French historians Malika Rahal and Fabrice Riceputi are specialised in researching the events of the 1954-1962 Algerian war of independence, and notably the kidnaps, detention, torture and disappearances of pro-independence militants at the hands of the French army. They lead a project to trace the fate of thousands of people who disappeared during the 1957 Battle of Algiers, when France’s military led a bloody, months-long campaign to dislodge independence fighters and sympathisers in the French colony’s capital. When in Algiers late last year to continue their research, the historians made the chance and revealing discovery of the site of a former colonial farm used by the military to torture and kill detainees. This is their story.

Mediapart can reveal the latest developments that allowed judges to wrap up the Sarkozy-Libyan funding affair probe after nine long years of investigation. Those who are under investigation in the case, including former president Nicolas Sarkozy, now face the possibility of being sent to trial at a criminal court in Paris. Fabrice Arfi and Karl Laske report.

The pension changes proposed by President Emmanuel Macron – the fourth reform in twenty years and which in this case will push the retirement age back from 62 to 64 - will leave no one better off. The demonstrators who have taken to the streets on January 19th and January 31st have fully grasped that point, say Mediapart's Stéphane Alliès, Carine Fouteau and Dan Israel in this op-ed article. They argue that the stubbornness shown by the government, which looks set to force the reforms through the French Parliament, represents a danger to democracy.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday amid controversy over two films presented at the annual cinema event – one marking the return of Johnny Depp, the other dogged by accusations of on-set harassment and abuse – and silence over recent sexual violence allegations against actor Gérard Depardieu. In this co-authored op-ed article, Lénaïg Bredoux and Marine Turchi argue that the festival is a further illustration of how the French cinema industry obstinately continues to resist feminist struggles.

French agriculture minister Marc Fesneau has announced the end of a controversial exemption granted to sugar beet producers to use a family of insecticides dubbed “bee killers” and which were banned by the European Union in 2018. The move follows a ruling last week by the European Court of Justice, the EU’s supreme court, which outlaws member states from any further use of a legal loophole which allowed for "emergency" dispensation from the ban on neonicotinoids, which scientific studies have linked to a collapse of colonies of honey bees and other pollinators, and also bird populations. Amélie Poinssot reports.

Belgian judge Michel Claise is leading the investigation into the snowballing corruption scandal rocking the European Parliament in Brussels, and which has already led to the downfall and imprisonment of a now former vice president of the chamber. In this interview with Mediapart, the veteran investigating magistrate, specialised in financial crime, details the extent to which corruption and organised crime are out of control in Europe, and slams the lack of resources to fight it. “When you touch on dirty money, and when that involves the political world, people become transformed into wild animals,” he says.

Last autumn France's Ministry of Education issued an update on the rules and advice to education authorities regarding the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols, which are banned in French schools. Mediapart has investigated how this latest advice is being applied in one secondary school in Marseille. Several pupils there who have worn outfits judged to be contrary to the rules say they have been “persecuted” by the school management. They also complain of scandalous comments made by the school's headteacher. Teachers meanwhile talk of a “tense” atmosphere and a divided staffroom. Yasmine Sellami reports.

Nationwide strike action and mass demonstrations were held in France on Thursday in opposition to Emmanuel Macron’s reform of the French pensions system, which includes raising the age of retirement on full pension rights from 62 to 64. The government appears to hope that what its spokesman called the “weariness” of the population, amid galloping inflation and the hike in energy costs, will see the protests over its reform peter out. Ellen Salvi reports on how the president’s strategy has led to a weakening of public debate and a disintegration of social democracy, and why a victory for his reform would threaten to set a time bomb ticking in the ballot box.

France's anti-corruption watchdog wrote a damning report after a lengthy inspection of French defence and aviation company Dassault. The report from the Agence Française Anticorruption highlighted five breaches of the law and signs of possible corruption in the firm's dealings in India, where it sold 36 Rafale fighter jets for 7.8 billion euros. Yet as Yann Philippin reports, the agency did not propose any punishment and nor did it alert French prosecutors to its findings.

Historian Jacques Krynen argues that French national pride and the country's sense of “superiority” have been passed down the ages and through various types of government and regimes to the modern era. And the legal historian believes its origins are to be found at the end of the 13th and the start of the 14th centuries, when Philip IV – better known to history as 'Philip the Fair' – was king of France. Fabien Escalona reports.