National News France
Foreign military and police officers will be present to reinforce security for the Olympic and Paralympic Games - Poland has announced that its armed forces will "join the international coalition” to help secure the Olympic and Paralympic games in Paris. The French Ministry of Armed Forced has said that "several foreign nations" will send soldiers to reinforce security for the Games. The countries concerned "will strengthen France in certain critical areas, such as sniffer dog capacity, where the needs are enormous”. The ministry, did not specify which nations were concerned but "46 foreign partners" are believed to have been asked with more than 35 partner states having responded favourably”. It is not the first time that France has asked for reinforcements. During the last Rugby World Cup, British police officers in particular came to France, and a total of 160 European officers participated in the event. Germany has already indicated that it will send police officers to the Olympics.
Bank transfers to take longer over Easter weekend - The Bank of France has announced that from today Friday 29th March until Easter Monday included, standard bank transfers will not arrive at their destination for at least four days. Good Friday and Easter Monday are two public holidays in many countries in Europe and as a result making transfers will take longer. Money transfers between euro area banks are channelled through the Target 2 system. However, this service, which handles SEPA transfers, is open every day except weekends and on 1st of January, as well as on Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1st May and 25th and 26th of December. Therefore, for more than 100 hours, between Thursday, March 28 at 6 p.m. and Tuesday, April 2 at 2:30 a.m., Target 2 will be closed. The closure will therefore penalise Europeans wishing to make a transfer quickly and may also delay salaries paid by bank transfer if your company has not anticipated this period. Good Friday actually falls at the end of the month this year and Easter Monday at the very beginning of the following month, a period when many companies pay thier employees. Internal transfers however between two accounts within the same bank will not be affected.
Cyber-attacks on schools in France - France’s Minister of Education, Nicole Belloubet, has announced that due to the recent wave of cyberattacks on the digital workspace the ENT, used by French education establishments, all messaging on the network will be suspended. Some 130 middle and high schools have received messages in recent days threatening an attack after a hack of the ENT, a digital space that serves as a link between teachers, students and parents. Complaints have been lodged and several investigations have been launched.
Weather alert - The Loire and the Rhône Valley have been placed on an orange weather alert today with strong winds forcaster. Gusts may reach between 90 to 110 km / h due to storm Nelson. The alert is in place until 4pm this afternoon. The weather is expected to be turbulent throughout France today from the Grand-Est to Burgundy, the Franche-Comté, the north of Auvergne, the Limousin and the Aquitaine as well as the Pyrenees. The weather will however be drier, but very windy from the Rhône-Alpes to the PACA region and Corsica. The southerly to southeasterly winds will reach 60 to 80 km/h along the Mediterranean coast.
Local
Marseille Criminal Court - The Marseille Criminal Court has handed down several sentences ranging from six months to eight years in prison and fines of up to 100,000 euros against 25 defendants who operated a drug dealing point between 2019 and 21021. Suspected of being "delivery boys", "packers" and suppliers of a major drug trafficking network known as Les Oliviers, named after a housing estate in Marseille, they had been on trial since 11 March. The drug outlet was reputed to be one of the most lucrative in the city with a daily turnover of up to 60,000 to 80,000 euros. Of the 25 defendants, seven were in custody and four others were in pre-trial detention.
Monaco City Hall reinforces the security of its premises with a video surveillance system – The Monaco council have unanimously voted to set up a video surveillance system in the town hall. A building nestled on the Rock and considered an Organization of Vital Importance (OIV). "In order to guarantee the safety of property and people within this building, the Municipality wishes to operate a video surveillance system." Gradually installed in 2023, in accordance with safety and regulatory compliance requirements, the system is expected to soon be operational.
A&E at Gassin hospital to remain closed - The A&E department of Gassin hospital in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez in the Var is to remain closed at night over the Easter weekend and for the month of April. While the director had announced that he was working towards a return to normal in April, the service will ultimately continue its adapted service as we head into the summer season. The A&E department will remain closed to the public between 9 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. during which there are alternatives such as the Gassin medical centre on call, at the Health Centre from Monday to Friday from 8 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from 8 a.m. to midnight. (04.98.12.51.14). The CSNP de Sainte-Maxime, Espace Mathias, at 204 route du Plan-de-la-Tour, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (04.28.70.17.00) the Saint-Tropez health centre located on avenue Charles de Gaulle, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (04.23.10.19.05) and finally the emergencies of Fréjus, Hyeres, Brignoles and Toulon remain open 24/7.
