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Published on: 02/19/2026 - 06:46

On the front page of the press, this Thursday, February 19, the start, in France, of the lawsuit brought by environmental defense associations and the City of Paris against TotalEnergies. A complaint, in the United States, against the dismantling of environmental policy by the Trump Administration. Investigations opened for alleged racism towards Real player Vinicius Jr. And the happiness of French ladies in biathlon.

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On the front page of the press, the start of the lawsuit brought by environmental defense associations and the City of Paris against TotalEnergies.

First major climate trial against an oil and gas giant, in France: L'Humanité announces "an extraordinary trial" to "force the French multinational to stop its contribution to the worsening of climate change and to comply with the objective of the Paris agreement" of 2015. "A decisive moment in a long legal battle which could set a precedent", according to L'Huma. The newspaper indicates that the public prosecutor wants to argue, for its part, that “the law on the duty of vigilance, passed in 2017, does not extend to climate change” – a position perceived by L’Huma as “unambiguous support for TotalEnergies”, the 6th world producer of oil and gas in 2024.

L'Humanité, which recalls, in passing, that the French group has been facing for decades "numerous procedures for its alleged involvement in human rights violations", notably in Uganda and Mozambique, which led to the referral, last November, to the anti-terrorism prosecution by an NGO for "complicity in war crimes, torture and forced disappearances" in these two countries.

Environmental defense associations file complaint in the United States

Environmental and health defense associations, which filed a complaint on Wednesday in the United States against the Trump Administration. The English-speaking France 24 site specifies that these associations are contesting the repeal, a week ago, of the text which served as the basis for the fight against CO₂ emissions, a revocation which they consider "illegal". Here again, this complaint should launch a long legal battle, which could go all the way to the Supreme Court.

In the American legal section, still, The Guardian, the British daily, reports the filing of another complaint, Tuesday, by the "American Equal Employment Opportunity Commission", which affirms that the Coca-Cola company violated federal law by organizing an event for 250 female employees in 2024 in Las Vegas. Argument from the president of this government agency, appointed by Trump: diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the professional environment are similar to “reverse discrimination” and harm decision-making based on merit alone.

In Chad, the return of French soldiers is not excluded

In Chad, the hypothesis of a return of French soldiers would not be excluded - this is what the newspaper Le Monde indicates, which recalls that the French military system, historic in Chad, imposed in 1900 by a colonial expedition and perpetuated despite independence in 1960, ended on January 30, 2025 after President Mahamat Idriss Déby "abruptly ordered France" to withdraw. A year later, almost to the day, the Chadian marshal was received at the Élysée, where it was "agreed" to "transform bilateral cooperation", "without the security issue being evaded". The newspaper explains that Mahamat Idriss Déby is still looking for "reliable partners" for Chad, "a country surrounded by fragile neighbors, one of which, Sudan, is plunged into a devastating civil war."

Also read on the subject, the report from Le Monde on the Chadian president's ambition to promote a unique asset: the largest herd of camels on the planet, with nearly 11 million heads. The newspaper says that the country is still unable to exploit, for the moment, this wealth, in particular because of security problems. But the market for camel meat and camel milk, currently valued at more than $10.5 billion, is very promising, with projections exceeding $15 billion by 2035. A market that attracts many people, including, among others, Viktor Orban's Hungary, which has committed to establishing a camel milk research center in N'Djamena and promised the construction of two dairy farms in the stride.

Investigation opened after accusations of racism in football

Sport, too, with UEFA's decision to open an investigation after the accusations of racism made by Vinicius Jr against Gianluca Prestianni. The Brazilian striker from Real Madrid accuses the Argentinian player from Benfica of having called him a "monkey" during a Champions League match on Tuesday in Lisbon, which Prestianni denies. If Vinicius' accusations are proven, the Argentine player risks "a suspension of at least 10 matches", according to UEFA disciplinary regulations, cited by El País, which would be unprecedented. Jornal de Noticias announces that Prestianni is also liable to prosecution in Portugal, where racism is an offense included in the penal code, and where the Authority for the Prevention and Combating Violence in Sport has also opened an investigation. "Racism always advances masked and I notice that we still manage to doubt what happened. However, Vinicius recounted the facts. Kylian Mbappé recounted the facts. But no, that is not enough. The doubt persists. We are not sure": in an interview with the newspaper L'Équipe, the former defender of the Blues Lilian Thuram, very committed to the fight against racism, lets his anger burst forth and does not spare the Benfica coach, José Mourinho, symbol in his eyes of the “feeling of white superiority”.

L'Équipe, which also returns this morning to other, much more uplifting news. Despite a sluggish start, the Blues crushed the Olympic Games relay in biathlon and won a third major title, after the mixed relay and the women's individual. Fifth gold medal for the discipline, sixth for the French team. Bravo ladies, and bravo to L’Équipe for the literary “ref”, as the young people say, to Émile Zola: “Au Bonheur des Dames”.

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