Established as 'Médecins Sans Frontières' (MSF), and as 'Doctors Without Borders' as it grew into a major humanitarian organisation providing medical care worldwide, and often in areas of conflict, MSF this year marks its 50th anniversary.
The 77th anniversary of the allied D-Day landings in Normandy was, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, without the usual strong contingent of remaining veterans, but a highlight was the unveiling of an imposing seafront memorial to the more than 22,000 troops under British command who died during the three-month campaign to liberate northern France from German occupation.
Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday led an official ceremony at the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte to mark 200 years since the death of the one-time emperor, in what the French president said was a commemoration and not a celebration of his life.
It was ten years ago this month that the desperate act of self-immolation by street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid prompted not only the so-called “Jasmine Revolution” that would topple the regime of strongman president Ben Ali, but also set in train the “Arab Spring” revolt that spread across North Africa. Mediapart spoke to three young men from Sidi Bouzid who took part in the 2010 protests over Bouazizi's plight, and who reflect on what has become of their revolt that created hope of a new democratic future for their country. Lilia Blaise reports.
Yellow vest demonstrators held marches in towns and cities across France on Saturday, as the social protest movement against falling living standards for low- and middle-income earners marks one year of consecutive weekly action, when the interior ministry claimed a nationwide turnout of about 28,000, the highest since April, while in Paris groups of troublemakers who burned vehicles and attacked commercial property clashed with police in Paris who made more than 120 arrests.
This month marked the 20th anniversary of the death, on January 8th 1996 at the age of 79, of François Mitterrand, the first socialist president to be elected under France’s Fifth Republic. He served two successive terms in office from 1981 until 1995, during which time current president, François Hollande, and other leading Socialist Party figures received their political schooling. Mediapart editor-in-chief Edwy Plenel takes stock of Mitterrand’s legacy of which, he argues here, the socialists now in power have retained only the dark side.
May 6th, 2014 marks the second anniversary of François Hollande's election as president of the French Republic. Any celebrations, however, are likely to be muted. Six weeks after disastrous local election results that led to a government reshuffle, and just three weeks before European elections where his Socialist Party looks set to come third, the president is at a record low in opinion polls. Hated by the Right and mistrusted by sections of the Left, Hollande now has three years in which to recover from a near-total rejection by the French public. As Hubert Huertas argues, that will be no easy task.
