French government hides explosive report on grim plight of Mayotte

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A minor in the Kawéni shanty town in Mayotte, November 2022. © Photo David Lemor / Abaca A minor in the Kawéni shanty town in Mayotte, November 2022. © Photo David Lemor / Abaca

Mediapart can reveal details of a report compiled by six French ministries about the tragic situation faced by France's Indian Ocean archipelago. Covering issues such as health, housing, law and order, education and the legal system, the report's contents are devastating for the French state. Drawn up in January 2022, the document shows that the security-focused approach of interior minister Gérald Darmanin cannot, on its own, solve Mayotte's many problems. Fabrice Arfi and Nejma Brahim report.

Pension reform in France: the grandmother of all battles

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The demonstration against the pension reforms in Paris, March 7th 2023. © Photo Laurent Hazgui pour Mediapart The demonstration against the pension reforms in Paris, March 7th 2023. © Photo Laurent Hazgui pour Mediapart

The battle against the French government's pension reform is not simply just another protest movement. Three crucial issues are at stake here: social, democratic and civilisational, as shown by the exceptional unity among trade unions opposed to the changes, argues Mediapart’s publishing editor Edwy Plenel in this op-ed article. All the more reason, he writes, to put all our energy into supporting this combat.

Macron's pension reforms – a symbol of regime crisis

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 © Photo illustration Sébastien Calvet / Mediapart © Photo illustration Sébastien Calvet / Mediapart

The brutality, stubbornness and indifference of the French government – as exemplified by its current pension reforms - is exposing the country to deep democratic dangers. A combination of political democracy and economic democracy is the only viable alternative to the breakdown of France's Fifth Republic, argue Mediapart's Fabien Escalona and Romaric Godin in this op-ed article.

Macron's 'new' approach to Africa - the same old clichés as in the past

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Journalists in Libreville, Gabon, watching the broadcast of Emmanuel Macron's speech, February 27th 2023. © Photo Ludovic Marin / AFP Journalists in Libreville, Gabon, watching the broadcast of Emmanuel Macron's speech, February 27th 2023. © Photo Ludovic Marin / AFP

The French president has just completed a five-day tour of four African countries, Gabon, Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before he left Paris, Emmanuel Macron delivered what was billed as a keynote speech on the future of France's relations with the continent. Yet as Justine Brabant and Ilyes Ramdani say in this analysis of that speech, the French head of state instead delivered a series of clichés and untruths. And, they say, he showed himself incapable of acknowledging his own policy failures in his dealings with African nations.

Leaked data shows extent of UAE's meddling in France

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 © Illustration Justine Vernier / Mediapart © Illustration Justine Vernier / Mediapart

With the help of leaked documents and witness accounts, Mediapart reveals the inside story on the United Arab Emirates' strategy to influence opinion in France, an operation involving private intelligence gathering and the manipulation of information . The story features an Emirati intelligence agent, a private intelligence agency in Switzerland, academics and two well-known French journalists. Another name that also crops up is that of President Emmanuel Macron's former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla. Yann Philippin and Antton Rouget investigate.

The racist 'Great Replacement' theory makes its mark in Tunisia

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Tunisian president Kaïs Saïed in Washington on December 14th 2022. © Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images via AFP Tunisian president Kaïs Saïed in Washington on December 14th 2022. © Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images via AFP

Comments from Tunisian president Kaïs Saïed over the presence of sub-Saharan migrants in the North African country and his talk of a “criminal plan” to change the nation's demographics have provoked a row. Students who come from sub-Saharan Africa now say they are living in fear and have been told to stay indoors to avoid being targeted. Meanwhile some migrant workers have been forcibly evicted from their homes. Lilia Blaise reports on a controversy in Tunisia which is also being exploited by France's far-right failed presidential candidate Éric Zemmour.

Alarm over creeping ‘financialization’ and fragmentation of French farmland

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More than 100,000 French farms ceased activity between 2010 and 2020. © Photo Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP More than 100,000 French farms ceased activity between 2010 and 2020. © Photo Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP

Access to ownership or rental of agricultural land for French farmers setting up an activity is proving increasingly difficult, in part because of the rising prices fuelled by private and agribusiness investors in mega-farms, and also because of the increasing fragmentation of smallholdings, according to two reports published this week. Both call for the swift introduction of measures to reverse a trend that threatens a profound change in French agriculture. Amélie Poinssot reports.

The tragedy and combat behind the French family planning movement

By Mathilde Blézat (La Déferlante)
Ginette and Claude Bac pictured at their first trial in 1954. © Photo DR Ginette and Claude Bac pictured at their first trial in 1954. © Photo DR

In July 1955, Ginette and Claude Bac were handed a two-year prison sentence for involuntarily causing the death through lack of care of their fourth child, eight-month-old Danielle. The tragedy of how Ginette Bac became lost in a deep depression after falling pregnant four times in as many years became a turning point in France for the campaign to legalise contraception, and led to the creation of the country’s family planning association. Mathilde Blézat reports.

