The United States' closest European and Arab partners have met in Paris to work on how to shape Gaza's post-war future, hours after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and prisoner-hostage swap proposed by US President Donald Trump.

As countries mark World Day Against the Death Penalty on Friday – a day after France honoured Robert Badinter, the man who ended it in the country – experts say capital punishment is still failing to stop crime and instead fuels violence.

Robert Badinter, the justice minister who ended the death penalty in 1981, was inducted into the Pantheon in Paris on Thursday as France paid tribute to his lifelong fight for justice – with President Emmanuel Macron praising the abolitionist's “essential and unfinished battles”.

A man convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot, who survived years of assaults orchestrated by her husband while she was drugged unconscious, has lost his appeal against the verdict. A court in southern France also stiffened his sentence to 10 years in prison.

French NGO Reporters without Borders was on Thursday to unveil a memorial stone in Bayeux, Normandy, in honour of journalists killed in the line of duty, as it marks its 40th anniversary.

Luca Zidane, the son of France football legend Zinedine Zidane, spoke of his pride after he was selected for the Algeria squad for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda.

France on Thursday hosts foreign ministers from Arab and European countries for talks on helping the Palestinians once the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas ends, a meeting that comes hours after the two sides agreed a ceasefire deal.

A court in Russia's Far East has upheld the detention of French ultra-cyclist Sofiane Sehili, accused of illegally crossing the Russian-Chinese border during his attempt to set a world record cycling across Eurasia.

A French court is set to decide the fate of the only man still protesting his innocence in a sexual abuse case that has come to symbolise courage and accountability in France.

Robert Badinter, the lawyer and former justice minister who led France to end the death penalty, will be inducted into the Panthéon in Paris on Thursday – 44 years to the day after the abolition law took effect. 

Mass protests in Madagascar over power cuts, water shortages and alleged corruption have put President Andry Rajoelina under growing pressure, with a youth-led movement giving him until Wednesday night to meet its demands or face a nationwide strike.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has urged the EU to step up its response to Russia’s 'hybrid war', unveiling plans to strengthen Europe’s defences against escalating threats.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top international diplomats are gathering in Paris to coordinate international backing for Washington’s plan on Gaza, as parallel ceasefire talks continue in Egypt.

Coming a decade after the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack, a new campaign is calling for murdered cartoonist Charb to be honoured in France’s Panthéon as a symbol of freedom of expression and republican values.

A French consumer watchdog has slammed ten popular children’s dairy products, warning they’re overloaded with sugar, salt, fat, and ultra-processed ingredients, putting young consumers’ health at serious risk.

France’s outgoing Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on Wednesday made a last-ditch bid to unite rival parties and pull his collapsed government out of political deadlock – hoping to agree on a budget and head off the threat of a snap election. 

Solar and wind farms generated more electricity than coal for the first time on record this year, but US and Chinese policy shifts are slowing growth, making it unlikely that the global 2030 clean energy goals will be met, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The European Union has unveiled its toughest-ever plan to defend its steel industry, halving the volume of foreign steel that can enter the bloc without tariffs and doubling the duties on imports. The move has alarmed Britain, which sells most of its steel to the EU.

A French woman accused of holding a Yazidi teenager in slavery in Syria in 2015 will stand trial in Paris on charges of genocide.

Political journalists from RFI's French service examine where influential figures from across the political spectrum stand, ahead of the 8 October deadline given to outgoing prime minister Sébastien Lecornu to salvage his administration, following his shock resignation on Monday after less than a month in office.

Frenchman Michel H Devoret as well as his longtime American collaborator John M Martinis and the Briton John Clarke were on Tuesday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on quantum physics in action.

Having long sold itself as the ‘start-up nation’, Israel is now in economic turmoil, with the war it is waging in Gaza resulting in the withdrawal of long-standing partners. Declining growth, a brain drain and diplomatic isolation are diminishing a model that was considered exemplary.

The United Nations' cultural agency selected former Egyptian tourism and antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany as its new chief, handing him the keys to revive Unesco's fortunes after the US withdrew from it for a second time. 

Human rights activists on Tuesday hailed the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to convict a Sudanese militia chief for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during attacks in Darfur at the turn of the century.

On the top floor of an unremarkable office block along Nairobi’s Lenana Road, a long mahogany table dominates a hushed boardroom. This is where the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) convenes when doctors are accused of crossing professional lines. The atmosphere is clinical: no flashing cameras, no political speeches, only files stacked neatly in manila folders. Here, the fate of Dr Sarita Sukhija, director of the Myra Clinic, will be decided.