France: Going green with nuclear power

The Constitutional Council has the power to scrap all or parts of the bill it deems unconstitutional. Emmanuel Macron's government passed the bill by decree, saying France can no longer afford to let people retire at 62.

President Emmanuel Macron's first high-profile trip in weeks was to a picturesque Alpine village — far from Paris' currently restless streets. He said he his government must "continue working," despite the protests.

A photo of an elderly Frenchman, battered and bloody from nationwide pension reform protests, is circulating online – but so are rumours that it's created by artificial intelligence. We take a closer look and also verify a viral photo of Pope Francis wearing a puffer jacket, in this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin denied allegations of brute force used by police officers against protesters but said that some officers are under investigation.

President Emmanuel Macron said a draft bill on "end-of-life" care will be prepared by summer. A citizen's council charged with debating the issue recently came out in favor of allowing some form of assisted dying.

France's greenhouse gas emissions are down for the first time since the post-Covid spike. Cipeta, the institution that measures carbon emissions, reports that they were reduced by 2.5 percent in 2022 compared with the previous year.

Anti-pension reform protesters again flooded the streets of cities around France on the 11th day of organized action against the unpopular proposal.

As the "Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs" exhibition opens in Paris, we bring you a special show dedicated to the celebrated king who ruled the Egyptian empire over 3,000 years ago. The exhibition's centrepiece is the pharaoh's sarcophagus, which is on special loan to France. It's a gesture of recognition from Egyptian authorities after French scientists saved the mummy of Ramses II from a devastating fungus in 1976.

The French president called for the EU to implement its stated policy of "strategic autonomy" and argued the bloc could become a "third pole" alongside China and the US.

In France, mothers face a nightmare battle to protect their children after they accuse the father of incest. While police and social services investigate, these mothers are forced to respect custody arrangements or face fines and even prison sentences.

Germany is shutting down its last three atomic power plants this weekend after previously delaying the nuclear phaseout due to the war in Ukraine.

In this edition of French Connections, we focus on a debate that comes up repeatedly in France: does the French president have too much power and if so, should France change its current political system, known as the Fifth Republic?