https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Europe in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed France said on Friday it was "greatly concerned" about the International Olympic Committee's decision to introduce gender testing to determine eligibility for the female category, saying it was a "step backwards". https://www.thelocal.com/20260327/france-calls-new-olympic-gender-testing-a-step-backwards Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:55:30 +0100 france-calls-new-olympic-gender-testing-a-step-backwards Almost half of real estate agencies in France accept or enable racial discrimination in access to housing, according to a survey published on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.com/20260126/almost-half-of-french-real-estate-agents-enable-racism-study-shows Mon, 26 Jan 2026 09:08:37 +0100 almost-half-of-french-real-estate-agents-enable-racism-study-shows France has launched a probe after a video emerged of a man harassing and humiliating a young Jewish child at a Paris airport, demanding that he "free Palestine" and "dance," a judicial source said on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.com/20251224/france-launches-probe-over-video-of-man-harassing-jewish-boy Wed, 24 Dec 2025 08:54:45 +0100 france-launches-probe-over-video-of-man-harassing-jewish-boy The European Court of Justice on Thursday said it was up to Denmark's courts to decide whether a Danish law requiring authorities to redevelop poor urban "ghettos" with high concentrations of "non-Western immigrants and their descendants" was discriminatory. https://www.thelocal.com/20251218/residents-from-danish-housing-area-hope-for-win-in-landmark-eu-discrimination-case Thu, 18 Dec 2025 10:46:19 +0100 residents-from-danish-housing-area-hope-for-win-in-landmark-eu-discrimination-case One of France's most famous national monuments may be getting a revamp after calls to change the inscription on the front to acknowledge the fact that women exist. https://www.thelocal.com/20250901/calls-to-change-sexist-inscription-on-french-national-monument Mon, 01 Sep 2025 14:55:19 +0200 calls-to-change-sexist-inscription-on-french-national-monument Holiday camp organisers are to file a legal complaint against Spanish airline Vueling over a decision a day earlier to make French Jewish teenagers disembark from a Paris-bound flight, a lawyer said on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.com/20250724/french-holiday-camp-accuses-vueling-of-discrimination-against-jewish-teens Thu, 24 Jul 2025 19:29:19 +0200 french-holiday-camp-accuses-vueling-of-discrimination-against-jewish-teens Negative attitudes towards foreigners have risen in Switzerland, with new proposals to limit, or even severely restrict, the number of new arrivals. Many foreign residents in Switzerland tell us they are extremely concerned. https://www.thelocal.com/20241015/we-pay-our-taxes-foreigners-in-switzerland-troubled-by-rise-in-hostility Tue, 15 Oct 2024 15:36:05 +0200 we-pay-our-taxes-foreigners-in-switzerland-troubled-by-rise-in-hostility This slang word has been named Germany's 'non-word' or 'ugliest word' of the year for 2024, with judges slamming the phrase as thoughtless and discriminatory. https://www.thelocal.com/20250113/biodeutsch-why-this-is-germanys-ugliest-word-of-the-year Mon, 13 Jan 2025 16:43:37 +0100 biodeutsch-why-this-is-germanys-ugliest-word-of-the-year A new government study has highlighted the ways in which foreigners face inequalities in the job market and education in Spain, a waste of foreign talent that costs the Spanish economy billions of euros every year. https://www.thelocal.com/20241119/new-report-reveals-how-spain-discriminates-against-foreigners Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:23:29 +0100 new-report-reveals-how-spain-discriminates-against-foreigners Israel has urged fans to avoid Thursday's France-Israel football tie, which authorities fear could become a flashpoint following violence in Amsterdam surrounding a match involving an Israeli team. https://www.thelocal.com/20241111/israel-urges-fans-to-skip-high-risk-france-israel-football-match Mon, 11 Nov 2024 11:51:08 +0100 israel-urges-fans-to-skip-high-risk-france-israel-football-match From finding a flat and applying for jobs to dating, does having a foreign name make life harder in Germany? We spoke to our readers to find out. https://www.thelocal.com/20240917/no-one-will-offer-me-a-job-how-having-a-foreign-name-affects-life-in-germany Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:53:45 +0200 no-one-will-offer-me-a-job-how-having-a-foreign-name-affects-life-in-germany Countries that don’t compile stats on ethnicity aren’t doing enough to combat racism, according to the UN and EU. So why are officials in Sweden showing no signs of following their recommendations? https://www.thelocal.com/20240529/should-sweden-collect-stats-on-ethnicity-to-combat-racism Wed, 29 May 2024 11:52:24 +0200 should-sweden-collect-stats-on-ethnicity-to-combat-racism Sweden’s political leaders are putting the population’s well-being at risk by moving the country in a more authoritarian direction, according to a recent report. https://www.thelocal.com/20240429/very-little-debate-on-consequences-of-swedens-crime-and-migration-clampdown Mon, 29 Apr 2024 10:56:00 +0200 very-little-debate-on-consequences-of-swedens-crime-and-migration-clampdown France believes that Russia's security service FSB was behind a campaign in which Star of David graffiti were daubed on buildings in and around Paris last autumn, a French source said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.com/20240223/france-blames-russias-fsb-for-star-of-david-graffiti-campaign Fri, 23 Feb 2024 18:02:13 +0100 france-blames-russias-fsb-for-star-of-david-graffiti-campaign Headed up by a man accused of right-wing extremism, the newly formed 'WerteUnion' is likely to tip the scale of German politics further to the right. https://www.thelocal.com/20240220/how-a-new-anti-migrant-party-could-cement-germanys-lurch-to-the-right Tue, 20 Feb 2024 15:46:33 +0100 how-a-new-anti-migrant-party-could-cement-germanys-lurch-to-the-right Activists on Thursday petitioned a French court to change the name of a neighbourhood and street in the seaside resort town of Biarritz over its racist connotations. https://www.thelocal.com/20231207/activists-urge-french-resort-to-drop-racist-district-name Thu, 07 Dec 2023 18:15:57 +0100 activists-urge-french-resort-to-drop-racist-district-name Some 200 people, including some of Sweden's most high-ranking politicians, took part in a 'kippa march' demonstration in Stockholm. https://www.thelocal.com/20231207/swedish-politicians-walk-in-kippa-march-against-anti-semitism Thu, 07 Dec 2023 09:17:45 +0100 swedish-politicians-walk-in-kippa-march-against-anti-semitism A two-day conference focussed on Germany's Muslim community is being held in Berlin - but this year there are some notable absences. Here's what you need to know about the event and why Islamic groups say they've been sidelined. https://www.thelocal.com/20231121/what-is-germanys-islam-conference-and-why-is-it-controversial Tue, 21 Nov 2023 18:35:10 +0100 what-is-germanys-islam-conference-and-why-is-it-controversial The Swedish state should issue a public apology to the country's Tornedalian minority, urges a truth commission set up to investigate historic wrongdoings. https://www.thelocal.com/20231115/sweden-should-apologise-to-tornedalian-minority-truth-commission-releases-report Wed, 15 Nov 2023 15:14:29 +0100 sweden-should-apologise-to-tornedalian-minority-truth-commission-releases-report Austria has set aside millions of euros to compensate thousands of gay people who until two decades ago faced prosecution, its justice minister said Monday. https://www.thelocal.com/20231113/austria-to-compensate-gay-people-convicted-under-discriminatory-laws Mon, 13 Nov 2023 18:50:24 +0100 austria-to-compensate-gay-people-convicted-under-discriminatory-laws