European powers increasingly acknowledge they may be left on their own for their defence as the transatlantic relationship with the US president, Donald Trump, comes under strain, Johann Wadephul said Paris needed to put its money where its...
Annual remembrance in Neauphle-le-Château revives memories of short exile that reshaped Iran, but which locals would rather forgetEvery February, members of the Iranian diaspora descend on an abandoned plot of land in an unremarkable street in the French town of Neauphle-le-Château, a 90-minute drive west of Paris.On the nominated Sunday, a marquee is hastily thrown up and framed photographs of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini hung on the canvas. Green baize is laid on the muddy garden pa...
A skier from France is also killed with manslaughter investigation to be carried out by mountain rescue policeTwo Britons are among three skiers to have been killed in an avalanche in the French Alps.The pair were part of a group of five people, accompanied by an instructor, off-piste skiing in Val d’Isère, in south-east France. A French national, who was skiing alone, was also killed. Continue reading...
Suddenly, venerable figures presumed immune to sordid compromise have been exposed – although some have shown that moral courage is possibleIn 2016, the French luxury fashion house Hermès decided to pull an item it had donated to a charity auction after it appeared to have been bought by Jeffrey Epstein. In an email made public in this month’s tranche of Epstein files, Epstein’s assistant says someone at the auction platform had relayed to them that Hermès was “not comfortable” with Epstein a...
Daniel Whittington writes that it shows a lack of understanding; plus letters on the length of maternity leave and the emotional cost of leaving conception too lateAs a 24-year-old French man, I think this plan (France’s letters to 29-year-olds to remind them to have babies is a spectacular missing of the point, 10 February) reveals a mind‑boggling lack of understanding by our country’s leaders of what is actually going through the minds of our generation.For as long as I can remember, t...
Marine Le Pen’s party is concocting plans to replace a vital, vibrant arts scene with a retrograde movement that would glorify the country’s pastShould you judge the quality of a film based on how many people have been to see it? It’s the type of argument you would expect to hear in the context of the “culture war”; but is it what you would expect to hear from French culture warriors? From a country that uses language quotas to maintain its musicians on broadcast media, has fought to promote ...
A serious plan to tackle low birthrates could include addressing the fact that if people could afford to house themselves, they might be quicker to settle downI almost never wonder how I’d feel if I were a 29-year-old French woman. I fear the question would lead to dissatisfactions too profound (would I be eating oysters right now? Would my socks be cashmere? Would I know what existentialism meant – no, I mean really know?). This morning, however, I did stop and give it some serious thought: ...
Five years after a fire destroyed most of the cathedral, the artist explains how her designs will give the landmark a modern makeover and the ‘contemporary gesture’ Emmanuel Macron promisedClaire Tabouret can draw a clear line between before and after Notre Dame. Before she was chosen from more than 100 artists to design six new stained-glass windows for the cathedral – reopened in 2024, five years after it almost burned to the ground – Tabouret had a select group of admirers (one of them the...
Nili Kupfer-Naouri and Rachel Touitou said to be accused of trying to block delivery of humanitarian aid to GazaA French investigating magistrate has issued summonses to two French-Israeli nationals in relation to “complicity in genocide” over allegations they tried to block the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, French media have reported.The summonses, which reportedly mark the first time a country has considered the blocking of aid “complicity in genocide”, were issued for Nili Kupfer-N...
Mike White’s show will begin production in April at five-star Saint-Tropez resort known for old-world opulenceWill it be a fatal attack with a pétanque boule under the parasol palms? Some skulduggery in the swimming pool of a €21,000-a-night private villa? Perhaps a poisoned cocktail on the terrace overlooking the luxury yachts in the Mediterranean?Bienvenue to season four of The White Lotus on the Côte d’Azur; judging by past series, someone is not making it out of the French Riviera alive. ...
Manners and respect are the norm for kids here. Treating them like a nuisance won’t do anything to help France’s declining birthrateIn French culture, seven is known as “l’âge de raison”, the age at which children know right from wrong and can take some moral responsibility. France’s national rail operator, it seems, puts the age at which a child can be trusted to behave in a non-annoying way onboard a train a bit higher.In launching its new Optimum plus tariff earlier this month, offering sp...
