#French politics

#French politics

Brigitte Macron has denied claims she slapped her husband in the face last year after reading text exchanges between him and French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, according to a report. The first lady of France, 73, caused a stir in May last year when she appeared to push president Emmanuel Macron, 48, in front of cameras as they prepared to disembark a plane during a state visit to Vietnam. At the time, her husband insisted they had only been joking, but a new book presented claims this week that Mrs Macron was enraged after seeing an alleged text exchange between Emmanuel and the actress Farahani.

Leftist mayors have transformed Paris over the past 25 years to include countless cycling lanes, a cleaner Seine river, and even fresher air. But concerns over safety and rubbish collection could usher in a return of the right in local polls starting on Sunday.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

CNews is the country's most-watched 24-hours TV news station but it scarcely reports the news. It provides a running commentary of loud-mouthed opinion. Emmanuel Macron is a charlatan; the Left is wicked; immigrants are mostly violent criminals; Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air; Vladimir Putin has some faults but many qualities; France is swamped with crime because of the moral weakness of the ruling elite.

Following the news that French troops are now in Greenland as part of a joint NATO force, we take a look at the reaction in the US, and what happens next for France and the rest of Europe. And with the current situation between the two countries, we asked our American readers if they felt they were being treated differently in France.

Neither move from the far right or hard left garnered enough votes to topple Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's cabinet but they acted as a reminder of strong opposition from within the legislature that ousted his two predecessors. Lecornu accused the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) of "shooting the executive branch in the back" and "further stalling budget" talks for the year that has already started.

Remembering This week marked the 10-year anniversary of the devastating terror attacks at the Bataclan, Stade de France and city bars and restaurants that claimed 130 lives. The ceremony at the newly-opened garden of remembrance, close to Hotel de Ville, was very beautiful and moving - including Jesse Hughes, leader of the Eagles of Death Metal band, who were playing at the Bataclan that night, singing You'll Never Walk Alone with a choir made up of attack survivors and relatives.

The Louvre in Paris reopened on Wednesday, three days after thieves made off with historic jewellery worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million) in a spectacular heist that has raised urgent questions over security lapses at the museum. Visitors queued to enter through the Louvre's glass pyramid for the first time since Sunday's brazen robbery, in which hooded assailants broke through a second-floor window using a stolen movers' lift before making off with jewels from the royal collection.