Lawmakers approve bill allowing French police to locate suspects by tapping their devices

By Youcef Bounab | The Associated Press

PARIS—French lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a sweeping justice reform bill that includes a provision to allow law enforcement agents to remotely tap into the cameras, microphones and

location services of phones and other Internet-connected devices of some suspected criminals.

The measure plainly stipulates that the procedure can be executed “without the knowledge or consent of its owner or possessor” but is limited to suspects involved in terrorism, organized crime and other illegal activities punishable by five or more years in prison.

The language authorizing eavesdropping was contained in a broader reform bill aimed at “modernizing” penal procedures. Reflecting what polls indicate is a public demand for more law and order, the National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, adopted two ambitious bills Tuesday that are aimed at bolstering the country’s creaky judicial system.

The Senate, controlled by the right, adopted both bills in May.

“The goal of this law is clear: a faster, clearer, modern justice,” French Justice Minister Eric DupondMoretti said when he presented the reform legislation in the spring.

The package includes a budget increase that would boost spending on the judicial system by nearly 11 billion euros by 2027. Before taking going into law, the bills must go to special commission to iron out any differences between the two chambers of Parliament.

Still, President Emmanuel Macron stands to gain from their passage amid a crisis that has gnawed at the fabric of French society.

The National Assembly passed the bill presented as the justice minister’s “action plan” on a 388111 vote, with 45 abstentions. Lawmakers on the left and digital rights activists criticized the eavesdropping provision as an invasion of privacy.

“This arrangement is scary,” Socialist lawmaker Cecile Untermaier said ahead of the vote, describing the type of surveillance authorized as “liberticide.” Some Socialists planned to abstain for that reason.

The measure divided lawmakers on the right and left down the middle of the aisle.

“If we truly want to fight against organized crime, we need the means to do so and to give investigators the same means used by criminal groups,” Pascale Bordes, a lawmaker from the far-right National Rally party, said.

The justice minister proposed the high-tech hunt for suspects as an alternative to long-standing police surveillance practices, such as wiretapping a suspect’s vehicle and house, which he deemed no longer viable and increasingly dangerous for investigators.

“The technique today is faulty,” Dupond-Moretti told National Assembly lawmakers this month. “Why would we deprive ourselves of new technologies?” When some parliamentarians expressed concerns over privacy rights, the minister replied, “By crying wolf, you are no longer credible.”

Besides limiting use of high- tech spying on suspects to crimes punishable by at least five years in prison, the legislation contains other controls. The goal of tapping a connected device must be locating someone in real time, and the investigating judge in a case must give the green light. In addition to activating location services, the measure would also allow investigators to activate a suspect’s phone camera and microphone.

Besides limiting use of high-tech spying on suspects to crimes punishable by at least five years in prison, the legislation contains other controls. The goal of tapping a connected device must be locating someone in real time, and the investigating judge in a case must give the green light. In addition to activating location services, the measure would also allow investigators to activate a suspect’s phone camera and microphone.

Critics claim the provision still would inevitably lead to abuses of power by French police, who in the past have faced allegations of misusing their authority, brutality and racism.

“We already see that there’s a lot of abuse in France today,” said Bastien Le Querrec, a lawyer with French digital rights group La Quadrature du Net. “In reality, who decides on the seriousness of an event in an investigation? It’s the police, the prosecutors, the investigating judge. Nothing in this bill will prevent abuse.”

In April, French lawmakers passed a law to allow the use of artificial intelligence and drones in mass

A look at how the desert city of Phoenix copes with summer heat

By Alina Hartounian | The Associated Press

PHOENIX—This summer’s punishing heat wave has baked much of the US in sweat-soaked misery. Records are falling as temperatures soar, and millions of people are left clamoring for relief.

The country’s preeminent desert city has long sweltered through such brutal heat. And there are lessons to be learned from people who live in a city so hot it’s named after the mythical bird that was born from flames.

Here are some of the ways residents in metropolitan Phoenix have learned to adapt to unruly heat.

Air conditioning—a hot commodity

PHOENI x backyards are a symphony of humming and whirring beginning in the spring as monster A/C units rattle to life.

Air conditioning is so vital in the desert that cities such as Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale have adopted cooling ordinances, which require landlords to keep temperatures in rental homes below a certain threshold.

Units usually are installed on rooftops with the help of cranes.

“My air conditioner right now is running almost all the time,” said longtime Scottsdale resident Naomi Evelan. “And I’m worried because when I have it set on 80, for example, it actually doesn’t get beyond 82...It’s working really hard.”

Burning hot

IF the sidewalk is hot enough to fry an egg, it’s certainly hot enough to

Mangun . .

video surveillance during the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.

Terrorist attacks in France over the past decade and recent riots triggered by the police killing of 17-yearold Nahel Merzouk in a Paris suburb last month have made security a government focus as the country prepares to host athletes and visitors from around the world next year.