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed support for Greenland in Greenlandic and Danish on Wednesday as he stood between the two countries' prime ministers in Paris. Greenland's Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Denmark's Mette Frederiksen were at the Élysée palace to shore up support to counter Donald Trump's push to take over the Arctic islandEurope live Continue reading...
At Davos the French president wore a pair of shades made by Maison Henry Jullien to cover up a burst blood vessel in one eyeThe world leaders and company executives meeting in Davos this week were meant to be discussing the most complex and alarming geopolitical crisis most could remember.Instead, all eyes were on Emmanuel Macron. Continue reading...
Magali Lafourcade says the two envoys were convinced the far-right leader’s corruption trial had been politicalA French magistrate has said two Trump administration emissaries approached her seeking to lobby against an election ban on the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.Magali Lafourcade, the secretary general of France’s human rights commission (CNCDH), an independent body that advises the government, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) she had reported the content of the meeting to the Fr...
A Paris appeals court will decide if Marine Le Pen can stand in next year’s presidential election. But legal troubles have not damaged the fortunes of her partyIn a Paris courtroom, the first act of the 2027 French presidential election is already under way. On Tuesday Marine Le Pen began to answer judges’ questions in her appeal against a conviction relating to the embezzlement of European parliament funds. If she wins, the far-right leader will be free to run for the presidency for a fourth...
French far-right leader denies existence of fake jobs ‘system’ in effort to overturn ban on running for presidentThe French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told a Paris appeals court there was no “system” set up by her party to misuse European parliament funds, as she gave evidence in a fresh embezzlement trial that will determine whether she can run in the 2027 presidential election.“The word ‘system’ bothers me because [it gives] the impression of a manipulation,” Le Pen said on Tuesday,...
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, told the World Economic Forum, in Davos, that the world was sliding away from democracy and international law towards autocracy and violence.'It's a shift to a world without rules, where international law is trampled underfoot and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest,' he said on Tuesday. Imperial ambitions were resurfacing, he added, and Donald Trump's tariff war aimed to 'weaken and subordinate' EuropeEurope live Continue re...
Aid groups say rise of far-right rhetoric in politics has fed into intimidation, vandalism and hate graffiti around migrant campsNot far from a camp in Dunkirk where hundreds of asylum seekers sleep, hoping to cross the Channel to the UK, are some chilling pieces of graffiti. There is a hangman’s noose with a figure dangling next to the word “migrant” and, close by, another daubing: a Jewish Star of David painted in black surrounded by red swastikas.Utopia 56, a French group supporting migran...
French president calls tariff threats ‘unacceptable’, while Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson warns EU will not be ‘blackmailed’ by USEmmanuel Macron has hit back at Donald Trump’s latest threats to impose tariffs on any country opposing his Greenland takeover, warning that “no amount of intimidation” will persuade European nations to change their course on Greenland.The US president on Saturday announced 10% tariffs on eight European countries from 1 February, with a further 25% tariff from 1 June. C...
President said 10% tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland will begin on 1 February and increase to 25% on 1 JuneDonald Trump said he will impose a 25% tariff on a slew of European countries including Denmark, Germany and the UK – until the US is allowed to purchase Greenland, in an escalation of the US president’s bid to claim the autonomous Danish territory.In a lengthy post on Saturday on Truth Social, Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff ...
Marine Le Pen is milking rural fury over the Mercosur pact. France’s politicians, of all stripes, are too cowardly to defend a good dealOnce again, France’s farmers have been blocking motorways with their tractors in protest, this time at an impending EU trade agreement with a group of South American countries in a common market known as Mercosur, which has been 25 years in the making.The tragedy is that while the EU can finally claim an important victory in its strategy of sealing rules-base...
The US president delights in his inconsistency. But his short-term victories have profound long-term costs for his country and the worldThe Middle East was braced on Wednesday night, but the anxious petitioning of Gulf states and Iran’s attempts to appease the US president appeared to win out – at least for the moment. No bombs fell on Tehran. After all his threats, and with military options under discussion in Washington, Donald Trump stepped back, announcing that “the killing [of protesters...
Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilitiesMore than 100 asylum seekers held at two immigration detention centres have staged overnight protests against the UK’s controversial “one in, one out” scheme with France.Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas arrived to quell the protests. Continue reading...
Footage shows police with riot shields confronting asylum seekers being held at two immigration detention centres during overnight protests against the UK’s 'one in, one out' scheme with France.Asylum seekers being held at the two sites, Harmondsworth, close to Heathrow, and Brook House near Gatwick, told the Guardian that they were peacefully resisting being taken to the airport, understood to be Stansted, because they believe that while France is generally a safe country, it is not safe fo...
France is latest to send military team to Arctic island as US desire to own Greenland still ‘intact’ despite talksEurope live – latest updatesThe Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said Greenland’s defence is a “common concern” for the whole of Nato, as troops started arriving from across Europe to bolster defence as a result of Donald Trump’s threats to take the Arctic island by force.Troops from countries including France, Germany, Norway and Sweden were on their way to Greenland, a ...
Múte B. Egede, Greenland’s deputy prime minister, said more soldiers were expected in the coming daysPoland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said there were strong reasons to believe a group connected to Russian secret services was behind a significant cyber-attack on Poland’s energy in infrastructure towards the end of December, Reuters reported.Chairing an emergency meeting on the attack, Tusk said the attack focused on systems managing renewable energy, but insisted that Poland’s defence syste...
Mathilde Aurier’s 65 Rue d’Aubagne looks at the 2018 house collapse in Marseille and how the city healed itself through ‘love and solidarity’“It was a turning point for Marseille, and it spotlighted the politics of France’s second city. There’s still a lot of things that have been left unsaid, things that aren’t pretty. But it set things into motion too.”Playwright and director Mathilde Aurier is talking about what has been referred to as France’s Grenfell moment: the collapse of two dilapida...
He has survived loss, breakdown and schooling by ‘scary nuns’, but the anguish is still there in his art. As his new show thrills Paris, the US-based, Irish-born artist talks about the pain that drives himWhen I ask Sean Scully what an abstract painting has over a figurative one it’s music he reaches for. “You might ask, what’s Miles Davis got over the Beatles? And the answer is: doesn’t have any words in it. And then you could say, what have the Beatles got over John Coltrane? Well, they’ve ...
The Paris declaration by the ‘coalition of the willing’ supports a nonexistent ceasefire that remains at the mercy of Russian intransigenceGwendolyn Sasse is director of the Centre for East European and International StudiesAn end to Russia’s war against Ukraine is still not in sight. The frequency of high-level meetings of Ukrainian, US and European representatives in recent weeks, as well as the intermittent US-Russia exchanges, have not changed this fundamental reality. There is no ceasefi...
In separate speeches, Emmanuel Macron and Frank-Walter Steinmeier warn rules-based international order could disintegrateEurope live – latest updatesThe presidents of France and Germany have sharply condemned US foreign policy under Donald Trump, saying respectively that Washington was “breaking free from international rules” and the world risked turning into a “robber’s den”.In unusually strong and apparently uncoordinated remarks, Emmanuel Macron and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, leaders of the ...
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said on Thursday the US was 'breaking free from international rules, which it promoted until recently, whether it be trade, certain security matters or some forums'. His comments came after Donald Trump ordered a military intervention in Venezuela in which the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, was captured. The US president has since then renewed his call for the US to take over Greenland, a Danish territory – a move that would threaten European secur...
Detainees under scheme to return people entering UK on small boats told their plane tickets had been cancelledThe first flight of 2026 to return asylum seekers who came to the UK on small boats to France has been cancelled, the Guardian understands.Detainees earmarked for the UK government’s “one in, one out” scheme who had tickets for a flight on Wednesday morning to Paris were told their tickets had been cancelled. Continue reading...
A trip to the supermarché this Christmas opened my eyes to crisps flavoured with Flemish stew, salted butter and other flagrant crimesI spent Christmas in France, which was on its best behaviour: tasteful, twinkling lights, market stalls stacked with exquisitely fresh fruit and vegetables, and enough cheeses to coat the entire Channel Tunnel with arterial plaque, piled platters of glistening shellfish on ice glimpsed through fogged brasserie windows. As I watched a long but orderly queue of w...