This French Life

Filed under: this actually still goes on in France?

France’s highest court, the Constitutional Council, upheld a law on Friday banning the construction of new cockfighting arenas, ruffling the feathers of some supporters of the controversial sport, France 24 reports.

While a law against animal cruelty prohibits cockfighting in most of France, it is allowed in the country’s northern Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, as well as in a number of its overseas territories, where the sport is considered a part of the local heritage.

But the Constitutional Council dealt the sport a blow on Friday after upholding a law banning the construction of any new cockfighting arenas.

Tyres set alight by MyFerryLink strikers on motorway into Calais

Striking MyFerryLink workers have set tyres alight on the motorway into Calais this morning bringing traffic to a halt.

Striking French ferry workers block Calais port route with huge fire | World news | The Guardian http://t.co/Sh2bY8EMUF

— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) July 31, 2015

Ferry workers are protesting over plans to sell off two ferries to rival DFDS, fearing that hundreds of job losses will take place as well.

Over the past few weeks workers have lit tyres on the Eurotunnel train tracks, blocked DFDS ferries from entering Calais and taken over the ships set to be sold.

Falling energy costs see inflation hold steady, but fears over job prospects

If you found a few extra euros in your pocket over the past month that's because falling energy costs meant inflation held steady in the eurozone in July.

Figures from Eurostat show that energy prices fell 5.6%, compared with a 5.1% drop in June.

But food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose 0.9%.

Unemployment levels in the eurozone were steady, but economist James Howat speaking to the BBC was worried about the future as "employment intentions have weakened recently, suggesting that the labour market recovery will remain pretty weak."

More sniffer dogs, more fencing to be sent to Calais

More sniffer dogs and more fencing are to be sent to Calais to try and deal with the migrant problems affecting transport across the Channel.

In a statement after chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, David Cameron said the situation was “unacceptable” and that he would be speaking to the French president, François Hollande, later on Friday.

The Guardian reports that the Cobra meeting came after another night during which police in France blocked people from reaching the Channel tunnel.

But Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde) in the UK are not convinced extra dogs and fencing will work, as they believe the whole system of asylum needs sorting out.

Fences & sniffer dogs won't solve the #CalaisCrisis. The number one priority is to fix our broken #asylum & #immigration system.

— Doctors of the World (@DOTW_UK) July 31, 2015

Google says 'non' to French demand to expand right to be forgotten worldwide

Google has rejected the French data protection authority’s demand that it censor search results worldwide in order to comply with the European Court of Justice’s so-called right to be forgotten ruling, reports the Guardian.

And Google's own Global Privacy Counsel, Peter Fleischer, has outlined the search engine's legal issues with the French courts in a blog post: “We believe this order is disproportionate and unnecessary, given that the overwhelming majority of French internet users – currently around 97% – access a European version of Google’s search engine like google.fr, rather than Google.com or any other version of Google.”

Volcano begins to stir on island of Réunion

Authorities have said that an active volcano on the French island of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean, may soon see an eruption and have evacuated people from the immediate area.

On the Facebook page of the Le Piton de la Fournaise mountain centre, a message from the prefecture is advising people to leave the area after a noticeable increase in seismic activity.

The volcano is a popular visitor attraction, but all access is now forbidden as a Level 1 alert has been announced meaning a probable or imminent eruption is likely.

AUGMENTATION DE LA SISMICITE...Depuis le week-end dernier, la sismicité est à nouveau en augmentation : l’observatoire...

Posted by Fournaise.info on Wednesday, 29 July 2015

The possible eruption comes at the same time as wreckage being found on the island which is being tested to see if it is from a missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

Olive trees in Corsica face a fight against disease

Mobilisé pour lutter c/ bactérie Xylella. A Bonifacio, au côté des services de contrôle au débarquement d'un ferry. pic.twitter.com/dRCN0SzOZU

— Stéphane Le Foll (@SLeFoll) July 29, 2015

Visitors to the port of Bonifacio, in Corsica, are being checked by health inspectors to try and halt the spread of an infection that can kill olive trees.

Xylella fastidiosa, which is spread by insects, was found in southern Corsica last week but has also been found in the south of Italy, and it is feared that the bacterium arrived via a ferry from the nearby Italian island of Sardinia.

The BBC reports that the diseased olive trees in Corsica have been dug up, and stringent security measures put in place as Xylella is a threat to around 300 plant species.

The European Commission says that no effective treatment is available and that the only really solution at present is to create buffer zones around the diseased plants.

The French agriculture minister, Stéphane Le Foll, said during a visit to Corsica that the authorities would reinforce the fight against the bacteria and try to find out how Xylella fastidiosa had reached the island.

Cost of a stamp set to rise from 1 January

IT is going to get a little more expensive to send a letter from 1 January, 2016, as the price of a stamp is set to rise by 3.6%

Europe 1 reports on a statement from La Poste that says the standard red stamp will go up from 76 to 80 centimes.

The green timbre vert, which provides a slower delivery period, will increase from 68 to 70 centimes.

The cost of sending smaller parcels under 2kg via the Collissimo service will fall slightly.

La Poste has seen the volume of post fall steeply over the past few years, forcing them to increase prices with the authorities giving the green light to steady price prices to try and cover the declining use.

‘Is this really Europe?’: refugees in Calais speak of desperate conditions

A resident of the camp cleans his hands with water from a chemical container. Thom Davies, Author provided

By Thom Davies, University of Birmingham; Arshad Isakjee, University of Birmingham, and Surindar Dhesi, University of Birmingham

AS THE SUN SETS on Calais, a new barbed wire fence glints in the evening light, casting a shadow over the growing migrant camp known as the “New Jungle”.

Through the thick undergrowth of what was once an industrial dumping ground, tents and tarpaulin structures stretch into the distance. These are the makeshift homes currently providing insufficient shelter from the elements for more 3,000 refugees. On the other side of the fence, cars and lorries trundle towards the port of Calais – and the northern edge of the Schengen Area, where people can move freely across much of Europe.

With Operation Stack in full force, and the British prime minister, David Cameron, expressing “every sympathy with holidaymakers”, the body count at Calais quietly continues to rise. A migrant died on July 28 as he tried to reach the UK. He was the ninth person to lose his life to the Calais-Dover gauntlet between June and July.

Wreckage found on Reunion to be tested for missing Malaysia plane link

A piece of air plane wing found on the French island of Reunion, in the western Indian Ocean, is believed to be a part unique to the Boeing 777, the same model as the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared last year.