Woman ‘ended up in safari zone’ while staying at lodge within Thoiry zoo about 25 miles west of Paris
Three wolves in a zoo outside Paris attacked a 37-year-old woman leaving her fighting for her life, a source familiar with the case and local prosecutors said.
The woman was bitten “on the neck, the calf and the back” at the Thoiry zoo about 25 miles (40km) west of the French capital, the source told Agence France-Presse.
Continue reading...People in Lyon say country at dangerous juncture in snap elections after National Rally’s EU parliamentary gains
They marched through the narrow streets of Lyon’s medieval old town, about three dozen of them, emboldened after the French far-right gains in the European elections. Masks covering their faces, they wound past the hidden passageways that provided cover for the resistance during the second world war, chanting: “We are fucking Nazis” and “Islam out of Europe”.
For some in this French city, last week’s far-right demonstration, captured on video, was a chilling reminder of just how much is at stake in the snap parliamentary elections that could see the French far-right lead government.
Continue reading...The designer homed in on staples for the show, without losing a sense of adventure or playfulness
The Dior menswear designer Kim Jones has gained a reputation as a somewhat prolific collector of art and rare books. His homes are peppered with pieces by Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol, and he is the owner of the largest collection of Virgina Woolf books and letters in the world – 21,000 pieces and counting. So it’s not surprising the aesthete enjoys melding the world of art with his other great love, fashion.
For his latest spring/summer 2025 collection that he showed in Paris on Friday afternoon Jones worked with the South African ceramicist Hylton Nel. The octogenarian is best known for his plates, pots, figures and vases featuring whimsical illustrations and satirical text.
Continue reading...German chancellor and LSE professor Lea Ypi speak on ‘freedom, peace and progress’ at event chaired by Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said at the Progressive Governance Summit that globalisation is a benefit for world development.
There must be an answer to the question why the most lucky countries in the world have “right-populist movements and unrest,” he said.
Continue reading...Filmmakers and students evicted by police in 2022 make a triumphant return to the historic venue after raising funds to buy it for €2.7m
Two years after being evicted by Paris police, a collective of students and film-industry professionals returned to the arthouse cinema they had occupied from 2019 to 2022 on Thursday to reinstall the wheels of a 35mm projector.
The crucial difference is that this time they did so as legal owners of the keys to the 600 sq metre community cinema in the French capital’s Latin quarter, appropriately called La Clef (The Key).
Continue reading...National Rally’s Hervé Breuil, 68, hospitalised after being assaulted as he handed out flyers in central France before snap elections
Masked assailants have assaulted a far-right candidate on the campaign trail ahead of France’s snap parliamentary election, in the latest incident of violence targeting politicians across Europe.
Police said Hervé Breuil, a candidate for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, was assaulted as he handed out flyers on Thursday morning with four others in the industrial city of Saint Étienne, in central France.
Continue reading...Alleged rape of girl, 12, in suspected antisemitic attack contributing to ‘very difficult climate’ as election looms
Many Jewish people are “questioning [their] future in France”, a community leader has said, after a 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped in a suspected antisemitic attack and fears deepen about the rise of extremism before a parliamentary election this month.
“The climate is very, very difficult for Jews,” Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (Crif), said on Thursday. “People are very, very worried about the future,” he said. “People are, I would say, questioning the future in France.”
Continue reading...National Rally’s Jordan Bardella insists he would need to govern free of partners if party wins parliamentary elections
Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally (RN), has said he will not accept the job of prime minister unless his far-right party wins an absolute majority in parliament because he would not have the freedom to act “in the daily lives of French people” as he sees fit.
Polls suggest the RN is on course to win the snap parliamentary elections called by Emmanuel Macron after the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration party’s crushing victory in European parliament elections earlier this month.
Continue reading...Commission recommends 33-point plan to ensure oil giant complies with state climate commitments
The French government should intervene in TotalEnergies and spur faster climate action, a senate inquiry commission has concluded.
The commission, set up to explore ways the state could guarantee that the oil conglomerate complies with French climate commitments, recommended 33 steps the government should take to “encourage a rapid, orderly and effective transition”.
Continue reading...Decision to launch ‘excessive deficit procedure’ sets up collision course with post-election government
The European Commission has issued a reprimand to France for breaking EU fiscal rules before an election where the frontrunners are making lavish spending promises.
The EU executive’s decision to launch the “excessive deficit procedure” against France is a blow to Emmanuel Macron – with a deficit well above the EU threshold – and also sets up a collision course with a post-election government potentially dominated by the far-right or the left coalition.
