Questions tagged [france]
Use this tag for questions about claims based in France, or limited to France.
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Did France ban wifi in schools and daycares in 2015 because of health concerns?
A variety of websites (along with many claims on social media sites like Instagram) claim a law that went into effect in January 2015 bans wifi in schools and nurseries for health reasons.
One links ...
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Did France refuse to interview the Belarusian mercenary pilots which killed 9 French soldiers, even though France allegedly had the opportunity?
An old story regarding the 2004 French–Ivorian mini-war. During those events 9 French soldiers were killed by two Su-25 jets, allegedly piloted by Belarusian mercenaries.
According to Le Monde, one of ...
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Has wholesale electricity price in France increased to €1000 per MWh, up from €85 per MWh?
This broadcast ...
France to restart all nuclear reactors by winter amid energy crunch • FRANCE 24 English
... says:
The wholesale price for 2022 was €85 per MWh and the price for 2023 has gone up ...
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Can you have your lunch at your work-desk in France?
According to this NPR article and this podcast episode (published June 2022):
The French labor code prohibits workers from eating lunch in the workplace.
Is this a real French law, and does ...
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Did the French government print posters explaining COVID-19 vaccination passport policy already in January 2020?
We see this poster, for example from the official site of the city of Toulon:
(Explaining that citizens now either need to show a certificate for having 1. covid-vaccination 2. covid-test negative ...
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Did Emma Willard send a letter to the French government appealing for women’s suffrage in 1848?
In T.M. Roberts' Distant Revolutions: 1848 and the challenge to American Exceptionalism it's said briefly (on p. 92 and without a citation/reference) that:
In 1848 Emma Willard, the director of the ...
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Did France kill millions of Muslims?
Refer to a blog post by Malaysia's ex Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad:
Macron is not showing that he is civilised. He is very primitive in blaming the religion of Islam and Muslims for the killing ...
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Do “Soupeurs” exist?
I was chatting with some friends and the topic of the “Soupeur” came up. Apparently this is a word used in France to describe the practice of — and I quote:
“…a sexual practice involving attraction ...
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Did Europe have a Covid-19 case in December 2019?
CNN reports that a Frenchman named Amirouche Hammar had Covid-19 in December in Paris. This was supposedly discovered after old samples were re-checked for the Covid-19 virus.
Alas there's hardly any ...
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Is this letter from Madame de Sévigné authentic?
According to this webpage, Madame de Sévigné wrote the following letter to her daughter (Madame de Grignan).
Surtout, ma chère enfant, ne venez point à Paris !
Plus personne ne sort de peur de ...
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Did de Gaulle Machiavellianly "cultivate" the Algerian junta but condemned it after taking power in 1958?
The New Yorker writes about the 1958 events in France:
Then, in June of 1958, a group of right-wing French military men, alarmed by the Fourth Republic’s failure to defeat the ongoing rebellion in ...
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Which data are correct for the number of SARS-CoV2 positive tests in France on April 4?
The data published by the John Hopkins University report a sharp spike in new detected cases of SARS-CoV2 infections in France for two days ago (April 4), with 25000 new people tested positive in one ...
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Did French police fine homeless persons for not being confined at home?
As mentioned in this question, in France, people need to stay at home, and carry the paper if not. The paper will basically explain why we are briefly outside home and that should avoid us being fined....
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Are all French citizens who go outside their home legally required to carry official papers with a reason why they are out (Covid-19 lockdown)?
The BBC states rather briefly that
France began its lockdown on Tuesday morning, requiring citizens to carry official paperwork stating why they were not at home.
French Interior Minister Christophe ...
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Did Germany and France offer help to Italy in the Covid-19 crisis?
An opinion piece published yesterday by DW says:
The first thing that fell by the wayside, as always in times of crisis, was solidarity. It was Italy, the first country hit by the Corona crisis — and ...
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Did Macron say in 2019 it is better to make concessions to Russia on Ukraine rather than let Russia fall in Beijing's orbit?
