France in focus

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An in-depth look at the political and social events shaping France. Monday at 3:45pm Paris time.

  1. 8 hr ago

    Nice 2016 terror attack: A decade of grief

    On 14 July 2016, Nice was hit by the deadliest attack in its history, claimed by the Islamic State group. A truck ploughed into the Promenade des Anglais, striking crowds of spectators who had gathered to watch the Bastille Day fireworks. The attacker killed 86 people and injured hundreds more. Ten years later, our teams returned to the scene of the tragedy to meet survivors and hear their stories. For the past 10 years, Anne Murris has lived with the pain of losing her daughter Camille, who was killed at the age of 27 when she was struck by the truck on the Promenade des Anglais. “She was a charming young woman, with a mischievous side. She loved making people laugh and laughed easily,” recalls her mother, tears filling her eyes. On the evening of 14 July 2016, Anne Murris learned of the attack through a notification on her phone while travelling in Scandinavia with her husband, Camille’s father. “It was total panic, because we knew Camille was there.” An endless wait The couple returned to France and spent four agonising days searching for their daughter. Anne Murris describes the wait as “torture”, saying she suffered “repeated episodes of tetany”. When a judicial police officer finally confirmed their daughter’s death, the family was offered the chance to see her body. But all that remained were “just two hands behind a glass pane”. Anne collapsed in grief. “I know there was a great deal of sensitivity shown towards some families, but that wasn’t the case for us. It was extremely traumatic. Staff should have been better trained and supported by a psychologist when delivering such news.” A mother’s fight In 2018, Anne Murris founded the association Mémorial des Anges. Since then, she has devoted herself to supporting other victims’ families and preserving the memory of those who died. She has launched numerous projects to transform her grief into action: a memorial museum in Nice, an exhibition at Villa Masséna marking the 10th anniversary of the attack, a street photography exhibition, talks in schools, and the placement of 86 pebbles – one for each person killed – in the Himalayas. “My daughter’s death cannot make sense. How can anyone make sense of such a barbaric act? The only thing I can do is give meaning to my suffering by working to preserve her memory and promote prevention against radicalisation,” she says. Anne says these actions also give her “the feeling that she is taking care of Camille”. A quiet hero Anne Murris testified during both the initial trial and the appeal proceedings, which resulted in two men linked to the attack receiving 18-year prison sentences for involvement in a terrorist conspiracy. During the hearings, she met another survivor of the attack: Gilles Gamberi. On the evening of 14 July, while attending the concert on the Promenade des Anglais, he heard “a tremendous crash and, above all, screams”. He saw the truck continue through the crowd before eventually coming to a stop. At first, he believed it was an accident. “I thought it was a traffic accident, or that the driver had fainted.” When he approached the cab, the attacker pointed a gun at him. Gamberi tried, unsuccessfully, to disarm him. “I heard two gunshots. I realised he was shooting at me.” After jumping away from the truck, he encountered a police officer running towards him. Gamberi was able to provide crucial information about the attacker’s position inside the vehicle. The attacker was then shot dead by police. For years, Gamberi chose not to speak publicly about his actions. He later came forward to correct what he described as inaccurate accounts. “People were saying that I had tried to stop the truck, when in fact it had already come to a stop.” A quarter of those killed were children Soad Darwiche was 15 years old when she came to watch the Bastille Day fireworks with her grandmother, aunt, uncle and younger sister Emma. “I didn’t really understand what was happening. I just followed the movement of the crowd,” she recalls. She took refuge in a hotel by the sea, unaware of what had happened to her family. The following day, she learned that the three adults who had been with her had died. Her 12-year-old sister Emma had been seriously injured. “Today, she suffers from traumatic amnesia,” explains Dina Darwiche, the eldest of the three sisters, who was away on holiday in Brittany with their mother when the attack happened. “Emma doesn’t want to hear anything about it. Even when she has dreams or flashbacks, she wakes up saying: ‘I don’t want to remember.’” Dina rushed to Nice after hearing the news, alongside their devastated mother. Ten years later, the sisters have rebuilt their lives. Dina has become a teacher and volunteer firefighter. Soad works in a restaurant and has bought her own apartment. They have managed to create a new routine, balancing work, friendships and their passions for sport and drawing. But the pain remains. “We think about our grandmother, our aunt and our uncle very often, even if we don’t talk about it much, because it is still very painful,” says Dina. She remembers her grandmother as “strong and independent”, and her aunt and uncle – both maths teachers – as a couple who loved life and enjoyed going out to restaurants and cultural events. Soad adds: “My uncle and aunt were as much in love as they were on their first day.” The Darwiche sisters have been officially recognised as victims of the attack. Like them, nearly 3,000 people affected by the Nice attack have received support from the Guarantee Fund for Victims of Terrorism. Around a quarter of those affected were minors.

