Good morning. Apologies if this is the second time you are receiving this email – due to some technical gremlins some people received yesterday’s newsletter on Labour for a second time. Below is today’s First Edition on France.
After a tumultuous week in which the country was shaken by five nights of serious disorder, destruction and – at times – violence, the rioting has subsided and the streets are largely calm.
As residents of the banlieues – the disadvantaged, multiracial communities worst affected by the unrest – count the toll of destruction, it is clear that this is not a situation that can be swept away as easily as glass from a broken window.
The violence was sparked when Nahel Merzouk – a 17-year-old boy of Moroccan and Algerian descent – was shot dead by police in Nanterre, in the suburbs of Paris. At first, police said an officer shot because the teenager was driving at him; in fact the incident had been filmed, and appeared to show that he had instead been shot at point blank range.
Jon Henley, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, has lived and worked in Paris for many years. For today’s newsletter, I spoke to him about race, social exclusion and policing in France, and what the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, can do to address some of the deep-rooted problems that form the background to the disorder.
That’s after the headlines.
Five big stories
Palestinian territories | Israel has launched a major aerial and ground offensive into the West Bank city of Jenin, its biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years, in what it described as an “extensive counter-terrorism effort”. At least eight Palestinians were killed and 50 injured, 10 seriously, in the attack that began at about 1am on Monday.
Hong Kong | China has accused the UK of protecting fugitives after the British foreign secretary criticised Hong Kong’s decision to offer HK$1m bounties for the arrest of eight democracy activists based overseas. The Chinese embassy in London called on British politicians to stop using “anti-China Hong Kong disruptors to jeopardise China’s sovereignty and security”.
Fuel | The UK energy secretary has accused fuel retailers of using motorists as “cash cows”, after a consumer watchdog found that drivers were paying more for petrol and diesel than before the Covid pandemic because of “weakened” competition.
UK politics | Sue Gray was found to have apparently breached the civil service code by discussing a role with Keir Starmer without telling her Whitehall bosses, a Cabinet Office investigation has found.
D-day | Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of the French commando unit that waded ashore on D-day alongside allied troops to begin the liberation of France, died on Monday. He was 100 years old.
In depth: ‘There is certainly a reluctance to reflect on deeper causes’
The protests in response to the killing of Nahel Merzouk last Tuesday are the third major wave of civil disorder that France’s president Macron has faced, points out Jon Henley, following the “gilets jaunes” demonstrations in 2018 and 2019 (which began as a fuel tax protest) and the disputes over pension reforms earlier this year.
In terms of their geographical spread across France, however, these were the worst demonstrations for almost two decades, with five nights of serious unrest, 2,000 cars burned, hundreds of public buildings trashed and more than 3,000 people arrested. Nothing on this scale has been seen since 2005, when the banlieues erupted following the deaths of two other teenagers, again after contact with police.
The speed and scale of this week’s protests may have caught the authorities by surprise, says Jon, but their roots lie in deep-seated problems that run counter to France’s cherished notion of itself as a liberal republic founded on the equality of all its citizens.
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Brewing tension in the banlieues
France’s banlieues are usually referred to as “suburbs” of Paris and other major cities – in fact, says Jon, they are more like new towns, built between the 1950s and 1970s to house large numbers of incoming workers from rural France and the country’s former colonies in north and west Africa.
“They are an extraordinary mix,” he says. “They are full of energy and creativity, but also have a concentration of poverty, crime and drugs, of the kind you would get in any inner city in Europe. The difference is that in France, they are not in the inner city.”
Corralled in these out of town estates, young people of black or north African descent demonstrably suffer discrimination, says Jon – they are 20 times more likely to be stopped and asked for their ID by police, for instance, than white people. But because France, believing itself to be a colourblind society, collects no census or other official data based on the race or ethnicity of its citizens, the scale of their disadvantage often goes unrecorded.
The geographical isolation of the banlieues shields residents’ concerns from the public gaze and contributes to other French people regarding them as “other”, he notes.
What all this means is that “a chunk of the French population are fully aware that another chunk of the French population will never really see them as French. That’s one key reason why these explosions happen.”
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The response from police
The killing of Nahel Merzouk by armed police has certainly shocked France, says Jon, but the resulting violent clashes between police and rioters may have come as little surprise.
There is “a completely different relationship between the police and the public in France,” he says. The principle of policing in Britain is that it is done “by consent” – whether or not that always works perfectly – with the idea being that authorities “are protecting the public.”
In France, on the other hand, police officers are seen as “[protecting] the state, the government and [upholding] the law, and they will crack heads to do so”.
As a result, he says, it is not too extreme to say there is “genuine enmity” between the French police and sections of French society. Some of the tactics and weaponry French police use almost routinely – such as stun grenades and flash balls – are deployed only in very extreme circumstances elsewhere in Europe, he says. That said, “[the police] are often the target of really extreme violence, that is just completely alien to Britain, Germany or Scandinavia.
“If you look at some of the footage of the rioting, even of the gilets jaunes protests in the centre of Paris, some people go to demos in France armed to do battle with the police. I think it’s very hard to overstate the extreme level of violence that exists in France between the police and some elements of the population … When a society has evolved that kind of relationship with its police force, I have no idea how you wind that back.”
