Mediapart is publishing a series of reports regularly sent to it from inside the Gaza Strip by two young Palestinians. Nour Elassy, a 22-year-old journalist, who is also a poet and writer, and Ibrahim Badra, a 23-year-old journalist and human rights activist, chronicle the grim reality of life and death in Gaza. “The word 'massacre' passes through the ears of Gazans like a morning greeting with a dark tone,” writes Ibrahim Badra in this, his third contribution. “We ask 'where is so-and-so?' knowing already the answer. The word no longer arouses astonishment or shock. It has become part of our daily lexicon.”
The French president said the EU should be ready for a trade war and to stand up to his US counterpart who, before his threat this weekend to impose 30% tariffs on EU goods, had been expected to approve a 10% tariff agreement with the bloc.
A criminal investigation was launched in France in 2021 over the sale of 36 Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter aircraft to India in a deal concluded in 2016 and worth 7.8 billion euros. The judge-led probe is examining the involvement of India's Reliance Group, owned and run by businessman Anil Ambani, who became Dassault's industrial partner in the massive contract signed by the French and Indian governments. Detectives are also looking into the funding by Anil Ambani's company at the same time of a film produced by actor and producer Julie Gayet, the partner of the then French president François Hollande. She has been questioned by detectives as part of the investigation. Will the former president himself now be interviewed? Karl Laske reports.
The French culture ministry has enterted the zinc rooftops that dominate the Paris skyline, together with the roofers who maintain them, into the competition to figure on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage to be decided by the UN body in December.
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.
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.
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.
Many French cities cancelled their traditional firework shows over a familiar issue in France, social unrest, but also because of the daunting one that is climate change.
France’s 7.8-billion-euro sale to India in 2016 of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter jets, the subject of an ongoing French judicial investigation, is mired by suspected corruption involving politicians and industrialists. As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who signed the deal, prepares to attend France’s Bastille Day celebrations as guest of honour, documents obtained by Mediapart reveal how Modi’s billionaire friend, Anil Ambani, boss of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Group, which was handed a lucrative contract as a condition of the Rafale sale, directly solicited the intervention of then economy minister Emmanuel Macron and finance minister Michel Sapin in a bid to escape a 151-million-euro tax claim against his French subsidiary. The tax adjustment was finally cut down to 6.6 million euros. Yann Philippin reports.
