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Gabriel Attal says state will file a complaint against student over accusation against principal who had to resign for his safetyThe French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has defended French secularism following the resignation of a Paris school principal who received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil on the premises.Attal, a former education minister, said the state would be filing...

Immersive tour at Musée d’Orsay takes visitors back to 15 April 1874 – the moment that marked the movement’s birthIn a lush red-and-gold carpeted photographer’s studio in northern Paris, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas are adding the final touches to the hanging of their paintings, while fellow artists Berthe Morisot and Camille Pissarro lament the lack of recognition for their work and Claude Monet...

President sparks social media buzz as users ask whether he is getting ready to take on Vladimir Putin after images posted to InstagramThe release of official photos showing Emmanuel Macron hitting a punching bag have been met with a mixture of praise and consternation in France.The photos of the French president, posted on Instagram on Tuesday by his official photographer, Soazig de la Moissonnière,...

One chef receives three stars at first attempt in 115th edition of the French foodies’ bibleA record 52 restaurants in France – including 23 that only opened in the past year – have been awarded one or more Michelin stars for the first time, which the French foodies’ bible said reflected the “cultural dynamism” of a new generation of innovative young chefs.“This year’s is...

Outrage from the far right over rumours of a performance at the opening ceremony has exposed deep divisions in FranceShe is the most listened-to French singer in the world, whose relentlessly catchy hits about love and betrayal have been streamed 7bn times and who made history last year when she sold out three Paris gigs in 15 minutes.But Aya Nakamura, France’s biggest pop superstar...

Military powers agree to step up purchase of ammunition for Kyiv in effort to dampen mutual tensions over Russia stanceIn an ostentatious show of unity designed to ease the tensions between France and Germany over the threat posed by a resurgent Russia, leaders of Europe’s three leading military powers agreed to step up the worldwide purchase of ammunition for Ukraine and improve their offer...

Three days of voting begin in Russia and occupied regions of Ukraine amid claims Russia repelled attempt to land Ukrainian troops in BelgorodSergei Naryshkin, chief of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said on Friday that French president Emmanuel Macron’s remarks about the possibility of sending soldiers from Nato countries to Ukraine were “crazy and paranoid dreams”, Reuters reportsSuspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, is reporting an explosion...

Scientists and vets are urging the president to afford the world’s most traded species better protectionsFrance’s hunger for frogs’ legs is “destructive to nature” and endangering amphibians in Asia and south-east Europe, a group of scientists and vets have warned.More than 500 experts from research, veterinary and conservation groups have called on Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to “end the overexploitation of frogs” and...

Film-maker held to account for dismissing claim of 1983 sexual assault against Charlotte Lewis as ‘heinous lie’The film director Roman Polanski has gone on trial for libel in Paris after accusing a British actor who claimed he abused her of “a heinous lie”.Charlotte Lewis, who was in court in Tuesday at the opening of the hearing, said she had been the victim of a...

Eiffel Tower lit up to mark change, seen as way of protecting law that decriminalised abortion in 1975The French parliament has enshrined abortion as a constitutional right at a historic joint session at the Palace of Versailles.Out of 925 MPs and senators eligible to vote, 780 supported the amendment, which will give women the “guaranteed freedom” to choose an abortion. Continue reading...

Boat carrying 10 other children between seven and 13 years old, along with girl’s pregnant mother, father and three siblings, sankA seven-year-old girl has died in a canal close to Dunkirk after a makeshift boat carrying 16 people from northern France to the UK capsized, the prefecture in France’s Nord department said.The boat, which was carrying 10 other children between seven and 13 years...

Prosecutors have received six complaints against Miller, 75, dating from between 1995 and 2005The French psychoanalyst and media personality Gérard Miller is being investigated by French prosecutors over allegations of rape and sexual assault, including of minors, as more women made claims in a documentary that he had sought to meet teenagers in the studio audiences of TV shows and invite them to his...

One accused of terrorism and three of helping Chérif Chekatt procure weapons for deadly assault at Christmas marketFour men go on trial today accused of involvement in the 2018 terrorist attack on Strasbourg’s Christmas market, in which a gunman killed five people and injured 11 others in an assault that was later claimed by Islamic State.Chérif Chekatt, 29, who was born and raised in...

Officials say 179 people trying to cross Channel were rescued after four French-led operationsOne person has died and two others are missing in the Channel after an incident involving a small boat, French rescue services have said.According to the Préfecture maritime Manche et mer du Nord, four French-led rescue operations took place in the Channel on Wednesday, coordinated by the regional operational surveillance and...

Prime minister says France ‘stands up’ to defend women as rights are attacked around the worldFrance is preparing to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right at a joint session of parliament next week, after the senate voted in favour on Wednesday night.France would write into its constitution the “guaranteed freedom” of women to choose an abortion. Continue reading...

Senior church officials in Rome decline to act, citing worsening health of French clergyman known as ‘devil priest’A French clergyman dubbed the “devil priest” who stands accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Canada’s north will not be dismissed from his congregation after senior church officials in Rome declined to act, citing the nonagenarian’s declining health.Johannes Rivoire, a priest with the Missionary Oblates of...

City hall engineer had put bag with sensitive data in overhead luggage rack on train at Gare du NordA bag containing a computer and two USB memory sticks holding police security plans for the Paris Olympic Games has been stolen from a train at the capital’s Gare du Nord station.The bag belonged to an engineer from Paris city hall, the police said late on...

French president admits no consensus exists on such a move as he urges fellow European leaders to take action rather than wait for US aidSee all our Ukraine war coverageFrance’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he refused to rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine, but said no consensus existed on the step, at a meeting of 20 mainly European leaders in Paris...

Four ski mountaineers from a nearby club killed and three injured while off piste with a guideFour people have been killed in an avalanche in the mountainous Auvergne region of central France, local authorities said.The avalanche took place on Sunday at an altitude of 1,600 metres (5,250 feet) above the village of Mont-Dore in an area known as the Val d’Enfer, the prefecture of...

French president greeted by whistles from hundreds of demonstrators as some clash with policeHundreds of protesting farmers clashed with police in Paris as Emmanuel Macron toured the annual agricultural fair on Saturday. The French president had opened the fair as angry farmers blew whistles and shouted insults.Riot police initially kept the protesters at a safe distance as he toured the fair, tasting honey from...

Mati Diop, the director of Dahomey, which charts the restitution of 26 objects to Benin, says the tiny number involved is ‘humiliating’The first major return of looted treasures from Europe to Africa in the 21st century has left a lingering feeling of humiliation because of the lack of follow-up action, a French-Senegalese film-maker who accompanied a hoard of artefacts on their journey from Paris...

Network operating in western Europe is ‘paving way for new wave of online manipulation’ in crucial election year, French agency saysFrench military and cybersecurity experts say they have identified a Moscow-based network spreading propaganda and disinformation in western Europe.France’s Viginum agency, which was set up in 2021 to detect digital interference from foreign entities aimed at influencing public opinion, says Russia is paving the...

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin plans to change constitution to remove birthplace right to citizenship on island that is part of FranceFrench authorities have announced a controversial plan to amend the constitution to revoke birthplace citizenship on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, claiming it would help stem an immigration crisis.The reform was announced by interior minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday after he arrived...

Seine-Port is introducing restrictions on phone use in streets, shops and parks – but young people say there’s little else to doA picture of a smartphone with a red line through it serves as a warning in the window of a hairdresser’s shop in a French village that has voted to ban people scrolling on their phones in public. “Everyone is struggling with too...