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French government set to respond after being surprised by scale and fury of grassroots demonstrations in agriculture sectorPierre Bretagne woke at 4am to feed the cows on his organic farm near the coastal town of Pornic in western France, then did something he had never dared to before.He made a cardboard protest banner about the nightmare of French bureaucracy and went to cheer on...

Impetus for change was US supreme court overturning Roe v Wade, while Germany passes law banning harassment of women at abortion clinicsThe French parliament has begun debating moves for France to become the first country in the world to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right, guaranteeing women access to the means to end a pregnancy voluntarily.The justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, told the lower house...

France, Poland and Austria among nine countries where radical rightwing parties predicted to finish firstPopulist “anti-European” parties are heading for big gains in June’s European elections that could shift the parliament’s balance sharply to the right and jeopardise key pillars of the EU’s agenda including climate action, polling suggests.Polling in all 27 EU member states, combined with modelling of how national parties performed in...

Three people questioned on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter after collision in Pamiers, south of Toulouse A woman and her teenage daughter have died in southern France after a car hit a roadblock where they were standing. The blockade had been set up by farmers taking part in growing anti-government protests.The 35-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter were killed at 5.45am when a car went...

Protesters denounce lack of jail time for officers who left Théodore Luhaka incontinent after beatingThree police officers have been given suspended jail sentences for assaulting a young footballer during an arrest in 2017 in a case that has thrown the spotlight on police violence and racism in France.The decision not to send the officers to prison sparked angry protests in Paris on Friday. Continue...

Lax employment law cited as motivation for ice-cold crossing in which five people died off WimereuxThe mayor of the French seaside resort where five people died off the coast trying to reach the UK has blamed the British immigration system for the crisis that engulfed the town at the weekend.“What’s happening today is their fault,” said Jean-Luc Dubaële, the mayor of Wimereux, claiming Britain...

Amélie Oudéa-Castéra was accused of lying about why she enrolled her son in a private schoolFrance’s new education minister has sparked the first major crisis for Gabriel Attal’s new government following accusations she failed to give the true reason why she enrolled her children in a private school.The snowballing row threatens to derail attempts by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to give the government...

Hiring of figures close to former rightwing leader Nicolas Sarkozy confirms president’s rightward shiftEmmanuel Macron has tilted the French government significantly to the right, bringing in key figures close to the former rightwing president Nicolas Sarkozy in an attempt to reinvigorate his second term and limit possible gains by the far right at the European elections.“I don’t want managers, I want revolutionaries,” Macron told...

Dati, who previously served under Sarkozy, is named culture minister by new PM Gabriel AttalRachida Dati, a former minister for the rightwing French president Nicolas Sarkozy, has been appointed as culture minister in a surprise return to government under Emmanuel Macron.Dati, who is serving as the mayor of Paris’s 7th arrondissement for the rightwing party Les Républicains, was announced as part of a cabinet...

Gabriel Attal attempts to set tone as Macron government tries to counter rise of Marine Le Pen’s far-rightThe new French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has sent a strong message on law and order on his first full day in office, visiting a police station and promising to deliver security to “responsible working French people”, who he said wanted calm.“There is no security without our...

Customers can collect their parcels and try on items in one trip during trial at La Poste branchesIt is an increasingly common irritant of modern life. You order an item of clothing online; you wait with anticipation for it to arrive, and five minutes after it has arrived you’re packaging it up because it doesn’t fit.For shoppers in France, however, the national post office...

Attal, 34, rose in opinion polls during his time as education minister and may help ruling party in EU electionsProfile: who is the new French prime minister?Emmanuel Macron has appointed France’s youngest-ever prime minister, Gabriel Attal, as he seeks to reinvigorate a difficult second term as president and limit any possible gains for the far right in the forthcoming European elections in June.Attal, 34,...

The new PM was chosen to boost Emmanuel Macron’s agenda but, as his predecessor found out, pushing through legislation won’t be easyWho is Gabriel Attal?As Gabriel Attal, France’s new prime minister, hastily made his first trip to the northern Pas‐de‐Calais to assess flood damage and reassure struggling residents and local politicians on Tuesday, it symbolised the challenges that await him.A popular former government spokesperson...

France’s PM resigned on Monday after days of increasingly feverish speculation about an imminent government reshuffleThe education minister, considered a leading candidate to become France’s next prime minister, was born in 1989 in Hauts-de-Seine.The politician has already served in a variety of roles, including government spokesperson and public accounts minister. Continue reading...

Second female prime minister of Fifth Republic resigns after days of speculation about reshuffle, with Le Pen party ahead in pollsFrance’s prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, has resigned after days of increasingly feverish speculation about an imminent government reshuffle.The president, Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to give a new impetus to his second mandate before European parliament elections and the Paris Olympics this summer, thanked...

Stores in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium will no longer stock PepsiCo drinks, Lay’s and Doritos crisps and Quaker cerealsThe French supermarket chain Carrefour has said it will stop selling PepsiCo products in stores in four European countries because the global food company has put its prices up by too much.Shelves at Carrefours in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium will from Thursday carry signs...

Anthony Delon told a magazine his father was finding it hard to accept his frail state of healthThe actor Alain Delon will file a legal complaint against his son over “a media outburst” in France’s most prominent magazine, his lawyer has said.In an interview published on Thursday, Anthony Delon told Paris Match that his father was finding it hard to accept his frail state...

Independent French auditors say UK information on people crossing Channel is ‘very patchy’The UK is not coordinating sufficiently with France to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats or providing enough detailed information, French state auditors have said.The cour des comptes, an independent French body that examines the use of public funds, has published a report on the efficiency of...

Françoise Bornet’s embrace with then boyfriend in 1950 became one of the most famous images of the cityIt was one of the most famous kisses of the 20th century – a postwar clinch that became a 1980s poster phenomenon, bringing fame and court battles.Françoise Bornet, the young lover immortalised in the French photographer Robert Doisneau’s The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville, has died...