Evening Update 19 April

The brother of the French jihadist, who shot seven people dead in Toulouse in 2012, had been handed a 30-year prison sentence, after a court found him guilty of being an accomplice. The terrorist's brother escaped the life imprisonment sentence which had been sought by the prosecution.

The yellow vest movement is threatening further action this weekend marking ‘Act 23’ of protests. President Macron who cancelled Monday night’s television address responding to the gillets jaunes movement, has been unable to speak since due to the fire at Notre Dame. The gillets jaunes protests will continue on Saturday in Nice and Paris.

Police in Antibes and Nice have taken part in a national display of support for colleagues who have taken their own lives. Already, since January this year, 28 officers have committed suicide. In response, the Interior Minister has announced a new suicide prevention alert, with a 24 dedicated helpline for reporting people at risk, and connecting those in pain with psychologists.

With thousands of extra motorists planning to hit the roads this Easter weekend, Vinci has warned that traffic will be particularly busy on the A8 motorway in all directions up to 9pm tonight, and again on Monday, between 5pm and 8pm. Road closures are also expected in and around Cannes on Sunday due to the Triathalon taking place for Easter.

And finally, SNCF have announced there will be no train service this weekend between Cannes La Bocca and Les Arcs Draguignan. This is due to renovation work which will take place on the Frayère Bridge.

BUSINESS

Shares in the online scrapbook company Pinterest surged more than 28% on its first day of trading, valuing the firm at about $16bn. The shares opened in New York at $23.75, well ahead of the $19 they were priced at, and closed at $24.40. Pinterest's listing is being viewed as an indicator of investor appetite for unicorns - private, venture capital-backed firms, valued at more than $1bn. Another such company Uber is due to float next month.

SPORT

TENNIS MASTERS
The big news is that World Number 1 Novak Djokovic is out of the Masters in Monaco. He was beaten this morning by Russia’s Daniil Medvedev  6-3 4-6 6-2. In this morning’s other Quarter Final, Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic progressed with a straight sets win over Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

Champions League
Dutch football chiefs have cancelled a full round of fixtures before Ajax meet Tottenham in the semi-finals. The Dutch Football Association said the decision to cancel the top-flight fixtures was needed because Ajax were not only in the Champions League semi-finals, but the Dutch Cup final, and challenging for the League title as well. They stressed the decision is about player welfare and not designed to give Ajax and advantage.

Rugby
Outgoing Premiership boss Mark McCafferty has said regular matches between club sides across the world will happen sooner or later. Private equity firm CVC have already completed a 27% purchase of the English league and are in talks with the Pro 14 about buying a stake in that league. It’s felt cross-hemisphere matches could form part of CVC's vision for the future.