Powerful Israeli-developed spyware was deployed to investigate thefts at an LVMH subsidiary

Surveillance software developed by an Israeli company which is capable of tracking the location of millions of mobile phones is being marketed confidentially to major French companies, according to …

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On a French beach, holidaymakers watch as far-right British influencers try to provoke migrants

Migrants in northern France seeking to cross the English Channel are now setting off from beaches south of Calais, in a bid to avoid police patrols. Meanwhile, British influencers have travelled ove…

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Rapper El Mahdi Lyoubi detained as Morocco cracks down on artists

Rapper and filmmaker El Mahdi Lyoubi, better known by his stage name Mehdi Black Wind, has been held in custody by the authorities in Morocco after making a brief return to the country of his birth …

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Wildfires and heatwaves: UN scientist warns of worst yet to come, and very soon

France was this week hit by a fourth heatwave in the space of less than two months, with temperatures hitting 40°C on Thursday in some parts and further outbreaks of wildfires. Is this extraordinary…

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French wildfires: just who are the true arsonists?

As the wildfires in south-west France and their dire consequences dominate headlines in the country, president Macron and his government have been highly present in the media over the past fortnight…

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Giant SW France wildfires 'stabilised' but new heatwave brings fears of a flare-up

The vast wildfire that has destroyed more than 42,000 hectares over five days in the Gironde département in south-west France, leading to the evacuation of 220,000 people, has been “stabilised, annou…

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'Alpes 2030' Winter Olympics: conflict of interest allegation against organising official

Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional council, who played an active part in securing the awarding of the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games to the region, is a…

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The former French PMs clinging on to their banished 'lifelong privileges'

A decree published on January 1st this year announced the end of lifelong privileges granted to former French prime ministers (PMs), which include the indefinite use of a chauffeur-driven car and pro…

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The pesticide dangers weighing on seasonal farm workers in France

Largely absent from the increasingly politicised and polarised debates in France over the use of pesticides in agriculture, seasonal farm workers, many of them foreign nationals, are among the most …

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The Fontainebleau forest wildfire highlights growing number fuelled by climate change

The fast-moving wildfires that had ripped through the forest of Fontainebleau, 60 kilometres south-east of Paris, since Sunday evening were finally contained, if not extinguished, late on Tuesday. Mo…

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Air-conditioning, buying Nutella, sleeping rough - it's always the poor who get the blame

Recent scenes of shoppers scrambling to buy cut-price air conditioners at a supermarket prompted an outpouring of class contempt on French social media. Yet, writes Mediapart's Faïza Zerouala in thi…

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Marine Le Pen against society

Even before her possible election, the leader of the far-right Rassemblement National and presidential candidate is seeking to bully France’s institutions, just like far-right governments around the…

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French MPs condemn 'opaque and ineffective’ Franco-British border accords

The Le Touquet Treaty between the United Kingdom and France was signed in 2003 as part of a continuing bid to resolve the refugee and migrant crisis on the French side of the Channel. Last year Fren…

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Marine Le Pen has now been convicted twice - the rest is just chatter

After the Paris Court of Appeal removed the threat of her being ineligible for public office, far-right leader Marine Le Pen went on television news within hours to declare that she would stand in t…

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Marine Le Pen to stand for French presidency in 2027 despite being found guilty of embezzling public funds

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has announced she will stand as a candidate in France's presidential election in 2027.  Her decision came after the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed her conviction for e…

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Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling funds but appeal court leaves door open to standing for presidency in 2027

The Paris Court of Appeal has confirmed the conviction of far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzling public funds from the European Parliament. However, in its sentencing the court has – potential…

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Online death of French live-streamer: two influencers on trial over alleged abuse

Two influencers from the JeanPormanove channel, where streamer Raphaël Graven died live on air in 2025, stood trial on Monday on charges including assault, abuse of vulnerability and incitement to h…

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Matthieu Pigasse: French banker, media boss... and would-be presidential candidate for the Left?

Matthieu Pigasse, an investment banker turned magazine and radio proprietor, has become a familiar figure in the French media recently, seeking to project himself as a potential presidential contend…

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The massive pollution of Greenland from abandoned US military waste

Several hundred thousand litres of diesel fuel, many thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste, millions of litres of low-level radioactive wastewater, environmental toxins and heavy metals lie abandon…

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How Sea Shepherd France gave Paul Watson keys to a 1m-euro Paris houseboat

In 2023, Sea Shepherd France, a breakaway former arm of the US-based Sea Shepherd network, purchased, largely out of its funds from donations, a 1-million-euro Parisian houseboat officially for Sea S…

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Recurring heatwaves: could France lose its status as a country with a temperate climate?

The current record-breaking heatwave in France finally looks set to end. However, if future heatwaves become not only more intense but also longer-lasting, will one still be able to describe France …

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France's debate over adapting to heatwaves: climate denial by another name

As France continues to swelter in a record-breaking heatwave, public discussion has largely focused on how people can keep cool, both now and during future periods of extreme heat. But, says Romaric…

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How historian Marc Bloch’s classic wartime book became a political battleground in France

On Tuesday the renowned historian Marc Bloch was inducted into the Panthéon in Paris, a rare honour reserved for those judged to have made an exceptional contribution to French life. As Joseph Confa…

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As France and its cities swelter in new heatwave, scientist warns: 'We won't survive without trees'

France, along with other parts of Europe, has been enveloped by a stifling heatwave for days and the worst may yet be to come. Some meteorologists have suggested it could be as bad as the deadly hea…

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European Parliament has endorsed EU vassalage by backing trade deal with US

On June 16th a large majority of Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg caved in to pressure from Donald Trump and voted through an unbalanced trade agreement between the United States and…

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PSG star Achraf Hakimi, the prospect of a rape trial and a football world in denial

High-profile PSG and Morocco footballer Achraf Hakimi learnt on Friday that he is to stand trial for rape. Just hours before his team played Scotland at the World Cup, a court rejected his appeal ag…

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From Zidane to Mbappé, the 'Frenchness' of Les Bleus is perpetually on trial

On Tuesday France began their 2026 football World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win against Senegal. This current side has inherited the legacy of earlier generations of French teams, all of whom faced ra…

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Under-fire prosecutors speak out on France's underfunded, understaffed justice system

The murder in south-west France of 11-year-old schoolgirl Lyhanna Bernard has prompted fierce public attacks on France’s public prosecution services over their failure to investigate a series of pre…

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Massive deadly Russian strikes across Ukraine set ablaze UNESCO heritage site

Ukraine’s military has said Russia launched 70 missiles and 611 drones in attacks on the country in the early hours of June 15th, principally centred on the eastern city of Kharkiv and the capital K…

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Sarkozy's jail-time narrative prompts grim account of real conditions in French prisons

The dire conditions in France’s overcrowded prisons receives little public attention, but an exception was the self-centred account of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who wrote a bestseller…

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