Evening Update 04 March

President Macron  is due to visit the PACA region this week, as he attends a session of the national Grand Debate in Marseilles on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the President has called for reconciliation with Italy, following a diplomatic spat which saw Paris briefly recall its ambassador. Relations between the two have soured due to repeated clashes between Macron and Italy's Prime Minister. However, Macron has said he will host the Italian President at an event to celebrate Leonardo da Vinci, which will be held in central France in May. Speaking on Italian television last night, Macron said we owe it to our people, to our history and to Europe, to get past our differences.

Two special postboxes, featuring the face of Simone Veil, are to be installed in Nice; one in front of the marie, the other in front of the MAMAC museum. The boxes are a tribute to the renowned politician who was born in the city.

Police in Marseilles are searching for gillets jaunes protesters who threw projectiles known as ‘cacatov’ at police during the sixteenth week of protest on Saturday. The ‘cacatov’ projectiles are made by filling plastic bags with excrement. The police say they are studying video footage to identify the perpetrators.

The Oceanographic Museum in Monaco has announced it is to recruit new staff for the summer season. Open interviews will take place next Tuesday March 12th for 15 positions with fixed-term contracts of between two and six months.

BUSINESS

European Jewellery brand APM Monaco are looking for a buyer in a deal that could potentially be worth a billion US dollars. The Monaco headquartered family brand, with 200 stores worldwide, will use the sale to expand further globally.

China’s tech giant Huawei is to file a lawsuit today against the United States government, for banning federal agencies from using the company’s products. Meanwhile, Huawei’s CFO is to sue the Canadian government over her arrest at the request of the US. Ms Meng Wan.zhou was held in December at Vancouver airport on suspicion of fraud and breaching US sanctions on Iran.

SPORT

Football - Former OGC Nice striker Mario Balotelli is in the headlines again, not just for scoring a stunning goal with an overhead kick for Marseilles on Saturday, but for grabbing a phone and streaming his ‘on-pitch’ celebration live on Instagram immediately afterwards. Marseille won the game against St-Etienne two nil. In other local games at the weekend Nice beat Strasbourg one nil to move up to seventh place in the league.

Manchester United’s Ashley Young claims the teams "never say die" attitude will be vital, as they try to overcome Paris St-Germain in Wednesday's Champions League second leg. The French league leaders are favourites to win, after a first leg two-nil win, despite the unavailability of Paul Bogba, whose red card in the first game, means he can’t play the return.

Tennis - Australia's Nick Kyrgios says, he prepared for his Mexican Open final by going jet skiing, before coming back to win his fifth ATP Tour title, beating  Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4. Afterwards the 23 year old admitted he needed to be more disciplined and professional. He told the press he didn’t even have a coach, so maybe he’d start there.

Boxing - It’s been confirmed British legend Frank Bruno is in hospital suffering from pneumonia. His agent says the boxer needs a few weeks rest after contracting the virus at the weekend.