The Economist states:
Europeans fear that China and Russia are edging towards the formation of a new bloc that will dominate Eurasia. Mr Macron’s pivot to Russia is in part intended to stop it from ...
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Was there a trial by combat between a man and a dog in medieval France?
This website makes the claim that in 1400 a man by the name of "Chevalier Maquer" fought in a judicial duel against a greyhound, after it was suspected that Maquer had killed the greyhound's owner.
...
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Did France flood Guinea with counterfeit currency to destabilize it?
I've read in several Pan-Africanist and conspiracy theory sources (e.g. here and here) that France during the Fifth Republic smuggled in counterfeit Guinean Franc into Guinea in order to destabilize ...
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Was it ever illegal to name a pig "Napoleon" in France?
This is an oft-cited "unusual law", e.g. from The Sun:
IN FRANCE it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon, almost 200 years after his death.
Experts say the odd law exists because calling a ...
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Was the 45.9°C temperature in France in June 2019 the highest ever recorded in France?
It was widely reported that on 28th June, 2019, a record temperature of 45.9°C was recorded in Gallargues-le-Montueux, France, breaking the previous 2003 record of 44.1°C. Sources: Metéo France, BBC, ...
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Is pollution the main cause of Notre Dame Cathedral's deterioration?
A 2017 Time article discussing the crumbling, wearing out, and water damage of France's Notre Dame Cathedral prior to the 2019 fire writes (emphasis added):
Notre Dame, which looms over the capital ...
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Are these 'French children held at gun point'?
I've come across this post on facebook several times now. The video shows a group of young people kneeling on the ground with police around them. The text attached is as follows:
School children in ...
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Did Talleyrand say "If we go on explaining we shall cease to understand one another"?
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (a.k.a. Talleyrand) was a French diplomat of the late 18th Century.
A number of websites of quotes (for example: [1], [2], [3]) claim that he said:
"If we go ...
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Did 16% of French citizens support ISIS in 2014?
According to Newsweek1:
One in six French citizens sympathises with the Islamist militant group ISIS, also known as Islamic State, a poll released this week found.
Is this true?
116% of French ...
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Did Emmanuel Macron call a teenager an "idiot?"
This article from The Telegraph (June 22, 2018) mentions that Emmanuel Macron called the teenager who was not respectful an "idiot"; emphasis is mine:
President Emmanuel Macron is facing ...
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Are there shanty towns in Paris?
Recently I started to see many images of shanty towns in Paris, supposedly created by immigrants.
One included below is especially popular. Text says:
Meanwhile in Paris
Is this image true?
If ...
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Did Vichy France make shoes and sweaters from human hair?
According to this source,
A 1942 government decree asked that all barbershops collect and donate hair to the war effort, to be manufactured into slippers and sweaters. The rebellious zazous refused,...
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Is there a French law governing the shape of the croissant?
Many popular articles, forum discussions, etc. claim that in France, the curved croissants are typically made with margarine, while the straight ones are made with butter (and are ostensibly superior)....
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Can hypnosis drastically modify someone's behavior? [closed]
A French TV program (Stars sous hypnose) shows celebrities who are hypnotized by an (apparently) famous hypnotizer (Mesmer).
They then proceed to do incredible things (believing to be vampires, ...
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Do only 800K of 6M Muslims work in France?
Claim that has surfaced in local TV station coverage of French election:
There are 6 millions of Muslims in France, but only 800 thousands of them work
Are these numbers accurate?
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Is this an old church being destroyed in France?
I saw this video on Facebook this morning:
2800 churches could be destroyed in France in the next 10 years according to current trends.
Catholicism is weakened from inside and outside, islam is ...
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Is there a woman named Lilly who is engaged to a robot she built?
The Daily Mail informs us that:
A French woman has revealed she is in love with a robot and determined to marry it. [...]
Now, Lilly is reportedly engaged to the robot and says they will marry when ...
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Has Egypt sold two French-made Mistral warships to Russia?
Claim: Poland's defense minister Antoni Macierewicz says he believes Egypt has sold two French-made Mistral warships to Russia for the symbolic price of $1.
Associated Press, 21/Oct/2016:
Antoni ...
