French political discussion megathread: Yellow Vest Redux

[NewYorkExpress]

The Baguette has been given protection by UNESCO

Freshly baked news: the baguette, the long, crusty loaf bread that is a delicious staple of French life, has been awarded special protected status, placing it in a culinary pantheon alongside other regional food delicacies from around the world.

The "artisanal know-how and culture of the baguette" is now officially recognized on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the organization announced Wednesday, inscribing the expertise behind the French bread as an integral part of human culture.

UNESCO -- the UN's cultural body -- defines intangible cultural heritage as "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants."

The baguette joins other foods and culinary cultures on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, including the making of Neapolitan pizza, kimchi, Belgian beer culture, the "Mediterranean diet", and Arabic coffee.

While sites from the US, including the Statue of Liberty, Yellowstone National Park and Philadelphia's Independence Hall are recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, nothing from the US is currently listed on the organization's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

[NewYorkExpress]

The Government is pushing to collect millions of old and unregistered firearms.

The pistol the elderly French woman inherited from her grandfather had once belonged to a German soldier, killed in a war fought on France's soil in the last century.

Now the woman has turned the heirloom over to police for fear that her grandchildren would stumble upon it.

French authorities want others to follow the unnamed woman's example by turning in millions of old firearms, remnants of the two World Wars and long-abandoned hunting excursions.

The country has launched a weeklong nationwide campaign ending Dec. 2 to collect old, unregistered weapons that are tucked away in attics and storerooms across the country that saw much of the twentieth century's fiercest fighting.

“We believe there are about 5 or 6 million weapons that are being kept in an irregular manner by our fellow citizens,” said Jean-Simon Merandat, Head of the Interior Ministry’s Central Service for Arms and Explosives. “Eighty to ninety percent of these weapons are in their possession due to an inheritance.”

Despite many such historical items seeming harmless, authorities promoting the campaign warn that appearances are deceptive. The old weapons can still be deadly and can be used to perpetuate domestic violence, or even fall into the hands of criminal networks.

The good news is French authorities deem their campaign so far to have been “a real success,” claiming to have rounded up 1.6 million munitions pieces, and 65,000 firearms. There will be no legal consequences if weapons are handed over willingly, authorities said.

The overwhelming majority of unregistered weapons that will be collected will be destroyed. But a prized few whose metal barrels tell remarkable stories will be saved and preserved by the state.

[NewYorkExpress]

Starting next year, condoms will be free for those 18-25.

Young people in France will be able to get condoms free of charge from next year in an effort to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.

"In pharmacies, condoms will be free for those aged 18 to 25 from January 1," Macron told reporters during an event about young people's health.

[NewYorkExpress]

There was a shooting Friday at Kurdish Community Center in Paris

French police on Friday fired teargas amid clashes with agitated protesters outside a Kurdish community center in the heart of Paris, where a gunman earlier killed three people and injured four others in an attack with possible racist underpinnings.

All three people killed inside and near the Kurdish Cultural Center Ahmet-Kaya on Rue d’Enghien were Kurds, the center’s lawyer confirmed to CNN.

The suspected attacker, a 69-year-old French man with a long criminal record, has been arrested.

He was not part of any far-right groups monitored by the police, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told journalists at the scene. “He (the suspect) clearly wanted to take it out on foreigners,” Darmanin said.

Clashes with dozens of protesters, mostly from the Kurdish diaspora, broke out during Darmanin’s visit to the site of the attack on Friday.

Police and protesters have been clashing violently all day today.

Clashes between protesters and police have broken out in central Paris on Saturday, as members of the local Kurdish community took to the streets to call for justice following Friday’s deadly shooting at a Kurdish cultural center.

Live images from CNN’s affiliate BFMTV, as well as news agencies Reuters and AFP show damaged streets and smoke rising from cars as demonstrators clash with police.

The skirmishes, which are ongoing, are taking place in the area near Place de la République in the heart of the French capital, not far from the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish cultural center, the site of Friday’s shooting.

CNN has reached out to the Paris Police department and the Kurdish community center for comment.

[NewYorkExpress]

Sebastian Lecornu is targeting Black Panther: Wakanda Forever over their depiction of the French military.

France’s Defense Minister has slammed Marvel’s movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” for what it calls a “false and misleading representation” of French troops.

“I strongly condemn this false and misleading representation of our Armed Forces,” French defense minister Sébastien Lecornu tweeted on Sunday.

In the franchise’s second installment, which was released in France in November 2022, the people of Wakanda – a fictional African country – are trying to protect the nation’s resources from foreign powers. During the movie, a group of mercenaries is caught stealing resources belonging to Wakanda.


