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Why is November 1 a bank holiday in France, what is it traditional to do and are shops open?
The day is widely known as the fête des morts which actually falls on November 2
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Brittany steps up fight against rising numbers of wild boar
Global warming is enabling the boar to proliferate which brings higher risks to roads, trains, farms, and private residents
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Dog thefts on rise in France: what breeds are being targeted and where
More than 20,000 dogs were reported as lost nationwide in 2023
Gay conversion therapy to be banned in France
Electric shocks and other treatment to try to “convert” young homosexuals will be banned if MPs back a new law being put to parliament.
What is conversion therapy?
The bill, which is waiting to be timetabled for debate in the Assemblée Nationale, would ban “conversion therapy” aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Allier MP Laurence Vanceunebrock-Mialon and Seine-Saint-Denis MP Bastien Lachaud led the bid to ban treatments, often aided by religious organisations, that they said covered “a broad spectrum of often insidious practices”.
Read more: New laws and changes in France, July 2020
A parliamentary fact-finding mission heard people who were victims or witnesses of exorcisms or who “learned the facts of rape” were often drugged and faced hypnosis, electric shocks and forced marriage. Homosexual aid group Le Refuge said it had 10 calls a month asking for help.
Read more: how attitudes to inequality have changed in France