The France thread

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Jul 14, 2020 11:27 pm

Translated from French Wikipedia:

The Birmingham riots, also known as the Priestley riots, took place from July 14 to 17, 1791 in Birmingham, England. Dissidents of the Church of England and, in particular, the theologian and political philosopher Joseph Priestley, were the main target of the rioters. Local and national events, which aroused the passion of the crowds, ranged from disagreement over the purchase of books by the public library, to controversy over the Dissidents' attempts to obtain rights identical to those of other citizens of the realm, to their support for the French Revolution.

The riots began with an attack on a hotel where a banquet was being held to celebrate the second anniversary of the capture of the Bastille. Then, starting with Priestley's church and house, the rioters attacked or set fire to four Dissident chapels, twenty-seven houses and several businesses. Many of them got drunk with the alcohol found in the looted places or the alcohol offered to them so that they would not set fire to this or that building. The rioters burn not only the houses and chapels of the Dissidents, but also the homes of people known to be sympathetic to their cause, such as members of the scientific community of the Lunar Society.

Although the riots were not organized by the government of Prime Minister William Pitt, he was very slow to respond to the Dissidents' call for help. Local officials in Birmingham may have been involved in the preparations for the riots and later became reluctant to prosecute the leaders. Industrialist James Watt writes that the riots "divided Birmingham into two camps that mortally hated each other". Those who fell victim to the rioters gradually left Birmingham, abandoning a city that had become more conservative than it had been throughout the 18^th century.

https://i.imgur.com/h2CiOtW.jpg

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89meu ... Birmingham

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:13 am

France raises pay for health care workers by more than €8 billion

The French government and unions signed an agreement Monday giving over eight billion euros in pay rises for health workers, with the prime minister admitting the move was overdue in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

During the peak of the outbreak in France, people applauded every night health workers who in turn said that such gratitude rang hollow if it was not followed by concrete steps.

The bulk of the package comprises 7.5 billion euros ($8.5 billion) for pay increases for nurses and careworkers, who will get an average monthly raise of 183 euros ($208).

There is also 450 million euros ($510 million) for doctors intended to bolster wages for those who solely work in the public sector, a move aimed at luring them from more lucrative private clinics.

"No one can deny that this is a historic moment for our health system," Prime Minister Jean Castex said after a signing ceremony that followed seven weeks of negotiations between government and unions.

"This is first of all recognition of those who have been on the front line in the fight against this epidemic," he said.

"It is also a way of catching up the delay for each and every one -- including perhaps myself -- has their share of responsibility."

https://www.france24.com/en/20200713-fr ... C8-billion

Giz · Post by **Giz** » Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:38 am

Witness wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 11:27 pm
The riots began with an attack on a hotel where a banquet was being held to celebrate the second anniversary of the capture of the Bastille.

They had to surrender their French themed banquet?

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:19 am

↑ Near Basel there is a point where three borders meet:

https://i.imgur.com/5GN3K7m.jpg

They should build a hotel there in stead of that ridiculous monument.

[Typo corrected.]

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Jul 26, 2020 2:16 am

French business booms more than expected in July on services rebound: PMI

PARIS (Reuters) - French business activity rebounded far more than expected in July as a post-lockdown recovery in the service sector shifted up a gear, a survey showed on Friday.

Data compiler IHS Markit said its preliminary purchasing managers index jumped to 57.6 from 51.7 in June, hitting its highest level since January 2018.

That easily beat economists’ average forecast for 53.5 in a Reuters poll and brought the index further away from 50-point level dividing an expansion from a contraction.

French business activity has been recovering faster than expected since the country began emerging from a coronavirus lockdown on May 11.

The government put France under one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe in mid-March, shutting down vast swaths of the euro zone’s second-biggest economy and plunging the country into its worst recession since modern records began in 1948.

Companies in both the services and manufacturing sectors both ramped up production in July as backlogs built in the face of pent-up demand unsatisfied during the lockdown.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fran ... 4P0NM?il=0

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Jul 28, 2020 1:54 am

Paris public transport to be made free for under-18s

Parisians under the age of 18 will be able to ride for free on the city's public transport when they go back to school in September.

