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Health, jobs, defence, security and climate crisis all seen as more important than immigration with June elections approachingIrregular migration is not the top priority for European voters despite the prominence of the issue in the media and political campaigning by rightwing parties over the last year, a new survey commissioned by the European parliament shows.The Eurobarometer poll which tracks public opinions every quarter puts...

President said US are ‘devoted to the defence of Israel’ as he urged Tehran to show restraint Joe Biden has said he expects an Iranian attack on Israel “sooner rather than later” and issued a last-ditch message to Tehran: “Don’t.”“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden told reporters...

Proposed penalty, intended to boost creaking health service, is criticised by doctors’ unions and patients’ groupsPatients in France who fail to turn up to a doctor’s appointment without a good excuse will be fined €5 (£4.30) under a proposal from the government.Gabriel Attal said on Monday that medical professionals reported an estimated 27m no-shows every year, adding: “We cannot allow this to continue.” Continue...

Georges-Louis Leclerc proposed species change and extinction back in the 1740s, a new book revealsShortly after Charles Darwin published his magnum opus, The Origin of Species, in 1859 he started reading a little-known 100-year-old work by a wealthy French aristocrat.Its contents were quite a surprise. “Whole pages [of his book] are laughably like mine,” Darwin wrote to a friend. “It is surprising how candid...

Audrey Mondjehi, 43, found guilty of terrorism-related charges relating to 2018 attack that killed fiveA former security guard who helped procure the gun used to kill five people and injure 11 others in a terrorist attack on Strasbourg’s Christmas market in 2018 has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.Audrey Mondjehi, 43, was found guilty of a series of terrorism-related charges, including abetting murder...

French president in favour of singer opening the Games amid racist backlash from far-right politiciansEmmanuel Macron has said the French pop superstar Aya Nakamura would be in her rightful place performing at an opening ceremony for the Olympic Games this summer, after suggestions that she could sing an Édith Piaf song sparked a racist backlash against the singer.Asked about Nakamura, who is the most...

Three minors have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after incident in MontpellierThe French government has launched an urgent investigation after a 14-year-old girl was severely wounded and left in a coma after being beaten outside her school by three other teenagers in the south of France.The three alleged attackers, including a girl who was at the same school as the victim in...

Tunnel under construction found near La Santé prison does not appear to be part of an escape plan, local official saysA mysterious tunnel under construction has been discovered near a prison in southern Paris during routine electrical works, although police sources said it did not appear to be part of an escape plan.The discovery was made on Tuesday by a technician from Enedis, which...

Bones were discovered near the hamlet of Le Vernet, close to where the little boy went missing in 2023French investigators have found the remains of a toddler who went missing in 2023, in a case that shocked the nation.Investigators are now working to determine how the boy died, a prosecutor said on Sunday. Continue reading...

Photos of French president’s three-day trip to Brazil to reaffirm countries’ partnership delight internet observersIf the official photos are anything to go by, Emmanuel Macron’s three-day trip to Brazil has been more romantic getaway than international diplomacy.The French president, who ended his tour of the South American country on Thursday with a state visit to the capital, Brasília, prompted online hilarity after the publication...

French president tells Brazil forum both parties need to be ‘much stronger’ on biodiversity and climateEmmanuel Macron has called a proposed trade agreement between the EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc a “very bad deal” that lacks proper climate considerations.“As it is negotiated today, it is a very bad deal, for you and for us,” the French president told Brazilian businessmen in São Paulo...

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...

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...

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...