    12 min

  2. 2 Jul

    2027 French elections – France at a Crossroads: Episode 1

    Dates have officially been set for France's 2027 presidential election. With less than a year to go, the country is already gearing up for Emmanuel Macron's successor. FRANCE 24 English and French teamed up to meet voters in the run-up to the crucial poll. Our reporters visited Châteaudun, a town of 13,000 inhabitants that has mirrored the national vote in every French presidential election for over 20 years. There, they met Antoine, a high-school maths teacher; Stéphanie, who cares for children in foster care; and Gilbert, a retiree who helps migrants learn to speak French. For them, politics is not a taboo subject, even in front of our camera. For now, they are undecided voters, but we will see how their opinions evolve as campaigning heats up.

    12 min

  3. 16 Jun

    Who is Didier Deschamps, the France coach aiming for a third World Cup title?

    Didier Deschamps has been coaching the French men's national football team for 14 years, a record period at the helm. He and his players are now aiming for a third World Cup title. The tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico will be his last competition as head of Les Bleus. France in Focus takes a closer look at the man whose name is synonymous with French football success. Read moreMbappé heads up France squad in Deschamps' final World Cup bid Long before he became the face of French football, Didier Deschamps was a teenager running around the fields of Bayonne, in southwestern France. He played every sport he could: rugby, athletics, handball and cross-country running. His career in football came almost by chance. Encouraged by his childhood friend Emmanuel Darnauthandy, Deschamps joined a local club at the age of 11. What began as a hobby quickly turned into something more serious. His first youth coach, Norbert Navarro, immediately noticed a player ahead of the game: physically strong, tactically aware and fiercely competitive. Within two weeks of joining the Aviron Bayonnais FC, he was already playing with the age group above. It was to be the start of an incredible journey. A born captain  Throughout Deschamps' career, the captain's armband became almost a permanent accessory. Whether at Nantes, Marseille, Juventus or with the French national team, teammates naturally looked to him for direction. "He had this ability to read the game, to take charge, but always with the right word for his teammates," says his first coach Navarro. "That is innate, it is not calculated." Those qualities helped transform the midfielder into one of the most decorated figures in European football. Deschamps understood early on that football is not always won by the most spectacular players. Often, it is won by the most organised team. Individual talent helps, but teamwork is a priority. A dream that became reality  As a teenager watching France face Brazil at the 1986 World Cup, Deschamps imagined himself one day winning the top title. Twelve years later, that dream became reality. In 1998, he captained France to its first-ever World Cup title on home soil. The image of Deschamps lifting the trophy after a 3-0 victory over Brazil remains one of the defining moments in the history of French football. Two years later, he won the European Championship. By the time he retired as a player, he had won league titles in France and Italy, as well as the UEFA Champions League. Yet his greatest successes were still to come. Rebuilding Les Bleus  When Deschamps started coaching France in 2012, the national team were still recovering from a disastrous 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where French players went on strike. Deschamps set himself a goal: rebuilding the reputation of Les Bleus. He integrated a new generation of talent, including Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé, while restoring a sense of collective purpose. "The guys were prepared to die on the pitch for their coach. To go far in a major tournament, you need a top-quality squad but also a coach that can get the best out of them," explains Philippe Tournon, author of "La vie en bleu". Critics often accuse Deschamps' teams of being pragmatic rather than spectacular. But from Deschamps' point of view, the only thing that counts is the score. His method paid off in 2018, when France bounced back and won a second World Cup title, this time in Russia. Deschamps' legacy  Deschamps has now been coaching the French national team for a record 14 years. His longevity owes much to an ability to evolve. He has managed several generations of players, adapting his communication and leadership style without compromising his standards. Read more France kick off World Cup campaign, with Senegal looking to repeat 2002 upset "There's a lot of detail in what he does, in what he says, in the preparation for set pieces. There are a lot of individual instructions, it's a very precise system of play," says his longtime assistant coach Guy Stephan. "We're in a period where the players are around 21 years old. It's a generation that doesn't listen as well as before, which means the team talks can't go on too long: 10 minutes max." From the football pitches of Bayonne to the world stage, Deschamps and his team are now aiming for yet another goal over in the US: a third World Cup trophy for his final competition as head of Les Bleus.