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Does Halal certification fund terrorism?
Australia's One Nation political party claims Halal certification funds terrorism:
Do you realise that you are paying a tax/surcharge that funds ISLAMIC SCHOOLS AND MOSQUES, when you do your shopping?...
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Did the UK slip to sixth largest world economy from fifth, less than 24 hours after the EU referendum vote?
Some news sources have reported that in the 24 hours after the UK's results on the EU referendum came through, the UK dropped from 5th largest economy in the world, to 6th, being overtaken by France.
...
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Did people run through the military graveyards at Verdun?
This Dailymail article claims this:
Some 3,400 children ran among the graves of soldiers who died in the battle of Verdun as part of a stunt choreographed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, ...
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1
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Was Napoleon Bonaparte short?
Is the common belief of Napoleon Bonaparte being a short person true? I've always believed it, but I recently heard that he was actually 1.69m (5 feet 7 inches), which isn't short at all.
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Were the Paris attackers youths from Syria?
Recently, Bill Nye was interviewed by Huff Post Live.
In one excerpt of the interview he draws a line of causation from a water shortage in Syria to the November 2015 Paris attacks.
He was transcribed ...
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Did a Muslim security guard stop the French stadium bombing? [closed]
I have been seeing many reports of people claiming that a French Muslim security guard named "Zouheir" stopped a suicide bomber from entering the stadium where a Germany vs France football match was ...
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Has the Eiffel Tower gone dark in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks?
From Paris under attack: Shootout and explosion in Paris
Already the country is mourning the horrific night with the Eiffel Tower going dark as the nation will wake Saturday in a state of shock.
...
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Was Jean-Hugues Anglade mildly wounded in the Thalys shooting?
Several news sources reported and are still reporting French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade was mildly wounded in the 2015 Thalys train attack. He is quoted as claiming that the wound was a cut on his hand ...
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Was the footage showing the policeman being shot in the Charlie Hebdo shootings a hoax?
There are many claims suggesting that Ahmed Merhabet, the policeman allegedly shot and killed by the Charlie Hebdo gunmen, was not actually killed in the way media outlets portrayed.
Several ...
user26968
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Is obesity correlated with solitary and/or social eating?
The basis of this question is a pair of newspaper articles that appeared in the Guardian just over a year apart. I know, it's not a scholarly journal, and the articles aren't remotely scientific.
The ...
user1802
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Do African countries have to pay a "colonial tax" to France?
There is a claim that as of today, a lot of African countries are forced to pay a significant percentage of their income to France, and this is the cause of widespread hunger in Africa.
14 African ...
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Are Muslim headscarves banned in France?
@ShujaRabbani (9 January 2015, 528 retweets, 467 favorites)
If France wants to prove her honesty in believing in their 'Freedom',
show us that you will not force Muslim women to take off their ...
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Did the policeman in charge of the Charlie Hebdo investigation take his own life?
Conspiracy news site, YourNewsWire, posted an article claiming that Commissioner Helric Fredou, the French policeman investigating the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris last week, took his own life last ...
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Are there officially pronounced "no-go" Islamic zones in France?
In this Hannity interview on Fox News on 9 January, 2015, American author Robert Spencer said that:
So in France they have set up - the French government lists on a public web-site -751 no-go areas,...
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Were postal stamp depicting LTTE symbols and its chief, Prabhakaran, released by government of France?
There were news saying that France has issued or released a postal stamp of LTTE chief Prabhakaran. I am wondering if such stamps were issued by the French postal services.
Here are the some sources ...
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Is it illegal to sell dolls that do not have human faces in France?
It is claimed that it is against the law to sell dolls that do not have human faces in France.
It is illegal to sell an ET doll in France. They have a law forbidding the sale of dolls that do not ...
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Did Napoleon write an elegy to Imam Hussain(a.s)?
In this YouTube video, noted Pakistani scholar, Allama Zamir Akhtar Naqvi claims (in Urdu) that Napoleon wrote a letter or poem in honour of the historical figure [Imam Hussain] (a.s)(https://en....
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