Local
Yellow vest protests - A yellow vest protester has been hospitalized following an incident on Sunday in Toulon in the Var. Yellow vest protestors had attempted to reinstall barriers on a roundabout in the shopping area of Valletta. The move saw shop owners protest with one physically assaulting a 60 year old man who was later taken to hospital.
On Saturday violence which erupted in Paris following yellow vest protest was met with mixed reactions. Images of the movement’s protestors proudly posing in front of vandalized premises of the upmarket Le Bouquet’s restaurant and other luxury shops on the Champs Elysees have been widely shared on social media. A bank was set alight beneath apartment buildings where families, including a mother and baby, had to be rescued as their homes filled with smoke.
The French Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, has held talks with ministers after opposition politicians accused the government of being unprepared for rioting during the protest and the President, Emmanuel Macron has promised to come up with strong measures to prevent further violence.
Road accident - The weekend was marked by two accidents on the region’s roads claiming two lives and leaving three injured in the Bouches-du-Rhône and the Vaucluse.
Both accidents occurred at 5am on Sunday morning. Police have launched an investigation into the cause and called for any witnesses to come forwards.
Cycling - Colombian Egan Bernal has won this year’s Paris-Nice completing the race in 29 hour 17 minutes and 02 seconds.
Meanwhile the organisers of the Tour de France will today announces the routes of the first two stages of the Tour de France 2020, which will set off from Nice on June 27th. According to reports it could see a time trial take place around Allianz Riviera followed by a very hilly stage around Nice.
Castle sold for 55 million euros in Cannes - According to reports the Solgny castle in Cannes has been sold for just under 55 million euros. The exceptional property located in the California district of Cannes was reportedly sold by Michael Zingraf. The property, built in 1868 by the architect Rimbaud and former home of the founder of Bon Marché Aristide Boucicault was acquired by a buyer from Eastern Europe. The building offers 1.200m2 of living space on five levels, as well as a park of 8.000m2 and a breathtaking view of the Lérins Islands.
Name - A French couple in South Western France have been barred from naming their son “Griezmann Mbappe”. The football fans wanted to name their son after two of the stars of France’s World Cup-winning team.
French families are free to choose first names but local authorities can still refer parents to prosecutors if their choices are seen as damaging for the child. A local official who deemed that “Griezmann Mbappe” was “contrary to the child’s interest” referred the case to the public prosecutor. His parents have decided to call him Dany Noe instead.
National
Eurostar - The Eurostar service between Paris and London has been hit by cancellations and "severe delays" on Sunday as French customs officers staged work-to-rule industrial action. Customs officers are demanding higher pay and better working conditions while seeking to demonstrate what might happen if full border controls are put in place once Britain leaves the European Union. Sunday's work-to-rule was just the latest in a string of strike actions by the French customs officers.
Climate Change - Between 30 and 40 000 demonstrators were present in Paris at the weekend as part of the march against climate change. The crowd was made up of students as well as high school students and much younger people who came with their parents.
Beekeeper - A beekeeper from Comminges in the Pyrenees is preparing to mail 60,000 letters worldwide to save bees. The organic beekeeper Nicolas Puech, challenged himself at the beginning of January to send clover seeds, to help solitary bees, to all those who requested it. Three months later, he received 60,000 letters of support which he will have to fill with seeds of clovers for sowing, before sending them back to France, Europe, Africa and North America.
Business
Ethiopia’s Transport Minister has said that there are “clear similarities” between the recent Ethiopian Airlines disaster and last year’s crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft off Indonesia.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday Dagmawit Moges said that the flight data showed that both aircrafts altitude had fluctuated sharply as the planes seemed to experience erratic climbs and descents.
A preliminary report into the most recent disaster is set to be published within 30 days.157 people died after the Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed after take-off from Addis Ababa last Sunday.
Boeing said again on Sunday that it was fully supporting the investigation.
Germany’s two largest banks are to hold formal talks about a merger.
News of the talks between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank comes following months of speculation.Both have been struggling and a merger could result in massive savings.
