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French far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon sparked outrage after claiming ministers “follow orders” from CRIF, triggering antisemitism accusations from officials and Jewish groups.

A French appeals court on Friday confirmed that Moroccan football star Achraf Hakimi will face trial for the alleged rape of a woman in 2023, which the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defender denies. In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in the Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her. The PSG right-back and captain of the Moroccan national team, whose second match of the 2026 World Cup kicks off on Friday against Scotland, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Shortly after the Versailles Court of Appeal delivered its ruling, Hakimi wrote on X that he had been “waiting for this trial since day one”. “At last, I’ll be able to speak,” he said. A date has not been announced for the start of the trial at the criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department. “This confirmation was expected. Nothing here says that he is guilty of anything, he remains steadfast in his defence,” Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin said. The plaintiff’s lawyer Rachel-Flore Pardo said the decision brought her ...

Last month, a Haaretz-Libération investigation uncovered systems for building an army of avatars, developed by Israeli company BlackCore, including a smear campaign of a left-wing French candidate

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said the decision was based on Alice Froussard's alleged remark that the Hamas massacre should be seen 'in context.' French broadcaster RFI expressed outrage over the move, accusing Israel of curbing press freedom

Meanwhile, Germany will participate in French nuclear exercises as soon as September, joining them in an observer role.

In the year since Sequans Communications announced that it would adopt a digital asset treasury strategy, the price of Bitcoin fell by more than 30%. The France-based semiconductor company that announced a move into crypto is “no longer pursuing” a treasury strategy after less than a year. In a Thursday notice, Sequans Communications said it held 658 Bitcoin (BTC) worth about $48 million at the time of publication, which it said was “fully unencumbered” and unrestricted as it looks to refocus solely on Internet of Things (IoT) semiconductor growth. The company's NYSE-traded shares, which have shed more than 75% since last June, were up more than 14.5% in morning trading following the announcement. Read more

An American national and a French woman evacuated from the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak have tested positive, officials said on Monday, as the complex operation to repatriate those on board continued. The French woman, one of five passengers from France flown back from the MV Hondius and placed in isolation in Paris, started to feel unwell on Sunday night, and “tests came back positive”, said Health Minister Stephanie Rist. Late on Sunday, the US health department said one American national evacuated from the ship had “mild symptoms” and that another had tested positive for the Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain that is transmissible between humans. Three passengers from the ship, a Dutch couple and a German woman, have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents. No vaccines or specific treatments exist for hantavirus, which is endemic in Argentina, where the ship set sail in April. But health officials have insisted that the risk for...

On World Press Freedom Day, marked on May 3, France honored the memory of French photojournalist Arman Soldin (note: original text says Antoni Lallican, likely referring to a French journalist killed in Ukraine) who was killed in Ukraine as a result of a Russian drone strike, and stated that Russia has made freedom of information its target.

A thwarted home invasion near Montpellier adds to France’s surge in violent “wrench attacks,” as high‑profile and doxxed crypto holders are increasingly in criminals’ sights. A man posing as a delivery driver allegedly tried to extort a crypto investor at gunpoint in a suburb of Montpellier, in what local media describe as the first reported crypto-motivated home invasion in France’s Hérault region.  According to French outlet Actu.fr, the suspect gained access to the family home in Saint-Jean-de-Védas on April 11, pulled out a handgun and forced the parents and their children into a room before the father overpowered him during a struggle in which a shot was fired.  No one was injured, and investigators from the Montpellier research section of the Gendarmerie later identified and arrested a 25-year-old suspect, who has since been charged and remanded in custody while police examine whether he acted alone. Read more

The country's finance minister supported the Qivalis initiative, launched in 2025, to create a euro-pegged stablecoin under the MiCA framework. Roland Lescure, France’s finance minister, backed an initiative by European banks to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in 2026 to compete with US dollar-backed tokens, which currently dominate the market. According to a Friday Reuters report, Lescure supported the euro-pegged Qivalis stablecoin plan launched in September 2025 by EU banks, including Dutch lender ING and Italy’s UniCredit. The goal of the banks was to create a stablecoin in compliance with the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework; the MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin is expected to be launched in the second half of 2026. Read more

As previously covered by The Jerusalem Post in December 2025, an Algerian nanny was sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment for poisoning a French Jewish family for whom she was working.

Jean-Didier Berger said at Paris Blockchain Week that France is preparing new steps to protect crypto holders as wrench attacks and kidnappings keep mounting. Jean-Didier Berger, minister delegate to the interior minister of France, said authorities are taking measures to protect cryptocurrency investors from the growing threat of crypto kidnappings and wrench attacks in the country. Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week, Berger said his office has taken “preventative measures” against crypto wrench attacks, including launching a prevention platform that has drawn thousands of sign-ups. He added that he was working with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez on what he described as a more serious plan in the coming weeks. His comments come days after another reported crypto-linked abduction in France this week, where a mother and her 11-year-old child were reportedly kidnapped in Burgundy on Monday by four suspects who demanded a 400,000 euro ($471,000) ransom from the father, a crypto entrepreneur. Authorities caught t...

French media reported authorities had arrested Hassan and detained her in custody because they suspected the post made on March 26 could be construed as showing support for terrorism.

French blockchain-based stock exchange Lise plans to host what it describes as a fully onchain IPO for ST Group. French blockchain-based stock exchange Lightning Stock Exchange (Lise) is preparing to host what it describes as a fully onchain initial public offering (IPO), listing aerospace and defense SME ST Group as its inaugural company. The company called the deal the first IPO on a natively tokenized exchange, where shares are issued and traded as digital tokens rather than recorded through traditional market infrastructure, according to a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph. CEO Mark Kepeneghian said it could fundamentally change “how markets are built, how companies raise capital, and how investors connect to the real economy.” Read more

A French couple was forced to transfer about $1 million in Bitcoin during a fake police home invasion as wrench attacks keep rising, local media reported. A French couple in their late 50s was forced to transfer over 900,000 euros ($1 million) in Bitcoin during a fake police raid at their home west of Paris in the latest violent attack targeting cryptocurrency holders in France, according to TF1 Info and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Three suspects posing as police officers entered the couple’s home Monday morning in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, in the Yvelines department, and forced the husband to transfer the Bitcoin (BTC) while threatening the pair with a knife, according to TF1 Info and AFP. The attackers then tied up the man, injured both victims and fled in a white van, the reports said. The woman later freed her husband and alerted neighbors at about 9:00 am local time, according to the reports. The Versailles prosecutor’s office said the case is being investigated by the Brigade for the Repression of Bandit...

Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that the Swedish military has confirmed that the drone which approached the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was Russian.

In 2023, French special operations troops came under attack from ISIS fighters near Hawija, Iraq. Guardsmen boarded a CH-47 and sped off towards the fight.

A Russian drone approached the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which had entered the port of Malmö in Sweden the day before to participate in several NATO exercises.

French tourists reportedly chased them into the restroom, forced the door open, and demanded they turn over the contents of their pockets.

French MP Caroline Yadan's Bill 575, which seeks to combat “renewed forms of antisemitism,” has already been adopted by the French National Assembly Law Committee.