    12 min

  4. 12 Jun

    €3,300 for a dress! The Paris Flea Market, where vintage meets luxury

    Just outside the French capital sprawls the world's largest antiques destination: the Paris Saint-Ouen Flea Market. It's a timeless escape, and one of the most visited sites in France. We take you on a tour in this edition of France in Focus. Whitney has flown in from Florida with one thing on her mind: hunting for treasures at the Paris Saint-Ouen Flea Market. Her guide is Riad Kneife, who has been leading wealthy clients through these alleys for 25 years. Together, they dive in and it doesn't take long before Whitney falls for a vintage Chanel dress with a €3,300 price tag. She's not short of temptation. Antique and designer furniture, artworks, jewellery, ornaments, collectible perfumes... With over 1,500 vendors, there's something for every taste and every budget. The market's story began in the late 19th century, when rag-and-bone men pushed out of Paris by new sanitation laws descended on Saint-Ouen. Prefect Eugène Poubelle had just made sealed rubbish bins compulsory in the capital, and with them went the scavengers' livelihood. By the 1920s, what had been an informal gathering had become a permanent, organised institution. Today the site encompasses 12 distinct markets, each with its own personality – from Vernaison, the oldest, with its rambling village charm, to the sleek and upscale Paul Bert Serpette and Biron, to the Dauphine market, a haven for pop culture lovers that's home to vintage video games and the densest cluster of record shops in Europe.

