https://www.scmp.com/rss/524585/feed The latest news and top stories on Marine Le Pen, a prominent French politician. A lawyer by profession, she led the National Rally from 2011 to 2021 and has headed its parliamentary group since June 2022. Le Pen significantly reshaped the far-right party’s image, increasing its electoral visibility through three presidential bids, achieving its best result in 2022. Her responsibilities include challenging government policies, as seen with the threatened no-confidence motion. Recently, she was... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press Socialist candidate Emmanuel Gregoire won the Paris race Sunday, succeeding fellow party member Anne Hidalgo as the French capital’s mayor, as results of the final round of municipal elections showed clear gains for the traditional left and right, and one major win for the far-right in the French Riviera city of Nice. French voters returned to the polls Sunday in about 1,500 communes. The vote was seen as a test of the balance of power on France’s local political map before the 2027 presidential... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3347515/emmanuel-gregoire-becomes-new-mayor-paris-succeeding-fellow-socialist-anne-hidalgo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3347515/emmanuel-gregoire-becomes-new-mayor-paris-succeeding-fellow-socialist-anne-hidalgo?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 23:16:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse France’s three-time presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, is to attend the funeral next week of 1950s and 1960s film star Brigitte Bardot, a member of her team said on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron – who on Sunday hailed Bardot as a “legend” – would however not attend her funeral, a source in his office said. Bardot, who died aged 91 on Sunday, drew criticism in her later years for her anti-immigration views and for supporting the far-right. She was several times convicted in court for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3338214/french-far-right-leader-le-pen-attend-brigitte-bardots-funeral-macron-will-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3338214/french-far-right-leader-le-pen-attend-brigitte-bardots-funeral-macron-will-not?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 20:12:44 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu weathered two confidence motions on Thursday, just days after appointing his new government and making a key political concession to stay in power. The votes followed Lecornu’s decision on Tuesday to back suspending a divisive 2023 pension reform, in a bid to keep his cabinet afloat long enough to pass a much-needed austerity budget by year’s end. The leftist Socialist Party (PS) had threatened to vote to oust the premier if he didn’t move to freeze the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329263/french-pm-lecornu-survives-2-confidence-votes-days-after-reappointment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329263/french-pm-lecornu-survives-2-confidence-votes-days-after-reappointment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2025 10:49:30 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The date for Nicolas Sarkozy’s imprisonment will be set on Monday, after the former French president was sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his winning 2007 campaign with funds from Libya. Sarkozy, 70, says he is innocent. He denounced the verdict as “a scandal” and filed an appeal. He is the first former president of modern France sentenced to actual time behind bars. Sarkozy, who was involved in several other legal cases, was France’s president... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3328731/french-ex-president-sarkozy-will-serve-prison-time-despite-appeal-libya-funding-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3328731/french-ex-president-sarkozy-will-serve-prison-time-despite-appeal-libya-funding-case?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Oct 2025 20:38:56 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg President Emmanuel Macron reappointed Sebastien Lecornu to be France’s prime minister on Friday, giving the centrist ally another shot at naming a new cabinet and getting a budget through a fractious parliament. Lecornu must propose a 2026 budget on Monday to get the legislation adopted by the end of the year through the normal process. Otherwise, the National Assembly may need to pass an emergency bill to keep the government funded. The reappointment is a last-gasp attempt to find political... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3328611/macron-reappoints-sebastien-lecornu-frances-pm-just-days-after-he-quit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3328611/macron-reappoints-sebastien-lecornu-frances-pm-just-days-after-he-quit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 21:19:59 +0000 Reuters Reuters Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced on Thursday to 27 years and three months in prison, hours after being convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election. The ruling dealt a powerful rebuke to one of the world’s most prominent far-right populist leaders. The conviction ruling by a panel of five justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court, who also agreed on the sentence, made the 70-year-old Bolsonaro the first former president in the country’s history... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3325257/brazils-bolsonaro-convicted-top-court-historic-coup-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3325257/brazils-bolsonaro-convicted-top-court-historic-coup-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Sep 2025 19:05:58 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse President Emmanuel Macron will accept the resignation of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Tuesday after his government was ejected in a confidence vote, with the French leader rushing to find a successor and stave off a new political crisis. On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in a confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty. The French presidency said in a statement that Macron “took note” of the outcome and said Macron would name a new premier “in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324801/french-pm-bayrou-loses-confidence-vote-toppling-his-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324801/french-pm-bayrou-loses-confidence-vote-toppling-his-government?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 17:44:25 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Tuesday he wanted to reduce the number of public holidays in France as part of a bid to tackle what he called the “curse” of his country’s debt. Presenting 2026 budget proposals, Bayrou said two out of France’s 11 national holidays could go, suggesting Easter Monday and May 8, a day that commemorates the end of World War II in Europe. Such a measure would bring France into line with Germany’s nine national – although federal states can add their... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318375/france-considers-cutting-national-holidays-ease-debt-burden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318375/france-considers-cutting-national-holidays-ease-debt-burden?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 03:57:45 +0000