The change, approved by the Conseil de Paris (city council) on Thursday, will save families €350 annually.

The move applies only to children who hold an Imagine R student Navigo pass, which covers Paris and the surrounding Île-de-France region, rather than visitors to the French capital.

Until now free public transport applied only to children up to the age of 11, with older children entitled to fifty per cent off their annual pass, but City Hall has decided to extend the benefit at an estimated cost of €12.6m per year.

When schools return, families will be able to apply for a full reimbursement to their Imagine R travel passes which they should receive in five to six weeks.

"The evolution towards a more sustainable, clean and multifaceted model of urban mobility involves developing the reflex to use public transport from an early age." said a City Hall statement.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20200724/public ... s-in-paris

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:34 pm

Paris imposes face mask order for outdoor markets, River Seine strollers

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:21 pm

France sees most new daily Covid-19 cases since May

More than 2,500 new coronavirus cases were registered in France in 24 hours in the sharpest increase since May, government data showed on Wednesday, as officials said indicators were "clearly worsening".

Of 600,000 tests over the past week more than 11,600 were positive, the health ministry's DGS public health division said.

At 2.2 percent, the weekly rate of positives was up from 1.6 percent the week before, confirming "increased viral circulation", it added.

"Indicators used for tracking the epidemic on French territory have clearly worsened in recent days," the DGS said.

With August traditionally a month when many French people take weeks of summer holiday, "it's imperative that we keep up our efforts to avoid the epidemic picking up again, individually and collectively, everywhere and at all times", the DGS said.

Health officials have identified 18 new virus clusters in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 896 nationwide – although the number of patients in intensive care dropped slightly to 379, a level relatively steady since late July.

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday that France will gradually ramp up police checks to ensure people wear face masks where it is mandatory and respect social distancing amid a new surge of Covid-19 infections. "We're at a tipping point [...] We're going to mobilise police forces to make checks," Attal said.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200812-fr ... -since-may

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:26 pm

How climate change is souring French winemakers' 2020 harvest

2020 has already been a year to forget for vineyards, as the corona crisis has led to plummeting sales. Now adverse weather conditions are threatening to ruin the harvest.

Just when it seemed the year could not get more awful for French winemakers, it has got worse.

With coronavirus lockdowns sending sales plummeting, some have had to turn their unsold stock into alcoholic hand disinfectant.

This is all the more depressing because 2019 was a vintage year in many of the country's wine regions.

But 2020 has also brought the creeping spectre of climate change into sharp focus, as winemakers were forced to start picking their grapes in early August in parts of southern France -- a whole month ahead of the norm two generations ago.

The first signs are not good, with a meagre crop riddled with mildew from topsy-turvy weather.

In some vineyards, there are hardly any grapes left to pick.

The Agly valley, upriver from Rivesaltes, the village which gives its name to the renowned fortified wine, is the sunniest in France, with 300 days of sunshine a year.

Yet even here they have not seen a year like it with grape-pickers working under blistering temperatures nearing 40 degrees Centigrade (104 Fahrenheit).

Farmers have been forced to harvest by machine at night or handpick from the crack of dawn to keep the grapes at their cool best.

"It is the first time I have seen anything like this, and I have been working in the vineyards since I was 17," 68-year-old Jean-Marie Dereu told AFP in his fields 40 kilometres from the Spanish border.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20200815/climat ... er-harvest

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:48 pm

Bras off: Lockdown triggers rise in French women going braless

A growing number of French women are ditching their bras in the name of comfort and liberty, according to a recent survey, a trend that seems to have been triggered by the three-month Covid-19 lockdown in which many women got used to going without the undergarment.

According to a recent Ifop survey, while just three percent of women said they never or rarely wore a bra before the Covid-19 crisis, this rose to eight percent during the lockdown and stayed at seven percent afterwards.

The trend is even more pronounced among women under 25, 18 percent of whom say they now regularly don’t wear a bra in public.

"So what we measured at the end of the lockdown is that this very particular period of isolation at home had indeed been the occasion of a real boom in the practice of No Bra, among all French women,” Jean-Philippe Dubrulle, Ifop director of studies, told AFP.

“The number of women who gave up the bra during the lockdown multiplied by three and even more among young women, those under 25, which multiplied by four or five."

