The reconstruction of the 1976 trial of voluble and charismatic leftist Pierre Goldman tackles antisemitism and history

French cinema has recently given us some sensationally good courtroom dramas, such as Alice Diop’s Saint Omer and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall , both of which put ideas as well as individuals on trial; race, gender and class. Now, Cédric Kahn has reconstructed – with some fictional licence – the 1976 trial of revolutionary leftist Pierre Goldman, who had previously been convicted of killing two pharmacists in the course of an armed robbery. After publishing his polemical autobiography Obscure Memories of a Polish Jew Born in France while in prison – which made him a cause célèbre among the fashionable Parisian classes – Goldman secured a retrial on the basis that the investigation was flawed and he had an alibi for the date and time of the killings, though he admitted to earlier robberies.

And it is this chaotic, clamorous and engrossing second trial that Kahn puts on screen, a trial that brings in antisemitism and French history. Arthur Harari plays Goldman’s patient and longsuffering advocate Georges Kiejman, who, like his excitable client, is of Polish-Jewish background; Stéphan Guérin-Tillié is the court president; and Arieh Worthalter is Goldman, voluble, charismatic and contemptuous of almost every aspect of the proceedings, though not refusing to recognise its authority.

Ukrainian president due to visit the US next week to address meeting of UN security council about war with Russia

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There is no one at reception when I arrive at the hotel in a small town about 50km from Dublin, so I go to the bar and, as instructed, ask for the duty manager. “Miša, do you know where James is?” the young waiter calls to a passing colleague – in Slovak.

I had been interviewed online for the hotel cleaning job I applied for through an agency back in my home country, the Czech Republic. Did I mind that the hotel was in a secluded location with nothing to do in the evening, they’d asked me in the interview. I’d said no, that I like solitude. Now I am being shown around the hotel and the kitchen, where I meet the cook and two other guys – all of them Slovaks. Just as I was surrounded by Poles while on the farm in Germany, here I feel I could be in Slovakia. The cook, taking a break, tells me that it is his last day. I ask if he is leaving because of the low pay. He breathes in slowly and says that he’s leaving because of the stress.

She’s been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she has won over many heads of Europe, including the UK prime minister. Should we be worried?

In mid-June, Giorgia Meloni was in an exultant mood while hosting the G7 summit, a gathering of the world’s most powerful nations, in the southern Italian region of Apulia. After days in which she presided over meetings speaking English, French and Spanish along with her native Italian, one evening she danced the pizzica – a traditional Apulian dance – twirling and hopping to the trance-like rhythmic folk music often played at local weddings at a contagious 100 beats per minute. Meloni’s uninhibited performance expressed the self-confidence of an emerging political star, who, after a strong showing in the European elections just a few days earlier, was the hottest political leader in Europe. She took a selfie with Indian strongman Narendra Modi, which she posted on Instagram to her 3.5 million followers with the caption “Hello from the MELODI team.” For a politician who only a few years ago was stuck at the margins of Italian politics as the head of a small rightwing party, Brothers of Italy, Meloni, at 47, appeared to be on top of the world.

Meloni has worked hard to achieve the respectability that has eluded other rightwing parties such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. She was received at the White House by Joe Biden and has been accepted by centrist parties within the EU. This is all the more surprising given the openly neo-fascist origins of her career. (Just before she was elected prime minister in late 2022, author Roberto Saviano wrote in the Guardian : “Giorgia Meloni is a danger to Italy and the rest of Europe.”) But in two years, she has surprised many people by her political pragmatism and shrewd ability.

Keir Starmer says he wants to learn from Italy’s ‘dramatic’ statistics. But a Guardian investigation reveals that EU money goes to officers who are involved in shocking abuse, leaving people to die in the desert and colluding with smugglers

When she saw them, lined up at the road checkpoint, Marie sensed the situation might turn ugly. Four officers, each wearing the combat green of Tunisia’s national guard. They asked to look inside her bag.

“There was nothing, just some clothes.” For weeks Marie had traversed the Sahara, travelling 3,000 miles from home. Now, minutes from her destination – the north coast of Africa – she feared she might not make it.

The row over ‘frockgate’ continues to trouble the prime minister this week, while his decision to visit his far-right Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, has upset many in his party. The Guardian’s John Harris talks to the political correspondent Aletha Adu, who was travelling with Keir Starmer. Also, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, joins John Harris to look at the rise of the far-right on the continent

Compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds to be replaced with extra year in primary school from 2028

Children in Sweden are to start school at six years old from 2028, a year earlier than at present, in an overhaul of the country’s education system that signals a switch from play-based teaching for younger children.

The government has announced plans to replace a compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds known as förskoleklass with an additional year in grundskola (primary school).

Homes evacuated in Emilia-Romagna region as pounding rain ‘well beyond the worst forecasts’ sweeps in

Homes are being evacuated in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna as Storm Boris, which has killed at least 24 people in central and eastern Europe since last week, swept into the country, causing severe flooding and landslides.

Pounding rain hit Emilia-Romagna late on Wednesday afternoon and the situation rapidly worsened as night fell.

European Centre for International Political Economy outlines a roadmap to bring the two sides closer

The UK must stop being “naive” about negotiations to reset relations with the EU and show more flexibility in its approach to Brussels, a trade policy thinktank has said.

As EU capitals question how much has changed in the UK despite the new government, the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) has outlined a roadmap to bring the two sides closer after a series of reports that the EU doubted Keir Starmer’s commitment to a reset.