The nationwide protest movement by French farmers that began earlier this year erupted from long-simmering unrest over falling incomes and rising costs. But among other key grievances they expressed are the constraints of environmental regulations, which are enforced by the inspectors of the French Office for Biodiversity, the OFB. The inspectors have become a main focus of the anger, whipped up by the largest farmers union, the FNSEA, and entertained by the centre-right government keen to appease the revolt ahead of European Parliament elections in June. Many inspectors have received instructions to suspend their policing of farmland, while their powers and practices are now the subject of review. “We’ve been thrown to the wolves,” said one OFB union official.
The coach at an amateur club in south-west France, who had been accused of having prayed in a changing room before and after a key cup match, was effectively dismissed from his position last year without any normal disciplinary proceedings being taken against him. According to Mediapart's information, state grants to the club were suspended until the club agreed not to renew his membership registration. David Perrotin reports.
The emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, made a two-day state visit to Paris earlier this week. French government documents drawn up to prepare for the trip – seen by Mediapart - show the concessions that the French presidency was prepared to grant in order to curry favour with the head of the gas-rich emirate. The visit also came against the backdrop of the crisis in Gaza in which Qatar is playing a major mediation role. France was rewarded with the announcement that Qatar, which already has substantial interests in the country including the ownership of Paris Saint-Germain football club, will now invest a further ten billion euros here. Yann Philippin and Yunnes Abzouz report.
The anti-terrorism branch of the French prosecution services this month recommended that the cement manufacturer Lafarge, and several of its former directors, be sent for trial on charges of “financing terrorism” and the “non-respect of international financial sanctions” over payments made between 2013 and 2014 to several terrorist groups, including Islamic State, to maintain the activities of its cement production plant in Syria. Mediapart has studied the 275-page document issued by the prosecution services, in which it dismisses the claims of several of the accused that France’s secret services and foreign affairs ministry were complicit in the deals made with the terrorist organisations. Fabrice Arfi reports.
In 2015 France came under a series of bloody terrorist attacks from jihadists. But at the same time an agent from France's domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, was stealing money from a fund that had been set up to pay hackers who were discreetly infiltrating jihadist networks on the nation's behalf. Though the case did eventually go to court, the French secret services have been very reluctant to reveal details of this embarrassing episode. Matthieu Suc reports.
Three weeks ago Philippe Vigier lost his job as France's minister for overseas territories when a new government was formed under prime minister Gabriel Attal. But according to Mediapart's information, the ex-minister has still been using his former ministerial official residence, car and driver despite his removal from office. He has also organised “private dinners” at his old ministry, a practice which has astonished former colleagues. Antton Rouget and Ellen Salvi report.
Shortly after Amélie Oudéa-Castéra's appointment last week, Mediapart revealed that Emmanuel Macron's new education minister sent her three children, now aged 13 to 18, to a “reactionary” Catholic private school near her home in Paris. The minister's defence of her actions – she claims her local state school did not properly cover staff absences – went down badly with teaching unions and parents' groups as well as opposition politicians. Her argument has also now been undermined by comments from a teacher at that state school where Amélie Oudéa-Castéra briefly sent one of her children, leading to damaging claims that the new minister has lied.
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.
