Pages from the BNP Paribas guide to staff on how to respond to criticism of its financing of fossil fuel extraction. © Photomontage Mediapart avec AFP

French bank BNP Paribas is increasingly under fire from climate activists over its financing of oil and gas companies. In face of the high-profile campaigns, it has issued an advice manual for its staff on how to respond to criticism of its activities at the “family meal” table, such as explaining to a “cousin worried about climate-warming” that the bank in fact supports ending mass fossil fuel extraction. Mediapart has obtained a copy of the guide, which adopts a light-hearted culinary theme, beginning with a chapter entitled ‘appetizer’. But, as Mickaël Correia reports, its questionable claims are so brazen that some might lose their appetite. 

© Photo Sébastien Calvet / Mediapart

One of France’s oldest existing French press titles, the satirical and investigative weekly Le Canard enchaîné built a reputation as a fearless, irreverent and anti-establishment journal which has recurrently shaken the country’s political class. But it has now turned to the government to validate the disputed dismissal of one of its investigative journalists, following his revelations of a scandal within the weekly itself. Fabrice Arfi, Yunnes Abzouz and Karl Laske report.

Clockwise from left: Narendra Modi and Emmanuel Macron, the Rafale fighter jet, and Reliance Group owner Anil Ambani. © Sébastien Calvet / Mediapart

France’s 7.8-billion-euro sale to India in 2016 of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter jets, the subject of an ongoing French judicial investigation, is mired by suspected corruption involving politicians and industrialists. As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who signed the deal, prepares to attend France’s Bastille Day celebrations as guest of honour, documents obtained by Mediapart reveal how Modi’s billionaire friend, Anil Ambani, boss of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Group, which was handed a lucrative contract as a condition of the Rafale sale, directly solicited the intervention of then economy minister Emmanuel Macron and finance minister Michel Sapin in a bid to escape a 151-million-euro tax claim against his French subsidiary. The tax adjustment was finally cut down to 6.6 million euros. Yann Philippin reports.

Yazid Kherzi, a specialist in crime prevention. © Célia Mebroukine / Mediapart

In the town of Mantes-la-Jolie, north-west of Paris, public buildings and shops have been burnt or burgled in the unrest that has followed the death last week of 17-year-old Nahel at Nanterre. Mediapart visited the worst-affected neighbourhood there, the vast high-rise housing estate of Le Val Fourré, and found that local residents both condemned and understood the actions of local youths. For all of them have their own stories about a lack of civility and of violence by the police over recent decades, often based on close personal experience. Caroline Coq-Chodorge and Célia Mebroukine report from the town.

Residents of Boulevard de la Boissière in front of the looted supermarket, June 20th 2023. © Mathilde Goanec

The unrest that has broken out after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel by a police officer is affecting many towns and cities across France. Mediapart visited the town of Montreuil in the eastern suburbs of Paris to speak to local people about the impact of those violent disturbances. Dozens of shops and businesses have been looted there, especially in the town centre. The events have drawn mixed reactions from local residents in a left-leaning town known for its multicultural mix. Mathilde Goanec reports.

Emmanuel Macron and interior minister Gérald Darmanin during a public meeting in the La Busserine district of Marseille, June 26th 2023. © Photo Ludovic Marin / Pool / AFP

The angry reaction in many disadvantaged districts of France after the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel has once again put police violence back on the political agenda. Lacking any viable response to the unrest, however, the government is simply switching between showing compassion for the teenager and his family, and displaying toughness in the face of disorder. Ilyes Ramdani examines the French government's reaction to the shooting and its aftermath.

© Photomontage Simon Toupet / Mediapart

French detectives investigating three murders have been eavesdropping on jailed fraudster Arnaud Mimran, one of the brains behind the so-called 'crime of the century' carbon trading scam. As Mediapart has already reported, the listening devices revealed Mimran's prison cell musings about his ties to Israeli prime minister Netanyahu. But they have also revealed the crime boss's plans for revenge, including staging an ambush. One of his targets is Mediapart journalist Fabrice Arfi, the author of a book and numerous articles on the carbon trading affair. Mediapart has now referred the matter to the public prosecutor. Karl Laske reports.

