A general view shows the hemicycle before the vote on the 2015 budget bill at the National Assembly in Paris November 18, 2014. France's lower house of parliament backed the 2015 budget bill in a first reading on Tuesday in the first step in the passage of a budget that fails to respect EU deficit limits. The 2015 budget bill was adopted by 266 votes to 247 despite abstentions by 37 rebel Socialist party lawmakers unhappy with spending cuts. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)
PARIS (Reuters) - French lawmakers approved a bill on Tuesday to let intelligence services deploy fly-on-the-wall spying devices more easily against suspected terrorists after Islamist militant attacks killed 17 people in January.
The bill, opposed by civil rights groups, some leftists and some members of President Francois Hollande's ruling Socialists, waives the need for judicial warrants to deploy phone taps, hidden microphones, cameras and other devices such as keypad communications readers.
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