Author: The Guardian

France’s prime minister has been accused of deliberately seeking to eclipse the head of his party’s list in European elections when he unexpectedly appeared on a stage where she was taking part in a radio debate.The prime minister, Gabriel Attal, strolled into France Info’s radio debate with lead candidates amid an exchange between the anchor and the head of the ruling party’s list for the 9 June polls, Valérie Hayer.Hayer has largely failed to score with the public in the campaign for the election where the French far right may score a victory in a major setback for the ruling…

Mirra Andreeva continues to consider herself one of the world’s most promising players as she defeated Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-2 to become the fourth French Open player The second youngest female player to enter the 21st century in the quarter-finals.Just over a year after Andreeva first broke through on the WTA just weeks before her 16th birthday, she continues to make strong progress. With her smart, varied game and endless grit, the 17-year-old didn’t drop a set in her late second-round win over Victoria Azarenka. Next week she will break into the top 30 for the first time in her…

Real Madrid have announced the signing of Kylian Mbappé seven years after they first tried to bring him to the club. The France forward will officially join on a free transfer on 1 July after his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires.Mbappé will be paid an annual salary of between €15m (£12.8m) and €20m (£17m) with annual increments. He is due to receive a €125m (£106.5m) signing-on bonus spread over five years of the contract, and will get 80% of his image rights.Shortly after a Madrid statement confirmed the move, the 25‑year‑old forward shared images on social media of himself as a youngster…

Activists say thousands of homeless people have been evacuated from Paris and surrounding areas as part of a pre-Olympic “clearance” operation.Le Revers de la Médaille, a group representing 90 associations, said in a report released on Monday that those transferred include asylum seekers, as well as families and children already in precarious and vulnerable situations.Police are also targeting sex workers and drug addicts, removing them from the usual networks where they can access vital health care and support, the report added. “The Ile-de-France region has been cleared of persons deemed undesirable by those in power,” the report concluded.The group said…

In those final fading years of the New York socialites, Diane Lane was a teenager and already an actor. It was Manhattan in the 70s, and she had glimpses into the world of high society insiders such as Babe Paley and CZ Guest – women the writer Truman Capote “collected” and then betrayed, as depicted in the Apple TV+ series Feud: Capote vs The Swans. Lane, who plays queen bee Slim Keith, remembers occasionally coming into these women’s orbits.“I met Lee Radziwill on several occasions,” she says, of the sister of Jackie Kennedy and another of Capote’s “swans”. “I was…

England’s Leeds Rhinos and England rugby league international Rob Burrow, who died aged 41 in 2019, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019 and suffered from the condition in the following years. Wider public attention, raising funds for MND charities and lobbying government for increased funding for research, treatment and care facilities. He died from complications of the disease.Burrow, who spent his entire 17-year career with Leeds Rhinos before his diagnosis, was awarded the title due to his short stature, standing just under 5ft 5in (165cm) and weighing less than 11th (70kg). Nicknamed “The Mighty Atom”. In a sport…

Donald Trump has called on the US supreme court to step in and annul his guilty verdict in a hush-money trial that left him with the unwanted distinction of being the first former US president to be a convicted felon.The 2024 presumptive Republican nominee made his plea in a typically florid post on his Truth Social site, highlighting that a sentencing hearing scheduled for 11 July falls just four days before the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee, when his nomination is expected to become official.“The ‘Sentencing’ for not having done anything wrong will be, conveniently for the Fascists, 4 days…

Alex de Minaur breaks new ground in his burgeoning career, defeating one of tennis’s greats Daniil Medvedev to become the first man in two decades to reach the French Open quarter-finals Australian player.The diminutive Sydney player with a big heart and amazing speed defeated fifth seed and former US Open champion Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 on Monday after losing a set first. , reaching the quarter-finals for the second time.One measure of the extent of his achievement is that in the past 42 years, only Hewitt twice (2001 and 2004) and Pat Rafter (1997) have done so on the…

French police are investigating whether the placing of five full-sized coffins covered with the French tricolour at the Eiffel Tower at the weekend was another act of Russian interference.Three men were formally put under investigation on Monday – the equivalent of being charged – in connection with the coffins, each of which was inscribed with “French soldiers in the Ukraine”.The inscription is believed to be a reference to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, raising the possibility of sending western troops to Ukraine, a suggestion Moscow has described as “dangerous”.The incident also followed talks between French and Ukrainian defence ministers a…

Brendan McManus was released from custody by Washington commanders on Sunday after being accused of sexually assaulting two women on a transatlantic flight.”We take allegations of this nature very seriously,” commanders said in a statement.The two women worked as flight attendants on a Jacksonville Jaguars flight to London last September. They allege in a civil lawsuit that McManus tried to kiss one of them and rubbed against them as they tried to carry out their job duties. They are seeking more than $1 million in damages, according to court documents. McManus was playing for the Jaguars, who were traveling to…