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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...

Guinness World Records initially said 7.2-metre structure made from more than 700,000 matches broke rulesA man has been awarded the Guinness world record for creating the tallest structure using matchsticks – after his Eiffel Tower replica was initially rejected.Richard Plaud, from France, said he had been on an “emotional rollercoaster” this week, after spending 4,200 hours building his model from more than 706,000 matches...

French actor alleges arthouse film-maker Benoît Jacquot groomed her when she was 14 and he was 39French prosecutors have opened a rape inquiry after the actor Judith Godrèche filed a complaint against the arthouse film director Benoît Jacquot, who she says groomed her when she was 14 and he was 39.A formal complaint was filed against Jacquot, 77, for the alleged rape of a...

Catherine Colonna will lead inquiry after Israel’s accusation that at least 12 UN agency workers were involved in 7 October assaultA former French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, is to lead an independent review of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after accusations by Israel that at least 12 staff members were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.The review was ordered...

Two victims have light wounds while third person has serious but non-life threatening injuries, say policeThree people have been wounded in a knife attack in the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris and the suspect has been arrested, police have said.Two of the victims suffered light wounds while the third person was more seriously injured but was not in a life-threatening situation, police...

French agriculture minister set to hold takes in Brussels as around 10,000 protesters turn outValérie Hayer, a French politician and president of the Renew Europe group in the European parliament, has spoken out about the impact of Brexit.“Four years ago, the United Kingdom left us,” she wrote, adding:Purchasing power, social security, global influence, border protection: nothing, absolutely nothing, has been a success. The populists...

Constitutional change could face fight in Senate after national assembly approves measure by 493 votes to 30France’s lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a measure to inscribe abortion as a “guaranteed freedom” in the constitution, a pledge made by the president, Emmanuel Macron, last year.But the controversial plan now goes to the upper-house Senate, where it faces resistance from the conservative Republicans and...

France and UK also agree to deploy more drones and sea barriers to stop small boats crossing ChannelUK security experts will help France to protect the Paris Olympics in a sign of closer cooperation, the Home Office has said.Both governments also plan to deploy more drones and sea barriers to prevent small boats carrying asylum seekers from crossing the Channel. Continue reading...

French president says future security architecture of Europe could no longer be settled by the US and RussiaThe European Union has to make bold decisions to defend Ukraine, pre-empting any US decision to withhold or reduce its military support, Emmanuel Macron has said.In a speech in Sweden, which hopes to be the next country to join Nato, the French president also said the future...