Spotlight on France

What France can learn from Italy's fight against the mafia as it tackles its growing problem with drug-related organised crime. A look at France's new military service. And wrapping Paris's oldest bridge, 40 years after it was transformed by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.The recent murder in Marseille of 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci, the younger brother of a well-known anti-drugs campaigner, has...

A decade after the 2015 Paris terror attacks, France continues to pass security laws, sometimes to the detriment of civil liberties. A feminist journalist's take on the Pelicot mass rape trial. And the auction of the Pascaline, one of the world's earliest calculators, is halted.Immediately following the Paris attacks on 13 November, 2015, the French government put in place a nationwide state of...

How French media silence helped false stories claiming First Lady Brigitte Macron is a man to go viral. The unsung praises of France's street markets, which bring people together around buying and selling food. And France's short-lived colonial foray into Brazil. False claims that President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte is transgender first emerged online in 2021. The story could have fizzled...

The proposal to tax the ultra-rich that could address some of France's budget woes. The last paperboy in Paris, who has been hawking newspapers for nearly 50 years, tells of challenges and successes from Pakistan to Paris. And the man who ended the death penalty in France enters the Panthéon. As French politicians remain deeply divided over how to address the country's growing deficit, one...

France recognises Palestinian statehood but evacuations from Gaza are still suspended. French savings are at an all-time high, reflecting uncertainty about the future. And the story of the ten-day week put in place after the French Revolution.Evacuations from Gaza to France were suspended on 1 August after a Gazan student in Paris was found to have published antisemitic social media posts before...

As France gets its fifth prime minister in three years, demonstrators who responded to a call to block the country talk about feeling ignored by the government. Residents and business owners in Paris' picturesque Montmartre neighbourhood hit out at overtourism. And the brutal history of France's colonisation of the Caribbean island of Martinique, one of five French overseas departments.For many...

As France heats up, an experiment simulating life in 50°C aims to get people to take climate change more seriously. Faced with a growing demand for eggs, France looks for ways to boost homegrown production and halt the need for imports. And a look back at the first line of the Paris metro, which opened in 1900.France just experienced its hottest June since 2003, with several days of extreme heat...

As French lawmakers consider legalising assisted dying, a look at the citizen's assembly that carefully considered the issue. Also, a film about the writer – and filmmaker – Marcel Pagnol at the Cannes film festival, which is finally tackling sexual harassment in the industry. And the man who created the fête des voisins 25 years ago so neighbours get to know one other.French MPs are shortly to...

France is opening its arms to foreign scientists, particularly from the US, as the Trump administration pulls back from climate research. French GPs and trainee doctors are up in arms over proposals to address 'medical deserts', which they say would make the problem worse. And as Europe marks the 80th anniversary of Europe Day, Algeria commemorates the 8 May, 1945 massacre of civilians by French...

A French-German weapons manufacturer ramps up production to meet the needs of France's war economy. An encounter with France's largest supercomputer dedicated to artificial intelligence. And how the Marseillaise national anthem has contributed to reinforcing French values and ideals.Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Emmanuel Macron said France was moving...