The French lower house, the National Assembly, has adopted legislation making linguistic discrimination an offence along with racism, sexism and other outlawed bigotry.
Amid widespread outrage in Ferance over video images of an apparently racist and fierce assault by Paris police of black music producer Michel Zecler last weekend, President Emmanuel Macron released a statement on Facebook describing the attack as 'shameful', adding that 'those who apply the law must respect the law'.
Three police officers were suspended on Thursday after they were filmed by CCTV cameras following a black man from a north Paris street into his studio, where they can be seen punching him and beating him with a truncheon and, according to their victim, using racist language before then arresting him.
The rugbyman, who was capped 65 times for the France national team, and who scored a memorable try during France’s semi-final victory over New Zealand in the 1999 Rugby World Cup, was found dead in the Saint-Cloud park, south-west of Paris, after what one witness described as a fall of 15 metres.
In a televised speech to the nation on Tuesday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron announced measures to ease the second firm lockdown on public movement introduced at the end of October to attempt to contain a resurgence in the coronavirus epidemic, with shops and entertainment venues to be reopened as of next weekend, but cafés and restaurants will have to wait at least until Januarty 20th before resuming business.
The trial in Paris of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy for allegedly trying to bribe a magistrate in return for information about an investigation into his party finances was suspended shortly after it opened on Wednesday to allow a medical examination of one of the two other defendants.
Thousands of demonstrators including journalists and representatives of rights groups held protests in Paris and cities nationwide on Saturday against a 'global security' bill currently before parliament which proposes censoring the publication of police officers' faces, an increase in police powers and an expansion of surveillance operations.
Daniel Cordier, who served in the wartime French Resistance underground movement, notably as secretray to Jean Moulin, and who was one of the last two remaining individuals honoured as Compagnons de la Libération, has died at his home in Cannes, south-east France, aged 100.
Amazon France and major hypermarket chains have agreed to postpone their yearly "Black Friday" discounted sales to December 4th in face of growing anger from small retailers who have been forced to close under public lockdown rules and who hope to be allowed to reopen next month.
In a meeting with members of the representative French Council of the Muslim Faith, French President Emmanuel Macron has urged them to sign up to a 'charter of republican values' which includes a rejection of political Islam and prohibiting 'foreign interference' in Muslim groups,