The German government still owns a 15.5 percent stake in Commerzbank and appears to be keen on a merger.
Critics say that integrating the two banks would be complicated and risky.
If they do merge then Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank would have a fifth of Germany’s high street banking business and would control 1.8 trillion euros in assets.
And-In the UK,Marks and Spencer has said that it’s planning a big shift towards food at its stores.
M&S said that it wanted to target the weekly family shop by having more stores that offer its full range of food.
At the moment only 12 of the firm’s offer all of its food products.
M&S says that it wants to convert more space in existing stores to offer food .
The move ties in with a recent deal with the food delivery firm Occado which will offer the full line of M&S products as part of its service.
Sport
Rugby Union-Wales fans have been celebrating over the weekend after the side pulled off the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in the 6 Nations Championship in coach Warren Gatland’s final season.
Wales were far too good for Ireland in Cardiff on Saturday and won 25-7 to achieve the Grand Slam.
Meanwhile ,the England coach Eddie Jones is to call in a sports psychologist to work on mental strength after his side let a 31-0 lead slip against Scotland to end the match with a 38-38 draw.
Ireland will need to take a hard look at their campaign if they’re to make an impact at the World Cup while France are still looking for answers despite their final Championship victory 25-14 over Italy in Rome.
Wales ended top of the table with 23 points with England in second place with 18 points.Ireland were third with 14 points.France 4th with 10 points and then Scotland with 9 and Italy collecting the wooden spoon again without a single point from their 5 games.
Football-There were two games in the English Championship on Sunday.Liverpool went back to the top of the table following a nervy 2-1 win at Fulham while Chelsea’s erratic form continued with a 2-0 defeat at Everton.
The draw has been made for the semi-finals of the FA Cup.Manchester City will play Brighton and Wolves will play Watford.
Both games will be played at Wembley Stadium over the weekend of the 6th of April.
There was one game in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.Celtic moved 10 points clear at the top of the table following a 1-0 win at Dundee.
Formula 1-Valtteri Bottas took the chequered flag in Melbourne on Sunday to win the opening Grand Prix of the season.
The Finn got the jump on Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the start with the world champion slow out of the blocks again.Hamilton finished second with Max Verstappen in the Red Bull third.
It was a disappointing start for Ferrari who seemed to promise much in pre-season testing.Sebastian Vettel finished fourth and Charles Leclerc 5th.
The next race is the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 31st of March.
Golf-Rory McIlroy has won the so called 5th major with victory in the Players Championship at Sawgrass,Florida.
The Northern Irishman’s final two-under-par 70 gave him a one shot victory over Jim Furyk of the United States and gave him his first win in a year.
He now moves on to attempting to secure a career Grand Slam at the Masters next month.
Tennis-Dominic Thiem has won the Indian Wells tournament in California after beating veteran Roger Federer in the final.
Thiem fought back from losing the first set to win 3-6 6-3 7-5.It was his first title at a Masters 1000 event.
Weather
Mainly fine with light to moderate westerly winds.
Top temperature 18 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 9 degrees on the coast and 4 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.
Tuesday and Wednesday-Mainly fine .Highs of 15-18 degrees.
Finally
A competition to find white Creme Eggs in the UK with cash prizes of up to £10,000 has been blasted for encouraging child obesity.
Nearly 800 white chocolate versions of the eggs, will be on sale – but each contains over six teaspoons of sugar, more than the recommended daily limit for children and Mondelez International, the US firm which owns Cadbury, maintains the campaign is aimed at adults.
But Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, told The Sunday Times: ‘I am appalled. We should be trying to wean children off sugar.’
However, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted: ‘The health police are so boring.’
Meanwhile, McDonald’s annual Monopoly competition has been criticised by Labour’s Tom Watson for manipulating ‘families into ordering junk food more frequently’, The Observer reported.
The White Cadbury Creme Eggs will be camouflaged as regular milk chocolate eggs in shops, and buyers could win a cash prize of between £50 and £10,000.
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