Members of the FNSEA farming union dump manure in front of the regional environment ministry building at Lyon, February 21st 2023. © Photo Jeff Pachoud / AFP

Last week the French government dissolved the environmental protest group Les Soulèvements de la Terre (SLT), which had been prominent in demonstrations against the construction of large irrigation reservoirs in the west of the country. The main farming union, the FNSEA, had been one of the loudest voices calling for this environmental group to be shut down. Now the same powerful farmers' lobby group is pointing the finger at a rival farming union, the Confédération Paysanne, which it says has taken part in SLT protests. Karl Laske looks at the role of the FNSEA and its own history of disruptive actions.

Emmanuel Macron, and protestors against plans for a Lyon-Turin railway line. © Photomontage Mediapart avec AFP

Having imposed his pension reform against the French people's wishes, France's president is now in the throes of an authoritarian dash to pursue policies that favour owners of capital. As a result, argues Romaric Godin in this op-ed article, from now on what the president wants is what the country gets – whether it likes it or not.

Nicolas Sarkozy signing copies of his latest books at La Baule on the west coast of France, August 22nd 2023. © Photo Estelle Ruiz / Hans Lucas via AFP

On June 13th and 14th former president Nicolas Sarkozy was questioned by judges as part of an ongoing investigation into the fake retraction by Ziad Takieddine, a key witness in a parallel probe into Libya's alleged funding of the ex-head of state's 2007 election campaign. Under questioning the former president acknowledged that a key figure in the fake retraction case, Noël Dubus, had visited him to receive signed copies of his book. In one copy of his book Nicolas Sarkozy wrote 'Thanks for everything'. Yet businesswoman and paparazzi agency boss Michèle Marchand, who has been placed under formal investigation in the case, had previously denied that this episode even took place. Fabrice Arfi, Karl Laske and Antton Rouget report.

© Photomontage Mediapart avec Sergio Pitamitz / robertharding via AFP

French luxury cruise ship firm Compagnie du Ponant, owned by billionaire François Pinault, operates five-star voyages to Antarctica, notably on its state-of-the-art, ice-breaking liner, Le Commandant Charcot. The cruises are advertised as environmentally responsible, with onboard conferences by naturalists to educate the passengers on the habitat of the Earth’s last virgin continent. In fact, the boats, registered in a French tax-friendly overseas territory, are highly polluting, and the increasingly popular tourist traffic to the Antarctic region is contributing to the alarming rate of melting of its ice sheet. Mickaël Correia reports. 

A two-day conference held by the CNaV this year to debate the subject of assisted suicide. © Photo Sarah Boucault pour Mediapart

The French government is preparing draft legislation to give the medical profession greater legal powers to help with a patient’s will to die, with the possible introduction of assisted suicide which, like euthanasia, is currently prohibited in France. But the reform faces many obstacles, notably opposition from some sectors of the medical profession and religious leaders. The issue is of prime concern for an association campaigning for the rights of the elderly, the CNaV, whose mostly women members include current and former healthcare professionals. In this report by Sarah Boucault, they voice their different views, including how obtaining the right to die echoes their previous combat for access to abortion.

Montjoi mayor Christian Eurgal in his office, where he displays the pile of documents related to the lengthy dispute. © Christophe Gueugneau

In the tiny medieval village of Montjoi, in south-west France, a dispute over the use of a rural public right of way, pitching a pig farmer against a British house owner and the local mayor, had been simmering for years. But since a far-right YouTuber took up the cause of the pig farmer, the quarrel has taken on a political and sinister dimension, and the mayor, who became the target of a vicious campaign of intimidation, including murder threats, is now placed under police protection. Christophe Gueugneau reports from Montjoi.

Rui Pinto pictured in 2019 at his apartment home in Budapest. © Maria Feck / LAIF / REA

Rui Pinto, the whistleblower behind the “Football Leaks” revelations of corruption and fraud within the business side of football, has been given a four-year suspended prison sentence by a court in Portugal after he was found guilty of computer hacking charges and attempted extortion. Despite a heavier sentence demanded by prosecutors, Pinto, 34, escaped returning to prison after the court in Lisbon recognised the “public interest” of the information he gained through the hacking, and took into account the regrets he expressed during the three-year trial. Yann Philippin reports.

France-based journalist Mortaza Behboudi, who has worked for Mediapart and major French broadcasters, notably on reporting missions to Afghanistan, has been detained in Kabul by the Taliban authorities since January 7th this year. The reporter, who holds dual French and Afghan nationality, turned 29 in April, in his prison cell. We call on the Taliban authorities for his release and freedom, and we will continue to do so until he is safely back among us.