The defense minister’s reaction comes after a French journalist on Saturday pointed out the similarities between the camouflage uniforms of those mercenaries in the movie and those of the French troops who operated in Mali for almost ten years.

“I think of and pay tribute to the 58 French soldiers who died defending Mali at its request against Islamist terrorist groups,” Lecornu said on Sunday on Twitter, responding to the journalist.

“While all the other elements of the film are fictional names and places there is a clear designation of France. The French military is painted as being involved in pillage of resources of the country and of course that is unacceptable,” a French Defense Ministry spokesperson told CNN in a phone call on Monday.


“We are not asking the studio to remove the movie or anything, on the other hand it is the role of the minister to defend the French military who were engaged in Mali to defend the country against terrorist groups,” the spokesperson added.

[NewYorkExpress]

Any ideas for who Macron will endorse as his successor in 2027? I was thinking Elisabeth Borne or Yael Braun-Pivet.

Brigitte Macron (because why the hell not)?

[NewYorkExpress]

Any ideas for who Macron will endorse as his successor in 2027? I was thinking Elisabeth Borne or Yael Braun-Pivet.

Brigitte Macron (because why the hell not)?

I can think of quite a few reasons.

In all seriousness, what would be different about Birgitte running for President of France as opposed to Hillary Clinton running for President of the United States?

[NewYorkExpress]

Any ideas for who Macron will endorse as his successor in 2027? I was thinking Elisabeth Borne or Yael Braun-Pivet.

Brigitte Macron (because why the hell not)?

I can think of quite a few reasons.

In all seriousness, what would be different about Birgitte running for President of France as opposed to Hillary Clinton running for President of the United States?

Brigitte worked less than a year at a private secondary school before resigning for having an affair with a student, while Hillary worked as a non-profit lawyer, Senator, and Secretary of State.

In spite of those positions, both of Hillary's runs were basically as "Mrs. Bill Clinton" (which is one of the reasons why she lost to Obama, and why Bernie did so well against her in 2016).

[NewYorkExpress]

Most moderate French protesters

https://twitter.com/RueDaungier/status/1637181374124703751?s=20

Where were these people when Trump was our President?

[NewYorkExpress]

Starting to wonder if Macron will still be alive this time next year.

France has a long history of murdering (or attempting to murder) leaders whom the public strongly dislikes.

[NewYorkExpress]

Would someone more versed in European politics than NewYorkExpress say if a real chance of Macron being killed exists?

It doesn't. There is currently no threat to the rule of law in France whatsoever. The level of violence is still far below the BLM riots from 2020 (and even below the Yellow Vest protests from 2019) so I'm really confused why everyone thinks we're on the brink of civil war.

Macron getting assassinated doesn't equal a civil war. I have no idea where that is coming from.

[NewYorkExpress]

Marlene Schiappa is under fire after she posed on the cover of Playboy.

Can posing for Playboy be a feminist statement? A French government minister thinks so and has defended her decision to appear – clothed – on the front cover of the magazine amid a crisis in French politics not seen for several years.


Marlène Schiappa, a 40-year-old feminist author who was plucked from obscurity by President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 to serve in his government, is no stranger to controversy and has repeatedly angered right-wingers.

But even some allies feel the minister made a mistake with her latest move: posing (clothed) on the cover of Playboy to accompany a 12-page interview on women's and gay rights as well as abortion.

The decision irritated some colleagues in the government, which has been battling strikes and increasingly violent demonstrations against plans to raise the retirement age by two years.

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who is only the second woman to occupy the position, called Schiappa personally to tell her that it "was not at all appropriate, especially in the current period", an aide told AFP on Saturday.

Schiappa is currently the minister for the social economy and French associations. She previously served as the minister for gender equality.

https://twitter.com/MarleneSchiappa/status/1642166509630898177
https://twitter.com/jeannebarontv/status/1642452565823455232

[NewYorkExpress]

Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters.

People in Paris have voted to ban rental electric scooters in their city, dealing a blow to scooter operators and a triumph for road safety campaigners.

Almost 90% of votes cast on Sunday favoured a ban the battery-powered devices, official results showed.

[NewYorkExpress]

Macron says the government will present a bill legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday France must improve the availability of palliative care and there would be a draft bill by the end of the summer on whether some form of assisted dying should be allowed.

He said the bill would build on the work of a group of 184 randomly appointed French citizens who have debated the issue since December. They concluded their work this weekend with 76% of them saying they favoured allowing some form of assistance to die, for those who want it.


