French President Emmanuel Macron’s government on Thursday set out a tough new anti-terrorism law that has already faced protests from civil rights groups.
The proposals presented to the first meeting of a reshuffled Cabinet appointed on Wednesday are designed to allow the lifting of the state of emergency that has been in place since the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris.
The state of emergency has been extended five times since it was introduced by the government in response to the gun and bomb rampage that left 130 people dead.
The provision expires in the middlw of next month, when Macron’s new government is expected to extend it again until Nov. 1 while the new law is prepared.
The legislation has received the go-ahead from France’s top administrative court, despite concerns from rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that it would enshrine into law draconian powers allowed under the state of emergency.
Amnesty complained last month that French authorities were abusing anti-terrorism measures by using them to curb legitimate protests.
France has faced a string of terror attacks since 2015, with the threat underlined on Monday when a man rammed a car laden with guns and gas canisters into a police van on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The new anti-terror law would give French authorities greater powers to act to protect an event or location thought to be at risk from attack, without first seeking permission from the courts.
Local authorities could, for example, decide to put in place a security cordon, and carry out bag checks and searches using private guards without seeking approval beforehand.
The draft law would also allow places of worship thought to be promoting extremism to be shut down for up to six months.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe argued it struck the “right balance” between respecting freedoms and reinforcing security.
“We want to guarantee security and we want to do so while respecting the law and the constitution,” he told French news channel TF1 on Wednesday.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other