If France’s police see themselves as protecting the state, they have also historically been protected by the state. Astonishingly, notes Jon, there have been 17 fatalities at traffic stops in the past 18 months, with most of the dead from minority ethnic backgrounds. And yet calls for reform of the police this week were met with instant pushback from the government.
“When the UN said on Friday this whole episode was a perfect time for France to reflect on institutional racism in the police, the French government instantly put out a statement saying there is no institutional racism in the police. So there is certainly a reluctance to reflect on deeper causes.”
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What happens next?
How can France, and its government, begin to solve these problems? Plenty of external observers, as well as many in France, acknowledge that police reform is long overdue, but will be a very difficult nut to crack. Likewise the problems of the banlieues, which have received billions in extra funding since the 2005 riots, have been building over decades and will require “a decades-long solution”, says Jon.
For the centre-right Macron, who has no majority in parliament and therefore relies on the far-right or left-wing opposition to pass most legislation, the road ahead is not straightforward.
“You can imagine that the left will be demanding massive investment in the banlieues, and root and branch reform of the police, which the right will be refusing, and the right will be demanding a law and order crackdown, which the left will be refusing. And he’s got to work his way through all that.”
As for the suggestion, often made by outsiders, that France may need to reflect on the principles that underpin the republic itself, Jon sees this as more unlikely. “Compared to when I covered the riots in 2005, there is certainly more debate around those ideas,” he says. “But I don’t see any imminent signs of a wholesale rethink.”
What else we’ve been reading
Their homes are awash with earth tones, their wardrobes are monochromatic and their routines are regimented. But Sarah Manavis is unconvinced that aping “beige-fluencers” will unlock a new level of contentment. Nimo
The latest piece in the Guardian’s ‘How we survive’ series tells the truly incredible story of Mauro Prosperi, who was stranded in the Sahara during an ultramarathon. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters
One in five children and one in 10 adults in the UK suffer from eczema. It can be a physically and emotionally debilitating condition and – at its worst – it sent Abigail Lowe to A&E. Lowe chronicles her horrifying experience withdrawing from topical steroids. Nimo
“I love the idea that people would be humming along, but the lyrics are barbed and uncomfortable”: Suede’s Animal Nitrate is the latest song to get the How we made treatment, with Brett Anderson and Mat Osman recounting making a song that sums up the group’s grotty, gothy magic. Hannah
Antarctica has become an increasingly popular tourist destination because of its breathtaking scenery, wildlife and silence. But, writing for The Atlantic (£), Sara Clemence says that travellers are accelerating the impacts of climate change on the continent. “Maybe, despite our deepest impulses to explore, we can leave one place in the world alone”, she writes. Nimo
Sport
Tennis | Venus Williams was given a hero’s welcome at Wimbledon, but the five-time champ who entered the tournament as a wild card exited the competition in the first round. Elsewhere, Brits Liam Broady and Jodie Burrage both made it past the first round with convincing wins over their opponents.
Football | Newcastle have signed Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old arrives at St James’ Park from AC Milan having captained his home nation at the European Under-21 Championship finals this summer.
Cycling | Jasper Philipsen of Belgium, riding for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, won the third stage of the Tour de France, after a hectic bunch sprint finish in Bayonne was scrutinised by the race jury. Philipsen’s win had looked in doubt, after he appeared to veer across the finishing straight and block the progress of a rival.
The front pages
The Guardian leads on an exclusive: “Labour wants graduate-led nurseries to fight inequality”. The Times reports on an article written by the former health secretary, with “Ailing NHS has made us sicker, says Javid”.
Cost of living news is prominent across the other front pages. The i says “67% of public want cap on supermarket prices to help cost of living”. The Telegraph leads with “Motorists used as fuel ‘cash cow’ by grocers”, while the Mirror has the same story under the headline “£900m fuel rip-off”. The Financial Times reports “Bank chiefs called in by watchdog to answer claims of profiteering on rates”.
Finally, the Mail leads with “Banks face probe into ‘chilling’ account closures”.
Today in Focus
The killing of Nahel – and a week of grief and fury in France
The killing of Nahel Merzouk, who was of Algerian and Moroccan descent, caused uproar and has shone a spotlight on police brutality and systemic racism in France, while sparking a fury that has turned into overwhelming violence. A week on from the teenager’s death Angelique Chrisafis tells Nosheen Iqbal about the deep anger it has unleashed and what could be done to tackle it.
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Octopuses have long fascinated humans. Their intelligence, odd anatomy and curious nature captivates many people, so much so that they have become something of a mythological creature. David Scheel, a professor of marine biology at Alaska Pacific University, has spent much of his career studying these animals and has done some mythbusting, pointing out that the facts are often more extraordinary than misconceptions. Take sex, for example: while humans get up close and personal, octopuses do it at arm’s-length – sometimes with fatal consequences (the females sometimes attack and kill the males).
However, Scheel’s main goal was to highlight that octopuses are not all that removed from us, because we share a deep evolutionary history. “Maybe the biggest misconception about them is that they’re very alien and very different from us,” he says. “And I think one of the messages I wanted to get across is that all of life, all of animal life in particular, shares a set of universal goals.”
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Bored at work?
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