\n This week\u2019s must-reads from The Local include changes to the mail service to the US, a warning for small businesses in France, political language you need to know right now, and how to deal with a power outage\n <\/p>\n
French postal service La Poste has, along with many of its European counterparts, suspended mailing packages to the United States, following new US customs duties regulations. Here\u2019s what that means for Americans in France.<\/p>\n
Letters and packages: What\u2019s changing for mail to the US from France<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n If you are running a small business or operating as a freelancer in France, watch out for official-looking letters demanding payments for legal registration or services \u2013 they may not be all they seem, as freelancer Aurore Laborie explains.<\/p>\n Payment warning for micro-entrepreneurs in France<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n We do our best to avoid politics in the Essentials arena, but it\u2019s not always possible. This is one of those times, as France begins the new political term sunk (once again) deep into a political crisis. You can read the full explanation here<\/a> but, bref, prime minister Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou has called a vote of confidence in his own government on September 8th, which he seems likely to lose.<\/p>\n If this happens, his government will fall. What happens then is somewhat uncertain<\/a>. If you\u2019re paying attention to the French media, you may therefore hear a few words you haven\u2019t heard for a while. So we\u2019ve put together this list of words and phrases to help<\/p>\n Dissolution, d\u00e9mission, destitution \u2013 understanding France\u2019s political crisis<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n You may have read of the post-Brexit requirement to register with the mairie for a \u20ac30 certificate for British house guests \u2013 but there is another option for people for whom this is difficult to get.<\/p>\n Attestation d\u2019accueil: What to do if you cannot get the post-Brexit certificate for a visit to France<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Nail polish options were limited in the EU at the start of September, when European regulators banned the sale and use of the chemical Trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide, known \u2013 more commonly, sensibly and less tongue-twisterlyly \u2013 as TPO.<\/p>\n This affects some but not all nail polishes used in gel manicures, as we explain\u2026<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Mythbuster: Has the EU really banned gel manicures?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Autumn is, meteorologically at least, upon us. And although Keats had it about right with his \u201cSeason of mists and mellow fruitfulness\u201d line, it\u2019s also a season of violent storms<\/a> and winds and rain. And, in turn, that can lead to power outages. Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n