Evening Update Thursday 16 February 2023

Demonstrations against pension reform have been taking place in Nice and many cities across the country today. However, the number of demonstrators is down significantly.

In Nice police say participation was about half of last Saturday’s protest, with 2,000 people taking part. Today’s strike is still causing significant disruption to transport though, with a reduction on train services and no busses or trams running in the city.

Meanwhile, progress of the reform is picking up pace in the French parliament, where dozens of planned amendments have been dropped, to allow deputies to move rapidly onto the key part of the reform which handles the actual age at which people will be able to draw a pension.

Unions remain defiant and are calling for a complete shutdown of France, after mid-term, on Tuesday 7th of March.

A restaurant in the Madeleine district of Nice has been shut after it was discovered it was not a restaurant at all.  Security authorities, who raided the premises this morning, found no food in the fridges but instead 42,652 kg of cannabis resin and 1,470 kg of herbal cannabis. The restaurant owner, who was in possession of a large amount of cash, was arrested on the spot.

Societe des Bains de Mer have announced the Casino in Monte-Carlo has won not one but two prestigious awards in London.  The awards for Best Casino Operator and Best Casino Restaurant received at the ICE international trade fair, are a double mark of recognition from the gaming industry, for the Casino de Monte-Carlo and its position as a benchmark in the international gaming