President Macron has been visiting Marseille today. Along with recently appointed Education Minister Pap Ndiaye, he visited a school which has been trialling a new system known as "school of the future". President Macron said that he wishes the programme to become widespread in the next few months. He also announced that from the autumn elementary school students will undertake thirty minutes of sport per day. He also announced the return of maths on an optional basis in the premiere year.
The Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo has called for changes in security measures in the capital following the events surrounding the Champions League final at the Stade de France last weekend. She said that she felt "shame" for France, the region and the city which will be hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games.
French diplomats are taking idustrial action today for the first time in twenty years. They are protesting about recent reforms to the civil service by President Macron and reductions in funding over the past several decades. Diplomats staged a demonstration at Les Invalides in Paris this afternoon.
The Maritime Prefecture and rescue service Crossmed are renewing their efforts to find a missing sailboat. On May 12 the family of the two crew members of the sailboat Sylphe raised their concerns with Crossmed. The 7.35m French boat had left Martigues on May 5 to go to Tangier in Morocco via Gibraltar. The boat's last know position was on May 6 and it hasn't been located despite extensive searches by authorities.
The France-Italy link road known as the "Cinquante Lacets" will be partially opening tomorrow for the summer. Significant road reinforcement and safety work has been carried out by the Departmental Council of the Alpes-Maritimes on the French side. From Friday, June 3 at 3 p.m. and as long as weather and maintenance conditions allow, the road will be accessible every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to specific groups of people. It will be open to the inhabitants of Limone Piemonte, Tende and La Brigue, to cross-border workers who work in those municipalities and to hikers and tourists who have reservations in hotels, refuges and establishments in Casterino for the day or for the night.
The Var Prefecture has said that reserves of blood are currently low and has called on people to donate. Locations where blood can be donated are available on www.sante.fr
BUSINESS
The UK Transport Secretary has rejected a request by the aviation industry to allow them to recruit workers from overseas, according to a BBC report quoting aviation insiders. Industry leaders had asked for special immigration visas for overseas workers at a meeting with Grant Shapps yesterday. There have been long queues at UK airports to get through security and check-in baggage in recent days due to lack of staff. Industry bosses suggested to Mr Shapps that one potential solution would be to allow EU workers to cover the huge number of operational vacancies but this suggestion has now apparently been rejected.
A telecoms company laying fibre across in UK has secured new financing. CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent carrier-neutral full fibre platform, announced a debt package totalling £4.9bn. It said that the facilities form one of the largest single financings dedicated to “full fibre” deployment across Europe and fully funds its rollout to a third of the UK market by 2025.
SPORT
Tennis....Iga Swiatek is through to the French Open finals after beating Daria Kasatkina. The final score was 6-2 6-1. Coco Gauff is playing Martina Trevisan in the other semi-final.
Cricket... It's the first day of the England against New Zealand first test at Lord's. England spinner Jack Leach has been withdrawn from the Test after suffering symptoms of concussion. He took a heavy fall while chasing a ball to the boundary in the sixth over.
Football.. German international Antonio Rudiger is joining Real Madrid. He has played for Chelsea since 2017.
Rugby Union... It's been announced that Five South Africa teams will join elite competitions in Europe. The four Vodacom United Rugby Championship teams and the Toyota Cheetahs will play in next season’s two European Professional Club Rugby knockout competitions, the Heineken Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup.
A Polish man in his forties has been hospitalized in Valence after enduring a harrowing journey between two TGV carriages from Paris. ...
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Cloudy with sunny intervals. Light rain is forecast for the Var region with moderate to strong winds. Highs of 17 degrees in Monaco and Saint-Tropez, ...
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White smoe Is billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel meaning A new pope has just been chosen! 133 cardinals have gathered in the Sistine cha...
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No new pope has been elected yet, as black smoke signalled another inconclusive vote during the conclave in the morning of Thursday the 8th of May. ...
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Unions at the SNCF have announced new strike action for June 4th, 5th, and 11th, following ongoing disruptions to train services in France during the ...
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