Far-right Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been hosting a summit of leaders of the G7 countries, where the war in Ukraine and Gaza, and economic relations with China were high on the agenda. But despite the grins during the photocalls, Meloni is the only one with anything to laugh about, emerging triumphant from European elections which severely weakened French President Emmanuel Macron, who called snap general elections which could lead to the formation of a far-right government. The parties of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition allies were similarly battered. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces defeat in general elections in July, and US President Joe Biden faces a tough re-election bid. François Bougon reports.
Speaking on France's LCI news channel last week, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu waved the banner of defending 'Judaeo-Christian civilisation' as he sought to justify his crusade against the Palestinian people. In this analysis, Mediapart co-founder Edwy Plenel deconstructs an historical falsehood that ignores the long history of Christian anti-Semitism.
As the far-right gains support across Europe, President Emmanuel Macron continues to portray them as the only political alternative to him and his party in France. The different strands of the French Left therefore need to work together or run the risk of being marginalised in the European elections on June 9th, writes Mediapart publishing editor Carine Fouteau.
A sixth person was on Saturday reported to have been killed in the ongoing unrest in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, amid increasing calls for Emmanuel Macron and his government to place on hold the legislation that sparked the violence. This will give newly arrived settlers, mostly European, on the South Pacific archipelago the right to vote in local elections, whereas until now the electoral register was frozen in order that the indigenous Kanak people maintain their political representation. In this analysis of the crisis, Mediapart publishing editor Carine Fouteau says that an almost four-decade-long process of decolonization is now at a crossroads, and at stake is the survival of the Kanak people who have been gradually turned into a minority under French domination since the mid-19th century.
European Union countries head for the polls in June to elect, country by country, their future members of the European Parliament. In France, the elections coincide with the mid-term point in Emmanuel Macron’s presidency and that of parliament, where no party has an absolute majority, and the poll in June represents the first nationwide test of political opinion since 2022. While they are of a so-called “second order”, they are also typically the stage for voters to cast aside strategic choices and display their true preferences. Fabien Escalona reports.
Carlos Tavares, the CEO of carmaking group Stellantis, has been awarded a total remuneration for 2023 amounting to 36.5 million euros. While the extraordinary sum has prompted a wave of indignation, like on every occasion that such massive payouts are made, the indecent amount above all reveals important truths about the organisation of our economic and social systems, writes Mediapart’s economic affairs correspondent Romaric Godin.
The French government recently announced that the country's public deficit was higher than forecast, further fuelling a debate that had begun a few weeks ago about the threat posed by the country's overall public debt. In this analysis Mediapart's Romaric Godin says that the main purpose of this scary debt narrative is to justify future austerity while maintaining a flow of financial benefits to the private sector.
In an interview published on March 10th, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that parliament would debate, before the summer recess, long-awaited draft legislation to legalize what he called “assistance for dying” – in effect, assisted suicide – for patients suffering the terminal stages of debilitating illness. Caroline Coq-Chodorge reports on the substance of the bill, and the heated debate between its opponents and supporters.
Over the last six years in France the story of the #MeToo movement – which highlights and denounces sexist and sexual violence - has been one of both advances and staunch resistance. But the latest developments, involving cases which yet again have emerged from the world of French cinema, could mark a turning point. Lénaïg Bredoux and Marine Turchi report on the current state of the #MeToo movement in the country.
Emmanuel Macron has chosen the current director of the French Treasury to take up the strategically-vital position of chief of staff to the new prime minister Gabriel Attal. Like Attal himself, the new chief of staff Emmanuel Moulin represents 'Macronism' in his own style. He has a network of contacts that includes supporters of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, has moved seamlessly between the public and private sectors, and has a distinctly pro-business vision of the economy. Ilyes Ramdan and Mathias Thépot report on the career of this key behind-the-scenes figure who will help shape the new government.
