Macron

Dominique de Villepin edges toward declaring a presidential bid, joining a chorus of veteran politicians circling an office Emmanuel Macron must vacate.

France's embrace of Saudi Arabia argues that strategic and economic interests now outweigh the human-rights concerns that once made the relationship toxic.

Mali remains the clearest proof that France lost military influence in the Sahel without stability replacing it, and every new battle there undercuts Macron's narrative of a fresh start.

Finland's vote to allow nuclear weapons and Switzerland's push for new reactors both trace back to a familiar French ambition to lead Europe's atomic future.

Three stories in a single week, a murdered child, a pop icon charged with rape, and a former mayor appealing his blackmail conviction, are not the same scandal but they are feeding the same mood in France.