Retrospective: the Top 10 French news stories that defined 2024

Joanna YORK

28 December 2024 at 3:40 am·1-min read

From the highs of the summer Olympics to a mass sexual assault trial that shocked the world, and from the grand reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral to the government’s collapse, 2024 has been quite a year in France. Here are the biggest news stories from the past 12 months.

French farmers’ protest

The year 2024 kicked off with European farmers protesting a proposed EU deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc to create one of the world's largest free-trade zones.

During protests that blocked supply routes to Spain and Germany, farmers in France pledged to cause “chaos and food shortages” if the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay went ahead.

The French government is also opposed to the deal, which critics say will squeeze EU farmers by opening European markets to cheaper produce from competitors that are unrestricted by EU farming regulations on pesticides, hormones, responsible land use and environmental measures.

Relations between farmers and the government were already strained as agriculture workers staged rolling protests last winter as part of a wider EU movement against policies that they say are squeezing revenue.

France enshrines abortion in its constitution

The Telegraph
Assassination of an escort leads to miniskirt ban in world’s least popular parliament
Detectives immediately knew they were dealing with a professional hit. The criminals had riddled the taxi with some 40 bullets, yet stole nothing from the dying driver and passenger.
The Telegraph
Two Iranian ‘judges of death’ gunned down in Tehran
An armed assailant fatally shot two notorious Iranian judges inside the Islamic Republic’s supreme court on Saturday.
The Hill
Trump launches first official cryptocurrency
President-elect Trump launched his first official cryptocurrency, which shot up in value quickly to kick off his inauguration weekend. “My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW,” the president-elect shared on Truth Social Friday night. The price…
AFP News
TikTok shuts down US access as Trump seeks app's reinstatement
Millions of TikTok users were blocked from accessing the popular app in the United States as a national ban came into effect Sunday, with incoming president Donald Trump unable to intervene until he takes office.It said "we are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.
The Telegraph
Watch: Gun-toting Hamas fighters return to Gaza streets as ceasefire begins
Masked Hamas fighters carrying rifles returned to the streets of Gaza after a ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, declaring “victory” as they drove through rubble-strewn streets.
The Daily Beast
Nancy Pelosi’s Daughter Slams ‘Lady McBiden’ for Cruel Snub
The relationship between Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and the Biden family is so strained that the outgoing president and his wife did not check in on her after she broke her hip last month, enraging Pelosi’s family. The revelation in a Sunday Politico report reflects the ongoing feud between Joe Biden and Pelosi after she worked last summer to push him to drop out of the presidential election. Biden eventually withdrew, but it was not without some pointed anger at the former speaker. “We were f
The Independent
Israel-Gaza ceasefire live: Tear gas at Palestinian prisoner release as British hostage reunited with mother
News of the hostages’ release was met with jubilation by families and supporters who gathered in Tel Aviv
Associated Press
Taliban deputy tells leader there is no excuse for education bans on Afghan women and girls
A senior Taliban figure has urged the group's leader to scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls, saying there is no excuse for them, in a rare public rebuke of government policy. Sher Abbas Stanikzai, political deputy at the Foreign Ministry, made the remarks in a speech on Saturday in southeastern Khost province. In Afghanistan, women and girls can only be treated by female doctors and health professionals.
AFP News
Indian court finds man guilty in notorious hospital rape case
An Indian court on Saturday found a 33-year-old man guilty for the rape and murder of a doctor, a crime that sparked nationwide protests and hospital strikes last year.The trainee doctor was found raped and murdered in a seminar room of the hospital last year.
Reuters
Trump wants to visit China as president, WSJ reports
Trump has expressed interest in traveling to China in his first 100 days in office, the report said, citing one of the people. Trump's inauguration is Monday, and Chinese state news agencies said on Friday that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will attend as Beijing stands ready to strengthen cooperation. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, through their representatives, have discussed meeting in person, with one option involving the incoming American president inviting the Chinese leader to the U.S., the WSJ added.
The Daily Beast
How Six People Covered Up Truth That Biden Was ‘Out of It’
Joe Biden’s inner circle noticed the signs of his aging, and worked tirelessly to manage his challenges and fend off the perception that he had declined, according to a new report. The president was protected by six key people, all of whom thought that he could and should lead the country for a second term, The New York Times reported on Friday, based on dozens of interviews with Biden world insiders. Two of the six were Biden’s own family members—his wife Jill Biden and his son Hunter Biden, wh
The Independent
Lord Sugar makes scathing prediction about Elon Musk’s future working with Trump
‘He’s going to get a bloody nose,’ the ‘Apprentice’ star said
CBC
Cutting off oil is Canada's nuclear option. What would it mean if it happens?
In Canada's arsenal of possible responses to a Trump tariff, the nuclear option is the threat to withhold, reduce or place export tariffs on Canadian energy.Already, the mere suggestion of such a tactic has caused a split between the government of Alberta, on one side, and the governments of Canada and all other provinces on the other.Tariffs on imports from the U.S. have the potential to cause pain to certain industries and regions, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself has acknowledged tha
The Guardian
‘Has the world gone mad? It has’: foreign reporters share a view of Trump from abroad
Journalists from countries that have seen challenges to democracy give their view on the second Trump presidency
The Telegraph
Three women spent 471 days in captivity. In one brief, chaotic moment they finally tasted freedom
With guns being brandished, the flash of distinctive green Hamas headbands and the din of the crowd, it must have seemed like the fateful day they were captured all over again.
The Telegraph
Priti Patel: Starmer has put up the white flag of surrender over Chagos – his deal is an epic failure
Dame Priti Patel is one of the friendliest front-line politicians in Westminster, but she is also perhaps the angriest, and this week she is exporting that anger to America as she attends the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States.
The Telegraph
Rioters storm South Korean court after president’s detention extended
Hundreds of supporters of Yoon Suk Yeol, the South Korean president arrested after declaring martial law, stormed a court building early on Sunday after his detention was extended.
Reuters
How Trump plans to cement control of government by dismantling the 'deep state'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President-elect Donald Trump is poised to seize greater control of the federal government than any modern president before him when he takes office on Monday, charging ahead with plans to dismantle what he and his allies call the "deep state," according to two sources familiar with transition discussions. The effort could get underway as early as Trump's first day as president, according to one of the sources, with an executive order aimed at stripping job protections from an estimated 50,000 career federal employees, allowing their replacement by handpicked loyalist appointees. The Trump administration will also push to fill the thousands of political appointments across government as soon as possible, another source told Reuters.
The Independent
Village People once tried to stop Trump using their music. Now they’re dancing on stage with him
‘Y.M.C.A’ has played at countless Trump rallies throughout his political career
The Independent
Two Iranian Supreme Court judges assassinated and one wounded in Tehran
Assailant reportedly kills himself after opening fire at judges

French farmers’ protest

France enshrines abortion in its constitution

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