Floods sweep southeast France and northern Italy, several missing

Anti-pension reform protesters again flooded the streets of cities around France on the 11th day of organized action against the unpopular proposal.

The French president called for the EU to implement its stated policy of "strategic autonomy" and argued the bloc could become a "third pole" alongside China and the US.

Italian maritime rescuers have been battling to save some 1,200 migrants aboard two boats in the Mediterranean Sea.

After a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, Italy declared a six-month state of emergency. The country admitted it wouldn't solve the problem but said it would make repatriations easier.

At the end of 2022, Niger's army said it was highly satisfied with its military cooperation with France against the terrorist threat, unlike its neighbours in Mali and Burkina Faso. Of the countries located in the tri-border area – the most dangerous region of the Sahel – Niger is the only one that wants to keep the French military on its soil. This aid takes the form of Operation Almahaou.

Following a surge in migrant arrivals, Italy's right-wing government has declared a six-month state of emergency. Analysts warn the measure may have detrimental consequences for migrants.

A woman believed to be the girlfriend of captured Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested, according to Italian media. Messina Denaro had been on the run for 30 years when he was captured in January.

In this edition of French Connections, we focus on a debate that comes up repeatedly in France: does the French president have too much power and if so, should France change its current political system, known as the Fifth Republic?

Of the 370 long-distance hiking paths that criss-cross the French countryside, some in particular stand out. In Finistère, on the Atlantic, the Chemin du Pouldu merges with the Brittany coast. Its contrasts of green and blue have inspired many artists, such as French painter Paul Gauguin. Down in the Cévennes, Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson gave his name to the Chemin Stevenson, where you can still come across donkeys.

A decade after its creation, anaerobic digestion is flourishing in France. This method consists in breaking down organic matter to produce biogas, a renewable energy source. The sector already produces the equivalent of the energy capacity of a nuclear reactor, and this will likely be doubled by 2025.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.⁣

In the sunlight of the French Riviera lies the port of La Ciotat. It's home to the Eden Theatre, the world's oldest cinema. It was there, in 1895, that an audience witnessed the first ever projection of moving pictures: the mythical "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat" by France's Lumière brothers.