Refusal - The Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has said, he will not accept a cabinet position as Minister of the Interior, as he prefers to ‘stay in his city’. Estrosi, who met with President Macron on Monday, has been tipped as a replacement for Gérard Collomb who is stepping down to campaign for his old job as Mayor of Lyon.
Pastor - The murder trial of Monaco millionaire Hélene Pastor has seen a video confession from her Polish son-in-law, admitting that he did order the execution but not in the way it was carried out. In the video, which was recorded during his police interview in 2014, he said he asked the family sports coach to ‘help solve the problem’ of his mother-in-law. The coach admits to taking €20,000 in cash and carrying out the murder.
Capture - One of France’s top criminals, who made dramatic escape from prison by helicopter, has been captured after three months on-the-run. Last July heavily armed men, used smoke bombs and angle grinders to break through prison doors, and whisk Redoine Faid to a waiting helicopter. Since then around 100 police were deployed to track down the 46-year-old, who has cited movies such as Scarface, as his inspiration for becoming a career criminal at the age of 12.
Social - Despite rules, which say you need to be 13 or older to access Facebook, a new survey today shows the majority of French pre-teens are already signed up. Over 40% of them have between 50 and 200 friends with whom they exchange photos, chat and videos. Other popular social networks with pre-teens include Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok.
BUSINESS
Monaco-based shipping company Sea World Management & Trading have been fined €1.84 million for discharging oil and waste near the coast of Texas. The master of the vessel, the Sea Faith, was also sentenced to six months in jail and personally fined $2,000, for ordering crew members to illegally discharge oily waste into the sea while the tanker was en-route to Corpus Christi.
Italian borrowing costs have fallen today as Rome announced lower public spending in the coming years. The yield on the 10-year Italian bonds fell 3.31% as the market reacted to reports the government is to lower the public deficit from 2.2% in 2020, to 2% in 2021.
Shares in Aston Martin started trading today and immediately dropped, by up to 6.5% in value, from their initial £19 a share. Despite the company’s chequered history, which includes it going bust seven times in 105 years, there had been much anticipation over todays share sale.
SPORT
Football - A Liverpool fan has been treated for minor cuts and bruises following an incident in Naples last night. The man in his 20s was taken to hospital following the incident, which involved a group of men on mopeds, but his injuries were not serious. Liverpool play Napoli in Champions League at 9pm tonight, while the Paris St-Germain game against Red Star Belgrade kicks off at 6.55pm.
Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia has apologised for ‘liking’ an Instagram post which called for the United manager to be sacked. He explained that he saw a picture of himself, and liked it without reading the caption underneath, which said ‘Its time for Mourinho to go’.
A Croatian court has rejected a charge of perjury against Luka Modric, recently named as the ‘best football player’ in the world. He had been accused of giving false testimony at the trial of an executive at his former club, which related to his Tottenham Hotspur transfer in 2008. The Zagreb criminal court rejected the accusation of perjury, although the ruling can be appealed.
Tennis - British number one Kyle Edmund reached the quarter-finals of the China Open with a hard-fought victory against Italy's Matteo Berrettini. The 23-year-old was two points away from defeat in the third set, but rallied to beat the world number 58 7-5 6-7 7-5. Edmund will face Croatian Dusan Lajovic in the last eight.
A new optional regional transport tax for businesses, introduced in France’s 2025 budget, aims to fund eco-friendly mobility projects. ...
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A judge has authorised a dive to inspect the wreckage of a plane in the sea off Antibes. The plane crashed into the Mediterranean on September 11 1968...
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In France, drinking water is heavily contaminated with "forever pollutants," particularly trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), as revealed by two studies from ...
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The trial of the Tunisian man accused of the murder of three people in the Nice Basilica attack is continuing in Paris. Yesterday the families of the ...
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Four cities in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region made Booking.com's 2025 list of the "most welcoming destinations in France." ...
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