A former interior minister and his aide have launched hunger strikes from prison after being detained on abuse of power charges Tuesday for masterminding a fake graft case to discredit another politician in 2007. 

Azerbaijan told France Wednesday not to “intervene” in its internal affairs after Baku arrested a Frenchman on espionage charges with tensions running high between the two countries.

After a swift rise up the ranks, 34-year-old Gabriel Attal took the reins as France’s new prime minister on Tuesday. With a background steeped in privilege, the first openly gay head of government is expected to bring new energy to President Emmanuel Macron’s government, which has been weakened by months of protests over pension reform, the lack of a parliamentary majority and low approval ratings.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has accused Ukraine of being a neo-Nazi state – with President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government often targeted as sympathisers. A video by a German “whistleblower” now accuses the Ukrainian president of buying a former Nazi holiday home that belonged to Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. In this episode of Truth or Fake, Vedika Bahl explains how this claim has been fabricated.

New year, new face.France’s youngest-ever president naming the country’s youngest-ever prime minister. We willl ask why Emmanuel Macron chose to replace Elisabeth Borne with Gabriel Attal and chart the meteoric rise of a 34-year old Parisian who has already enjoyed stints as city councilor, party spokesperson, budget minister, government spokesperson and most recently education minister.

When some French schools reopen in September this year, they will pilot a mandatory school uniform under a two-year trial period initiated by Education Minister Gabriel Attal. The initiative aims to tackle inequality among French students and reduce bullying and peer pressure. But some public school teachers, psychologists and experts remain sceptical, saying the uniforms are just putting a “plaster” on such issues.