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Newly appointed French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal took France’s political and media spheres by surprise on Thursday as he named controversial politician Rachida Dati his culture minister. Her arrival in the new-look centrist cabinet was unexpected given that Dati was a spokesperson for center-right President Nicolas Sarkozy during his presidential campaign and was Minister of Justice from 2007 to 2009 under his presidency. The appointment was made as part of a government cabinet reshuffle rolled out by Attal just two days after he became France’s youngest-ever prime minister in a move by President Emmanuel Macron to reboot his presidency, which...

Despite the letter being condemned by the government and the media, a new poll has found that a majority of the French people agree with its substance. A survey by Harris Interactive found that 58% of respondents “support the words of the soldiers,” reports Valeurs. A clear majority – 84% – said violence was increasing in society and 73% thought the country was disintegrating. Almost three quarters think the “anti-racism” movement is having the opposite impact and making race relations worse. Almost half (49%) also think that the military should be sent in to occupy problem areas, “which would act...

A MAJORITY of the French public support an incendiary open letter warning of "civil war" and military intervention, according to a new poll. Originally published by right-wing magazine Valeurs Actuelles the letter claimed “Islamism” and “anti-racism” are threatening civil war in France. It added “lax” government measures may require “the intervention of our [military] comrades on active duty in a perilous mission of protection of our civilisational values”. A poll by LCI for Harris Interactive found 58 percent of the French public support the letter whilst 49 percent would back the military if it decides to “act on its own...

A Paris mayor has backed military chiefs who threatened to seize control of the country to fight radical Islam and prevent the 'disintegration' of France. Eighteen serving officers who were among the hundreds of retired soldiers who signed the open letter to Emmanuel Macron are to be fired, the country's armed forces chief confirmed today. But despite widespread condemnation, politicians on the right like Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th arrondissement, continue to throw their support behind the signatories, who included 20 retired generals. 'What is written in this letter is a reality,' Ms Dati told France Info radio today....

A whopping 20 retired French generals and 80 other ex-officers are calling for military rule in the country if President Emmanuel Macron does not halt society's "disintegration caused by Islamists." In response, Macron has threatened to punish generals who signed the open letter that warned the country is heading for "civil war" because of radical Islam.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Government, Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of Parliament, The hour is serious, France is in danger, several mortal dangers threaten it. We who, even in retirement, remain soldiers of France, cannot, in the current circumstances, remain indifferent to the fate of our beautiful country. Our tricolor flags are not just a piece of cloth, they symbolize the tradition, through the ages, of those who, whatever their skin color or their faith, have served France and given their lives for it. On these flags, we find in gold letters the words “Honor and Fatherland”. However,...

EMMANUEL Macron has been mercilessly mocked for swapping his perfect English for a ridiculous over-the-top French drawl.The President, currently facing the real possibility of losing out to far-right National Rally Marine Le Pen next year, seemed to be trying to ham up his French credentials with the stunt. But it spectacularly backfired – leaving people rolling with laughter rather than clapping with admiration. Mr Macron, an unapologetic europhile, spoke in English for the clip which welcomed the US back into the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. Joe Biden rejoined almost immediately after taking the presidency after his predecessor Donald Trump...

Former French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner was booed at a rally in support of murdered Jewish woman Sarah Halimi, whose alleged killer was not charged due to his heavy marijuana use. An estimated 20,000 people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest the lack of a trial for the man who allegedly murdered 65-year-old Sarah Halimi in 2017, it is claimed, by pushing her out of the window of her Paris apartment while shouting “Allahu Akbar”. Several protests in support of Halimi were held in other cities in France, such as Montpellier, according to a report by...

Sarah Halimi was beaten before she was thrown off her Paris apartment building's roof in April 2017. (Courtesy of the Halimi family) (JTA) — Lawyers for the family of Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman whose killer was deemed unfit to stand trial in France, say they want to have him tried in Israel. The idea articulated Wednesday in a statement by lawyers Francis Szpiner and Gilles-William Goldnadel is based on the fact that Israeli citizens may litigate in Israel over alleged anti-Semitic attacks abroad. Sarah Halimi’s sister, Esther Lekover, is an Israeli. “We regret that the situation has come to...

(Sept. 27) -- They say politics is a dirty business, and when politicians talk about oral sex on national TV -- even accidentally -- it's easy to see why. In what sounds like a setup for a Bill Clinton joke, French politician Rachida Dati mixed up the word for "inflation" with the word for "fellatio" during an interview with Canal Plus television Sunday. According to the Time Newsfeed, Dati -- the mayor of Paris' seventh arrondissement -- jumbled her words when asked about foreign investment during a time of economic instability. "I see some of them looking for returns of...

Rachida Dati blamed for Sarkozy affairs rumours Former French cabinet star, Rachida Dati, has had her government security team withdrawn after being blamed for spreading rumours about the state of Nicolas Sarkozy’s marriage. Henry Samuel in Paris Published: 11:05PM BST 31 Mar 2010 Nicolas Sarkozy blames Rachida Dati for affairs rumours The president is said to believe his former justice minister, now an MEP, started talk that his wife was having an affair with Benjamin Biolay, a pop singer, while he was seeing his ecology minister, Chantal Jouanno. She has now been deprived her of her chauffeur-driven limousine and three...

French minister draws fire over short maternity leave By Christine Courcol, AFP January 10, 2009 PARIS - French feminists are taking aim at Justice Minister Rachida Dati who went back to work this week just five days after giving birth to a baby girl, saying she is setting a bad example. Smiling in a black suit and high heels, the 43-year-old minister attended a cabinet meeting on Wednesday at the Elysee presidential palace on the same day that she walked out of a Paris clinic clutching Zohra, her new daughter. Zohra was delivered by caesarian birth on January 2 and...

France's newest political idol is Rachida Date, the new justice minister. She's adored by the French public. She also holds the record as the minister who has introduced the most bills in the new French government. She is rather young for a minister (41) and many people find her attractive. She is extremely active and spends the whole day working. France's new justice minister, Rachida Dati entered the French political landscape by storm. Only a year ago she was an unknown public servant and now she's one of the most popular ministers in the new French cabinet. Immigrant background President...

- President Nicolas Sarkozy sent out a powerful message to France's five million Muslims on Friday by appointing a woman of North African origin to the key post of justice minister.     Rachida Dati, a 41-year-old newcomer to government who shot to national attention as Sarkozy's election campaign spokeswoman, is the first French Muslim politician to hold a top government job.     Her appointment breaks important new ground in a country where north and west African immigrants and their children are severely under-represented in public life -- an imbalance seen as one of the reasons behind the 2005 riots.     Tall and impeccably...