Clocks go forward - Finally don’t forget the clocks go forward an hour from 2am on Sunday 31st March as part of daylight-saving time. The same day as Easter Sunday.
Business
Sam Bankman-Fried's legal team have said that will appeal against his conviction. Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers and investors of his now-bankrupt firm. The ruling cements the downfall of the former billionaire, who emerged as a high-profile champion of crypto before his firm's dramatic collapse in 2022. He was found to have stolen billions from customers ahead of the failure.
And - A British insurance marketplace has said that the collapse of a bridge in the US city of Baltimore will result in the largest single marine insurance loss ever. Six people were presumed dead after a ship crashed into the bridge, and divers have recovered two bodies. Experts say the damages could cost as much as $3bn (£2.3bn).
On the foreign exchanges -One Euro is worth (1 US dollar ) 07 cents. The British Pound is buying 1 US dollar 26 cents. The Pound’s worth 1 Euro 17 cents means the euro is trading at 85.36 pence. The Swiss Franc buying 1 US dollar 10 cents And 1 euros 02 cents
BITCOIN 70,517 dollars 88 cents
ETHEREUM 3,578 dollars 13 cents
Commodities
The price of an onze of gold 2,229 dollars 87 cents
And a barrel of brent crude 87 dollars 00 cents
Sport
Football - In the Premier League at the weekend tomorrow Newcastle are at home to West Ham, Bournemouth play Everton , Chelsea face Burnley, Nottingham Forest play Crystal Palace, Sheffield United are at home to Fulham, Tottenham play Luton, Aston Villa face Wolves and Brentford are at home to Manchester United.
On Sunday Liverpool at are home to Brighton and Manchester City will play Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Darts – Teenager Luke Littler continued his extraordinary rise as he won his first Premier League Darts night with a 6-4 win over Nathan Aspinall in Belfast. Littler, 17, rose to prominence when he was runner-up to Luke Humphries in the World Darts Championship on debut.
Formula One - Ex-Renault Formula 1 boss and former Queens Park Rangers co-owner Flavio Briatore has undergone heart surgery to remove a benign tumour.The 73 year old Italian, said he has been discharged from hospital in Milan following the operation. Briatore said on Instagram the surgery had been "perfectly successful".
Weather
Light rain to start, remaining cloudy with some sunny intervals. Moderate winds in the Alpes Maritimes, with strong winds expected in the Var. Highs of 19 degrees in Nice, Monaco and Cannes.
This evening going down to 10 degrees with cloudy skies.
The outlook, Saturday cloudy with light showers by lunchtime highs of 17 degrees. Sunday heavy showers highs of 14 degrees. Meteo France has warned of another Mediterranean episode over the Easter weekend due to heave rainfall.
Sunrise 06.18am
Sunset 06.54pm
Sea temperature
Marseille 13.8°
Weather elsewhere
London 13° light rain.
Berlin 12° light rain.
Athens 24° sunny.
And Finally
A study has said that climate change is affecting the speed of the Earth's rotation and could impact how we keep time. Accelerating melt from Greenland and Antarctica is adding extra water to the world's seas, redistributing mass. That is very slightly slowing the Earth's rotation. But the planet is still spinning faster than it used to. The effect is that global timekeepers may need to subtract a second from our clocks later than would otherwise have been the case. The study published in the journal Nature says, "Global warming is already affecting global timekeeping”.
Competition time!
The Full English Breakfast Show – Anyone for tennis? All week we are giving away tickets to the ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS.
All you have to do is listen to the Full English Breakfast Show and answer the tennis question. All correct answers will be entered into a draw which will be held on Friday at 10am live on air.
Everyday a tennis story will be given here on our FB page and our website rivieraradio.mc in the morning’s news section. The tennis story will help you to find the answer to the question asked on air. Best of luck!
Tennis story – Anyone for Tennis?
“Anyone for Tennis” is a song by the British Rock band Cream. It was used as the theme song for the 1968 film Savage Seven. The song was recorded during the sessions for Cream's third album, Wheels of Fire. However, it was released on The Savage Seven soundtrack album[2] and as a single instead. It reached number 64 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in May 1968 and number 40 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1968. Cream mimed the song during their promotional appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in May 1968 with a video middle section in which the band carry tennis rackets.
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