Comfort was the number one reason given for giving up the bra, according to the poll, but many also saw it as an expression of liberty and feminism.

And among under 25s, 32 percent said their decision to go braless was motivated in part by “the desire to fight against the sexualisation of the female breast”.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200824-br ... ng-braless

:mrgreen:

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:02 pm

Abdul Alhazred wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:56 pm Safe for work in France, but otherwise ...
NSFW:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... peuple.jpg

Piffle. The tradition goes back farther than that.

NSFW:

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:17 pm

Admittedly you got a point there. :figamagee:

https://i.imgur.com/kA96tzT.jpg

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:09 am

More French titties:

Topless sunbathing defended by French interior minister

France's interior minister has defended topless sunbathing after police asked a group of women on a Mediterranean beach to cover up.

The three were approached by officers on the beach in Sainte-Marie-La-Mer [actually it's Saintes-Maries-de-la mer, you journalist] following a complaint from a holidaying family.

The incident generated a huge backlash against the officers.

Backing the women, the minister, Gérald Darmanin, tweeted: "Freedom is a precious commodity".

He said it was wrong the women were asked to put on clothing.

A press release posted on Facebook by the Pyrenees-Orientales police said the incident happened last week.

Two officers asked three people on the beach to cover their chests, after a request from a family concerned about children present.

"Guided by a desire for appeasement, the police asked the people concerned if they would agree to cover their chest after they explained the reason for their approach," it said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53914862

Good luck with that, bare breasts were already old hat end of the seventies at least. But it's uplifting that the Interior Minister had time for that. :mrgreen:

[Demoted the minister from Prime to Interior, thanks Grammy!]

Grammatron · Post by **Grammatron** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:54 am

Interior Minister.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:58 am

Grammatron wrote: ↑Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:54 am Interior Minister.

Indeed, my bad. I'll rectify.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 1:52 am

France sees nearly 7,400 new daily coronavirus cases in exponential surge

PARIS (Reuters) - France reported 7,379 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, the most since lockdown, in what the health ministry described as an exponential surge just days before millions of children are due to return to school for the first time since March.

The daily tally was just shy of the record 7,578 high set on March 31, at the peak of an initial wave of COVID-19 infections that paralysed Europe. The surge has raised the possibility that the government could be forced to shut the country down again.

“We’re doing everything to avoid another lockdown, and in particular a nationwide lockdown,” President Emmanuel Macron told journalists earlier on Friday. He added it would be dangerous to rule out any scenario.

In a weekly review of the pandemic, the health ministry said the country was seeing an “exponential progression of virus transmission”.

Like other hard-hit western European countries, France imposed a sudden and strict lockdown in March, during which most residents were confined to their homes. The restrictions were gradually lifted from May 11 after infections sharply dropped.

The authorities are now searching for ways to limit the spread of the disease without a new lockdown. On Friday, Parisians were ordered to wear masks at all times outdoors in the capital.

The reopening of schools on Tuesday next week has been widely anticipated as a major step back towards normality. More than 12 million children will return to school, most for the first time in more than five months.

So far, the rapid increase in case numbers has yet to lead to a similar surge in hospitalisations or deaths. The ministry reported 20 new COVID-19 deaths on Friday, raising the cumulative total to 30,596. The number of people in hospital with the disease was unchanged at 4,535 and the number in intensive care rose by six to 387.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... 5O2M1?il=0

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:22 am

France's Macron refuses to condemn Charlie Hebdo cartoons of Prophet Muhammad

The president defended citizens' right to freedom of speech. His remarks came as the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, the target of a massacre by gunmen in 2015, said it was republishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was not his place to pass judgment on the decision by Charlie Hebdo to publish a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

Macron, speaking during a visit to Lebanon, said it was important for French citizens to be respectful to each other, and avoid a "dialogue of hate" but he would not criticize the satirical magazine's decision to republish the cartoon. His comments were reported on French broadcaster BFM TV.

Macron's remarks came as Charlie Hebdo, the target of a massacre by gunment in 2015, announced on Tuesday that it would republish the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to mark this week's start of the trial of accused accomplices in the attack.