    12 min

  5. 26 May

    Teens and screens: The smartphone trap

    Smartphones, video games, online homework: screens are everywhere in teenagers' lives. Faced with the risks of addiction and the effects on mental and physical health, some French parents and teachers are pushing back.  Rayan is 13 years old and, like nine out of 10 children his age, he owns a smartphone. Until a few months ago, he would spend several hours a day playing free online games. "I just wanted to stay home in my bedroom all the time, shutters closed, playing Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Brawlstars..." he recalls.  Within weeks, Rayan was hooked. On days off school, he could spend up to 12 hours a day in front of a screen. His concentration suffered, and so did his grades. "He stopped going out, he was always in his room. You had to nag him, and when you took his phone away, he'd storm off to his room and turn the whole place upside down," his mother recalls. Rayan himself admits he had lost all self-control: "I had this deep anger inside because gaming was supposed to relax me, but in the end it was doing the exact opposite." His parents felt completely out of their depth. "He wasn't my son anymore, it was really hard... We didn't know what to do with him anymore," his mother explains. "We also felt like we were bad parents," his father says. Feeling out of their depth, his parents eventually decided to ask for help.  'The only comparison that holds up is alcohol or hard drugs'  At the Georges Daumézon Hospital near Orléans, psychologist Sabine Duflo sees screen-addicted teenagers once a week. Ninety percent of her patients are boys around the age of fourteen, who play free online multi-player video games. All these games share one thing in common: random rewards. "It's that randomness that creates the addiction," explains Duflo. "The only fair comparison is alcohol or hard drugs," adds the psychologist, who is also the founder of the Collective on Screen Overexposure (COSE). In her view, there is only one solution for overcoming this addiction: withdrawal. "If your child was 13, had a drinking problem, and I prescribed a detox, you'd think that was perfectly reasonable, right? It's the same thing with video games." The first few days of withdrawal were hard for Rayan, but within a few weeks, he started noticing a difference. "I actually think more about my friends now, about going out with them," he says. His mother says he's become much more of a chatterbox.  Today in France, most children get their first smartphone at the age of nine, and according to the national health authority, spend more than four hours a day on screens outside of school time. Many health professionals are raising the alarm about the risks to children's and teenagers' mental and physical health: deteriorating sleep quality, exposure to violent or pornographic content, stress, anxiety, depression and declining attention spans.  Faced with the dangers of smartphones, parents join forces  In response to these risks, some French parents are banding together. Anne-Laure Bailly coordinates the "Growing Up Better Without a Smartphone" initiative in the Paris region, encouraging families to hold off on giving their child a smartphone for as long as possible and not before the age of 15. "If your child's friends don't have a smartphone, it will be much easier to resist," she says.  Gaëlle de Waru signed up for the initiative to protect her children. "The last thing I want is a child who's hooked on screens," she says. Her daughter Clémentine is nearly 14 and only has a flip phone, just like two of her closest friends. Clémentine says she notices the difference: "We actually spend real time together; we talk so much more."  Contradictory messages  Despite parents' best efforts, it's almost impossible to keep their children off screens because teachers routinely assign homework that requires going online. "I resist, and then the school turns around and asks for the opposite," says de Waru. We asked the French ministry of education what solutions were being considered to avoid forcing parents to equip their children with smartphones. We received no response.  But some schools are taking matters into their own hands. At Collège Alphonse Daudet in Paris, principal Sébastien Blondot has banned students from using the school management platform Pronote and has asked teachers to stop assigning homework that requires a screen. "The idea is very simple: explaining to students and parents that a child does not need a smartphone to do their schoolwork," he says. That said, technology has not been banned altogether. "We're not banning digital tools, we're managing them," says teacher Yohan Abou. "It also helps put parents back at the centre of their child's education," adds Meriem Guendafa, chair of the school's local parent council.  These initiatives, driven by a handful of teachers and parents, are still few and far between. But they reflect a shared determination: to let teenagers experience their school years without falling into an all-digital world.

