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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...

Leaders to meet in Brussels later this week for summit intended to seal deal on long-term funding for UkraineWith only days to go until Thursday’s summit of EU leaders, it is still unclear whether 26 heads of state and government can convince Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to agree to long-term financial aid for Ukraine.A senior European diplomat told the Guardian this morning that member states...

Lifesize replica of 70-metre work, which cost museum £16,000, was part of sale of late drummer Charlie Watts’s estateIn 1872, a photographer from the South Kensington Museum – now the Victoria and Albert – travelled to France to take pictures of the Bayeux tapestry, the most famous piece of medieval art in the world.Photography was in its infancy and the images of the 70-metre...

Vincent Reynouard discovered living double life in Scottish village where he worked as a tutor, reports sayA Holocaust denier who was arrested in a Scottish fishing village will be extradited back to France after spending two years on the run from the authorities.Vincent Reynouard lost his extradition battle after his arrest in November 2022. He had been discovered living a double life in Anstruther,...

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...

Driver was unaware he had to register French hire car with TfL’s collection agent even though it was emissions compliantThousands of EU citizens ‘wrongly fined for driving in London Ulez’How Belgian MP turned sleuth to solve Ulez fine mysteryChristian Ducarre received three fines totalling nearly £11,000 after driving his French hire car to London to attend his son’s wedding. The car, which was fully...

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...

Three-year €2.1m fund will prioritise former colonies of the two countries and could lead to return of itemsGermany and France will jointly spend €2.1m (£1.8m) to further research the provenance of African heritage objects in their national museums’ collections, which could prepare the ground for their eventual return.A three-year fund, with contributions of €360,000 a year by each country, was launched in Berlin on...

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...

Group was attempting to reach vessel off northern France when their small boat got into difficultyFour people have died and a fifth is in critical condition after trying to reach the UK from northern France despite freezing temperatures, the French maritime authority said.The group was attempting to reach a vessel off Wimereux when their small boat got into difficulty at about 2am local time...

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...