France

For the first time since 1991, France will welcome French-speaking heads of state and government to Villers-Cotterêts and Paris on 4 and 5 October 2024 for the 19th Francophonie Summit

The Barnier government appears to be far from the national unity that was promised by Emmanuel Macron as it is almost evenly split between Renaissance and the right-wing party; only Didier Migaud, in Justice, appears as a social-democratic figure

The parliamentary leader of the far-right Rassemblement National party called for new elections next year, just a few months after the snap elections that plunged the country into a political stalemate

Active in politics for more than 50 years, Michel Barnier, new prime minister, is best known as the EU's chief negotiator during the Brexit years; since his teenage years a staunch and patriotic Conservative, at 27 he became the youngest MP ever elected

Friday, 23 August, President Macron will begin consultations to appoint a new prime minister, and thus a new government

Alain Delon, one of the most famous actors in film history, has died at the age of 88; he rose to fame in the 1960s thanks to exceptional talent, sensitivity and embodiment capability

The candidature of the French Alps, proposed as a preference vote by the International Olympic Committee in June to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2030, has been approved - subject to France providing financial guarantees

For the 2024 Olympic Games, France, the host country, has banned Muslim women from wearing the sports hijab or any other form of religious headgear when competing for France

Images of the French people after election have gone round the world, divided between the left-wing voters in tears of joy at their extraordinary victory, and the right-wing voters in tears at their defeat

Analyses carried out by the Paris administration and the regional prefecture detected "alarmingly high” levels of Escherichia coli in the river Seine making it not swimmable and therefore not ready for the triathlon competitions of the Olympics

Around a quarter of a million demonstrators protested across France against the rise of the far right, calling on citizens to prevent it from taking power in early parliamentary elections