    12 min

  6. 12 May

    Online scams: How our personal data is being used against us

    In France, a data breach occurs once every hour. In recent months, several public bodies have been affected: La Poste, France Travail and the ANTS, the portal that issues identity documents. This confidential information, which is sometimes highly sensitive, is sold on forums. It's then often purchased by cybercriminals and used to fuel all kinds of scams, including fraudulent operations involving bogus bank managers or brokers. It is often impossible for the victims to discern what is actually fake, and they're then left to deal with the consequences alone.  Twenty-eight-year-old Amaia is a fitness coach. While she was waiting for a parcel to be delivered from the UK, she received a text message asking her to pay customs fees so that it could be dispatched to her. The young woman clicked on the link and did as she was told: it was the start of a nightmare. "Two or three hours later, I received a call from an unknown number, supposedly from my bank advisor, who told me that a fraudulent transaction had taken place that very morning," says Amaia.  Scams fuelled by data  The frightened young woman believed she was speaking to her bank manager, but the person on the other end of the line was actually the scammer himself. This was when the net started closing in on Amaia. "He reassured me by saying, 'Don't worry, we'll sort it all out so there won't be any problems.' After that they made me carry out a whole series of operations. I thought I was rejecting the fraudulent transactions but in fact, they were getting me to approve them."   The cybercriminal knew a great deal about Amaia and managed to gain her trust; he even persuaded her to reveal her credit card details. All in all, the fraudster managed to steal €8,000 from Amaia. The young woman filed a complaint, to no avail.  A €200 million fund to tackle an urgent issue  Like Amaia, there are thousands of victims of online scams. Attacks have been facilitated by the numerous data breaches affecting businesses and public bodies in recent months. The ANTS, the French portal that issues official identity documents, is one of them; they had 11.6 million items of administrative data stolen. Following this major breach, the government announced a €200 million emergency plan to get up to date on cybersecurity. But this budget will only allow it to play "catch-up", according to Anne Le Hénanff, minister for AI and digital affairs. "We're currently experiencing a digital revolution driven by artificial intelligence, which itself consumes a great deal of our data and could accelerate these scams and everything that might result from them," warns ethical hacker Clément Domingo. "Until sufficient funding is allocated to the issue, it will be difficult to raise the level of data protection." Increasingly sensitive information is being stolen and the authorities are sounding the alarm: the consequences of these leaks are spilling over from the digital realm into the physical world. "The first case involves a data leak from the French shooting federation. Fake police officers turned up at people's homes claiming weapons had been stolen," explains Jérôme Notin, president of the Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr platform. "The second case involves data leaks linked to websites managing crypto assets, leading to kidnappings, hostage-taking, acts of violence and torture of the victims or their families." Platforms that aim to offer support for the general public do exist – 17 Cyber or Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr are two such examples – but these sites are primarily designed to raise awareness and facilitate the filing of complaints. In most cases, the cybercriminals are not identified and the victims are not compensated. "Over the last few years, most of the attacks have been coming from young cybercriminals – French ones, at that. Some are still teenagers and have realised they can make money quickly and easily; for some of them, this amounts to as much as €5,000 to €10,000 a week," explains Domingo. Some cyber security experts recommend changing your digital identity by adopting an alias, using a password manager, or having parcels delivered to a collection point to protect yourself from scams. But most importantly: never click on links received via text message or email, and never give out sensitive information over the phone.

    12 min

  7. 7 May

    Toxic beginnings: Babies exposed to pesticides in the womb

    The number of children diagnosed with cancer in France is on the rise. Other serious medical conditions – birth defects, neurodevelopmental disorders and reduced IQ – are following the same alarming trend. Scientists are increasingly pointing to pesticides as a major risk factor. Yet France remains Europe's leading consumer of pesticides and ranks third worldwide. Across the country, parents and doctors are speaking out about the use of pesticides and their impact on the health of children.  The scientific evidence is mounting. In its latest report published in 2021, France's public health institute (Inserm) established a link between pesticide exposure – particularly during pregnancy and early childhood – and a higher risk of childhood cancer. "I believe we have enough evidence to consider a ban on pesticides," says Dominique Tripodi, head of the department of occupational health at Nantes University Hospital. The hospital recently launched a new programme dedicated to children whose illness could be linked to their parents' pesticide use. Tripodi is in charge of assisting patients who wish to file an official request for compensation. In 2020, the French government created a special fund for victims, effectively recognising the dangers posed by the chemicals. The fund was recently extended to infants in utero. Laure Marivain, a former florist, became the first beneficiary in 2023. The fund recognised that her exposure to pesticides while pregnant contributed to the death of her daughter. "Who could imagine there would be so many different substances, and that all those substances would enter my body and poison the daughter I was carrying?" she asks.  Emmy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia when she was four years old. She passed away seven years later. Crossing the placental barrier Research shows that pesticides can cross the placenta, accumulate in foetal tissues – especially the brain – and trigger serious, often irreversible illnesses. "It's one of the few chemicals we produce specifically to kill living organisms," explains Karen Chardon, a professor of neurophysiology and deputy director at the Peritox Laboratory in Amiens. "From the start, it was reasonable to worry about its potential harmful effects on humans." Peritox is the only lab in the world to study how toxic environments disrupt vital systems in infants, from preconception through to the first days of life. Their findings are alarming: 85 percent of newborn stool samples studied contained at least one of the 20 pesticides tested. Protecting mothers and children Medical experts recommend that pregnant and breastfeeding women limit their exposure to pesticides, for their own health and that of their child. Couples trying to conceive are also advised to take precautions, avoiding pesticides at work and opting for a varied organic diet. "Knowing the link between pollutants and paediatric conditions, and seeing children every day with a cleft lip and palate, I feel compelled to inform parents," says Pierre Corre, a maxillofacial surgeon at Nantes University Hospital.

