President Macron has made a series of announcements regarding the French education sector as schools get set to return after the summer break. He said that no teacher would earn less than 2,000 euros net per month and that all teachers would be able to undertake paid extra activities if they wished, such as supervising students. He also announced the creation of an educational innovation fund of at least 500 million euros and the extension of the culture pass to students from the sixth grade.
A state of natural disaster has been declared for 73 municipalities in Corsica after the recent storms which hit the island. The Council of Ministers confirmed the decree and it was published in the Official Journal yesterday.
President Macron has begun a three day visit to Algeria today. Economic issues are expected to be discussed during his meetings with Algerian officials including the provision of gas supplies. Algeria is the world's tenth largest producer of natural gas.
Five people have been arrested in Nice for use or possession of narcotics, carrying a weapon or lack of a licence. The arrests were made in the Trachel/Libération sector. Nice Deputy mayor Anthone Borre said that he and mayor Christian Estrosi had asked the National Police to take strong action against drugs trafficking.
BUSINESS
Australian airline Qantas has said that it is seeing demand increase "with the existential crisis posed by the pandemic now over". It said that the reopening of borders saw a huge increase in forward travel demand. The company posted its third major loss from the pandemic but said that a “strong recovery” is underway. Meanwhile, Air New Zealand said it has also experienced "a very strong recovery in bookings and revenues" since March but its pre-tax losses rose for the year to the end of June.
Energy company Shell has received a financial penalty from the UK's energy regulator for overcharging thousands of customers on pre-payment meters. Ofgem found that over a period of more than three years Shell overcharged more than 11,000 households. Affected customers will receive an automatic refund as well as a goodwill payment. The company will also pay £400,000 to Ofgem's voluntary consumer redress fund.
SPORT
Cricket.... It’s day one of second Test at the Emirates Old Trafford. South Africa lead the three-Test series 1-0. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat. They were all out for 151.
Tennis… Novak Djokovic is set to miss the US Open which begins on Monday. The United States has banned non-vaccinated visitors since last October. In a Twitter post he said that he would not be able to travel to NY for the tournament but he would “keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again”.
Football... Premier League clubs have broken their record for spending in a summer transfer window, according to analysis by Deloitte which shows that clubs have spent £1.5bn so far this summer, exceeding the previous record of £1.4bn in 2017. There is still about a week to go until the transfer window closes.
Motorsports... Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali has said in an interview with French media that there will be no French Grand Prix in 2023. He gave no reason for the decision. The Grand Prix has been one of the major sporting events in our region, taking place at Le Castallet in the Var.
He also said that he does not expect a woman to race at the top level of Formula 1 in the next five years. He added that it was "crucial to give the maximum possibility” for women to join F1 but “realistically speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite, I don't see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years”. F1 is promoting the female-only W Series by running its races at grand prix events this season.
A 4.3-magnitude earthquake has struck on the 9th of December near Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye in the Var, with tremors felt as far as Nice....
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