1 week ago Jake Paul vs Gervonta Davis: Fight rules announced for exhibition bout

A winner will be declared when Paul and David go to battle

Politics

1 week ago UK, Canada and Australia announce formal recognition of Palestine, with wave of Israel’s allies to follow

Partly symbolic move by up to 10 states comes amid fears Israel could respond by annexing parts of West BankA wave of Israel’s allies are announcing their recognition of the state of Palestine, as part of a wider manoeuvre designed to ostracise Hamas and challenge attempts by the Israeli government to erase the chance of a Palestinian homeland.But the delicate and partly symbolic move by as many 10 states, pioneered largely by the French government, has the potential to lead to a negative spiral of further confrontation amid fears Israel will respond by annexing parts of the West Bank, leading in turn to European trade sanctions and further political isolation for Israel, including an ultimate possible suspension from the UN. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago French mayors to fly Palestinian flags despite government orders

Several French mayors plan to fly Palestinian flags on town halls, defying government orders

Politics

2 w. ago France should have recognised Palestinian statehood years ago. The cynic in me asks: why now? | Rokhaya Diallo

Weakened domestically, Emmanuel Macron wants an international legacy. Yet still, he does nothing to sanction IsraelWhen Emmanuel Macron announced that France intended to recognise Palestinian statehood, he drew a furious rebuke from Israel – and caused a diplomatic storm with the US. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote a letter accusing the French government of failing to “confront the alarming rise of antisemitism” in France, adding the harsh and unequivocal assessment: “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire.”In the same letter, he praised Donald Trump’s action to “protect the civil rights of American Jews”.Rokhaya Diallo is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Sally Rooney and Annie Ernaux among authors urging Macron to reinstate Gaza writers programme

20 authors, including Viet Thanh Nguyen and Abdulrazak Gurnah, call on the French president to restart scheme to help creatives evacuateSally Rooney, Deborah Levy, Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux and Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen are among 20 authors urging French president Emmanuel Macron to resume a “lifeline” programme for evacuating Palestinian writers, scholars and artists from Gaza.The Pause programme for writers and artists in emergency situations, as well as a student evacuation programme, were abruptly suspended by the French government at the beginning of August over a Palestinian student’s allegedly antisemitic online remarks, a decision that the letter-writing authors said amounted to a “collective punishment”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Eritrean man wins High Court bid to block removal in latest blow to Government's ‘one in, one out’ drive

Ministers agreed the pilot scheme with the French government in July as part of efforts to deter the number of arrivals by small boat crossings

Politics

2 w. ago Man wins High Court bid to block removal to France under ‘one in, one out’ drive

Ministers agreed the pilot scheme with the French government in July as part of efforts to deter the number of arrivals by small boat crossings.

Events

2 w. ago French companies’ borrowing costs fall below government’s as debt fears intensify

Lower yields for groups including L’Oréal, Airbus and Axa upend typical order and signal Paris’s loss of ‘risk-free’ status

Politics

3 w. ago Major travel warning as biggest French ATC strike in years to impact over 36,000 Brits

On September 18, the SNCTA union, which represents 80% of French controllers, will stage a 24-hour walkout in protest against government budget cuts and stalled wage talks

Events

3 w. ago ‘My first barricade’: French protests unite teachers, gilets jaunes and students

Thousands join Block Everything rallies across France to express anger at government and austerityAt 7am on the eastern edge of the busy Paris ring road at Montreuil, Jess, a 35-year-old hospital neurologist, had joined protesters attempting to stop traffic in order to show her anger at the French government.“Inequality is rife in France and this is the only way to be heard,” she said. Pushed back with teargas by riot police, Jess, who asked for her real name not to be published, said she was scared by police tactics but felt it was crucial to be on the streets. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago ‘My first barricade’: latest French protests unite people from variety of backgrounds

