Evening Update Thursday 27 April 2023

Four people have been charged in connection with an alleged kidnapping in Marseille. Last Saturday three men assaulted a man in the 5th arrondissement and attempted to bundle him into the boot of a car. It's believed the incident is related to drugs trafficking. The three men and one woman have been charged with offences including kidnapping and forcible confinement.

The French government has said that a frigate which is normally based in Toulon is taking part in a rescue mission in Sudan. The ship was involved in an operation in which about 400 people were evacuated from the country after recent violence. Clashes between the Sudanese army and paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces began on 15 April. Hundreds of people have since died and thousands have been injured in the conflict.

Some of the residents of rue Tivoli in Marseille are being allowed to return to their homes after the gas explosion earlier this month in which eight people lost their lives. 138 people are being allowed to return to 19 buildings as from tomorrow morning after authorities gave the all clear to the structures on safety grounds.

The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office has said that it's appealing against a court decision in which Airbus and Air France were exonerated in the case involving the crash of Air France flight 447. 228 people died in the crash of the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in 2009. In its decision, the court said that no "certain causal link" between any fault and the crash could be demonstrated.

The funeral of the former mayor of Frejus Francois Leotard is set to take place on 3 May. According to local reports, the funeral service will be in the town's Notre- Dame et Saint-Leonce Cathedral.

Jean Castellini, Monaco's Minister of Finance and Economy, has taken part in a meeting in Warsaw organized by the Polish Ministry of Finance and the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe. The meeting brought together Ministers responsible for anti-money laundering policies from the 35 member countries and territories of MONEYVAL. They discussed strategic direction and future priorities.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi has expressed his condolences after the death of Marie-Rose Lexcellent, Mayor of Saint-Martin-De-Crau in the Bouches-du-Rhone. The mayor said that she served "with passion and dedication".

 

BUSINESS

Tech company Meta has reported better than expected profits of $5.7bn for the first quarter of this year. It said that artificial intelligence was "driving good results" across its business. Total revenue at the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp was $28.6bn. The number of people on Facebook rose to just under three billion.

Microsoft has hit out after it was blocked from buying gaming firm Activision by the UK's competition regulator. Speaking to the BBC the company's president Brad Smith said that the move was "bad for Britain" and marked Microsoft's "darkest day" in its four decades of working in the UK. He added that he thought the EU was a better place to start a business.

 

SPORT

Cricket... Ireland face an uphill struggle to save the second Test against Sri Lanka after the hosts declared on 704-3 in their first innings. That left them with a 212-run lead and the tourists then lost two wickets to stand at 54-2 at the end of day four in the five day Test.

Tennis... Britain's Kyle Edmund is out of the Madrid Open after losing in the first round to Dominic Thiem. The final score was 6-4  6-1. The 28 year old has now lost all six games on tour this year.  

Football... Pelé, the nickname of the football legend, has entered a Portugese dictionary meaning "exceptional, incomparable, unique". The Portuguese-language Michaelis dictionary, one of the most popular in Brazil, added "pelé" as a new adjective to its online edition. The move came after a campaign by the Pelé Foundation to honour the football star gathered more than 125,000 signatures.

 

 

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