    11 min

  8. 29 Apr

    Abuse at French after-school programmes: Parents sound the alarm

    In Paris, parents are now dropping their children off at school in a climate of anxiety. For several months, reports of physical and sexual abuse involving nursery school children have been mounting. These cases are said to have taken place during after-school care and lunch breaks, when the children are supervised by non-teaching staff. In 2026 alone, 78 youth workers were suspended in Paris, 31 of them on suspicion of sexual abuse. Warning: viewers may find this report disturbing. Watch moreNew Paris mayor vows to tackle systemic abuse in after-school programmes While much media attention has focused on the scandal in Parisian schools, the abuse is a nationwide issue. Amid a culture of silence, denial, inadequate training for employees and flawed recruitment practices, how can such serious failures be explained? Parents' warnings ignored In April 2026, several dozen parents gathered for a demonstration in front of Paris's City Hall. Shaken by reports of the physical and sexual abuse of children during lunchtimes and after-school care, they were calling for decisive action from their representatives. "What we'd like is to restore trust as soon as possible so we can all get back to normal," said Lyna, a concerned mother who decided to withdraw her children from the after-school programme. Since this scandal came to light, Nathalie has been plagued by guilt. Her son, now eight years old, attended one of the dozens of schools involved. "At the time, he was having very violent outbursts. We couldn't understand why. He wasn't well. He was always saying, 'I hate them. I don't like it. I don't want to go to the after-school club.'" Like other parents, she had tried to raise the alarm. But her concerns fell on deaf ears. Olivier knew nothing about the situation at the school when his children started there last September. Soon, his daughter began having serious trouble sleeping, and his son would regularly come home with bruises and scratches. In January, Olivier and his wife recognised their children's school in video clips circulating from a report on violence in after-school care. When the children returned from school, they questioned them. The family's life was turned upside down. "They obviously told us about the violence and the shouting, but they also told us about the sexual abuse, the behaviour, the inappropriate touching," says Olivier, who is devastated. Several months after coming forward, the two children are still suffering from severe psychological after-effects, typical of victims of abuse. Children's accounts often doubted That trauma has been revisited and triggered by the inefficiencies of the justice system: the children had to repeat their accounts several times due to a lack of appropriate procedures. In France, doubt is still too often cast over children's accounts. "These opinions go against the scientific data. Numerous studies show that in less than 1 percent of cases, the child is lying," explains Luis Alvarez, a child psychiatrist. Overwhelming accounts of violence in after-school care have been flooding into the founders of the 'Afterschool programmes in crisis' association. Created by Anne and Elisabeth, this collective put out a call for testimonies in 2021. "We received over 80 testimonies in 10 days. That's when we realised it was systemic," explains Elisabeth. Inadequate training and flawed recruitment processes The majority of accounts reveal physical and psychological abuse, often downplayed by the adults in charge of the children. The whistleblowers point to a deeply flawed system. Inadequate recruitment, unsuitable training, precarious working conditions and the absence of a clear national framework: these are the main issues that, in their view, explain the violations. Given the scale of these revelations, the City of Paris has launched a €20 million action plan to better protect children in after-school care. Measures include improving reporting procedures, training staff and setting up support groups for children who have been victims of abuse. Initiatives to raise awareness of consent are also emerging, in order to better equip children to deal with violence. More broadly, this scandal highlights the urgent need to listen to children more carefully, to protect them and take their accounts seriously.

    12 min
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An in-depth look at the political and social events shaping France. Monday at 3:45pm Paris time.

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