"Beyond the trial that will begin tomorrow, and I don't have to express myself on this point as president, we will have a thought for all those who fell," Macron said.

Freedom of speech

Macron extolled the virtues of democracy and freedom of speech as he said: "It's never the place of a president of the Republic to pass judgment on the editorial choice of a journalist or newsroom, never. Because we have freedom of the press."

"There is in France a freedom to blaspheme which is attached to the freedom of conscience. I am here to protect all these freedoms. In France, one can criticize a president, governors, blaspheme," he said.

https://www.dw.com/en/frances-macron-re ... a-54788078

Giz · Post by **Giz** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 1:16 am

Macron has been doing well over freedom of speech.

(He’s probably fed up with saying “excuse my French”)

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:00 am

France arrests top military officer over Russian-linked 'breach' at NATO base

French authorities are investigating a senior military officer for passing "ultra-sensitive" information to Russian intelligence. The officer was reportedly working at a NATO base in Italy.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly told French media on Sunday that a senior military officer was under investigation for "serious security breaches."

"What I can confirm is that a senior officer is facing legal proceedings for a security breach," Parly told Europe 1 radio. She made similar statements to French television network Cnews and Les Echos newspaper.

The lieutenant-colonel was reportedly based at a NATO facility in Italy and was arrested while holidaying in his native France. He had reportedly passed on "ultra-sensitive" information to Russian intelligence services.

Parly said France's armed forces have taken "necessary protective measures" following the security breach.

https://www.dw.com/en/france-russia-spy ... a-54760763

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat Sep 05, 2020 2:38 am

France in huge coronavirus recovery plan focusing on green energy

France has unveiled a 100bn-euro (£89bn) economic stimulus package to help repair the economic damage caused by coronavirus.

Unveiling the plan, whose €100bn price tag is the equivalent of 4% of France's annual economic output, Prime Minister Jean Castex said it was almost four times bigger than the rescue strategy implemented after the financial crisis of 2008.

Its goal is to move away from the emergency funding of the coronavirus crisis and to make long-term investments in employment and training, as well as in France's transformation to a green economy.

About €40bn of the funding will come from the new European Union recovery fund.

About €35bn has been earmarked for projects to make the economy more competitive, and €30bn will be used on greener energy policies. About €6bn is slated for making public buildings and homes better insulated. The hydrogen industry, a sector which is receiving huge investment in Germany, will get €2bn.

The rest of the investment package will go on supporting jobs, training and broader social initiatives with the aim of creating at least 160,000 jobs next year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54009642

If interested about the hydrogen part: French Economic Recovery Package to Include 7 Billion Euros for Hydrogen Industry (can't be copypasted)

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Sat Sep 05, 2020 11:21 am

Witness wrote: ↑Sat Sep 05, 2020 2:38 am If interested about the hydrogen part: French Economic Recovery Package to Include 7 Billion Euros for Hydrogen Industry (can't be copypasted)

LInk corre ted
https://fuelcellsworks.com/news/french- ... -industry/

The copy disable feature is clever. Text appears to be an img overlay.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 11:24 pm

Eastern France, local press put through translator:

Anti-mask rally in Chambéry: "The mask is a rite of satanic sorcery".

About 150 people participated in an anti-mask demonstration on Sunday afternoon in Chambéry. On the initiative of the sovereign Senate of Savoy, the demonstration also welcomed Swiss doctor Tal Schaller, known for his anti-vaccine writings and a follower of shamanism.

The call had been launched on social networks and invited all those opposed to the wearing of masks to peacefully demonstrate this Sunday afternoon, September 6, in front of the courthouse in Chambéry. And they are 150 people who presented themselves, without mask, to listen in particular to the speech of Thierry Becourt, spokesman of the sovereign Senate of Savoy.

It is indeed the Savoisiens who organized this gathering. They took advantage of it to recall that they always disputed the authority of the French State and that they called all its representatives to gently fold the tricolor flag and to pack their suitcases. They will appreciate this. On the coronavirus, the mask and a possible vaccine, Thierry Becourt defends Professor Raoult and has a theory: "With the complicity of the media, Big Pharma and the WHO, the deep State sets up a sanitary dictatorship and operates a massive social control. »

Vaccine, nanoparticles and 5Gs

For the Savoisiens, viruses are the friends of humanity and humanity has always lived with them. Thierry Becourt has driven the nail in: "The mask is a ritual of satanic witchcraft" which ends up making people sick by causing respiratory diseases.

