News
Three people stabbed at a dinner party - Three people have been stabbed and wounded at an unauthorized dinner party in Apt in the Vaucluse. The perpetrator is to appear in court today in Avignon. Ten others who were at the party have been fined for ignoring Covid-19 restrictions. An investigation has been opened to determine the reason behind the attack.
Covid-19 - The latest figures from Public Health France have shown that on Sunday, 198 people died from Covid-19 compared to 213 on Saturday. The total number of deaths in France since the start of the epidemic now stands at 52,325. The highest number of deaths recorded in 24 hours during the second wave, was 551 on November 9th.
Regional figures for the Alpes-Maritimes published on Sunday show that 471 people are currently hospitalized including 65 in intensive care. 1,999 patients have returned home since the beginning of the epidemic and 413 people have died from Covid-19 in the Alpes Maritimes.
In the Var 325 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19, including 50 in intensive care. 2,099 patients have returned home, and 390 people have died in the region since the start of the epidemic.
In Monaco one new case was reported on Sunday bringing the total number of residents affected by Covid-19 to 608. 12 people are currently in hospital and 24 people are being cared for by the Home Monitoring Centre.
Notre-Dame holds first mass a month after attack - A month after the attack at the Notre-Dame church in Nice which left three dead, a Sunday service has been held for the first time. The church reopened its doors on Sunday as a court challenge from French bishops at the weekend saw the Council of State, give the French government three days to change the current restriction of limiting the number of churchgoers to 30, which was imposed due to Covid-19. Places of worship across France welcomed members of the public on Sunday under strict health protocol but many did not limit the access to 30.
School student sentenced for threatening a teacher - Meanwhile a 19-year-old high school student from Nice with no criminal record, has been given an 18-month prison sentence for threatening a teacher. The man told his teacher that he would "die like Samuel Paty", the teacher who was beheaded in October in Paris. While the man's lawyer said he had "been making a joke" and "trying to impress a fellow female student" the public prosecutor convicted the student of "advocating terrorism online" and "making death threats". Since the attack at the Notre-Dame church on 29th October, Nice's public prosecutor's office has carried out more than 20 investigations into advocating terrorism.
Hotel fire - 80 people have been evacuated and a man is in a critical condition in hospital following a fire in a hotel in Nice. The blaze broke out at the Azuréa Hotel on Rue Paganini on Saturday evening shortly after 10.30pm. 60 firefighters were deployed to the scene. Deputy mayor of Nice, Antony Borré congratulated municipal police on the social network Twitter for having arrested a man who could be at the origin of the fire.
Mayor of Cap d’Ail to rename school - The mayor of Cap d'Ail has defended his decision to rename the recently opened school Saint-Antoine - Samuel Paty, as a tribute to the teacher who was beheaded in the north west of Paris on the 16th October. Many from the parent teachers association at the school which opened in September, have expressed their opposition to the decision saying that it would make the establishment "a target" and while they understood the importance it would be more appropriate to rename a "street or a square, but not a school".
However, the mayor Xavier Beck has said in a statement that "France must make it clear that the conception of the Republic is not that of the Islamist terrorists". Beck went on to say that the "students are no more in danger than the children that were victims of the terror attack on the Promenade des Anglais on 14th July 2016" adding that "terrorism is everywhere".
Protests against Amazon - Demonstrations have taken place in Aix-en-Provence against Amazon. As small "non-essential" businesses reopened at the weekend, several associations and groups gathered on Saturday to denounce "the misdeeds of Amazon and its world". Protestors objected to what they consider to be “unfair competition” and the project to build 20 additional Amazon warehouses in France in 2021 in the Gard, just 20 minutes from Avignon.
Police violence - Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz has said that the case over the beating of Michel Zecler is to be handed to an investigating magistrate who would decide on charges and detention measures. The three officers sus
