English

Champagne producers bemoan world’s woes for fall in sales

France — Link

Champagne sales fell in 2024 by 7.2% on the domestic market while exports were down by almost 11%, which the head of the festive wine's trade body said was due to economic worries, political instability and conflicts around the globe, underlining that 'Champagne is a real barometer of the state of mind of consumers'.

French cartoonist Aurel on the plight of his profession ten years after Charlie attacks

France

French editorial cartoonist Aurel (real name Aurélien Froment) this month published an essay in the format of an album warning of the steady decline of his profession, which he argues is due to the economic difficulties of the printed press, and the hijacking of what is termed the “Charlie spirit”, the term used to describe the irreverence exercised by the team of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists who were gunned down by Jihadist terrorists in January 2015. “Colleagues were assassinated because of their cartoons on religious themes,” he tells Mediapart’s Yunnes Abzouz. “But that’s not a reason it should become the alpha and omega of our freedom of expression.”

France extradites US man wanted after 'So I raped you' post

International — Link

Ian Thomas Cleary, 31, was detained in France after an Interpol red notice was issued for his arrest and extradition to the US where he is wanted for the alleged sexual assault in 2013 of a fellow student who, years later, he sent messages to on Facebook, including one in which he admitted raping her.

As bread sales fall in France, US appetite for country's flour rises

France — Link

Falling bread consumption in France has placed in question the future of some of the country's flour mills, but such fears have dissipated with new and steep demand from the US for French ground meal, and which almost doubled year-on-year in 2024, despite its comparative high price. 

French court gives domesticated boar reprieve from euthenasia

France — Link

A French court has ruled that local authorities in central France must review their order that a boar, found in the wild by a horse breeder after it was abandoned by its mother, and which is now fully domesticated, should be handed to a sanctuary or euthanised.  

Anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia: Jean-Marie Le Pen's hate-filled outbursts

France

Five days after his private funeral, hundreds of admirers turned out on Thursday in homage to the French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen at a ceremony held at the Paris church of Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce, including political figures from the hard- and far-right. The event capped numerous homages already paid to Le Pen, who died on January 7th at the age of 96, including from Emannuel Macron and his prime minister François Bayrou, and which have skirted the reality of the ideology behind Le Pen’s hate-filled outbursts, jibes and speeches throughout his long political career. Youmni Kezzouf dresses a list.

French PM warns of 'new world disorder' threat from Trump, Musk

France — Link

In a policy speech before France's parliament, the country's new prime minister, centre-right veteran François Bayrou, warned of a 'new world disorder, that threatens all equilibrium' following the re-election of Donald Trump as US president, and that those who embodied that threat 'without complex' include tech billionaire Elon Musk.

New French PM promises talks on revising pension reforms

France — Link

In a much-awaited speech setting out the major markers of his government's policy, France's new prime minister François Bayrou announced on Monday he will re-open talks on a possible revision of Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reforms, in a bid to garner the support of socialist MPs and their allies in order to survive a no-confidence vote in the hung French parliament.

Cash-strapped French cathedral turns to curing hams in belfry

France — Link

In the small town of Saint-Flour in central France, the local cathedral raised funds to repair the building's 19th-century choir organ through a share of profits from the sale of hams cured in its belfry, an unusual illustration of the plight of an estimated 2,300 French religious edifices in poor condition and lacking financial support. 

Operation 'Red Hands': how French analysts unearthed the involvement of Kremlin bots

International — Investigation

An attempt to exploit the impact of Operation 'Red Hands' – the painting of hand symbols on the Holocaust memorial in Paris in May 2024 - was made via a network of several thousand fake accounts on X. French analysts found that all these online bots - plus a curious French media outlet which tried to stir up controversy - were ultimately controlled by the Kremlin. Matthieu Suc reports in this third and concluding part of a Mediapart investigation into how France foiled a Russian destabilisation plot.  

France hands over army base in Chad ahead of deadline

International — Link

In late November the central African country abruptly ended military cooperation with its former colonial ruler, and French troops began leaving the country in late December.

'Brutal' tram collision in Strasbourg injures dozens

France — Link

The collision occurred near Strasbourg's main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris.

Ten years after 'Charlie Hebdo' attack, secular militants extend war of words against French Left

Politique — Analysis

Laicity is a key principle of the modern French Republic but there has long been a debate over how far it should extend; sections of the Left fear that secularism is sometimes misused to discriminate against Muslims, for example. The recent commemoration of the 2015 terror attacks, particularly the massacre at the Paris offices of satirical weekly 'Charlie Hebdo', has highlighted a shift in rhetoric from France's self-proclaimed “secular activists”. These activists no longer just focus their attacks on members of the radical-left La France Insoumise and their founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who have been accused of so-called 'Islamo-Leftism'. They now also target other elements of the French Left, including the Socialist Party, whose leadership has been criticised for “betraying social democracy”. Mathieu Dejean reports on the fault lines between militant secularists and the Left.

Algeria accused of trying to 'humiliate' France over influencer

International — Link

French interior minister Bruno Retailleau made claim after the North African country refused to admit one of its nationals - an influencer - who was being deported by France.

Libyan funding trial: Sarkozy denounces a 'plot'

France — Link

In his first remarks since the trial started on Monday, the former president, 69, told the court:  "You will never find one Libyan euro, one Libyan cent in my campaign.”