Did you know that France is the most nuclear-dependent country in the world? These protesters are trying to change that statistic in their demonstration against nuclear energy in Paris’s Place de la Bastille.

Young Tunisians take to the streets on May 1 to voice their discontent about Sarkozy’s inflexible stance on refugee resettlement, which many see as racist.

Say you’re writing a poem in French, and you need to know how to compare your love to a beautiful sunny summer day. Unsure of the vocab? Listen to this weather report from local station Alsace 20 (covering the Alsace region of France) to pick up some useful weather lingo.

You might already know that the euro looks slightly different from country to country. But France has also released a series of limited edition euro coins for each of its twenty-six regions. Remember when collecting state quarters was all the rage? Now you can move on to regional French euros!

The town of Nîmes goes all out for Christmas, with thousands of lights and giant candy canes all along the streets. It might just be the most festive city in France!

Marion Cotillard was not a superstar when she landed the role of Edith Piaf in “La Môme.” But, already a formidable actress, she had an impressive set of roles under her belt, and the film’s director had no doubt she was “the one.” He was right: Marion took home the Oscar for best actress in 2008.

An interesting note: The USA release title for the film – which, ironically enough, is in French – is “La Vie en Rose,” the name of a famous Piaf song, which basically means, “life through rose-colored glasses.” The French title comes from Piaf’s nickname: “La Môme Piaf,” which can be translated as “the little sparrow,” but also means “little kid Piaf.”

It’s common to see photos of celebrities aged forty and up happily pregnant or pushing a pram. But according to most doctors, a woman’s chances of conceiving drop dramatically after age thirty-eight or so. Of course there are exceptions. Modern medical fertility treatments allowed a sixty-six-year-old Romanian woman to give birth to twins in 2005. But unless we’re willing and able to procure such treatments, which can be financially, emotionally, and physically draining, those of us who want to wait until our forties to have kids will just have to take our chances.

Workers for the power company in the city of Lille aren’t happy and want management to know it. So they sabotaged the grid, cutting off power to thousands of businesses and residences. Despite the inconvenience, the mayor, and even many residents, support the workers.

Though we reported that some of the residents of Lille support the power workers and their blackout strikes, it turns out that not all of them do. Office workers shout from balconies to give the strikers a piece of their minds, and the workers respond in kind.

This news report documents a trek by UNIFIL into Hezbollah territory in Lebanon for a mission of observation.

Take a walk with Dominique de Villepin, during the latter part of his term as France’s Prime Minister, through Marseilles in the south of France.

During the 2006 World Cup, and despite criticism from several right-wing politicians, footballers Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira invited eighty former squatters from Cachan to see the France-Italy match.

Interviewees on the streets of Paris protest the banning of the burqa in public places in France and offer their perspectives on this controversial issue.

Two students from Gabon were expelled from a French University and deported back to their home country for having low grades in school. One was even forced to leave behind his wife and young daughter (a French citizen). The government of Gabon is not pleased and may take measures to retaliate in kind.

Who doesn’t like a little fun makeup artistry with their morning weather report? Adèle lets us know what to expect weather-wise on Halloween, and gives us some costume inspiration too!

Sakado (a play on sac à dos, “backpack”) is an organization that helps the homeless of France by collecting backpacks filled with all of life’s essentials, from hygienic products to books. As this article reports, homelessness is one of France’s biggest domestic problems.

The beached ship in Sables d’Olonne is still stuck in the sand. In fact, it’s becoming quite the local attraction!

Residents of the seaside town Sables d’Olonne have a sizable problem on their hands: a beached ship that they can’t seem to get unstuck. Looks like they’ll have to try again tomorrow.

These brief interviews on the streets of Lille were conducted in order to test the waters of the tricky dispute over the banning of burqa-wearing in public.

Arlette Grosskost, UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) representative and member of the Parliamentary task force on the burqa in France, advocates a law aiming to ban the wearing of the full-body veil in public. What’s your take on this controversial issue? Is it a question of women’s rights? Of religious freedom? Are arguments against the burqa perhaps another type of veil—to cover up underlying racism?