France's Interior Ministry ordered Russian journalist Ksenia Fedorova, the former director of RT France until 2023, to leave the country on July 29 after concluding she was a 'channel for disinformation' and had systematically spread Kremlin propaganda across French television and radio; President Emmanuel Macron had questioned Fedorova's journalist status as early as 2017

A wildfire in France's Gironde department that advanced to within 15 km of Bordeaux was declared stabilised on July 27 after more than 220,000 people were evacuated; President Emmanuel Macron convened a crisis cabinet meeting and France's army deployed 1,500 personnel and surveillance drones; by July 28, Macron called the combined wildfire and heatwave emergency the most severe situation France had faced since World War II, with 63,000 still evacuated near Madrid and a fourth heatwave of the summer approaching

Santé Publique France, France's national public health authority, reported 5,764 excess deaths during the country's heat wave from June 17 to July 2, 2026, as temperatures broke records; Fox News reported health officials described the episode as France's deadliest heat event since 2003

A wildfire in France's Gironde department advanced to within 15 km of Bordeaux by July 27, forcing 220,000 people to evacuate as French President Emmanuel Macron called a crisis cabinet meeting; coordinated blazes in France and Spain displaced more than 320,000 people total, with at least one person killed; the fire grew intense enough to generate its own lightning-spawning firestorms, and officials warned it may continue burning until November

France held its July 14 national day parade with troops and warplanes from partner countries across Europe, and Ukrainian soldiers marching alongside them; French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at what Macron described as his tenth and last Bastille Day parade as president, with a record nearly 6,700 troops, 98 aircraft, 31 helicopters, and 315 vehicles on the traditional route from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde

The French government activated the Orsec 'extreme heat' emergency plan on July 10 for the first time since the plan was created, covering nine departments facing temperatures approaching 40 Celsius with red alerts expected soon for 24; the mechanism, originally designed for floods and natural disasters, mobilises cooling centres for vulnerable people and additional civil-protection resources over a busy summer holiday weekend

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa began a three-day official visit to France on July 10, with bilateral talks and a working dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, a UN education summit at UNESCO headquarters, and a WWI commemorative ceremony in the Somme

At their Antibes bilateral summit, Macron and Meloni announced plans to build a European-led force to take over from UNIFIL when its UN mandate expires December 31; President Aoun called it a sincere commitment to Lebanese sovereignty

Paris and Rome deepen cooperation on the SAMP/T air-defence system, nuclear energy and a European satellite venture to rival Starlink

Merz, Macron, Meloni, Starmer and Tusk meet in Berlin to harden NATO's European pillar before Ankara, sidelining Madrid over the 5% target

Italy's first female Prime Minister leads a far-right coalition from 2022, shaping EU defence, the Ukraine war, and Italian politics heading into a contested 2027 election.

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen has led the European Commission since 2019, setting trade, climate, and defence policy for the EU's 27 member states.

Eight heads of government commanding nuclear arsenals, G7 institutions, and the world's largest economies whose bilateral signals move markets and wars.

France, the UK, Italy and Poland join Germany to coordinate Ukraine, Iran and burden-sharing

France hosts a summit that hardens the Russia line and claims a 'deep change' in the US approach, at the cost of consensus theatre

A state dinner on the G7 margins becomes the unexpected venue for an initial war-ending agreement

Évian invites Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya and South Korea, but not Canberra, breaking a near-unbroken run since 2019

The first leaders' summit under the 2021 Quirinal Treaty, focused on defence, space and energy

A diplomacy-driven bounce, with PM Lecornu matching him exactly, as the final year of the term opens

A Seine-side monument marks France's long, incomplete reckoning, short of a formal apology

71 foreign-investment projects and a Dunkerque data-centre mega-deal as France defends its FDI lead