French rape trial to resume after Dominique Pélicot health issues

Trial of retired electrician, 71, and 50 other men had been adjourned while he was taken to hospitals for tests

The trial of Dominique Pélicot and 50 other men accused of rape will resume on Tuesday after he was deemed well enough to attend court.

The hearing was adjourned last week after the 71-year-old retired electrician, who has admitted drugging his wife, Gisèle, and inviting up to 90 men to rape her while she was unconscious and he filmed the attacks, was reportedly diagnosed with a urine infection and prostate problems and taken to hospital for tests.

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Barnier fights to form French government amid no-confidence threats

Party spokesperson says new PM has ‘complex equation to solve’ and is unlikely to appoint ministers this week

The new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, has continued negotiations with potential ministers as he struggles to form a government to end the country’s political deadlock.

The veteran politician and former EU Brexit negotiator, appointed by the president, Emmanuel Macron, earlier this month, had promised to form a new administration this week after “listening to everybody”.

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Eight people dead in attempt to cross Channel, say French authorities

Investigation opens in France into deaths as David Lammy says UK could process asylum claimants in third country

Eight people died overnight trying to cross the Channel from France to England, French regional authorities have said, as the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the government could follow Italy’s lead and process asylum claimants in a third country.

The French maritime prefecture said 59 people were onboard the boat, which got into difficulty off the coast of France, and 51 of them were rescued. An investigation has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office.

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‘It’s the height of horror’: protests in 30 French cities in support of Gisèle Pélicot

Outrage at ordeal of woman raped after being drugged by husband leads to marches across the country

Hundreds of protesters gathered across France on Saturday in support of Gisèle Pélicot, the woman whose husband drugged her and invited more than 80 men to rape her at their home over the course of a decade.

Feminist groups organised about 30 protests in cities including Paris and Marseille. Demonstrators also gathered in Brussels. At Place de la République in Paris, protesters held placards with messages of support for victims of sexual violence. One read: “Gisèle for all. All for Gisèle.”

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Over 40kg of cocaine found in banana deliveries to French supermarkets

Police seek to identify intended recipient after drugs found under pallets at four Grand Frais stores

Dozens of kilograms of cocaine have been found in banana deliveries to four of a French supermarket chain’s stores, with police unsure who the intended recipient was.

Staff at Grand Frais branches in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France were astonished to find between 40kg (88lb) and 50kg of drugs hidden under pallets of bananas and were anxious to reassure customers that the cocaine had not come into contact with the fruit.

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Trial of French man for mass rape of wife could be postponed, judge says

Dominique Pélicot has been excused from court because of poor health and proceedings could be delayed if he remains ill for a long period

The trial of a French man accused of recruiting strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife has been adjourned until Monday after the suspect was excused from attending in light of his deteriorating health, the court has said.

Should Dominique Pélicot, 71, be unavailable to attend proceedings for a lengthy period of time, then the trial will be postponed to a later date, the presiding judge, Roger Arata, said on Thursday.

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Moscow importing western aircraft tyres despite ban, says Ukraine agency

Exclusive: Michelin, Dunlop, Goodyear and Bridgestone products have found way to Russia via intermediaries

More than $30m (£23m) worth of aircraft tyres made by western manufacturers including the French firm Michelin and Britain’s Dunlop were imported into Russia last year via intermediaries despite attempts to ban the trade, according to a Ukrainian government agency.

Russian aviation is critically dependent on foreign-made tyres and, according to the available customs records, the vast majority imported into the country in 2023 were produced by companies headquartered in France, Britain, the US and Japan.

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‘Disciple’ of accused rapist drugged and raped his own wife, French court told

Trial of Dominique Pélicot hears that he allegedly provided sedatives to man he had met in a chatroom

The trial of a French man who recruited dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife has heard how another man living in the same area copied the tactics to drug and rape his own wife.

Dominique Pélicot, 71, is on trial in the southern city of Avignon for repeatedly raping, and enlisting dozens of strangers to rape, his heavily sedated wife in her own bed over a period of a decade in the southern village of Mazan. Fifty other men aged between 26 and 74 are also on trial for their alleged involvement.

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French first lady Brigitte Macron to make cameo in Netflix’s Emily in Paris

Despite criticism of the series in France, Macron will appear as herself in the show’s fourth season when new episodes arrive on Thursday

French first lady Brigitte Macron will make a cameo appearance as herself in the Netflix series Emily in Paris when new episodes are released on Thursday.

Macron will wear her own clothing, Elle magazine revealed on Tuesday, “with no particular instructions given to her” by the series known for its fashion.

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French husband was ‘self-centred’ manipulator, mass rape trial told

Dominique Pélicot, 71, accused of raping, and recruiting strangers to rape, sedated wife for a decade

A French man on trial for recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife without her knowledge was a “self-centred” manipulator with a split personality, experts have told a court.

Dominique Pélicot, 71, is on trial in the southern city of Avignon for repeatedly raping, and enlisting dozens of strangers to rape, his heavily sedated wife in her own bed over a decade.

