https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Europe's top rights court will on Tuesday issue unprecedented verdicts in three separate cases on the responsibility of states in the face of global warming, rulings that could force governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240407/top-europe-rights-court-to-issue-landmark-climate-verdicts Sun, 07 Apr 2024 14:48:03 +0200 top-europe-rights-court-to-issue-landmark-climate-verdicts If you own property in France you might be thinking of setting up security cameras - especially if you have a second home that is empty for long periods - but France's strict privacy laws also cover private CCTV. Here's what you need to know. https://www.thelocal.fr/20230301/reader-question-can-i-set-up-a-security-camera-on-my-french-property Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:03:51 +0100 reader-question-can-i-set-up-a-security-camera-on-my-french-property In the wake of the American Supreme Court's decision to end abortion rights for women in the US, French MPs have voted to enshrine in France's Constitution the right to terminate a pregnancy - so how easy is it to amend the Constitution in France? https://www.thelocal.fr/20220628/can-frances-constitution-be-changed-to-add-the-right-to-abortion Tue, 28 Jun 2022 15:50:15 +0200 can-frances-constitution-be-changed-to-add-the-right-to-abortion Lawmakers in the French parliament voted on Thursday to add the right to abortion to the constitution in response to recent changes in the United States and Poland. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221124/french-mps-set-to-vote-to-add-the-right-to-abortion-to-the-constitution Thu, 24 Nov 2022 17:20:41 +0100 french-mps-set-to-vote-to-add-the-right-to-abortion-to-the-constitution Blessed are the French cheesemakers as a court in Paris has ruled in their favour, following a decade of lobbying https://www.thelocal.fr/20221123/french-court-rules-on-the-appearance-of-striped-cheese Wed, 23 Nov 2022 14:13:03 +0100 french-court-rules-on-the-appearance-of-striped-cheese Activists have accused French judges of imperilling the right to a fair trial after making it an offence for a suspect to refuse to unlock their mobile phone. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221109/france-criticised-for-forcing-suspects-to-unlock-phones Wed, 09 Nov 2022 09:54:01 +0100 france-criticised-for-forcing-suspects-to-unlock-phones Five decades ago, a lawyer convinced a French court to acquit a teenage girl who illegally terminated her pregnancy after being raped, a landmark case that would pave the way for the right to abortion in France. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221010/extraordinary-moment-the-1970s-abortion-case-that-changed-french-law Mon, 10 Oct 2022 11:27:24 +0200 extraordinary-moment-the-1970s-abortion-case-that-changed-french-law France's top administrative court on Monday ordered the introduction of safety inspections for motorcycles, overturning the government's decision to drop the measure. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221031/frances-top-court-orders-safety-checks-for-motorbikes Mon, 31 Oct 2022 18:08:21 +0100 frances-top-court-orders-safety-checks-for-motorbikes France's higher education ministry has launched a €14 million campaign around sexual consent, teaching students to seek explicit consent for any sexual encounter under the slogan 'sans oui, c'est interdit' (without a yes, it's forbidden). https://www.thelocal.fr/20221010/french-launches-e7m-only-yes-means-yes-campaign-on-sexual-consent Mon, 10 Oct 2022 13:43:37 +0200 french-launches-e7m-only-yes-means-yes-campaign-on-sexual-consent France’s highest administrative court has temporarily overturned a ban on the sale of cannabidiol (CBD) flowers and leaves in France, less than a month after it was introduced by the government. This is just the latest stage in France’s convoluted history with cannabis. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220126/cannabis-french-high-court-ruleing-puts-cbd-products-back-on-sale Wed, 26 Jan 2022 18:27:33 +0100 cannabis-french-high-court-ruleing-puts-cbd-products-back-on-sale French police once opened an investigation into paparazzi photos of president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte on holidays - so what do France's famously strict privacy laws say about these type of snaps? https://www.thelocal.fr/20210927/explained-just-how-strict-are-frances-privacy-laws Mon, 27 Sep 2021 18:41:14 +0200 explained-just-how-strict-are-frances-privacy-laws French police were searching the ministry of justice on Thursday as part of a conflict of interest probe against the justice minister, a former star defence lawyer, a judicial source said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210701/french-search-french-ministry-of-justice-in-probe-against-minister Thu, 01 Jul 2021 16:21:58 +0200 french-search-french-ministry-of-justice-in-probe-against-minister We don't want to put a downer on anyone's new life in France, but it's time to talk about death. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210701/reader-question-is-my-non-french-will-valid-in-france Thu, 01 Jul 2021 13:03:05 +0200 reader-question-is-my-non-french-will-valid-in-france French insurance giant Axa said on Thursday that it would pay €300 million to some 15,000 restaurants fighting to have at least part of their losses due to Covid lockdowns covered by their policies. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210610/french-insurance-giant-agrees-to-pay-e300m-to-restaurants-over-covid-closures Thu, 10 Jun 2021 11:46:04 +0200 french-insurance-giant-agrees-to-pay-e300m-to-restaurants-over-covid-closures French MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of tightening the country's anti-terror laws, including placing curbs on the movements of convicted radicals and using algorithms to detect online extremists. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210603/french-mps-back-tightening-of-countrys-anti-terror-laws Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:19:02 +0200 french-mps-back-tightening-of-countrys-anti-terror-laws After a series of stories in foreign media that misunderstand or misrepresent events in France, Ingri Bergo looks at why is France having such a hard time making itself understood abroad. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210429/analysis-why-is-france-so-often-misrepresented-abroad Thu, 29 Apr 2021 16:12:13 +0200 analysis-why-is-france-so-often-misrepresented-abroad France's parliament adopted legislation on Thursday setting the minimum age of sexual consent at 15. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210416/france-sets-age-of-sexual-consent-at-15-in-historic-step Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:45:59 +0200 france-sets-age-of-sexual-consent-at-15-in-historic-step A case has been brought against France at the European Court of Human Rights by a woman who lost a divorce case after judges ruled against her because she refused to have sex with her husband. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210319/france-taken-to-european-court-after-divorce-ruling-that-woman-had-marital-duty-to-have-sex-with-her-husband Fri, 19 Mar 2021 17:40:50 +0100 france-taken-to-european-court-after-divorce-ruling-that-woman-had-marital-duty-to-have-sex-with-her-husband Following a ruling from the French broadcasting authority that online porn sites must do more to verify the age of their customers, users in France face a range of extra checks, including the possibility of having to go to the tabac to buy a 'porn pass'. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210318/why-french-people-may-need-to-buy-a-porn-pass-at-the-tabac-to-access-online-pornography Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:58:05 +0100 why-french-people-may-need-to-buy-a-porn-pass-at-the-tabac-to-access-online-pornography From crowing roosters to the whiff of barnyard animals, the "sensory heritage" of France's countryside will now be protected by law from attempts to stifle the everyday aspects of rural life from newcomers looking for peace and quiet. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210122/france-passes-law-to-give-rural-noises-and-smells-protected-status Fri, 22 Jan 2021 10:17:56 +0100 france-passes-law-to-give-rural-noises-and-smells-protected-status