In an effort to curb carbon dioxide emissions, the French government recently backed the extension of regional express transport networks or RERs in the country's major conurbations. New rail and bus routes have already been created around the major south-western city of Bordeaux and they have attracted many new passengers. But as Manuel Magrez reports, some of the city's new transport routes are now so popular and overcrowded they will soon require even more resources.
The fatal shooting of a ten-year-old boy last month in Pissevin, a run-down, high-rise quarter on the outskirts of Nîmes in southern France, made national headlines and prompted the sending of riot police to the neighbourhood to contain the spiralling violence of drug traffickers engaged in turf wars. Two days later, an 18-year-old man was shot dead, after which France’s interior minister made a high-profile visit to the quarter, promising further reinforcements. But the sudden attention given to the dilapidated neighbourhood, built as a model public housing scheme in the early 1960s but where around 70% of the population now live below the poverty line, has done little to appease inhabitants, who complain of being abandoned for years in a crumbling environment. Prisca Borrel reports from Pissevin.
France's La France Insoumise party usually takes advantage of the summer political pause to tour deprived working class urban areas where it traditionally enjoys strong support. This year, however, the radical left party has opted to visit villages and smaller towns across France where it and its former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon are less well-known – and generally less popular. Floriane Louison reports on the party's visit to the town of Roanne in the south-east of the country.
In France’s overseas territories and départements, civil servants and other state employees continue to be paid vastly superior salaries compared to what they would receive on the mainland. It is a legacy of what was called the “supplément colonial”, a financial incentive to work in the country’s far-flung colonies. In modern times, the generous remunerations appear in stark contrast to the often dire social and economic conditions of local populations. In this report, one of a four-part series, Julien Sartre travelled to France’s poorest département (county), the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, where almost 80% of the population live in poverty, and where the salaries of the fonctionnaires from the mainland are bumped up by 43%.
In the town of Mantes-la-Jolie, north-west of Paris, public buildings and shops have been burnt or burgled in the unrest that has followed the death last week of 17-year-old Nahel at Nanterre. Mediapart visited the worst-affected neighbourhood there, the vast high-rise housing estate of Le Val Fourré, and found that local residents both condemned and understood the actions of local youths. For all of them have their own stories about a lack of civility and of violence by the police over recent decades, often based on close personal experience. Caroline Coq-Chodorge and Célia Mebroukine report from the town.
The unrest that has broken out after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel by a police officer is affecting many towns and cities across France. Mediapart visited the town of Montreuil in the eastern suburbs of Paris to speak to local people about the impact of those violent disturbances. Dozens of shops and businesses have been looted there, especially in the town centre. The events have drawn mixed reactions from local residents in a left-leaning town known for its multicultural mix. Mathilde Goanec reports.
On May 1st a bus overturned in the Huelva province of southern Spain. On board were Moroccan agricultural workers on their way to pick strawberries at one of the huge farms in the region. One of the workers, a woman with five young children, lost her life. Mediapart went to meet some of the crash survivors, who condemned the appalling working conditions they have to endure. Rachida El Azzouzi reports.
Addiction to medicines that are prescribed to ease pain, anxiety or to help someone sleep is a major and very public problem in the United States. But in France the scale of the problem is significantly underestimated. Mediapart has had access to a unique clinical service in the eastern city of Lyon that specialises in dealing with patients who have become hooked on prescription drugs. Health correspondent Rozenn Le Saint reports.
After the recapture by Ukraine last autumn of territories occupied by Russia since its invasion of the country in February 2022, there is a strong public demand that those who collaborated with the occupier should be brought to account before the courts. Beyond the most flagrant cases, the legal process of identifying collaboration can be both complicated and sensitive, with some having acted voluntarily, others under duress. The prosecution services, meanwhile, are under pressure to act swiftly. Carine Fouteau reports from the city of Kharkiv and its surrounds, liberated last September.
Unlike their counterparts in Paris, who can retire at the age of 52, sewer workers in Marseille are employed by a private company. This means they have to keep working until they reach 62 – and this will increase to 64 if the current pension reform plans are passed. These workers in the Mediterranean city are bitterly opposed to any extension of their retirement age and believe they should be able to end their careers earlier, not later. They described their cramped, smelly and hazardous subterranean working life to Khedidja Zerouali.
