Inside French prisons, and dodgy air quality outside

A bad day for Syria’s regime: first a bomb exploded at the state television station. Then the Prime Minister defected. Le Figaro says he is the highest-ranking official to defect – but did not necessarily have decision-making powers.

The Justice Minister Christiane Taubira tells Libération that France’s prison system is not only over-crowded, it is dangerous! This is the result, she says, of a decade of neglect under previous administrations.

A 20-year-old prisoner committed suicide at a prison just north of Lyon, and L’Humanité has the witness reports of prisoners who shed light on the conditions there.

Finally, some 12 million French people live in areas where air pollution levels are higher than Europe’s allowed limits. Les Echos reports on the thousands of deaths caused by air pollution every year.