News
New bill on immigration - France’s National Assembly or lower house of Parliament, will today Monday 11th December, battle it out over a new bill on immigration presented by France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin. The minister will be faced with a challenge, as the text does not currently hold a majority within the presidential camp and could see up to 305 MPs vote against it. The bill presented by the presidential party promises “to control immigration and improve integration”. However, both members of the right and left have vowed to reject the bill including 22 environmentalists and a majority of Les Republicans. A motion of rejection would indeed lead to a new debate on the text in the upper house of the French Parliament, the Senate, before it would return to the National Assembly (the lower house).
Taxi union calling for demonstrations - The National Taxi Union in France is today Monday 11th December, calling for mobilization throughout France to protest against compulsory health carpooling. Locally Cannes and Marseille are expected to be affected. In Marseille more that 700 professionals have planned an “opération escargot”, “go slow operation” with traffic expected to be disrupted. The protest is against article 30 of the Social Security Finance law which was sworn in on Monday December 4th, and which would oblige drivers to transport several patients at the same time for a medical appointment. Taxi drivers claim that new measures will see “patients treated like packages” imposing shared transport and leading to “long waits”.
School uniform - The French government is planning to launch a trial from next September on the introduction of school uniforms across France. France’s Education Minister Gabriel Attal says that in those communes which are willing, each family will receive five polo shirts, two jumpers and two pairs of trousers per child costing 200 euros. The cost will be funded by the State, the town hall or the department. The uniform will be the same throughout schools in France, but it will be possible to personalize it locally, with a badge for example. Each child will be entitled to a new change of clothing per year, if it becomes too small or is damaged, for example. However, certain questions remain to be answered as to whether the uniform will include skirts or shorts for the summer and a sports kit.
Locally the City of Nice has named the four schools that will soon take part in an experiment into the wearing of school uniforms. Education minister Gabriel Attal announced the initiative last week, and Nice mayor Christian Estrosi immediately expressed an interest. The four schools are all at primary level. They're the Ecole Ronchèse in the city centre, behind Nice-Etoile shopping centre, the Ecole Fabron in the hills above Nice, the Ecole Bon Voyage to the east of the city and the Ecole Bois-de-Boulogne in Les Moulins.
It is difficult to trace the origins of the school uniform as there is no comprehensive written history, but rather a variety of known influences. However, school uniforms are believed to be a practice which dates to the 16th century in the United Kingdom.
Man shot dead near his home - Police are actively looking for an armed man who fled the scene of a shooting on Sunday evening in La Gaude. The incident occurred shortly before 10pm when a man was shot dead near his home. Several shots were fired, and the victim died at the scene from his injuries. A neighbour alerted police and the emergency services.
Man dies at sea - A 45-year-old man has died after falling overboard from a sailing yacht in the golfe of Saint Tropez. The incident occurred shortly after 9pm on Sunday. Sea rescue services were quick to intervene but were unable to save the victim. An investigation is underway.
Hunting accident - In what has been described as a “stupid accident” by the president of the Biot hunting society, a hunter shot himself in the arm during a hunt on Sunday. The accident took place at the Aspres estate in Biot. 18 hunters were present and the time. The victim a 70-year-old man, living in Vence was seriously injured and airlifted to hospital in Nice. An investigation is underway, nobody at the scene tested positive for alcohol or narcotics.
Teenage girl in skiing accident - A teenage girl has been air lifted to hospital following a skiing accident in Isola 2000 on Sunday afternoon. The 17-year-old girl was taken to Lenval Hospital in Nice having suffered serious multiple injuries. The incident occurred as the resort opened just this weekend to skiers.
Valuable ring turns up in hoover bag - A valuable ring which went missing in a luxury hotel in the French capital on Friday 8th December, has turned up in a hoover bag. The incident occurred on Friday morning when the guest, a business manager from Malaysia, reported the 750,000-euro ring missing and accused one of the employees of the Ritz Hotel. The hotel assured that there was “no question of a theft” and two days later on Sunday the ring was discovered in a hoover bag.
Business
A former executive at a leading tech start-up has warned that the misuse of copyrighted music by artificial intelligence companies could lead to musicians being exploited. Millions of AI generated songs are being created online every day, and big-name artists are even signing deals with technology giants to create AI music tools. Tech giants such as Google, YouTube and Sony are launching AI tools that allow anyone to generate music based on a text prompt. Artists have agreed for their work to be used in these models, but there has been an influx of AI generators that are thought to have done it without the creator's consent.
And - Smile Direct Club has shut down months after filing for bankruptcy in the US, leaving some customers confused and stranded as their treatment is ongoing. Best known for selling clear aligners remotely, the firm said it had made the "incredibly difficult decision" to wind down operations late on Friday. The US-based dentistry company was offering aligners for about £1,800 without the need to visit a dentist.
Sport
Football - Manchester City managed to come from behind with a 2-1 victory over Luton Town. Meanwhile, Tottenham looked like they were back on track with a 4-1 win over Newcastle.
Cricket - England missed the chance to record a series clean sweep over India after falling to a five-wicket defeat in the third and final T20 in Mumbai.
Rugby Union - Harlequins beat Top 14 league leaders Racing 92 in a thrilling Champions Cup pool match in Paris.
Tennis - Britain's Hannah Klugman won the prestigious Orange Bowl junior championships at the age of 14.
Golf - Former Ryder Cup player Peter Baker clinched the Legends Tour order of merit by winning a thrilling MCB Tour Championship.
Athletics - Great Britain's Abbie Donnelly came third in the senior women's race at the European Cross Country Championships in Belgium.
Weather
Mainly fine. Highs of 16 degrees in Monaco, 17 degrees in Nice, 18 degrees in Saint-tropez with a fresh breeze,, 19 degrees in Toulon and 20 degrees in Vence. This evening going down to 9 degrees in Nice, 10 degrees in Vence and 11 degrees in Toulon, with clear skies.
The outlook for tomorrow and Wednesday. Mainly fine on Tuesday with highs of 17 degrees. Wednesday light rain is forecast for Saint-Tropez and sunny intervals in Cannes, Nice and Monaco.
Sunrise 07.53am
Sunset 04.53pm
TGV services across much of France are gradually improving after several arson attacks affected the network in the early hours of this morning....
Read More
Paris is getting ready to shut down it’s city centre and its airspace as well as mobilise 45,000 police and several army units in what has been billed...
Read More
Lucie Castets, the left-wing candidate for Prime Minister, reiterated her desire to lead the government during a media appearance on July 25. A poll s...
Read More
French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to welcome world leaders to the Olympic games opening ceremony tomorrow night and has been visiting key ...
Read More
France will host the 2030 Winter Olympics in the Alpes, conditional on state and regional financial guarantees. President Macron confirmed his full su...
Read More