Seeking to give scientific credit to the gathering, the controversial Swiss doctor Christian Tal Schaller took the stage. Affirming that he would soon release an "indisputable" report proving that the Pasteur Institute was at the origin of the virus. Their vaccine will contain nanoparticles that will work with 5G to control our lives. A good point for those who still have a Nokia 3310. Together with his wife, who presents herself as a shaman, they explained that "you have to learn to be healthy as you can learn to walk".

While waiting to kick the prefect out of Savoie, Savoisiens are always liable to be fined for not wearing a mask when it is mandatory. And that's 135 euros.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

https://www.ledauphine.com/social/2020/ ... -satanique

:mrgreen:

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Sep 14, 2020 2:58 am

Coronavirus: Cases in France leap past 10,000 a day

France has reported a record daily increase in coronavirus cases as the country struggles to contain a fresh surge in infections.

On Saturday health authorities said there were 10,561 new cases, rising by more than 1,000 from Friday's figures.
The numbers of people admitted to hospital and intensive care are also increasing.
A group of doctors have urged people to avoid private gatherings amid the fresh outbreak.
"After the joy of reuniting this summer, it's time to be careful in the private world," the doctors said in a column published in Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday.
"The smaller a room, the more people it contains, the less airy it is, the more you increase the risks."

Infection rates have risen for all age groups since June, but officials say the increase is particularly significant among young adults.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54137319

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:36 pm

Record infections in France as restrictions spark outcry

France reported a new record for daily coronavirus infections on Thursday a day after the government announced new restrictions on bars and restaurants in major cities which have provoked an outcry from local politicians and business owners.

Figures from Public Health France showed that 16,096 people had tested positive for Covid-19 over the last 24 hours, a record -- even though experts advise that testing during the first coronavirus wave in March-April captured only a fraction of cases.

The centrist government of President Emmanuel Macron announced a series of new measures on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the disease, including the closure of all bars and restaurants in Marseille and earlier closing times in Paris and elsewhere.

Faced with criticism from the mayors of Paris and Marseille, legal challenges and calls from some bar owners to defy the new orders, Prime Minister Jean Castex called for "responsibility" and implied his opponents were playing politics.

"What I don't want is that we go back to March," he said, referring to one of the strictest national lockdowns in Europe in which French people were required to fill out forms to leave their homes.

The southern port city of Marseille has been put on "maximum alert", while Paris and 10 other cities are at "elevated alert" -- the second tier on a new sliding scale system of infection control measures.

Public gatherings in all of these cities -- which includes Bordeaux and Lyon -- have been limited to 10 people, and attendance of large sporting events or concerts to 1,000.

Marseille's left-wing mayor objected that she had not been consulted about orders to shut bars, restaurants and sports facilities, and insisted that steps taken locally were started slowing the outbreak.

"I am angry because there was no consultation," Mayor Michele Rubirola, herself a doctor, told Franceinfo radio.

"Why turn the screws when our numbers have been improving for a few days now?"

Owners of restaurants, cafes and other businesses in Marseille said they would stage a protest against the new measures on Friday.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200924-re ... ark-outcry

Giz · Post by **Giz** » Wed Sep 30, 2020 11:13 pm

“"In France there is a low-noise destruction of the Christian roots", said the philosopher Michel Onfray. "There are about one or two anti-Christian acts a day and it takes a burning cathedral to start talking about it".

Six major French cathedrals and churches have caught fire during the last year and a half: Notre Dame, Nantes, Rennes, Saint-Sulpice, Lavaur and Pontoise. Perhaps that is why historian Rémi Brague called the fire at Notre Dame "our 9/11". The Observatory of Religious Heritage listed a total of 20 French churches that caught fire in just one year.