Students, health workers and the children of gilets jaunes protesters among those at ‘Block Everything’ ralliesAt 7am on the eastern edge of the busy Paris ring road at Montreuil, Jess, a 35-year-old hospital neurologist, had joined protesters attempting to stop traffic in order to show her anger at the French government.“Inequality is rife in France and this is the only way to be heard,” she said. Pushed back with teargas by riot police, Jess, who asked for her real name not to be published, said she was scared by police tactics but felt it was crucial to be on the streets. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago France to get third PM in a year as Bayrou resigns after confidence vote

Prime minister hands in resignation after thousands of protesters gather to celebrate ousting and plan day of actionThe French prime minister, François Bayrou, has handed in his resignation after losing a confidence vote that has plunged France into government collapse and political crisis.Emmanuel Macron has said he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days, who would then have to form a new government. This will be the third French prime minister in a year, whose first task will be the major challenge of agreeing a budget among a divided parliament. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago France to get third PM in a year as Bayrou to resign after confidence vote

Prime minister to hand in resignation after thousands of protesters gather to celebrate ousting and plan day of actionBayrou to resign – latest updatesThe French prime minister, François Bayrou, will hand in his resignation on Tuesday after losing a confidence vote that has plunged France into government collapse and political crisis.Emmanuel Macron has said he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days, who would then have to form a new government. This will be the third French prime minister in a year, whose first task will be the major challenge of agreeing a budget among a divided parliament. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago French government collapses as PM François Bayrou loses confidence vote

President Emmanuel Macron will look for a replacement who can break the budget impasse

Politics

3 w. ago French government collapses as MPs vote to oust prime minister

France plunged into a fresh political crisis as MPs vote to oust the prime minister Francois Bayrou

Politics

3 w. ago French PM François Bayrou expected to be ousted in confidence vote

Opposition parties planning to remove centrist and bring down minority government after just nine monthsThe French prime minister, François Bayrou, is expected to be ousted in a confidence vote on Monday afternoon, plunging the eurozone’s second biggest economy into political crisis.Opposition parties from the left to the far right have made clear they will vote against the 74-year-old centrist, meaning he and his minority government would fall after only nine months in office. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago The French government is on the brink – and Le Pen is the only winner | Paul Taylor

Saddled with a financial crisis and unpopular reforms, the prime minister, François Bayrou, seems doomed. Will he take Macron with him?François Bayrou may have thought it was a smart pre-emptive move to call a parliamentary vote of confidence in his minority government ahead of a planned national protest day on 10 September and the start of a fraught parliamentary budget season.Determined not to meet the same fate as his predecessor who was toppled by parliament last December, the French prime minister appears to have chosen political hara-kiri instead. His near-certain ejection by a hung parliament on Monday (8 September) is set to turn a smouldering political deadlock into a blazing crise de régime. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago France’s political crisis reveals deep rift between the people and their politicians

The likely fall of prime minister François Bayrou exposes a political malaise that is likely to sour French politics well beyond the 2027 presidential election as the far right exploits the momentAs the French government faces likely collapse in a confidence vote on Monday, plunging the eurozone’s second biggest economy and key diplomatic power into a domestic political crisis, Jonathan Denis, a 42-year-old a bank manager and health rights campaigner, was concerned about the terrible impact it will have on France’s dying and terminally ill.The centrist president Emmanuel Macron had promised assisted dying and improved palliative care would be the biggest social reform of his second term but the bill, which had been scheduled to go before the senate next month, now risks being delayed once more by the unpredictable revolving door of four prime ministers in just over three years. Continue reading...

Politics

last month Budget compromise needed if PM ousted, says French finance minister

Éric Lombard says he hopes François Bayrou will survive vote and dismisses talk of looming debt crisisThe French finance minister, Éric Lombard, has said the government would have to compromise on plans to cut the budget deficit if the prime minister, François Bayrou, is toppled in a confidence vote next week.Lombard told the Financial Times that fresh negotiations would require the government to make concessions to the left to reduce the size of the fiscal package if the government falls. Continue reading...

Politics