Another day of national industrial action is still planned across France on Thursday to protest at pension reforms. The French air regulator has once again asked several airports to cancel 20% of flights on Thursday. The airports concerned are Marseille-Provence, Nantes, Toulouse and Bordeaux. At this stage, no airports in Paris have been asked to reduce flights. Train and bus services are expected to be disrupted and Lignes d'Azur have said that no trams will be running in Nice.The SNCF have said today that nationally one out of two local TER services will operate on Thursday. Three TGV Inoui and Ouigo out of four will run and one intercity service out of four will run on average.
An appeal aimed at stopping the demolition of the Acropolis in Nice has been dismissed by a court today. The controversial demolition will continue after the administrative court in Nice rejected an interim application which if granted would have stopped the demolition pending the hearing of a full appeal.
Three people have been placed in custody on suspicion of being involved in a fatal shooting in Arles. The three have been charged with various offences in connection with the death of the 15 year old in June last year.
A civil security exercise is taking place at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice this evening between 8pm and midnight. Authorities said that people shouldn't be concerned if they hear noises or detonations and shouldn't call emergency services as it's just an exercise. It's part of preparations for the Rugby World Cup later this year and the Olympics next year.
Nice mayor Christian Estrosi has visited construction work for the new tunnel at the west exit of the Voie Mathis. When it's finished at the end of next year it will be able to cope with 40,000 vehicles per day in the East-West direction, where it is currently interrupted at the outlet of Avenue Grinda. The mayor said that the tunnel will result in less travel time and less CO2 and fine particle emissions.
Motorway operator VINCI Autoroutes is forecasting particularly heavy traffic for this Easter weekend, from Friday to Monday, especially in the Paris region, to the west on the A10 motorway axis and in the South East of France. It said that in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, traffic will be very busy on Friday, especially when approaching major cities such as Nice, Toulon, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille on the A8, A50 and A57, in both directions of traffic, from mid-afternoon until early evening. Next Monday will also be marked by heavy traffic around major cities from midday and very dense or even saturated traffic in the afternoon, in both directions.
BUSINESS
L'Oreal has agreed to buy Australian skincare brand Aesop in a deal worth $2.53bn. Aesop was founded 36 years ago and has almost 400 stores worldwide. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.
Sir Richard Branson's rocket company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy in the US after failing to secure new investment. The satellite launch company halted operations several weeks ago and announced last week that it would cut 85% of its workforce.
TikTok has been fined £12.7m by the UK's data watchdog for failing to protect the privacy of children. An investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office found that the site used the data of children aged under 13 without parental consent. TikTok said it had "invested heavily" to stop under-13s accessing the site and that it disagreed with the decision.
SPORT
Tennis... Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the Monte Carlo Masters because of an ongoing hip injury. He's won the tournament 11 times so far. World number two Carlos Alcaraz is also out of the Monte Carlo Masters because of injury.
Football... Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has signed a new contract which will run until June 2027. He joined United from Southampton in 2014.
It's been announced that Switzerland will host the 2025 Women's European Championship. England hosted and won the last tournament. Uefa selected Switzerland over bids from Poland, France and a joint bid from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Switzerland will automatically qualify for the 2025 tournament as hosts, with qualification matches for other nations beginning next spring.
A powerful Mistral storm has swept through Provence, with wind gusts exceeding 150 km/h in some areas. ...
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France’s recently appointed Prime Minister François Bayrou has promised a new government "before Christmas" and reserves the possibility of using 49....
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A four-day strike at DHL has caused delays in package processing, raising concerns about on-time deliveries for Christmas....
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French judges in Avignon will today Thursday 19th December, deliver their verdicts in a mass rape case against 51 men that has appalled France and the...
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Monaco Info and TV Monaco are set to make way for a new television channel on September 1st of 2025. During the debates on the 2025 preliminary budget...
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