World News by Wild Rose

Carys Garland is pleased to welcome Dr. Andrew Smith, Historian of Modern France and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen Mary University of London. He argues that Marine Le Pen and the National Rally’s commanding position in early presidential polling should not be regarded as an inevitable far-right victory. They are benefiting from familiarity, unity and laser-focused messaging. More fundamentally, however, Smith sees the polling as a reflection of a French electorate shaped by anger, anxiety, economic insecurity and political fatigue. Rather than describing this landscape simply as one of growing “polarization,” he proposes the more revealing concept of “fragmentation.” 

A new Ipsos survey reveals a country gripped by pessimism, with soaring prices the top worry for French voters ahead of the April 2027 presidential election. Candidates from far-right leader Marine Le Pen, to the far-left's Jean-Luc Mélenchon are racing to make the cost of living the defining issue of their campaigns. 

Video has emerged of a French police officer violently throwing a 29-year-old homeless man to the ground.

France's far-right veteran candidate Marine Le Pen looks set to lead in the first round of elections next year, as the country's increasingly disillusioned voters seek real change, a poll of more than 13,000 voters has suggested.

?? French far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc #Mélenchon is both highly controversial and a #GenZ favourite. Mélenchon's young supporters express admiration for his promises to stage a "citizen's revolution",  redistrubute wealth, fight #climatechange and support #Palestine. The candidate's critics have accused him of complancency towards #Russia and antisemitism.  Despite being divisive, recent polls predict that Mélenchon will qualify for the second round of #France's 2027 presidential #election, where he would likely face far-right candidate Marine #LePen. So, why has France's Gen Z mobilised for Mélenchon? ? FRANCE 24's Gabrielle Nadler spoke to young voters to find out.

Finland has decided to join France’s forward nuclear deterrence initiative, extending the measure to a country sharing a long border with Russia, the two countries said in a joint statement on Monday. France is extending its nuclear deterrent to European allies as the continent reassesses its security in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s shake-up of Nato. “Finland has decided to join forward deterrence,” the two countries said. “A nuclear steering group will be set up in the coming months...

France Televisions has removed the replay of a programme after actress Adèle Haenel denounced the Gaza genocide.

A police source said Saturday that French investigators suspect sabotage caused a train derailment in northwest France after a fragment of rail was found on the track. At least 44 people were injured in the derailment that occurred a day earlier, including an 18-year-old woman "in a critical condition".  

In Brussels, opinion polls coming out of France have not escaped attention. Two polls see far right leader Marine Le Pen beating all her likely rivals in the French presidential election, which is set to take place in April and May of next year. 

François Picard is pleased to welcome Victor Mallet, Financial Times Senior Editor at the World News Desk. He interprets the emerging tensions between Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella as more than a clash of personalities. They reveal a deeper struggle over the political future of France's far-right National Rally is becoming as they find themselves in prime position in their hunt to capture the French presidency. Bardella is formally president of the party and has developed his own political constituency, particularly among younger voters and parts of the business community. Yet Mallet argues that Le Pen continues to exercise the decisive ideological and strategic authority.

The symbolic escalation has been initiated by the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

Israel said on Tuesday it was closing Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem in response to plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks with Julie Norman, Associate Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House and Director of UCL’s Israel-Palestine Initiative.

France will join the UK and other countries in launching a process to ban products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël ​Barrot said on Tuesday, amid rising settler violence that has further undermined prospects for a two-state solution with the Palestinians. France 24's Marc Perelman has the details.

On April 18th and May 2nd next year - France will be voting to elect a new president to replace Emmanuel Macron. The country's latest opinion polls predict a victory for Marine le Pen of the Far-right National Rally.  Although the election is still over seven months away, many potential candidates have already thrown their hats into the ring. But do any of them stand a chance of beating the far right? Our guest Eleanor Beardsley from National Public Radio answers that question.

Niger has blamed France for inciting last week’s failed military mutiny, according ‌to a government statement read on television on Friday. Paris has denied any involvement in the attack.

France is facing pressure to consent to the International Court of Justice taking up a decades-old territorial feud with Vanuatu, after Paris firmly reasserted its sovereignty over two strategically vital Pacific islands. Vanuatu filed an application with the UN’s top court earlier this week seeking recognition of its claim over the uninhabited Matthew and Hunter islands. However, the case cannot proceed without French consent, prompting Vanuatu to warn it would seek a UN General Assembly...

French President Emmanuel Macron met Britain’s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, for official talks at 10 Downing Street. The meeting came a day after the pair were joined by King Charles and Queen Camilla at the British Museum for a preview of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition in London. Macron is the first EU leader to meet Burnham. Talks are expected to cover relations between Britain and the European Union, support for Ukraine, and migrant crossings in the English Channel.

The Bayeux Tapestry may have brought them together — but migrant crossings and Ukraine are likely to dominate the agenda as UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron hold their first formal talks on Thursday. The two leaders met for the first time on Wednesday evening at a preview of the tapestry’s exhibition at the British Museum, alongside King Charles III. The occasion was hailed by both sides as a symbol of improving relations between Britain and France. For more, FRANCE 24’s Stuart Norval is joined by our London correspondent Bénédicte Paviot and FRANCE 24’s International Affairs Editor Philip Turle.

China on Thursday called on France to abandon a new law on ultra-fast fashion that would impose fees of up to almost €20 per garment, calling it "clearly discriminatory". The law, which targets major Asian e-commerce platforms including Shein and Temu, aims to curb the industry's environmental and local economic impacts.

What can an 11th-century comic strip about the Norman Conquest of England tell us about the spectre of sea change in 2026 Europe? France’s president is on hand for the hottest ticket in London, the first-ever cross-Channel visit of the Bayeux Tapestry, which, for the record, is not a tapestry but a delicate scroll of embroidered cloth that chronicles a radical turning point in our continent’s history. Should France’s outgoing president and the British monarch who welcomes him be likened more to the defending Saxons or the invading Normans?

French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham are set to hold their first talks on Thursday after meeting a day earlier at the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum. Migrant boats crossing the Channel and the war in Ukraine are some of the issues the two leaders are expected to discuss.