19 h. ago Broken promises and political crises: how Emmanuel Macron fell from French favour

The president is seen to have accelerated the financial crisis, social inequalities and the rise of the far rightEurope live – latest updatesThree French governments have collapsed in less than a year, and the political crisis looks likely to continue, overshadowing Emmanuel Macron’s last 18 months in power and his domestic legacy.This week, the latest minority government narrowly survived its first vote of no confidence. But it remains the weakest cabinet in decades and could be toppled at any moment if opposition parties join together to oust it. France faces a brutal two-month battle in parliament to achieve what once seemed the most basic element of governance: passing a budget. Continue reading...

Politics

19 h. ago Political deadlock and spending on dual crises leaves French finances in disarray

France is a major industrial power, the world’s seventh-largest economy

Politics

38 h. ago Lawyers ask ICC to investigate 122 European officials for crimes against humanity in Mediterranean

Human rights lawyers accused 122 European officials of committing crimes against migrants in the Mediterranean Sea

Events

3 d. ago The crisis engulfing Emmanuel Macron contains a warning for Keir Starmer | Rafael Behr

The French president dominated the centre ground but has failed to build a legacy there. Labour is in danger of doing the sameBritain and France do not share a fixed quota of political stability such that reduced volatility on one side of the Channel causes chaos across the water. It was just a coincidence that Keir Starmer won a huge majority at precisely the moment last July when legislative elections made France ungovernable for Emmanuel Macron.It was a misfortune for both men, and for Europe, that their political trajectories were out of sync. Macron had dealt with four Tory prime ministers before finding a potential ally in the ascendant Labour leader. By then his presidency was in spiralling decline. Britain was rousing itself from Brexit delirium just as France was losing the plot.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago What to know about the events leading up to Madagascar's military coup

Madagascar’s military has seized power from the civilian government, a high-ranking commander announced after President Andry Rajoelina fled the sprawling Indian Ocean island country for his safety

Events

3 d. ago Macron's ominous warning to Trump at Egypt summit: 'You will see what is about to happen'

Donald Trump 's awkward handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron at Monday's Gaza peace summit has taken a dark turn as new details reveal their intense conversation.

Politics

3 d. ago French prime minister proposes suspending controversial retirement age law until 2027 election

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu plans to suspend a controversial retirement age increase from 62 to 64

Politics

3 d. ago France set for financial meltdown as Macron faces yet more humiliation over economic failure and out

French president Emmanuel Macron faces another humiliation, after the country's independent fiscal watchdog said his government's budget plans 'may simply not materialise'.

Economics

4 d. ago Donald Trump's private war of words with Emmanuel Macron exposed amid handshake

Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron were captured engaging in a tense, jerking handshake on stage in Egypt amid the end of the Israel-Hamas conflict

Politics

4 d. ago Trump's ominous warning to Macron at Egypt summit: 'You will see what is about to happen'

Donald Trump 's awkward handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron at Monday's Gaza peace summit has taken a dark turn as new details reveal their intense conversation.

Politics

4 d. ago Emmanuel Macron: I won’t resign, I was elected ‘to serve, to serve, and to serve’

Sebastien Lecornu will face a no-confidence vote this week after being reappointed

Politics

4 d. ago Macron accuses rivals of fuelling instability as he dismisses calls to resign

French president says opposition has not ‘risen to the moment’ after reappointment of Sébastien Lecornu as PMThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has accused rival political parties of fuelling instability in France, as he brushed aside calls by the opposition for him to resign amid France’s worst political crisis in decades.“Many of those who have fuelled division and speculation have not risen to the moment,” Macron said of French opposition parties, as he arrived in Egypt on Monday to attend a summit on Gaza. He said rival “political forces” were “solely responsible for this chaos” after they “instigated the destabilisation” of the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Madagascar president flees after losing support of key army unit

Elite Capsat unit that played a major role in Andry Rajoelina’s rise to presidency joined gen Z protests against corruptionMadagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, is reported to have fled the country on a French military aircraft, hours before he was scheduled to address the people.French state radio RFI reported on Monday that the president, who also has French citizenship, had been flown out of the capital, Antananarivo, after a deal with President Emmanuel Macron. It added that he may have headed for Dubai. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago French political crisis continues as Lecornu unveils new government – Europe live

Marine Le Pen says she will seek to call a no-confidence motion as she urges Macron to dissolve the National AssemblySpeaking from Egypt, French president Emmanuel Macron dismissed opposition calls for his resignation, insisting he would remain in office to safeguard the country’s stability.“Never forget that the mandate given by the French people is to serve, to serve and serve, and to provide answers to the questions of everyday French people, and to do everything possible for the independence of France,” Macron told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh. “That is the only thing that matters. The rest is the government’s business I will continue to ensure stability,” he added. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago While the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland | Nesrine Malik

Western leaders attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit have enabled and sponsored this slaughter. They are in no position to build a Palestinian futureToday, Sharm el-Sheikh will host the most high-profile gathering of global leaders in the Middle East of recent years. Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sánchez and others are meeting “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”.If the ceasefire holds, this language is an augur of the future. One where there is no reckoning, no addressing of root causes. Only a hurtling into the imperatives of cleanings-up and workings-out. All the while illegal occupation continues, and another chapter of Israel’s violations is furtively closed without accountability not only for Israel, but for its sponsors.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Keir Starmer says Gaza peace summit 'crucial phase in ending war' as he jets to Egypt

Keir Starmer is expected to be joined by Donald Trump, Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, UN Secretary General António Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron

Politics

6 d. ago Emmanuel Macron’s political turmoil isn’t just bad news for France

Editorial: The consequences of the president’s weakness will be felt beyond France’s borders – with Vladimir Putin the main winner

Politics

6 d. ago Inside Macron’s political crisis as French government descends into farce: ‘An extraordinary tragicomedy’

The resignation of prime minister Sebastien Lecornu , and his subsequent reappointment, is the latest chapter in France’s ongoing political turmoil. Analysts tell James C. Reynolds that the rot may be too deep for President Emmanuel Macron to fix

Politics

7 d. ago Power restored to 800,000 in Kyiv after major Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy grid

Power was restored to more than 800,000 residents in Kyiv on Saturday following major Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid that wounded at least 20 people and caused widespread blackouts

Events

7 d. ago Sebastien Lecornu renamed as French Prime Minister just 5 days after quitting

After days of negotiations, Emmanuel Macron has asked Sebastien Lecornu to try again to form a government and produce a budget in a bid to end France's political deadlock

Politics