Reporter Raquel Camila

  In France last Tuesday, the country’s highest court voted to overturn a decision made in Grenoble, a city that contravened its burkini ban and permitted women to wear full-coverage swimwear if they so desired. Since 2016, burkini bans have been implemented at public pools in France, but after protests from Muslim women, Grenoble’s municipal council voted to suspend the ban last month. France’s Council of State struck down the dispute and reinstated the ban, saying that it could not allow “selective exceptions to the rules to satisfy religious demands”. To know more: https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/comment/2022/06/28/frances-burkini-ban-affects-all-women-not-just-muslims/

The day after he won the first round of this election, Emmanuel Macron found himself in a shouting match with a dental assistant. To be fair, only one of them was actually shouting and it wasn’t Macron, but the exchange between them, in the old mining town of Denain, reveals the trait that propelled the French president to power five years ago. It’s the very same trait that has set many voters against him now. Elodie, the dental assistant, was furious. She shouted about the president’s “insulting” language in describing those who remained unvaccinated against Covid. Macron told her she had taken his words the wrong way. Elodie shouted about taxes and rising prices. He said he’d lowered taxes and she wasn’t being fair. “You’ve lowered taxes?” she responded, incredulous. “Have you been to the petrol station yourself? How much do you earn each month?” “I don’t control the global market,” Macron replied. “We just won’t agree,” Elodie concluded. “But it’s important I explain,” Macron said. ...