Robert Badinter, the justice minister who ended the death penalty in France in 1981, entered the country's Pantheon mausoleum of outstanding historical figures on Thursday, just hours after his

France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has resigned just weeks after his appointment to the role, plunging the country into a fresh political crisis.

After accepting Lecornu’s resignation, President Emmanuel Macron gave him 48 hours to hold further talks with political parties, citing the need to preserve national stability. The tight time frame for Lecornu bought Macron some time to consider his options.

His resignation comes just hours after he appointed his cabinet - and after political rivals threatened to topple his government.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in office on Monday and less than 24 hours after naming a new government that prompted a key coalition ally to withdraw support.

A French appeals court has increased the sentence to 10 years for a man who raped Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and unconscious.

French police have arrested the Chinese captain of a sanctioned tanker suspected of operating for Russia’s “shadow fleet”, authorities said, after the navy boarded the vessel anchored off western France.