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.

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?

Activist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo talks about racial tensions between the police and young people in French working-class suburbs. She calls for better police training and more accountability to prevent violence against young people of color.

Rokhaya Diallo draws a parallel between incidents of racial discrimination and police brutality in the United States and similar incidents in French suburbs. She notes that young people are mobilizing and becoming more politically engaged in the aftermath of the infamous Théo case.

Héla Fattoumi, originally from Tunis, has taken her feelings on the full-body veil to the stage, in her dance performance piece “Manta.”

Faced with a butter shortage in France, this bakery is among the few that are choosing to wait in hopes that the price of butter will drop. Apparently, customers are too fond of the bakery's delicious pastries to let a price increase deter them. After all, pastries are one of life's essentials in France...

In "Je suis Charlie" (I Am Charlie), Fabien Marsaud a.k.a. Grand Corps Malade commemorates the victims of the devastating attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. As the slam poet notes, "I prefer to pick up a pen because tonight I am Charlie."

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.

In the wake of a deadly terrorist attack on a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt on New Year’s Day, many Coptic Christians are worried about celebrating Christmas (observed on January 6) as openly as they would like. Here is how a gorgeous Coptic church in Marseille is handling the situation.

In the US, many American truckers don’t want Mexican drivers on the road. A similar situation is brewing in France where drivers from other countries will do the same work for half as much pay.

Twenty-eight years ago, Frenchman Michel Garcia fell in love with Easter Island, home of clear blue water and the breathtaking moai. Since then he’s kept busy as a diving instructor and doting father, and he even found time to discover a new species of shellfish!

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.

This news report follows up on the squatters in Cachan, who receive good news from the mayor: after six weeks spent in a gymnasium, they're being relocated to a hostel with real accommodations.

Le Journal reports on the birth of first male heir in the Japanese royal family in over forty years. Spoiler alert: His name is Hisahito, and he's doing quite well these days.

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