A group of 16 prominent organisations active in the defence of human rights in general, and those of migrants in particular, have launched a legal challenge in France against the so-called “one in, one out” treaty agreed this summer between London and Paris for the return to France of migrants arriving illegally in England by small boats crossing the Channel. The challenge is a submission before the France’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, which argues that the application of the treaty in France is in contravention of the constitution, and notably because it was never ratified by parliament. Nejma Brahim reports.

One week after the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, and the collapse of his government, President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Lecornu to lead what is now the fourth minority government since snap elections last year created a hung parliament. As outlined here, its composition, far from being what the presidential office promised as a “rupture” with the past, is largely made up of Macron loyalists and revenants. The bets are already on it being overturned this week in parliament, its future hanging on a decision by the socialists whether or not to support a no-confidence vote.   

French President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed his close ally Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, just five days after the latter resigned from the post. The future of his minority government, the fourth since the results of snap parliamentary elections called by Macron last year, already seems seriously compromised, with a no-confidence vote already expected in prliament. In this op-ed piece, Mediapart political correspondent Ilyes Ramdani argues that Macron’s dogged determination to repeatedly establish a government in his political image, to the exclusion of the leftwing alliance which emerged victorious in last year’s election, is leading France to the cliff face, and that even his own camp are questioning his intransigent behaviour.

A Mediapart investigation has revealed that at least nine men convicted of, or awaiting trial for, far-right terrorism-related offences in France have either held positions of responsibility within Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National - or its predecessor the Front National - or have stood as party candidates in local and national elections. It is the only French political party with such links to these kinds of cases.

In an interview with Mediapart, former Israeli prime minister and ex-chief of general staff of the country's military, Ehud Barak, details his view of the so-called Trump plan for an end to the war in Gaza, argues why Benjamin Netanyahu must go, why both sides in the conflict must compromise, and why the only conclusion to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in a two-state solution.

France's prime minister Sébastien Lecornu handed in his resignation on Monday morning just a few hours after announcing his team of government ministers. Caught off-guard by Lecornu's surprise action – he was only appointed as head of government by President Emmanuel Macron on September 9th - the country's various political parties have been holding crisis meetings to work out their strategy. Cornered politically, the president later gave Sébastien Lecornu two extra days to hold “final talks” with the Right and grant the executive a further reprieve. And to save his own presidency.

In July 1985, the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk in the New Zealand port of Aukland, when one of the NGO’s photographers was drowned, in an operation by France's forein intelligence agency, the DGSE, to prevent Greenpeace from campaigning against French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Paris vehemently denied involvement, but was eventually forced to admit responsibility for the attack. Mediapart co-founder Edwy Plenel, who at the time worked for French daily Le Monde, whose revelations forced the resignations of the DGSE boss and his defence minister, reports here how the principal culprit, then French president François Mitterrand, got away with his crime.

The well-known psychoanalyst and broadcaster Gérard Miller was formally placed under investigation on October 2nd, in connection with four allegations of rape – three involving minors – and two claims of sexual assault, committed between 2000 and 2020. He was also designated an assisted witness – an intermediate status in French law between that of a witness and a formal suspect - in connection with the alleged rape of a minor over the age of 15.

A former investigating judge specializing in financial crime, Eva Joly also stood as the green candidate in the 2012 presidential election in France. Here she tells Mediapart of her concern at the attacks on judges after the recent conviction of Nicolas Sarkozy for conspiracy over the Libyan funding affair, and highlights the lack of effort by the media to help people understand the issues involved in that case. The ex-judge also expresses her dismay over the apathy of the French Left – and the Democrats in the United States - when it comes to issues of corruption and public probity.