Ahead of the G-7 summit in Évian, France, starting June 15, 2025, the article argues that the group must confront China and other Asian economies over deeply undervalued currencies fueling record trade surpluses and global imbalances. It criticizes the IMF and G-7 for avoiding currency diplomacy, noting that China's renminbi depreciation, combined with industrial subsidies, has tripled its trade surplus since 2018. The piece highlights that Asian currencies are at historic lows against the dollar, and calls for coordinated pressure on Beijing to allow appreciation or face new trade restrictions, emphasizing that Asian currency weakness is a key reason for the world's trade surplus concentration in East Asia.

A group of about 30 French MPs, led by ecologist Boris Tavernier, is preparing a bill to require large retailers to forgo their profit margins on products purchased for food bank collections and instead donate those funds to charitable associations. The initiative cites that over 10 million people in France face food insecurity. Biocoop, a small organic chain, already waives such margins and donates over €250,000 annually. The proposed law could generate millions of euros for food aid.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu presented emergency child protection measures on June 9, four days after the body of 11-year-old Lyhanna was found in Gers — the suspect had had two prior rape complaints dropped against him. The proposals include life imprisonment for serial rapists (replacing the current 20-year maximum), a three-month mandatory investigation deadline for child abuse cases, and a review of all 70,000 pending child sexual abuse complaints by July 14. More than 60,000 protesters marched across France on Monday evening as Justice Minister Darmanin acknowledged "overwhelming failings" but ruled out resignation.

French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin on June 8 ordered prosecutors to review all 70,000 pending child sexual abuse complaints by July 14, prioritizing cases where the victim is still a minor. The directive follows the Lyhanna case, which exposed serious failures in the justice system. Magistrates and unions warn the deadline risks rushed work and neglect of other cases.

The French Senate on June 9 adopted a heavily amended version of the update to the 2024-30 Military Programming Law by 297 votes to 33, stripping out the government's proposed 36-billion-euro spending increase. The upper house instead approved an amendment adding 14 billion euros, which the government had rejected as unsustainable. The text now heads to a joint parliamentary committee, with the National Assembly holding the final say if no compromise is reached.

Senator Laurence Rossignol criticized Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin's circular ordering prosecutors to prioritize child sexual abuse cases, arguing that prosecutors are overwhelmed with conflicting priority directives. She highlighted a 2022 justice inspectorate report that already documented the systemic issues, and pointed to a lack of psychological experts and a societal tendency to side with perpetrators.

Major SNCF unions have called a 24-hour strike on June 10, 2025, over wages and the restructuring of the state railway company due to market liberalization. The strike is the first major social test for new SNCF CEO Jean Castex. Unions oppose the creation of subsidiaries to compete for regional contracts, fearing loss of worker benefits and conditions.

Karim Bouamrane, the Socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen, announced his candidacy for the 2027 French presidential election on France Inter. Positioning himself as a unifying figure for the non-Mélenchon left, he aims to break the projected runoff between Jordan Bardella and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Bouamrane is in open conflict with La France Insoumise and opposes a left-wing primary.

The municipality of Castres, France, now led by the far-right National Rally (RN) party, cancelled a scheduled performance of Alexis Michalik's play 'Passeport', which tells the story of an Eritrean migrant. The playwright denounced the decision as an ideological attack on artistic freedom. The mayor justified the cancellation by citing a change in majority and the absence of a signed contract.

France announced three new 'strong protection' marine zones in mainland France, Guadeloupe, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, bringing 14.68% of its waters under strict protection. This advances its UN Ocean Summit pledge to reach 14.8% by end of 2025, alongside an action plan against plastic pollution.

Former UEFA president Michel Platini has filed civil and criminal lawsuits in France against FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino, alleging a conspiracy to prevent him from winning the FIFA presidency in 2015. The legal action, announced on June 9, 2026, targets Infantino, former FIFA legal director Marco Villiger, and former FIFA audit committee chairman Domenico Scala, accusing them of malicious prosecution and influence peddling. Platini also seeks damages for the derailment of his presidential bid, which was overshadowed by a corruption scandal involving a 2 million Swiss franc payment authorized by then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter. This follows Platini's and Blatter's acquittal by a Swiss federal criminal appeals court in March 2025, which became final in September 2025. The case adds a new chapter to the long-running feud between Platini and Infantino.

French MP Sébastien Delogu (La France Insoumise) faces trial for receiving stolen goods and violating correspondence secrecy after posting private documents taken from Isidore Aragones, former president of Crif Marseille, on Instagram. The documents were stolen during a labor dispute at Laser Propreté. Delogu's trial, originally set for June 9, has been postponed to October 21. He risks up to five years in prison and ineligibility.

Background: France banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entry and opened a war crimes investigation after he posted a video taunting detained Gaza flotilla activists. On June 10, 2026, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani denounced Ben-Gvir's 'unacceptable' remarks mocking Italy over its investigation into the treatment of flotilla activists. Italy has opened an inquiry into alleged torture and kidnapping of Italian citizens among the activists, and is pushing for EU sanctions against Ben-Gvir, though consensus among member states remains elusive. The EU is considering sanctions on Ben-Gvir, but has not yet reached consensus. Italy remains one of Israel's strongest European allies, alongside Germany, blocking a bid to suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement.

Two French Rafale fighters on NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission shot down a foreign drone over eastern Latvia on June 8, the first time alliance aircraft have destroyed a drone over Latvian territory. Latvia's military said the drone crossed in from Russia "as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare"; no one was hurt, and the order to fire was taken by NATO command. It was the second NATO interception in Baltic airspace in three weeks, after a Romanian F-16 downed a drone over Estonia on May 19.

Twenty NATO warships sailed from the Polish port of Gdynia on Tuesday to begin BALTOPS 2026, the alliance's 55th annual maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea, involving around 6,000 personnel from 15 nations. US Sixth Fleet commanders framed the drill as a deterrent message to Russia, with the exercise for the first time since 1972 under day-to-day command of NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum. Deputy commander Lieutenant General John Mead said the first of three objectives was to "deter Russian threats in the Baltic Sea region."

French Army Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Patrick Justel stated that France has a surplus of recruitment candidates, unlike Germany and Poland which struggle with personnel shortages. However, France faces significant equipment gaps in spare parts, deep-fires, ground-to-air defense, counter-drone, and electronic warfare capabilities, hindering readiness for high-intensity conflict. Justel noted France's demographic advantages and high public trust in the military, but warned that the country cannot permanently replace U.S. troops in Europe due to force structure constraints.