On-the-spot France
Archive of daily reports about France (through 2016). For more up-to-date reporting and stories about France, visit the Spotlight on France podcast.
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French teacher on talking to students about Charlie Hebdo attacks
After the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in January some French schoolchildren refused to observe the nationwide minute of silence to commemorate the victims. This has raised the question of how effectively schools are transmitting the concepts of citizenship and secularism, and the education ministry has issued new directives. A history teacher in a nort Parisian suburb, who blogs under the name Chouyo, describes talking to her students about the attacks, and says the government should focus on improving their lives outside school and let her do her job.13/02/201504:00 -
Wikicheese attracts cheese-lovers to Wikipedia in France
France has hundreds of different kinds of cheeses, and many are documented on Wikipedia, the open-source online encyclopedia. But the articles lack quality photos. Enter: WikiCheese, a project from Wikimedia France to raise money to buy equipment to take photos of French cheese. It's the group’s first crowdfunding campaign, aimed at broadening the reach of Wikipedia. For now the the focus is on cheese lovers, but in the future, Wikimedia France would like to attract more women, as they make up barely 20 percent of Wikipedia editors.11/02/201503:56 -
French ex-Guantanamo prisoner helps youngsters learn from his mistakes
In the third of our reports on radicalisation in French prisons, former Guantanamo inmate Mourad Benchellali talks to RFI about how he avoided turning to radical Islam. Benchellali was just 19 when he spent two months in an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. After 9/11 he was picked up by the U.S. army and spent two years in Guantanamo. On his return to France, he was imprisoned again. Rather than embracing the jihadist cause, he's chosen to share his experience with young people and warn them of the dangers of radicalisation.09/02/201504:04 -
Muslim prison chaplains try to fight Islamist radicalisation
Muslims make up more than half of France’s prison population but there are only 182 Muslim chaplains who can lead prayer sessions and provide spiritual guidance, compared to the nearly 700 Catholic and 350 Protestant chaplains. In an attempt to fight Islamic radicalisation in prisons, the French government is looking to add 60 more Muslim prison chaplains. But the imams themselves question their ability to spot radicals, as one told RFI.06/02/201503:42 -
France fights Islamist radicalisation in prisons
In the wake of last month's attacks in Paris the French government has made the fight against Islamic radicalisation in prison a priority. Two of the men behind the attacks met in prison and are said to have been radicalised by an imam during their stay. Planned measures include separating suspected jihadists from other inmates as is already underway in Fresnes prison near Paris. And 60 additional Muslim chaplains are to join the current 182 working in French prisons. But there are doubts over the efficiency of the proposed measures.05/02/201504:05 -
Is France becoming more prudish about children?
Censorship and free speech have long been issues of debate in France. Sex is often a target, and there are strong reactions when it involves children. But has France become more sensitive recently? RFI looks at two shows that have been the target of protests: Zizi Sexuel, a sex ed exhibit at the Cite des Sciences science museum; and the work of photographer Diane Ducruet, which was removed from a gallery.02/02/2015 -
Paris Hackathon aims to create apps for refugees
Dozens of webmasters, designers and computer programmers gathered in Paris last weekend for a "Hackathon" - a race against the clock to develop digital "apps" to help France's 170,000 refugees. Pioneered by a French NGO called Singa, and sponsored by the UNHCR, the "Connected Refugees" initiative wants to help refugees find their feet and get ahead using digital media. But it also aims to tap into their strengths and allow them to contribute as much as possible to their adopted country.02/02/201505:30 -
Commemorating Auschwitz liberation at French deportation camp
French President Francois Hollande attended the 70th anniversary commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest Nazi death camp, where 75,000 French Jews were sent. The anniversary comes as France is re-examining how it addresses radicalisation, racism and anti-Semitism in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris in January. RFI reports from a ceremony at the Camps des Milles, a deportation camp near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France.02/02/201504:07 -
Higher prices for women, Pink Tax attracts attention of France's women's rights minister
France's finance ministry has said it will investigate the extent of the so-called Pink Tax in France, a phenomenon in which products marketed to women cost more than those for men. In October the feminist collective Georgette Sand started posting photos online of similar products priced differently. Their campaign caught the eye of France's minister for women's rights, who announced the study with the finance minister in November. RFI looks into the Pink Tax, and into the status of this report.02/02/201504:03 -
Translation prize awarded to French author
The first ever Anais Nin literature prize was awarded Monday night in Paris. The winner, Virginie Despentes, will see her book, Vernon Subutex, translated into English. Nin, who was born and raised in France, made her name as a writer in the United States. The prize organizers say she is one of the few writers who has been translated from French into English, and vice versa.27/01/201503:23 -
Will Charlie Hebdo attacks harm France's tourism industry?
After the terror attacks in Paris two weeks ago French officials have boosted security across the French capital, especially around major tourist sites. France, and Paris in particular, is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations but there are concerns that fear of further attacks may be frightening tourists away. Representatives of the Paris tourist industry are to go on a world tour next month to reassure visitors and travel agents that the city is safe. So what do tourists think?23/01/201503:38 -
Does France need its Martin Luther King, Jr.?
As France attempts to address issues surrounding immigration, integration and racism, can it take lessons from elsewhere? Monday, 19 January, Americans commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr's, birthday. His leadership of non-violent resistance against segregation laws in the US have raised him into a hero. But to the French, he is a uniquely American hero. RFI spoke to several people about lessons France could take from the American civil rights movement.21/01/201503:59 -
Group helps migrants to reach goals in France
France recently announced new efforts to simplify its asylum-seeking process, cutting a hefty two-year procedure down to a more efficient nine months. 66 thousand refugees tried to find a safe haven in France last year, according to the European Commission. But it is not smooth sailing even after the paperwork, as immigrants must adapt themselves to France’s often confusing society. The non-profit SINGA recently launched to help migrants to France best use their talents.17/01/201503:34 -
40 years since abortion made legal in France
On 17 January 1975 abortion became legal in France. The Veil law, named after the health minister of the time, Simone Veil, allowed women to terminate pregnancies legally, pushing a practice that was happening in secret into the open. Forty years later it remains a pillar of women's rights in France but abortion is still taboo in parts of the world and access to the service is not easy.16/01/201503:51 -
Philharmonie de Paris concert hall opens with big ambitions
Paris's new classical concert venue, the Philharmonie de Paris, opens this Wednesday evening, inaugurated by French President François Hollande. The huge metal construction, designed by top architect Jean Nouvel, has bold ambitions. It aims to transform the north-east of Paris, drawing new, younger audiences from the neighbouring working-class suburbs. The project that's courted controversy from the very beginning.14/01/201504:06
On-the-spot France
Archive of daily reports about France (through 2016). For more up-to-date reporting and stories about France, visit the Spotlight on France podcast.