The food nutrition labelling system known as Nutri-Score was first introduced in France in 2017 and later adopted by Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Holland and Luxembourg. The aim of the five-coloured label scheme is to help guide consumers towards eating healthier produce. But on the pretext of defending Italian food, Giorgia Meloni's government and the Italian far right have so far prevented this system from being rolled out across the rest of the European Union. Karl Laske reports.
A referendum on a change of constitution was held in Chad on Sunday, where the ruling junta says the move would lead to a long-promised, and long-postponed, handover of power in the central African former French colony to a civilian government. Opposition groups dismiss it is a ploy to ensure the election as president of Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, the “transitional” leader in power since April 2021. While his regime, accused by international NGOs of mass shootings and torture of opponents, rules over one of the poorest nations worldwide, Mediapart can reveal how he spent close to 1 million euros on clothing from a luxury Paris tailor’s. Fabrice Arfi and Antton Rouget report.
Though it has not said so officially, the Indian government of prime minister Narendra Modi is refusing to comply with a request for international cooperation made by French judges. The two investigating magistrates want access to key documents as part of their probe into alleged corruption over the sale of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter jets to India in 2016 for 7.8 billion euros. Yann Philippin investigates.
When 13-year-old Aïcha fell ill at the family home in Paris her mother called the emergency services and three fire officers – who are often the first responders for medical emergencies in France – arrived at the scene. After thirty minutes the trio left, saying the teenager was faking her suffering, even though she was semi-conscious when they went. Twelve days later Aïcha died in hospital as the result of a brain haemorrhage. Her parents wonder whether their daughter may have lived had the fire officers taken her to hospital, and whether they would have taken her illness more seriously had she not been black. They have now deposed a formal legal complaint for manslaughter. Meanwhile one of fire officers has been disciplined. David Perrotin reports.
Mediapart and the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network can reveal that the Greek Member of the European Parliament Eva Kaili, who is under investigation in the 'Qatargate affair', conducted an influence operation on behalf of the Gulf state, working directly with hidden lobbyists and two Qatari ministers. Kaili, who was the vice-president of the European Parliament, denies being guided in her actions by the lobbyists. Louis Colart and Yann Philippin report.
The man arrested over the murder of a German tourist near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday night, Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, was convicted in 2018 for involvement in a terrorist criminal conspiracy, having previously been in contact with the killers of two French police officers and a French priest. Then, after he was released from prison, he communicated online with the man who shortly afterwards killed teacher Samuel Paty in a Paris suburb. Rajabpour-Miyandoab, now aged 26, subsequently managed to convince the authorities that he was a reformed character. But some of those in charge of his rehabilitation have now told Mediapart that they always harboured doubts about whether he had left the world of radicalism behind. Matthieu Suc reports.
In the early hours of November 24th 2021, at least 27 people died when their inflatable dinghy sank off the French coast as they attempted a clandestine crossing of the Channel to Britain. The tragedy highlighted the desperate plight of tens of thousands of migrants who attempt the perilous crossing in flimsy and overcrowded boats, while the drownings continue. Mediapart interviewed two French maritime rescue volunteers who recount the terrifying incidents they have been involved in to save migrants from the treacherous Channel waters, and who complain of insufficient resources in face of the scale of the problem. Nejma Brahim and Pascale Pascariello report.
Julius Mwale, presented by Forbes magazine as “one of Kenya’s top entrepreneurs”, is fêted for his rags-to-riches life story in which he claims to have created a “multi-billion-dollar” company in the US. With ambitious and well-publicised projects to build pioneering smart cities in Kenya and Senegal, he enjoys rubbing shoulders with African presidents and celebrities from the worlds of entertainment and sports. But this investigation by Mediapart tells a different story, one of a trail of claims for unpaid bills, disputes with investors and lenders, and unfinished projects. Clément Bonnerot and Sonia Rolley report.
In recent months Siddiq Haftar, the eldest son of Libyan military strongman and suspected war criminal Khalifa Haftar, has been seeking to establish his international credentials as he eyes a possible bid to be his country's president one day. One of his ambitions was to be greeted in style at the European Parliament, and he duly visited the institution in September. But, as Mediapart reveals, the visit, led by a media-friendly imam and a far-right Member of the European Parliament, turned to fiasco. Yann Philippin and Antton Rouget report.
In 2019 a report from the French domestic intelligence agency the DGSI listed the “influential intermediaries” that were used by Russia in France during the run up to the European elections. The only four French political figures cited in this document were current or past members of Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National (RN). Among them was an Franco-Russian RN adviser at the European Parliament. Matthieu Suc and Marine Turchi report.
