News
Global warming - According to elected officials and the Council for Ecological Transition France must prepare itself for a global warming of +4°C. The National Council for Ecological Transition (CNTE), which brings together representatives of local authorities, NGOs, unions, employers and parliamentarians, has said that warming is indeed more marked in metropolitan France compared to the world average. The council added that “measures must be adopted to deal with the climate change while at the same time not giving up on climate ambitions set out by the government”.
Diplomatic spat - Comments on migration made by France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Thursday towards the Italian Prime Minister Georgia have triggered a diplomatic spat with Italy.
In an interview on Thursday, Gérald Darmanin said Italian PM Georgia Meloni was "unable to solve the migration problems on which she was elected". Italy's foreign minister called the remarks "unacceptable" and pulled out of a scheduled trip to Paris.
In a bid to defuse the row, the French foreign ministry said it wished to work with Italy on common challenges. This year Italy has seen a dramatic rise in arrivals by sea from Tunisia. Most of the 42,000 people arriving from North Africa this year have come from Tunisia, prompting Italy to declare a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, a court in Gap has handed down a prison sentence to a man who smuggled migrants across the border from Italy. The van driver of African origin was caught trying to bring 32 illegal migrants over the border in the early hours of 29 April. He was also banned from re-entering France after the expiry of his jail term.
Maritime prefect warns of rise of deaths and injuries at sea – In other news, the maritime prefect has raised the alarm to draw attention to the importance of safety at sea. Thursday May 4th, saw the launch of the 2023 campaign for the safety of nautical leisure activities in the Mediterranean. In 2022, 4,230 rescue operations were coordinated in the Mediterranean. A figure up 25% compared to the previous year.
Electric charging points - The number of electric vehicle charging points in France is set to reach 100,000. According to an electric mobility association, 4,000 new stations are being installed per month. Ten per cent of charging stations installed across France are fast charging facilities.
Monegasque brand Beefbar voted best steakhouse in the world - The Beefbar chain of the Monegasque group Giraudi has been awarded the British Upper Cut Media House ranking among 800 steakhouse restaurants in the world. The Beefbar restaurant chain now has 32 addresses around the world, including a very recent one in Milan. A Monegasque recipe which has conquered the whole world, the Beefbar brand was created in 2005 by Riccardo Giraudi in the Principality with its first restaurant on the port of Fontvieille.
Busy on the roads this weekend - With the end of the school holidays for zone C in France and the bank holiday Monday, this weekend is expected to be particularly busy on the roads across France. While today remains green on a national level tomorrow Saturday, has been classed as orange.
Rapper 50 Cent's world tour will pass through Nice - On the 20th anniversary of the release of his first album, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'", American rapper 50 Cent has announced that he will be playing in Nice on October 21 at the Palais Nikaïa as part of his world tour. Nice will be the first date in France ahead of Strasbourg on October 31st, Nantes, November 2nd, and La Défense Arena, November 3rd. Tickets will first be available on livenation.fr from Thursday May 11 at 10 a.m. and will be available at all usual points of sale from Friday May 12 at 10 a.m.
Business
The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised interest rates again to maintain its battle against inflation but eased the pace of increase. The main policy rate was hiked by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25% by the euro area central bank's governing council, making borrowing more expensive.
China's domestic tourism rebounded above pre-pandemic levels during the five-day May Day break. Tourists made 274m trips within the country during the holiday period, China's Ministry of Tourism says. That was almost 20% higher than in 2019, before the outbreak of Covid-19 triggered lockdowns across the country. Official figures also show that tourists spent $21bn (£16.7bn) during the period, more than twice the amount seen the same time last year.
And - Sir Richard Branson has said he feared he was going to lose his entire business empire during the pandemic. The British businessman said he found a media backlash "painful" after the Virgin Group asked the UK government for a loan to save the company. Given his personal wealth and home on a Caribbean island, he was criticised for asking for a bailout when airline Virgin Atlantic hit trouble. Sir Richard told the BBC he personally lost around £1.5bn during the pandemic.
Sport
Football - The city of Naples was transformed into an epic street party on Thursday. Roads were filled with people singing, dancing and hugging one another, while children played football around them. People jumped in fountains in jubilation, while others waved huge flags as Napoli became the champions of Italy for the first time in 33 years.
Manchester United's Champions League hopes suffered a setback as Brighton scored a dramatic 99th-minute penalty winner to keep their own European ambitions on track. Winning 1-0 in the premier league last night.
In the Premier League this weekend tomorrow, Bournemouth are at home to Chelsea, Manchester City face Leeds, Tottenham play Crystal Palace, Wolves face Aston Villa and Liverpool play Brentford. On Sunday - Newcastle are at home to Arsenal and West Ham play Manchester United.
Tennis - Andy Murray earned a place in the quarter-finals of the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence with a three-set win over Laurent Lokoli. Murray secured a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory with his sixth match point at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole. The 35-year-old, who at 52nd is ranked 135 places higher than the Frenchman, made it back-to-back wins for the first time since Indian Wells in March. He will face another Frenchman, Luca Van Assche, in today’s quarter-final.
Formula One - Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 should give its rules more time before taking action to try to fix the lack of on-track entertainment. But the two-time world champion added that Red Bull's advantage over the field, the closeness of the rest of the cars and the fragility of tyres were all to blame.
Weather
Sunny with highs of 21 degrees in Nice and Monaco. 20 degrees in Mougins and Saint-Tropez. 25 degrees inland. A gentle breeze. This evening going down to 13 degrees along the coast and 9 degrees inland with clear skies.
The outlook for the weekend – remaining fine and sunny with highs of 21-23 degrees. Light showers are forecast in Nice for Monday.
Sunrise 06.16am
Sunset 08.38pm
Sea temperature 17 degrees
UV level 0
And Finally
Should you put the cream or jam first? Now, ChatGPT has claimed to have settled a debate, just in time for the Coronation. The AI chatbot says it would opt for the 'Devon method' of putting clotted cream on a scone first, followed by the jam on top. Its choice has enraged many scone fans on Twitter, with comedian Dawn French replying: 'You are a robot with no taste (literally & figuratively) & no respect for all that is holy.
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