Ukraine: the anger and legal quandary surrounding collaboration

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When schoolteacher Tetiana Bondarieva refused to collaborate she was forced to flee her village. © Olga Ivashchenko for Mediapart When schoolteacher Tetiana Bondarieva refused to collaborate she was forced to flee her village. © Olga Ivashchenko for Mediapart

After the recapture by Ukraine last autumn of territories occupied by Russia since its invasion of the country in February 2022, there is a strong public demand that those who collaborated with the occupier should be brought to account before the courts. Beyond the most flagrant cases, the legal process of identifying collaboration can be both complicated and sensitive, with some having acted voluntarily, others under duress. The prosecution services, meanwhile, are under pressure to act swiftly. Carine Fouteau reports from the city of Kharkiv and its surrounds, liberated last September.

This infant girl was found dead on a beach in Tunisia, a tragedy met with indifference

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The still unidentified little girl was found on December 24th on a beach on Tunisia’s Kerkennah Islands. © Photo Boulbeba Bougacha The still unidentified little girl was found on December 24th on a beach on Tunisia’s Kerkennah Islands. © Photo Boulbeba Bougacha

The washed-up corpse of an infant girl (photo) was found on December 24th on a beach in Tunisia’s Kerkennah Islands, in almost identical circumstances as that of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, found on a beach in Turkey in 2015. Both drowned during an attempted crossing of the Mediterranean Sea. But while the shocking photo of the little boy’s body made headlines around the world, that of the unidentified little girl has prompted no such interest, nor any political reaction, highlighting a creeping indifference towards such tragedies. Nejma Brahim reports from Tunisia, where she spoke with those who routinely face the horrors of the Mediterranean ‘graveyard’.

French supermarket chains fail Climate Action study

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 © Nicolas Guyonnet / Hans Lucas via AFP © Nicolas Guyonnet / Hans Lucas via AFP

The food chain in France, from production to plate, is officially estimated to account for around 22% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, while supermarkets are estimated to account for about 70% of all food purchases. Réseau Climat Action (RCA), the French branch of the Climate Action Network, the umbrella group for hundreds of environmental protection NGOs, has completed a study of the practices of the major supermarket chains with regard to their contribution to gas emissions, and efforts to reduce them, and this month published its damning findings. Jade Bourgery reports.

French football federation boss slammed for sexual harassment and ‘behavioural excesses’

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Noël Le Graët. © Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP Noël Le Graët. © Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

A report concluding a five-month administrative investigation into the management of the French Football Federation has found that its president, Noël Le Graët, repeatedly sent sexually explicit phone text messages to female staff, that his “offensive” comments “may be accentuated by the excessive consumption of alcohol,” and that he oversaw a “sexist and violent” atmosphere within the federation. Sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra has called on the 81-year-old to resign amid the latest of several scandals that have rocked the world of sport in France. Youmni Kezzouf reports. 

How pension reform flip-flops have exposed the fickle nature of Macron's government

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 © Photo illustration Sébastien Calvet / Mediapart © Photo illustration Sébastien Calvet / Mediapart

The current bitterly-opposed pension reforms proposed by the French government are purely designed to save money and have no broader social dimension. This means that President Emmanuel Macron and his supporters are now defending a reform measure which is diametrically opposed to the initial plan they had put forward back in 2017. This U-turn tells us a great deal about the flaws and limp nature of the government writes Ellen Salvi in this analysis of how and why the pension reform plan changed so radically during President Macron's time in office.

'You can't work underground over the age of 60': why Marseille's sewer staff oppose pension reform

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Working in Marseille's sewers. © Egoutiers de la Seramm. Working in Marseille's sewers. © Egoutiers de la Seramm.

Unlike their counterparts in Paris, who can retire at the age of 52, sewer workers in Marseille are employed by a private company. This means they have to keep working until they reach 62 – and this will increase to 64 if the current pension reform plans are passed. These workers in the Mediterranean city are bitterly opposed to any extension of their retirement age and believe they should be able to end their careers earlier, not later. They described their cramped, smelly and hazardous subterranean working life to Khedidja Zerouali.

Rich elites use climate debate to 'protect their own class interests' says French academic

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Édouard Morena has written about the class self-interest of the wealthy when it comes to climate. © Photo Carole Peyrot et La Découverte Édouard Morena has written about the class self-interest of the wealthy when it comes to climate. © Photo Carole Peyrot et La Découverte

In a new book, French academic Édouard Morena traces the emergence of climate class consciousnesses among the world's economic elites. According to the senior lecturer, the ultra-rich have become key players in the debate on climate change so they can promote green capitalism and guarantee their own financial interests. He spoke to Mickaël Correia.