Agence France-Presse in Paris    Chemical thought to be in emerald green covers of four th century books identified by Poison Book ProjectFrance’s national library has removed four th century books from its shelves whose emerald green covers are believed to be laced with arsenic.The library said on Thursday that handling the...

Peter Bradshaw    In Human Resources, Time Out and The Class, the Palme d’Or winning film maker who has died aged addressed French and European society at all levelsLaurent Cantet was a classic product of the French cinema industry: a deeply intelligent, high minded progressive film maker of the same...

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris    Director of Palme d’Or winning film Entre les Murs The Class was much praised for humanism in projectsLaurent Cantet, the award winning film maker whose creations tackled some of the most complex issues of modern French society, including meritocracy, the education system, diversity and class...

Jon Henley in Paris    Blades of famous cabaret venue, home of the French can can, fall from roof overnightThe home of the high spirited French can can has been laid temporarily low after the sails of the red painted windmill on top of the Moulin Rouge, the most celebrated cabaret in Paris, tumbled inexplicably to the...

Lisa O'Carroll and Philip Oltermann    Suspects alleged to have posed as academics to access books and replace them with copies, says EuropolPolice have arrested nine Georgians suspected of running a sophisticated criminal operation stealing valuable antique books including an original Alexander Pushkin manuscript from national...

Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent    Ryanair urges European Commission to protect overflights and keep EU skies openRyanair has demanded that the EU reform its skies after the airline was forced to cancel more than flights across Europe scheduled for Thursday because of a strike by French air traffic controllers.The cancellations...

Sammy Gecsoyler, and Daniel Boffey in Calais    Suspects being questioned by National Crime Agency in Kent on suspicion of immigration offencesThree men have been arrested in connection with a Channel boat crossing that led to the deaths of five people, including a young girl.The three have been arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal...

Daniel Boffey in Wimereux    Attempt to cross via overcrowded dinghy from Wimereux aborted after engine stalls and five people drownThey could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly beanies, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter...

Jamie Grierson, Angelique Chrisafis and Eleni Courea    UN and Council for Europe add voices to outcry as more people drown within hours of cruel’ Rwanda bill being passedHumanitarian groups have called for new safe routes to Britain after five people died trying to cross the Channel within hours of ministers passing the controversial Rwanda bill.A...

Jamie Grierson and Angelique Chrisafis    Three men, a woman and a child reported dead with vessel said to have been carrying more than peopleFive people, including a child, have died in an attempt to cross the Channel in a small boat near the town of Wimereux, south of Calais, French authorities say.More than people were said to...

Ben Beaumont-Thomas    The chart topping singer’s career has been on hold since she was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition in Celine Dion has opened up about life with stiff person syndrome SPS , a debilitating condition that she was diagnosed with in .SPS, an extremely rare autoimmune neurological disorder...

Guardian Staff    Are you a wine aristocrat or an arriviste The shade of your favourite rosé apparently reveals allName: Swimming pool rosé.Age: The latest thing for summer. Continue reading...

Lisa O'Carroll in Strasbourg    Jean Noël Barrot says propaganda via social media and fake websites may distort EU election resultsFrance is being pounded by Russian disinformation that could distort the result of the upcoming EU parliamentary elections, France’s minister for Europe has said.Jean Noël Barrot said in an...

Editorial    The radical right is set to dominate forthcoming European elections. Progressives need a fresh start and a new approachThe political signals coming from France are ominous. According to one poll last week, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party RN has increased its lead to a runaway points ahead...

David Goldblatt    Faced with competition from rival sporting events, the future of the Games hung in the balance. A century on, new hurdles are loomingParis was the sixth and last Olympics presided over by Baron de Coubertin, the modern movement’s founder. He had good reason to be pleased with his work. The...

Kim Willsher in Paris    The stadiums have been built and m tickets sold. Can the notoriously pessimistic French public’s enthusiasm for the Games catch up In a live television interview under the steel and glass roof of Paris’s Grand Palais the centrepiece of this summer’s Olympic Games Emmanuel Macron set out his...

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris    Gabriel Attal says state needs real surge of authority’ in speech in Viry Châtillon, where year old killedThe French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, is facing criticism for his proposed crackdown on teenage violence in and around schools, after he said some teenagers in France were addicted to...

Reuters in Geneva    Coalition of civil society groups says Paris should return harsh reparations imposed on Caribbean state two hundred years agoFrance should repay billions of dollars to Haiti to cover a debt formerly enslaved people were forced to pay in return for recognising the island’s independence, according to...

Agence France-Presse in Paris    Pair also join two other siblings on board, further strengthening family’s control of French luxury goods companyTwo sons of the world’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, have joined the board of LVMH after a shareholder vote, further cementing the family’s control of the French luxury goods company...

Agence France-Presse in Souffelweyersheim    Police say girls aged six and sustained superficial wounds in attack close to their school near StrasbourgA man has been arrested after two girls aged six and were injured in a knife attack close to their school in the east of France.The year old was stabbed outside school in the town of...