French election: The far right has been held at bay, but for how long?
The far right won more votes nationwide than the left alliance and Macron’s centrists but the vote was spread across the country
France on a precipice as Le Pen aims for absolute majority in parliament
Additional 30,000 police deployed amid fear of street violence as extreme right-wing National Rally is expected to win the largest number of seats in the snap election called by President Macron
Macron called an election to avoid ‘bedlam’. It is a mad gamble which he may not win
World View: Dissolution was the brainchild of three Macron advisers calling themselves ‘the musketeers’, one a former journalist, the other two from PR firms
Notre-Dame revival: The result is breathtaking - a cathedral more beautiful than ever
The great and good of France will gather for Mass next December 8th to celebrate the reopening of Notre-Dame more than five and a half years after she was nearly destroyed by fire
Wars have been a constant of the human race, and they usually end the same way – from exhaustion
Lara Marlowe: A discussion hosted by Le Monde brought together thinkers and experts to discuss humanity’s bitter experience of war
Europe is a beacon for Ukraine, but Ukraine is a necessity for Europe
Because Europeans conceived of their Union as a haven of peace, they all but forgot the importance of resisting totalitarianism, says Ukrainian philosopher Constantin Sigov
This man is the best hope for peace in the Middle East. First Israel has to release him from prison
For decades, Israeli officials complained they had no “valid interlocutor” while holding Marwan Barghouti in an Israeli jail
Jumping off the page – Lara Marlowe at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
The Irish children’s book market is thriving
Impossible City: Paris in the Twenty-First Century – A place like no other
The author analyses the French art of conversation and ritual of Parisian dinner parties, which can be ‘genuinely joyous’
She went home to care for her mother and ended up in a Russian prison cell
Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva is one of five victims of Putin’s use of hostage diplomacy since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine
‘You cannot hide anywhere’: A historian in exile on the brutality of Russian society
Worldview: Russia’s deeply ingrained tradition of violence against its neighbours and its own citizens led inexorably to the invasion of Ukraine, Sergei Medvedev argues
‘Gaza is my being, my existence, my identity. The world cannot fail us now’
World view: Palestinian ambassador to France Hala Abou Hassira says Israel has killed more than 100 members of her family
Seven key questions that will determine what happens next in Ukraine
This is Ukraine’s darkest hour since the invasion. The country is exhausted. But no one trusts a Putin negotiation
Trump may not be a paid agent of Putin but he is certainly an asset to him
Some recent conversations suggest Putin is winning the propaganda war - and he’ll have a willing stooge if Trump is elected
Biden may be the only person in the world with the power to impose a ceasefire in Gaza
Instead, Blinken’s handwringing and crocodile tears merely strengthen the impression of US hypocrisy