Continue reading...Jordan Bardella criticises footballer’s call for young people to vote against ‘extremes’ in upcoming elections
The French far-right leader Jordan Bardella has criticised the footballer Kylian Mbappé over his call for young people to vote against the “extremes” in parliamentary elections this month.
“I have a lot of respect for our footballers, whether Marcus Thuram or Kylian Mbappé, who are icons of football and icons for youth … But we must respect the French, we must respect everyone’s vote,” Bardella told CNews TV on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Far-right party says move would free up €3bn and that public television and radio need ‘a bit of liberty’
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally intends to privatise public television and radio if it wins an absolute majority in the French parliament in snap elections, senior party figures have confirmed.
Jordan Bardella, the party president, told France 3 public television on Sunday that his ambition was to privatise state broadcasting “in order to save money”.
Continue reading...Kylian Mbappé and Marion Bartoli among athletes criticised by rightwing politicians for intervening
More than 200 French athletes and sporting personalities have signed an open letter calling on voters to reject the far right in the snap parliamentary election called by Emmanuel Macron, describing it as “not only … a civic duty, but also an act of love for our country”.
As the official election campaign kicked off with just two weeks to go before the first round of voting, the appeal called for “a more inclusive and democratic society” and accused rightwing politicians of exploiting differences and diversity and “manipulating our fears to divide us”.
Continue reading...States are on course to spend $100bn a year, driven by a sharp increase in US defence budgets
Global spending on nuclear weapons is estimated to have increased by 13% to a record $91.4bn during 2023, according to calculations from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican) pressure group.
The new total, which is up $10.7bn from the previous year, is driven largely by sharply increased defence budgets in the US, at a time of wider geopolitical uncertainty caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.
Continue reading...Macron’s move to call snap elections also seen as helping commission president’s bid for second term
Ursula von der Leyen is on track to remain for a second term as president of the European Commission, as EU leaders meet on Monday for a first discussion on divvying up the bloc’s top jobs.
The EU’s 27 heads of state and government will gather for dinner in Brussels in their first group meeting since European elections last week boosted nationalist and far-right parties and triggered Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections in France.
Continue reading...Ex-president says decision to hold vote after upheaval of European parliamentary ballot is ‘major risk’ for country
Emmanuel Macron has been warned by a former French president that his decision to call snap elections could plunge France into chaos, as his centrist party languishes third in opinion polls, far behind the far-right National Rally.
Nicolas Sarkozy said dissolving the national assembly was “a major risk” for France, “because it could plunge it into chaos, from which it will have the greatest difficulty emerging”.
Continue reading...His former Socialist party reacted coolly to move, with one senior figure saying they were ‘devastated’
France’s former Socialist president François Hollande on Saturday said he would run for parliament again, the latest political twist following his successor Emmanuel Macron’s surprise decision to call snap legislative elections.
Macron’s dissolving of parliament after the French far right’s victory in European parliamentary elections has swiftly redrawn the lines of French politics.
Continue reading...Marine Le Pen’s party is breaking record high scores across vast areas of the country, polls show, with an increase in its influence inevitable
It is 8pm on Sunday 7 July. Polling stations have just closed after the second round of snap French parliamentary elections – the country’s most momentous ballot in living memory – and the first estimations flash up on the nation’s TV screens.
President Emmanuel Macron has lost his gamble. The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen has more than trebled its tally of deputies in the assemblée nationale to just over 290: an absolute majority. France’s next government will be far right.
Continue reading...President’s move viewed as ‘Russian roulette’ after far-right support reached record high in European elections
France’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal, stared ahead with his arms folded while another minister covered his face with his hands as Emmanuel Macron gathered top government figures at the Élysée last Sunday to make the shock announcement that he would dissolve parliament and call a snap legislative election in the wake of a win at the polls by Marine Le Pen’s party. The mood, said Attal, was “grave”.
One senior centrist figure said this week they had not slept properly since the announcement of a campaign that will be the shortest in modern French history at barely three weeks. Some party supporters said their world had been turned upside down. “We’re going to get out there and do our best,” said a government minister.
Continue reading...Socialists, Greens, Communists and France Unbowed to have joint platform with a candidate in every constituency
France’s four main leftwing parties have agreed to form a “New Popular Front” (NPF) to contest the snap election, as the far-right leader Marine Le Pen said she would seek a “national unity government” if her National Rally (RN) wins.
The Socialist party (PS), Greens, Communists and France Unbowed (LFI), led by the hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will campaign on a common platform and field a single joint candidate in each of the 577 parliamentary constituencies.
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