News
French President calls for laboratories to donate 10% of vaccine doses - French President Emmanuel Macron has called on laboratories to donate 10% of their vaccine doses to poor countries. On Thursday the Head of State also urged members of the G7 to participate in the vaccination of "60% of Africans" by the first quarter of 2022.
Prison sentence for man who slapped French President - A French court has sentenced a man who slapped French President Emmanuel Macron across the face to a prison term of 4 months. 28-year-old Damien Tarel, a medieval history enthusiast, has been in custody since Tuesday's assault, which a prosecutor at the hearing called "absolutely unacceptable" and "an act of deliberate violence".
Internal investigation - The results of an internal investigation are to be published today by phone operator Orange following the breakdown of emergency services last week, during which at least five deaths occurred, including that of a 28-month-old child in the Vendée.
Trial begins for killing which sparked global feminist campaign - 44-year-old Bruno Garcia-Cruciani, has gone on trial in Corsica accused of gunning down his former partner in a killing that sparked a global feminist campaign. The death of Julie Douib back in March 2019 highlighted the scale of femicide in France. In the months before she was killed, the 34-year-old, had made six formal legal complaints about the behaviour of the father of her two children and had reported him to police on several other occasions.
Monaco eases health restrictions - From tomorrow Saturday 12th June, restrictions in the Principality due to the health crisis will be relaxed with the curfew being pushed back to midnight and restaurants will be able to welcome residents from both the Alpes Maritimes and the bordering region of Italy. The number of diners allowed to sit at one table will increase from 6 to 8 and the spacing between tables will be reduced to one meter instead of 1.5 meters. Bars, cafes and tea rooms are no longer subject to early closure. But the service must be seated. Finally, teleworking is no longer compulsory, but it remains recommended.
Monaco covid cases – On Thursday two new cases of covid were declared in the Principality bringing the total number of residents affected to 2,516. Three non-residents are currently hospitalised and five people are being followed by the Home Monitoring Service.
Covid figures for the Alpes Maritimes – Meanwhile no new deaths from covid were reported in the Alpes Martitimes on Thursday. Since the start of the epidemic, covid has killed 1,974 people in the department (448 in nursing homes, 1,526 in hospitals). The number of patients in hospital continues to decline. With to date, 170 being treated for covid in the region’s hospitals and 27 are in intensive care.
According to the national public health agency the incidence rate has returned to its lowest level since August 2020. Falling below 30 which is the equivalent to around forty new cases detected every day in the department.
Football - With supporters back in the stadiums, Euro 2020 opens at 9pm in Rome this evening with a tantalizing Turkey-Italy opening match.
Business
US inflation continued to surge in May as prices for used cars and energy picked up. Consumer prices have jumped by 5% in the 12 months to the end of May, up from 4.2% a month before.
The new figures from the US Labor Department mark the biggest year on year increase since August 2008.
The spike comes amid fears that rising prices could prompt the US central bank to put up interest rates.
Some analysts have said that inflation could be rising because of temporary factors such as supply bottlenecks. They say that headline inflation is bound to rise but the good news is that the spike may fade with time which should lead inflation to fall.
Starbucks has been hit by supply shortages in the United States meaning some drinks are not available for customers.
The coffee chain said it was suffering temporary supply shortages for items such as oat milk.
A spokesman said specific items will vary by market and store and some stores will experience shortages of various items at the same time. Starbucks has apologised for any inconvenience and said it was working with suppliers to restock items.
The firm has refused to confirm which other ingredients apart from oat milk are affected but reports say that 25 different products are in short supply.
And – Hackers have stolen valuable information from the major game publisher Electronic Arts EA.
The attackers claim to have downloaded source code for games such as FIFA 21 and for the proprietary Frostbite game engine which is used as the basis for many other high-profile games.
EA says no player data had been stolen in the breach.
The firm is one of the largest games companies in the world and makes a series of top titles such as Battlefield, Star Wars, Jedi Fallen Order, The Sims and Titan Fall as well as a vast array of annual sports games.
Sport
Football – Euro 2020 starts tonight with France favourites heading into the tournament.
The opening game is between Turkey and Italy in group A.
Italy are not heavily fancied this time out Turkey could cause a few surprises.
Tomorrow, Wales play their opening group A game against Switzerland and in group B Denmark play Finland and Belgium play Russia.
On Sunday Austria play North Macedonia in group C and the Netherlands face Ukraine.
England get their campaign underway on Sunday when they play Croatia in group D.
Tennis –Barbora Krejcikova will play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the women’s final at the French Open.
She beat Maria Sakkari 7-5 4-6 9-7 in a dramatic match on Thursday.
Pavlyuchenkova booked her place with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Tamara Zidansek.
It’s men’s semifinals today. Rafael Nadal plays Novak Djokovic and Alex Zverev plays Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Crickets – England lost some quick wickets in the afternoon session on day one of the second test against New Zealand at Edgbaston.
Rory Burns top scored with 81 and Dan Lawrence battled to 67 not out in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 18,000.
There were 2 wickets each for Boult and Henry for the tourists.
At stumps England had reached 258-7.
Play starts again at noon.
Rugby union –There are two games in the Guinness Pro 14 Rainbow Cup tonight.
Zebre play Munster and Leinster host Dragons.
It’s the final day of the English Premiership tomorrow with the focus on the top 4 to see who will have a home berth in the play-off semifinals.
Top of the table Bristol play London Irish while Exeter host Sale in what will be the key match. Harlequins in fourth play Newcastle.
Weather
Mainly fine in coastal areas,some thunder inland and light to moderate southerly winds.
Top temperatures 25- 27 degrees.
Overnight lows of 19-21 degrees with clear skies.
The weekend-Mainly fine .Highs of 25-27 degrees.
Ahead of tomorrow’s nationwide day of strike action, protestors against France's pension reforms blockaded the access to Nice Saint-Isidore business p...
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The charity Sidaction which fights against AIDS has revealed that during the weekend’s annual fundraiser, just over 3.9 million euros was raised. ...
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Trade unions have announced fresh strikes and protests in France tomorrow Tuesday 28th March.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is to meet with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne at noon today Monday 27th March they will then be joined from 1:15pm b...
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Mobilisation of the inter-union for culture against the pension reform, has led to the Louvre Museum in Paris remaining closed this Monday morning. ...
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