National News France
Schoolboy arrested for threatening teacher with a knife - A schoolboy has been arrested after threatening his English teacher with a knife. The 15-year-old student was placed in pre-trial detention following the opening of an investigation into "attempted intentional homicide against a teacher". The incident occurred at the Edouard-Herriot college in northeastern France on Friday. France’s education minister is to visit the establishment today Monday 18th March.
Agricultural crisis - The meeting between the famer’s union in France and French President Emmanuel Macron scheduled for tomorrow Tuesday 19th March at the Elysée has been postponed. During the Agricultural Show in Paris, Macron had promised that he would bring together the agricultural unions mid-March. However, in a statement released by the Elyséé it was stated that the meeting has been postponed “as things are taking longer than the objective initially set by the Head of State in mid-March”.
Local
Fatal weekend on the region’s roads – The weekend was marked by three fatal road accidents on the Riviera in the space of a single weekend. On Sunday evening on the Basse Corniche shortly before 10pm a car and two motorcycles collided on Avenue de la Liberté. A 21-year-old motorcyclist died at the scene and the second motorcyclist, aged 26 has been taken to hospital. In the early hours of Saturday morning two fatal accidents again involving motorcyclists occurred. The first one claimed the life of a 41-year-old motorcyclist on the A8 motorway and the second a 23-year-old on the Promenade des Anglais.
Firefighter attacked – Meanwhile, the regions fire and rescue services has announced plans to file a complaint after a firefighter in Nice was attacked during an intervention by a motorist because he was driving too slowly. The driver of a fire brigade ambulance was at the time transporting an injured child and their grandmother to the Lenval hospital. The altercation took place on voie rapide in Nice.
Beefbar to open in Old Nice - Voted best steakhouse in the world, the Monegasque brand Beefbar is to open in the heart of Old Nice. With an accumulation of international openings, the Beefbar team will have a new local on the Riviera in just a few months at 11 rue Saint-François-de-Paule. For Nice, the Giraudi group will offer Le Petit Beefbar version, with a more bistro atmosphere similar to that of London, Edinburgh and Dubai. The Nice restaurant will open at the same time as another Petit Beefbar in Strasbourg.
Giant raclette - Finally, with 620 kg of cheese, 350 kg of cold meats and a ton of potatoes” 2,236 people have gathered for a giant raclette in Saint-Etienne. Saint-Étienne aimed to break the world record for the largest raclette ever organized. Sadly, a record wasn’t broken by organisers have said they will try again next year.
Business
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has spoken of a move towards a “lighter working week” for divorced parents which would allow them to work one day less when they are caring for their children. Attal said that the move would help to reach “a balanced professional and private life”. Attal has already been experimenting with the four-day week in his administration, without reduction the working hours. The Prime Minister said that the move would allow divorced parents to work one day less when they are caring for their children. However, we do not know whether this would be accompanied by a reduction in working time. The plan is to be presented to the government on March 27th. In the United Kingdom, for example, the number of burnouts was reduced by 71% and that of sick leave by 65% after an experiment with a four-day week on 3,000 employees in the private sector.
According to a law firm for taxi operators and drivers Uber has agreed to pay A$271.8m ($178.3m; £140m) to settle a lawsuit in Australia. Maurice Blackburn Lawyers filed the class action on behalf of over 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers. The case alleged they lost income when Uber "aggressively" moved into the country. The company did not disclose the size of the proposed settlement. The settlement is Australia’s fifth largest.
Meanwhile Apple has agreed to pay $490m (£385m) to settle a lawsuit led by Norfolk County Council. The class action alleged the tech giant's boss, Tim Cook, defrauded shareholders by covering up lower demand for iPhones in China. Norfolk Council said a pension fund it administered lost money as a result of Mr Cook's actions. In a statement, the Norfolk Pension Fund said it was "very proud of this recovery for investors."
Sport
Rugby Union - Ireland retained the Six Nations title as they were crowned champions in Dublin, meanwhile Scotland’s Gregor Townsend insisted he is "really proud" of his players, despite Scotland's Six Nations campaign ending in a third defeat against Italy and England lost a thrilling match in France but have proved they can compete with the best sides in the world, says head coach Steve Borthwick. France won 33-31 thanks to a late Thomas Ramos penalty as England finished third in the Six Nations.
Football - Manchester United kept their trophy hopes alive for this season and ended Liverpool's quest for four trophies with a dramatic extra-time 4-3 victory in an FA Cup quarter-final classic at Old Trafford. Chelsea won at home 4-2 against Leicester City.
And in the Premier League on Sunday West Ham drew 1-1 against Aston Villa.
Tennis – World number two Carlos Alcaraz defended his Indian Wells title with a straight-set win over Daniil Medvedev in a repeat of last year's final. Alcaraz beat the Russian world number four 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to claim his first title since Wimbledon in July.
Weather
Cloudy with some sunny invtervals. Highs of 16 degrees Nice, 18 degrees in Cannes,15 degrees in Monaco and reaching 20 degrees in Saint Tropez. A moderate breeze going down to 10 degrees this evneing with clear skies.
The outlook for Tuesday and Wednesday, sunny with highs of 17 degrees
Sunrise 6.36am
Sunset 6.40pm
Sea temperature
Nice 14.1 degrees
Weather elsewhere
London 16° sunny intervals.
Paris 18° sunny intervals.
Dublin 14° rain.
And Finally
In what has been hailed as a significant breakthrough in the fight against HIV scientist have revealed that they have successfully eliminated the virus from infected cells. Using 'genetic scissors', experts were able to snip out the virus from infected T cells in the laboratory, removing all traces. Experts said the hope is the technique could one day be developed into a treatment, stopping the need for lifelong antiviral medication.
TGV services across much of France are gradually improving after several arson attacks affected the network in the early hours of this morning....
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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...
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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...
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French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to welcome world leaders to the Olympic games opening ceremony tomorrow night and has been visiting key ...
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France will host the 2030 Winter Olympics in the Alpes, conditional on state and regional financial guarantees. President Macron confirmed his full su...
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