2017-11-08

Tough Stuff: France's Anti-Terror Law

① It is an election promise kept, though not in the way human-rights activists had hoped.

② As a presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said the temporary use of a state of emergency, imposed after terrorists killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015, should end "as soon as...possible".

③ Today the oft-renewed decree expires, at last.

④ In its place France gets a new anti-terrorism law, signed on Monday by President Macron after parliamentarians overwhelmingly passed it.

⑤ It permanently strengthens powers of police and officials to investigate people suspected of terrorism.

⑥ Police get more freedom to search property or individuals, for example at railway stations or airports; officials can order suspects confined to their home towns; and places of worship that host extremist preachers can be closed more easily.

⑦ Rights activists warn that valuable legal protections for individuals are being eroded.

⑧ But opinion polls suggest Mr Macron's tougher approach is popular.

▍生词好句

tough /tʌf/: adj. 强硬的；严厉的；棘手的；铁石心肠的

terror /ˈtɛrə/: n. (极度的) 恐惧感

terror attack: 恐怖袭击

decree /dɪˈkriː/: n. 法令

parliamentarian /ˌpɑːləmɛnˈtɛːrɪən/ /ˌpɑːləm(ə)nˈtɛːrɪən/: n. 议员

suspect sb. of sth. /səˈspɛkt/: 怀疑某人有……的嫌疑

suspect /ˈsʌspɛkt/: n. 嫌疑人

confine /kənˈfʌɪn/: vt. 限制

erode /ɪˈrəʊd/: vt. 侵蚀