Evening Update Monday 5 June 2023

The prosecutor in Marseille has announced a major drugs haul. 45 kilos of cocaine and 288 kg of cannabis were seized during raids at the end of last month. On May 30, some 70 police officers were involved in operations against drugs trafficking in the 14th arrondissement in the north of the city.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said that 11,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed throughout France for tomorrow's day of protest against pension reforms. About 250 demonstrations are planned. The SNCF have said that services are expected to be only slightly disrupted tomorrow with about 90% of trains running on average nationally. However, more significant disruption is expected to flights becuse of industrial action by air traffic controllers. One third of tomorrow's departures will be cancelled at Paris Orly but flights at Charles de Gaulle are unaffected. Locally, one in five arrivals and departures are expected to be cancelled at Nice Cote d'Azur Airport.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has unveiled a series of measures the government hopes will ease the shortage of housing. At a press conference this evening she said that "we are currently going through a housing crisis". Amongst the measures announced, the PTZ zero-rate means-tested loan programme will be extended until 2027.

French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire has  announced that 2.9 billion euros will be made available by the French state to a new semiconductor factory being constructed near Grenoble in the Isère department. The cost of the  project  is almost 7.5 billion euros.  Th