Little publicized and less condemned, attacks against Christian places of worship in France are multiplying and reaching alarming proportions. The Nantes fire was simply the latest in a succession of church destructions that have been going on for years and have apparently not scandalized anyone. “

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:24 am

↑ Perhaps I already posted something about that? Reading from your post it sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory: most of these fires aren't arson, just malfunctions. France has a lot of cathedrals and lesser old churches; and maintenance, strictly regulated for historic buildings, isn't cheap and so somewhat neglected. (Religious organizations are cash-strapped, see our awesome Heathens' thread.)

Onfray, coming from the Epicurean and Nitzschean traditions, started a nice trajectory by giving fiery talks about philosophy. (I have a bunch of CDs.) But some years ago he wrote an Atheist Manifesto and that book is very disappointing (in my opinion, and the opinions of some friends who read it too), so I haven't followed what he did since. Perhaps he's in the process of finding Jesus? :mrgreen:

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:36 am

Some parts of France skipped Autumn:

6000 sheep stranded in mountains after snow

https://i.imgur.com/LfyRhBD.jpg

Paris -- At least 6,000 sheep and six shepherds have been stranded in the French Alps since Saturday after a surprise snowfall.

France is experiencing exceptionally cold temperatures. Nearly 20 inches of snow has fallen in the Savoie region. A local official said the last time the region saw this amount of snow in September was 1974.

A rescue operation began on Sunday to save the sheep as well as a hundred cows stuck in the snow at an altitude of 6,200 feet. Local authorities transported six tons of hay to the stranded sheep, which had not eaten in 36 hours.

Thanks to the operation, some 1,000 animals were evacuated. Warmer weather on Tuesday allowed the sheep to eat the grass in places where the snow melted. More snowfall, however, is expected on Thursday.
...
There have also been three wolf attacks on three different stranded herds since the stranding.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/60 ... d=73310628

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat Oct 03, 2020 2:15 am

Macron outlines new law to prevent Islamic 'separatism' in France

Local officials will get extra powers to fight radicalism and social problems will be tackled

Emmanuel Macron has announced a law against religious “separatism” aimed at freeing Islam in France from “foreign influences”.

In a long-awaited declaration, the French president outlined new measures to “defend the republic and its values and ensure it respects its promises of equality and emancipation”.

The measures to combat “radical Islamism” and terrorism suggested a carrot-and-stick approach: local officials will be given extra legal powers to combat extremism while money will be invested in education – particularly of Islamic culture and civilisation – and to deal with other social problems including housing and poverty.

“Our challenge is to fight against those who go off the rails in the name of religion … while protecting those who believe in Islam and are full citizens of the republic,” Macron said.

His speech on Friday was a broad outline of the measures to come, which he said would be drawn up in the next two weeks for a law to be presented in December.

The measures include placing mosques under greater control and requiring that imams are trained and certified in France. The aim would be to “liberate French Islam from foreign influences”, he said, particularly funding. Islamic organisations that receive funding from the French state will have to sign a “secular charter”.

Associations found to be pushing ideas contrary to republican ideals could be ordered to disband, and €10m (just over £9m) of public funds would be used to finance higher education studies and research into Islamic culture and civilisation.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ism-france

In other news the uncompleted mosque in Angers has been given to Morocco to be completed, local Muslims being cash-strapped. Not all are happy: 1) they aren't all Moroccans; 2) they already put 2M+ euros into it; 3) there were some dubious financial operations around it.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:03 am

Dozens stage attack on police station in Paris suburb

PARIS (Reuters) - About 40 unidentified people armed with metal bars and using fireworks as projectiles tried to storm a police station in the Paris suburbs on Saturday night, officials said.

“Violent attack last night on the police station of Champigny with mortar shots and various projectiles. No police officer was injured,” the Paris police headquarters said on Twitter on Sunday.

The police posted a video showing a barrage of fireworks going off in the direction of the police station in Champigny-sur-Marne, about 15 km (nine miles) southeast of central Paris. The assailants tried to force entry into the station, but failed to do so.

Nobody was arrested, but images showed smashed windows at the station and damaged cars.