Violence also erupted this year during numerous demonstrations protesting Macron’s decision to raise the French retirement age from 62 to 64. But rights advocates fear the government is capitalizing on safety concerns that many people see as reasonable to pursue draconian measures.

“The use of surveillance technologies cannot be the systematic response to security issues,” Katia Roux, an advocacy officer at Amnesty International France, said in an interview. “The impact on human rights of these technologies must be taken into account before any normalization of their use. Under the guise of legitimate objectives that are linked to security, these technologies also promote violations of human rights, the rights to privacy and freedom of expression.” continued from A14 nuclear-powered submarines. As a result, Australia cancelled a deal with France for a $63 billion French–Aus- burn human feet. Last year, the Arizona Burn Center recorded 85 admissions from heat-related burns in the summer months.

Police surveillance via a suspect’s phone and other connected devices could last for up to six months at a time, according to the bill. Certain professionals, including journalists, lawyers, and members of the parliament, would be exempt.

“Sadly, yet again, France is a leader in a security strategy where we approach security by surveilling everybody,” “lawyer Le Querrec said. “It raises questions on the state of democracy and the state of French institutions.” Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed.

.

Someone can faint from the heat or suffer any other medical emergency and burn themselves on hot asphalt, according to Dr. Geoff Comp, an attending emergency medicine physician.

The damage, including blistering and skin sloughing off, can happen within minutes, Comp says.

How do people avoid the ER? By wearing protective layers of clothing and understanding their own limits outside.

Foam handles protect vulnerable hands from hot metal knobs on exterior doors. Pet owners outfit their furry friends in booties to keep their paws from getting singed.

Getting shady

A R I z ONA sizzles through more than 300 sunny days annually. Beyond slathering on sunscreen, desert dwellers have other ways to keep the UV at bay.

Some install shade screens on their windows at home—solar shades block ultraviolet light and are a booming business around Phoenix. Car windows are tinted, shade structures tower over grocery store parking spaces, and it’s rare to see tralian submarine program. Australia now joins the nuclear submarine club.

The Malaysian prime minister warned that the Aukus nuclear submarine project could heighten military tensions in Asia. “Indonesian a playground without a sunshade stretching over it.

One of the best ways to avoid the sun is to get up before it rises. Dog parks fill before dawn with panting pets. Runners pound the pavement as cyclists sweep by on the trails in the early morning hours. Golf balls clank off clubs before most people’s alarms buzz them awake.

There’s also natural shade, better known as trees. Electric utility Salt River Project offers its customers free shade trees for their property if they sit through a zoom course.

Mesquites, palo verdes and the desert willow are among the species that offer quick-growing, sunthwarting canopies.

Phoenix and Tempe have tree and shade master plans with designs to cover a quarter of their cities in shade.

Some diehard sun avoiders will wear gloves while driving, with the added benefit of protection from a potentially scalding steering wheel.

Early birds

O N E of the best ways to avoid the sun is to get up before it rises.

Dog parks fill before dawn with panting pets. Runners pound the pavement as cyclists sweep by on the trails in the early morning hours. Golf balls clank off clubs before most people’s alarms buzz them awake.

“We rearrange our schedule,” said Heather Moos, who has lived in the political and military officials see the Australian nuclear submarine capability as meant for war and the Aukus pact as a smaller Nato.” The Philippines “welcomed the signing of the trilateral security pact.”

The question then becomes, do area for 22 summers, and was heading home from the dog park before 7 a.m. Tuesday. “We’re up before the sun comes up. Basically we get to the dog park about 5:00 in the morning.”

On the other side of things, some desert hot spots stay open in the dark. The Desert Botanical Garden hosts flashlight nights, when guests can wander the gardens under the stars. Nighthawks soar overhead while scorpions fluoresce under ultraviolet lights.

The Boyce Thompson Arboretum has similar events that also feature Arizona’s nocturnal critters.

“I guess we have to be vampires in this kind of weather,” Moos said. Finding an oasis we need or want a Nato-style, and US dominated military alliance in Southeast Asia that does not include any Asean member states? Responding to some worries about the Philippines, it might not be China that leads the region to be another Ukraine.

POOLS are as much a part of the Phoenix landscape as the saguaro cactus. But in scalding temps, they can turn to bathwater.

Companies can install cooling systems to chill the waters, but there are simpler methods. Aerators spray water above the pool to keep them cool.

Misters that spritz water to cool diners are a common sight outside restaurants as well.

Longtime resident Sandy Fam wears a wet towel around her neck to keep cool.

“I’ve been doing that for years,” she said.

But while Fam lives in relative comfort, she worries about those who don’t.

“You know, I feel for people who struggle with” paying for air conditioning. They’re the ones really suffering, she said.