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- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
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- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
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- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
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- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
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- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
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- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
French court to rule on controversial immigration bill
France's highest constitutional authority will on Thursday issue a keenly-awaited verdict on whether an immigration bill adopted under pressure from the far-right is in line with its basic law.
The bill is one of the flagship reforms of President Emmanuel Macron's second term but its text had to be hardened under pressure from the right and caused a revolt among lawmakers from the ruling party.
It makes access to family reunification and social benefits tougher, introduces immigration quotas determined by parliament and includes measures for dual-national convicts being stripped of French nationality.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has championed the bill, acknowledged that certain "measures are manifestly and clearly contrary to the constitution."
In an effort to calm tensions and find a solution, Macron submitted the legislation to the Constitutional Council for review.
The Council has the power to strike out some or even all of the legislation if deemed out of step with the constitution.
Macron defended the legislation, however, saying it was needed to reduce illegal immigration but also to facilitate the integration of documented arrivals.
But dozens of NGOs have slammed what they described as potentially the "most regressive" immigration law in decades.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country at the weekend to protest the measures.
The bill comes as Macron seeks to curb the rapid rise of the far-right, expected to make considerable gains in June's European elections.
But some political observers accused Macron of seeking to pass the buck onto the Constitutional Council.
"It's a dangerous game because you can never prejudge the Constitutional Council's decision, and because it dishonours the Council and the constitution," said Jean-Philippe Derosier, a constitutional law expert.
The Constitutional Council has already registered its displeasure, saying it is not "a chamber of appeal against the choices made by parliament."
While the council is a legal body, it takes into account political and social context.
The council consists of nine members known as "les sages" ("the wise ones").
Its president is Socialist Party grandee Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister who also served as the finance and foreign ministers.
- 'Political responsibility' -
It is a rare situation in the history of the Council, which was established by the 1958 constitution that instituted the Fifth Republic.
"Referring to the Constitutional Council is not a shocking solution in itself," said Anne Levade, an expert in public law.
It is "of course, a little more shocking", she added, when members of the government are convinced of "the unconstitutionality of certain provisions".
Around a quarter of the 251 lawmakers in Macron's camp voted against the bill or abstained, and several left-wing ministers have registered their opposition to the bill. Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau resigned.
Then-prime minister Elisabeth Borne said in December that the text "would have to evolve" once it had been examined by the Constitutional Council.
"The Constitutional Council has been instrumentalised, trapped by the government," said Serge Slama, a public law professor at the University of Grenoble-Alpes and critic of the legislation.
Derosier said it was not the first time that a government maintains controversial provisions in a bill in order to secure a vote.
"But it is the first time that this strategy has been proclaimed and recognised as such," he said.
"If the law is censured, it is no longer the government that will be criticised, whereas it is the government that should bear this political responsibility," added Derosier.
France has a long tradition of welcoming refugees and immigrants, but a rise in the number of asylum seekers, a chronic affordable-housing shortage, and a cost-of-living crisis have worsened social tensions in the country.
F.Dubois--AMWN