Macron did not say whether he wanted euthanasia or assisted suicide to be allowed in France or if the bill would include either or both. He said thinking on the matter would continue by then but consensus was important on such a sensitive matter.

[NewYorkExpress]

Four were killed and several more were injured in an avalanche in the Alps.

At least four people have died in an avalanche in the French Alps, the country's interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, has said.

The incident happened at the Armancette glacier near Mont Blanc in south-eastern France around midday on Sunday local time.

It's thought the victims were among a group of hikers.

Mr Darmanin said several others were injured and a search and rescue operation was under way.

Officials from the Haute-Savoie prefecture, the local authority in charge of the area, put the number of injured at nine.

[NewYorkExpress]

Nicolas Sarkozy has lost his appeal on his corruption conviction...however, he will not see the inside of a prison.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has lost his appeal against a 2021 corruption and influence-peddling conviction.

On Wednesday, the Paris Court of Appeals upheld a three-year prison sentence against Sarkozy, but it ruled that two years would be suspended and Sarkozy would wear an electronic bracelet instead of going to jail for the remaining year.


His lawyers said they would appeal the decision before the Court of Cassation, France’s highest appeals court.

[NewYorkExpress]

France is banning domestic flights that can be completed in two and a half hours by train.

A ban on short domestic flights for journeys that can be completed in two-and-a-half hours by train was signed into law in France on Tuesday.

Clement Beaune, France’s transport minister, heralded the decree.

“This is an essential step and a strong symbol in the policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Beaune said in a statement.

“As we fight relentlessly to decarbonize our lifestyles, how can we justify the use of the plane between the big cities which benefit from regular, fast and efficient connections by train,” he added.

Only three routes have been discontinued: those linking Paris-Orly airport to the cities of Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon. Connecting flights will be unaffected.

For the ban to apply, the EU insisted the air route in question must have a high-speed rail alternative that makes it possible to travel between the two cities in less than two-and-a-half hours. There must also be enough early and late-running trains to enable travelers to spend at least eight hours at the destination.

Some have criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for watering down proposals from his own environmental panel, which had recommended a ban on flights where a train journey would take fewer than four hours.

[NewYorkExpress]

Police have raided the headquarters of the 2024 Paris Olympics in an investigation into the awarding of public contracts.

French financial police Tuesday morning searched the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics as part of an investigation into the awarding of public contracts.

In an internal email to staff seen by POLITICO, the organizing committee said searches were carried out by “teams from the criminal police and the public prosecutor” who are “collecting documents.”

The prospect of potential corruption involving contracts could deliver a reputational knock to French President Emmanuel Macron, who has stressed to his ministers the importance of a successful Paris Olympics, which were awarded to the French capital in July 2017, a few months after he was first elected.

....

Contacted by POLITICO, the French financial prosecutor (PNF) confirmed raids were taking place in “several locations,” including at the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee as well as those of Solideo, the public body in charge of the Paris Olympics’ construction sites.

The raids are part of two “preliminary investigations” over suspicions of misappropriation of public funds and favoritism regarding several public contracts awarded by both Solideo and the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee.

...

The headquarters of several private companies who have been awarded public contracts were also being searched on Tuesday, the PNF said.

[NewYorkExpress]

Macron is blaming TikTok, Snapchat and Video Games for the riots.

French President Emmanuel Macron has a few theories as to why riots have spread across France in the wake of the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old delivery driver: TikTok, Snapchat, and video games, mostly.

[NewYorkExpress]

The Government has banned children from wearing the Abaya in state-run schools.

French conservatives on Monday applauded the government's decision to ban children from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting, full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in state-run schools, but the move also drew criticism and some mockery.

France, which has enforced a strict ban on religious symbols in state schools since 19th century laws removed any traditional Catholic influence from public education, has struggled to update guidelines to deal with a growing Muslim minority.


The strict brand of secularism, known as "laicite," is a sensitive topic, and one often quick to trigger tension.

"Our schools are continually put under test, and over the past months, breaches to laicite have increased considerably, in particular with (pupils) wearing religious attire like abayas and kameez," Education Minister Gabriel Attal told a news conference to explain Sunday's ban.

[NewYorkExpress]

The government is moving to ban disposable e-cigarettes.

France plans to ban disposable electronic cigarettes, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on radio station RTL on Sunday.

“It’s an important public health issue,” said Borne, adding that the government is drawing up plans for a national programme to fight tobacco use that she said was responsible for 75,000 deaths a year in France.