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Paris gives Paralympic Games a send-off for the ages

Stade de France transformed into huge electronica dance party with world’s elite para athletes doing farewell conga

With an explosion of fireworks, laser beams, breakdance and a thumping set by the giants of French electronica, France bid goodbye to the Paralympic Games on Sunday night with the biggest party it had ever thrown.

The feelgood summer of athletic achievement in Paris had turned crowds hoarse from so much cheering and for ever changed the nation’s attitude to sport and disability, and now Parisians were desperately sad to say goodbye to it all.

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Thousands of leftwing protesters show anger as Michel Barnier made PM

Demonstrators accuse Emmanuel Macron of perpetrating ‘denial of democracy’ by choosing conservative politician

Thousands of angry leftwing protesters took to French streets on Saturday two days after Emmanuel Macron appointed a conservative prime minister.

Demonstrators accused the president of a “denial of democracy” after his decision to name the former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, 73, as leader of the government.

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Scholz pledges continued backing and says Germany ‘strongest supporter of Ukraine in Europe’ – as it happened

German chancellor says country ‘will support Ukraine for as long as it takes’ as he meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Ukraine’s defence minister outlined the country’s priorities today.

Speaking at Ramstein airbase, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy raised concerns about western partners’ policies and the pace of deliveries.

Long-range capability. I’m glad that the US, the UK, and France are represented here. Thanks to our joint courage, we have implemented very important operations, in particular in Crimea.

These operations allowed us to return security to the Black Sea and our food exports. Now we hear that your long-range policy has not changed, but we see changes in the Atacms, Storm Shadows and Scalps –a shortage of missiles and cooperation.

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Daughter of French man who invited men to rape mother speaks of ‘descent into hell’

Dominique Pélicot has admitted drugging his wife Gisèle and inviting strangers to abuse her over a decade

The daughter of a French man on trial for enlisting strangers to rape his drugged wife has described him as probably “one of the worst sexual criminals in the past 20 years”.

Dominique Pélicot, a 71-year-old retiree, has admitted to abusing his wife without her knowledge between 2011 and 2020, drugging her with sleeping pills and then recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her in her own home.

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Michel Barnier vows to address feelings of ‘anger’ and ‘injustice’ as France’s new PM

Rightwing prime minister promises ‘new era’, saying priorities will be education, security and controlling immigration

Michel Barnier, France’s new rightwing prime minister, has vowed to address the nation’s feelings of anger, abandonment and injustice, promising a “new era” and a break with the past.

Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, took office hours after Emmanuel Macron appointed him to form “a unifying government in the service of the country” – an attempt to put an end to two months of political paralysis after a snap election.

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Clock is ticking again for Michel Barnier, France’s anorak-wearing, spreadsheet-loving new PM

A councillor at 22, now country’s oldest premier in modern history, the former Brexit negotiator must win over a divided parliament

He calmly but firmly negotiated the UK’s departure from the EU after years of British squabbling over Brexit, and he prefers consensus to political punch-ups. But Michel Barnier faces his toughest challenge yet as France’s new prime minister amid the country’s biggest political crisis in decades.

The discreet rightwinger, 73, known for his sensible anoraks, love of spreadsheets and his ever-present briefing dossiers wedged under his arm, is facing a baptism of fire in a deeply divided French political landscape.

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Woman tells trial of husband who invited men to rape her: ‘I was sacrificed on altar of vice’

Gisèle Pélicot says French police saved her life when they investigated husband, who drugged her and enlisted men to rape her

A French woman whose husband has admitted drugging her and inviting more than 80 men to rape her over the course of a decade has said she “was sacrificed on the altar of vice” and treated “like a rag doll”.

Gisèle Pélicot, 72, said “police saved my life” when they investigated her husband, Dominique Pélicot’s, computer in November 2020, after a security guard caught him filming up the skirts of women in a supermarket near their home in a village in southern France.

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‘Betrayal’: Pernod Ricard’s PSG tie-up leaves bitter taste for Marseille fans

Brand partnership for pastis, a traditional Marseille aperitif, with arch-rival decried as ‘stab in the back’

It is the quintessential pre-dinner apéro enjoyed in the Provençal afternoon sun, as unmistakably southern French as the clicking sound of a game of pétanque.

But the cloudy, aniseed-flavoured aperitif Ricard Pastis is leaving an aftertaste even more bitter than its makers intended in the mouths of some football fans in the southern city of Marseille.

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French police clear site where victims of Channel tragedy are said to have lived

Belongings and tents removed, and residents bussed away, as part of official policy to deter coastal encampments

French police have cleared a camp believed to have been used by some of the dozen people, including six children, who died after their dinghy ripped apart in the Channel.

In the early hours of Wednesday, belongings and tents were removed and tens of people were bussed away from an unofficial refugee settlement near Calais known locally as the “BMX site”.

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Pregnant woman and six children among 12 victims after migrant boat capsizes in Channel, French official says – as it happened

Victims ‘primarily of Eritrean origin’, French prosecutor says, as France mobilises helicopters, fishing boats and military vessels

La Voix du Nord’s Florent Caffery has shared footage from the scene where emergency services are gathering.

French authorities have confirmed at least five people died in a Channel crossing attempt, AFP reported.

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