Activists say the rollout of laws permitting recreational use of the drug has been hampered by a ‘bureaucratic monster’

Joints now mingle openly with pints among fans watching the European football championship in host nation Germany, which in the spring became the first big EU country to legally allow personal recreational use of cannabis .

That is, provided the fan is over 18, only carrying a small amount of the narcotic, not smoking in the stands of a stadium and not in possession of more than three plants at their officially registered home.

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Many say they feel stuck in middle between far-right National Rally and hard-left France Unbowed

As France faces a high-stakes second round of elections on Sunday , French Jewish people say they are grappling with tough choices and feel caught between extremes amid concerns about rising antisemitism.

As part of her longstanding efforts to detoxify the image of the far-right National Rally (RN) – currently leading in opinion polls – Marine Le Pen, to the incredulity of many, has sought to present herself as a friend of Jewish people and Israel.

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Media rhetoric about migrants and crime is rallying support for the National Rally in the countryside but, say city folk, the reality is different

Flanked by fields of corn and tree-lined ponds, the regular rumbling of planes in the distance is the only hint of Colombier-Saugnieu’s proximity to the bustling metropolis of Lyon.

But in recent days journalists from the city have begun traipsing out to the tiny commune, population 2,500, in hopes of better understanding a dynamic seemingly at play in the country’s snap parliamentary elections: the sharp divide when it comes to voters in rural and urban areas.

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Cabaret club’s sails collapsed in April and new ones are up in time for Olympic torch to pass by on 15 July

Paris’s Moulin Rouge cabaret club, whose landmark windmill sails fell down in April, has inaugurated a new set, a week before the Olympic torch was due to pass by the venue.

The home of the can-can was temporarily laid low after the sails of the red-painted windmill tumbled to the ground in the early hours of 25 April.

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We implore voters not to turn their backs on our nation’s history. Go out and defeat the far right in Sunday’s vote

For the first time since the second world war, the far right is at the gates of power in France. As historians from differing political backgrounds who share an attachment to democratic values and the rule of law, we cannot remain silent in the face of an alarming prospect that we still have the capacity to resist.

Despite a superficial makeover , the National Rally (RN) remains fundamentally the successor and heir of the National Front, founded in 1972 by people nostalgic for Vichy and French Algeria.

This article first appeared in French in Le Monde

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The journalist, and critics, accuse the Italian PM of leading the country towards authoritarianism

The first time Rula Jebreal came face to face with Giorgia Meloni was for a TV debate in November 2016.

It was the day after the US presidential election, six years before Meloni became prime minister, and the pair were invited on to Piazzapulita, a talkshow broadcast on the privately owned television channel, La7, to discuss the victory of Donald Trump.

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EU leadership condemns self-styled peacemaker Orbán’s visit to Moscow; Russian attacks kill eight in Donetsk, say Ukrainian officials. What we know on day 864

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, has said after the election of a new UK government : “I am grateful to Keir Starmer for his assurances that Britain’s support for Ukraine will remain unchanged in principle.” Starmer’s office said he told Zelenskiy in a phone call that the Labour government would keep providing “unwavering” support for Kyiv in its war against Russia . Zelenskiy said he had wished the new PM success in fulfilling the expectations of the British people. Zelenskiy also thanked the outgoing Conservative PM, Rishi Sunak, for his steadfast support.

Zelenskiy said he and Starmer had “coordinated our positions” ahead of next week’s Nato summit at which Ukraine hopes to hear of possible steps to membership. A senior US official said Nato allies at their summit in Washington would unveil a “bridge to membership” for Ukraine and announce steps to bolster its air defences.

Zelenskiy said on Friday that he sought to double Ukraine’s air defence capacity over the summer “and now we are starting to see results” . Ukraine has received its third German-supplied Patriot system, adding to those given or pledged by other countries. It also operates US Hawk, German Iris and other systems to shoot down Russian drones, missiles and aircraft. Zelenskiy said Ukraine had also received on Friday “additional support” from the US but gave no details.

Ukraine and its western allies have hit out at the pro-Kremlin Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, after Vladimir Putin hosted him in Moscow . The visit came a few days after Orbán made a similar unannounced trip to Kyiv, as he tries to position himself as a peace broker. Orbán this week assumed the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year and told reporters in Moscow that he viewed his six-month tenure as a peace mission.

The EU leadership in Brussels was quick to denounce the visit, stressing that Orbán had “not received any mandate from the EU council to visit Moscow” and did not speak for the EU, writes Pjotr Sauer . “Prime minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow takes place exclusively in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia. The Hungarian prime minister is thus not representing the EU in any form ,” said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief.

Russian attacks on Friday killed eight people and injured at least 28 in Ukraine’s eastern frontline Donetsk region, the regional governor said. Five people were killed, and eight were injured when two Russian guided bombs struck the town of Selydove, west of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, said Vadym Filashkin. Separately, Russian troops dropped three guided bombs on the village of Komar, further south-west, killing a 32-year-old woman. Twenty others were injured, Filashkin said. Thirteen private houses, four shops and two residential buildings were damaged in the attack, he added, alongside two infrastructure facilities.

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Gabriel Attal’s call comes on tense last day of campaigning after more than 50 candidates and canvassers attacked

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The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has urged all political parties to call for calm on a tense last day of campaigning for a snap election in which the far-right hopes to win a majority in parliament.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in our society,” Attal wrote in a social media post.

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Audiences step out of their comfort zone at this annual extravaganza in the historic old town of the Swiss city, where the shows are staged in eye-catching settings

Lausanne has been the official Olympic capital for 30 years but for even longer this hilly Swiss city has hosted a summer spectacular with a dizzying array of artistic rather than athletic disciplines. This year’s lineup for the Festival de la Cité – its 52nd edition – features more than 80 shows over six days, from wildly contrasting styles of circus, dance and theatre to a participatory street parade and a music programme including choirs, screamo, reggaeton, jazz, postpunk and gabber. Not to mention Swiss-American yodeller Erika Stucky, performing in the city’s 13th-century cathedral, with Johannes Keller on the organ.

Audiences step out of their comfort zones because every show is free on these predominantly outdoor stages clustered together in the historical old town. Each performance is a gateway to another, hopes Martine Chalverat, who took over as artistic director in 2022 and formerly ran the documentary film festival Visions du Réel in nearby Nyon.

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