The motive for the attack, the third on this police station in two years, was not immediately clear. The station is located in a housing estate area known for drug trafficking and deemed by authorities as a high priority district for order to be restored.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fran ... SKBN26W0AU (video)

Giz · Post by **Giz** » Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:27 pm

French kindergarten teachers are hardcore:

A schoolteacher whose body, face and tongue are covered in tattoos and who has had the whites of his eyes surgically turned black said he was prevented from teaching at a French kindergarten after a parent complained he scared their child.

https://canoe.com/news/weird/frenchman- ... aching-job

(Pics at link)

Rob Lister · Post by **Rob Lister** » Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:57 pm

fuck. who would let this person babysit their kid?

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:34 am

Coronavirus: France to impose night-time curfew to battle second wave

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a night-time curfew in Paris and eight other cities to try to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus.

The measure - from 21:00 to 06:00 - will come into effect from Saturday and last for at least four weeks, Mr Macron said in a televised interview.

A public health emergency has also been declared.

Meanwhile Germany announced that bars and restaurants in higher-risk areas must close early.

Chancellor Angela Merkel announced tightened restrictions on Wednesday as the country recorded more than 5,000 new infections for the first time since April.

In areas where infections exceed 50 per 1,000 inhabitants, bars and restaurants must close their doors by 23:00. Private gatherings will be limited to 10 people from two households.

Across Europe, governments are introducing new restrictions to battle a second wave of infections.

A partial lockdown has come into force in the Netherlands and cafes and restaurants are closing.

Earlier, Spain's north-eastern region of Catalonia said bars and restaurants would close for 15 days from Thursday.

The Czech Republic has shut schools and bars. It has the highest rate of infection in Europe over the past two weeks, at 581.3 cases per 100,000 people.

The Irish government announced a ban on household visits from Thursday night, but childcare and visits on compassionate grounds will still be allowed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54535358

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Oct 15, 2020 10:56 pm

Coronavirus: French police raid ministers' homes in pandemic inquiry

French police have raided the homes of senior government and health officials as part of an investigation into their handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Health Minister Olivier Véran and the director of the national health agency, Jérôme Salomon, are among those whose properties were searched on Thursday.

The raids came after a court launched an inquiry earlier this year into the government's handling of the pandemic.

It has faced criticism over shortages of equipment and slow response times.

Prime Minister Jean Castex is also under investigation, French media report, as is his predecessor Edouard Philippe and Mr Véran's predecessor Agnès Buzyn.

The prime minister and Mr Véran have been at the forefront of France's new policy of imposing night-time curfews in nine cities, including Paris, from Saturday, which will be enforced by 12,000 police.

"This means at 21:00 everyone must be at home and, without exception, every place, business or public service open to the public will be shut," Mr Castex said on Thursday.

In July, the court launched the inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic after members of the public, including doctors and relatives of victims, alleged that it had been criminally negligent in its response to Covid-19.

The special court hears cases of alleged wrongdoing by ministers and other government officials in the course of their duties.

But for the claims to be substantiated, there would have to be evidence that officials knowingly failed to take obvious steps that would have saved lives.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54535358

Anaxagoras · Post by **Anaxagoras** » Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:18 am

Teacher decapitated in France after showing class caricatures of Muhammad

Yup. Exactly what it sounds like. He was teaching a class about freedom of speech.

The suspect was later killed by police.

shuize · Post by **shuize** » Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:17 am

Anaxagoras wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:18 am Teacher decapitated in France after showing class caricatures of Muhammad

Yup. Exactly what it sounds like. He was teaching a class about freedom of speech.

The suspect was later killed by police.

The religion of mostly peace.

ceptimus · Post by **ceptimus** » Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:50 am

Apparently the teacher warned his class that the lesson could be offensive to Muslims, and any Muslim pupils were free to leave before the class started. Most of the Muslim pupils did leave but one Muslim girl remained.

Not good enough for the Muslim fundamentalists, so the teacher received threats of legal action, death threats, and was then beheaded.

Giz · Post by **Giz** » Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:19 pm

The French kinda need to make showing these cartoons compulsory , otherwise how many other teachers will continue, especially in highly Muslim areas?

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:06 pm

New York paper reported this as “police shoot man In Paris”

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:06 pm

An armed suspect was murdered by French Police today

Grammatron · Post by **Grammatron** » Wed Oct 21, 2020 5:32 am

Covid provides a good cover against SJWs