Following the unrest that took place in May 2024 in its Pacific Ocean territory of New Caledonia, the French state transferred seven high-profile activists accused of involvement in the disturbances to mainland France, amid much controversy. But at the same time the Paris authorities also secretly flew dozens of convicted criminals from their New Caledonian cells to serve in prisons around France, for reasons that still remain unclear. Some of these prisoners have since been released from jail, but now lack the financial means either to live in metropolitan France or to pay for the long flight back home. Rémi Carayol and Benoît Godin report on the fate of these abandoned “deportees”, most of whom are Kanaks, the indigenous people of New Caledonia.
Although Macron won’t be heading to China himself – having made a state visit there in April 2023 – his call to Chinese president Xi Jinping signals France’s intent to stay closely engaged with Beijing.
The government on Wednesday released a redacted version of a report on the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in France. For weeks, political and media attention has been fixated on the issue, driven by interior minister Bruno Retailleau, who is aware of the political gain he might reap from it. The document - which was presented to France's Defence and National Security Council - immediately led to a call from President Emmanuel Macron for new measures to counter what the authors call a “threat to national cohesion”. One of the expert witnesses questioned for the report was researcher Frank Fregosi. In an interview with Mediapart's Lucie Delaporte, the academic voices his concern over the impact of the document and the widespread climate of mistrust facing practising Muslims in France.
In a landslide result, hardline French interior minister Bruno Retailleau was on Sunday elected as the new leader of the conservative party Les Républicains (LR), once a party of government but which has over recent years entered into a spiral of decline. Retailleau, 64, a senator largely unknown to the wider public before entering government last September, now has the task of rebuilding the party, with his eye on the presidential elections due in 2027. In this analysis of Retailleau’s prospects, Ilyes Ramdani considers the many scenarios for the LR’s future, including as kingmaker for the centre- or far-right in France’s increasingly fractured political landscape.
An elderly couple died in the seaside town of Le Lavandou and one other person in the town of Vidauban, with one official describing it as like "war scenes".
Leaders of the three nations threatened to take “concrete actions”, including targeted sanctions, if Israel did not stop its renewed military offensive and continued to block aid from entering Gaza.
The five-year Ligue 1 campaign, which aims to promote inclusion and raise awareness about homophobia, was flouted by several players who now face sanctions demanded by sports minister Marie Barsacq.
French justice minister Gérald Darmanin has announced that the 500-capacity jail, to be opened in 2028 in the Amazon jungle in the overseas territory of French Guiana, will house drug traffickers and radical Islamists in an 'extremely strict carceral regime'.
Media reports say the rapper, a major star in France and whose real name was Jeremy Bana Owana, died of a heart attack on Saturday, when he was due to appear at a concert in Lyon.
Following Mediapart’s publication on February 26th 2025 of an article entitled “The unlikely tale of a French 'spy' butler, a Russian oligarch and a UK intelligence company”, Jim Perrichon sent us this right of reply.
Unnamed British diplomatic officials cited by The Guardian newspaper have said they believe France will postpone official recogntion of a Palestinian state next month at the UN, as initially planned by President Emmanuel Macron.
“It is shameful,” said Emmanuel Macron last week, commenting on Israel’s actions against the civilian population in Gaza, where children are increasingly affected by malnutrition, where famine looms and hospitals have collapsed, and where diseases are spreading. But, writes Mediapart co-founder and former publishing editor Edwy Plenel in this op-ed article, it is also shameful to do nothing concrete to bring an end to this ongoing genocide, and which the French president refuses to recognise as such. Meanwhile, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reported on Saturday that more than 300 people had died in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Wednesday.
