Protocol for schools - The new health protocol in France’s schools and colleges has been made public ahead of the return to class on Monday June 22nd.
The one-meter distance between students in confined spaces is to be respected except for those attending nursery school. Teachers will not be required to wear a mask during lessons as long as they can respect the social distancing measures and regular hand washing and disinfecting will remain.
Parents will be able to enter the school with a mask and should continue to monitor their children's temperature.
Coronavirus - Meanwhile two children have tested positive for the coronavirus in two separate schools in Marseille. One of the schools, in the 14th arrondissement, has been closed and is being disinfected. The other school, in the 3rd arrondissement has been able to reopen. School staff and children in the same class as the infected children are observing a 14-day quarantine period.
Council to give additional aid to local businesses - The town council in Saint Laurent du Var has voted to grant a tax reduction to local businesses to promote local economic recovery.
The reduction will be in addition to state aid already granted to local businesses in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
Police stop man walking naked in Antibes – A man has been arrested in Antibes for walking completely naked through the streets of the town.
Police intervened on Wednesday afternoon in front of the Albert-Camus media library after spotting the individual who was later handed over to the national police for questioning.
80th anniversary of the “Appel” - French President Emmanuel Macron will today celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader Charles de Gaulle's BBC broadcast to occupied France after the 1940 Nazi invasion.
During the ceremony in London today four French Resistance fighters will be awarded honorary MBEs for their role in World War Two as Boris Johnson welcomes Emmanuel Macron to Downing Street.
After the fall of France, General de Gualle made a speech from London on 18th June 1940. Known as the "Appel", or appeal, it rallied the country in support of the Resistance.
Letter - A letter written by two of the greatest artists of the 19th century, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, about their visits to French brothels has been sold at an auction 210,600 euros.
The correspondence, previously held in private hands, has been described as “exceptional” and was bought for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Roland Garros postponed again - The ATP has announced that Roland Garros is once again postponed. The tournament had on March 17th, been rescheduled for September 20th to October 4th. Following an announcement on Wednesday it will now be held a week later from September 27th to October 11th.
Business
Asian markets and US stock futures are down today as spikes of coronavirus cases in some US states and in China dampened hopes of a quick economic comeback from the pandemic.
Several US states including Oklahoma where President Trump is due to hold an election rally on Saturday have reported a surge in new coronavirus infections.
Spikes in cases have also been reported in California ,Texas , Florida and Arizona.
In China ,authorities in Beijing have cancelled hundreds of flights ,shut schools and blocked off some districts and they ramped up efforts to contain an outbreak that’s fanned fears of wider contagion.
Markets have been shocked that China which appeared to have successfully contained the disease is now suffering a second wave while there’s increasing unease over the amount of new cases in the United States and the lack of clear direction in government to stop the spread of the virus.
Analysts say that it appears that the more you start the economy ,the more infections you get.
European nations will be watching developments closely over the coming days after most countries eased lockdown several weeks ago and started allowing people to return to work.
The insurance market Lloyds of London and the UK pub chain Greene King have apologised for their historic links to the slave trade and have pledged to make reparations to charities representing Black and Minority Ethnic(BAME) groups.
One of the founders of Greene King owned a number of plantations in the Caribbean while maritime insurance which was focused at Lloyds made huge sums of money on the slave trade.
In a statement ,Lloyds ,which insured slave ships said that “there are some aspects of our history of which we are not proud”.
Greene King said that it was “inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s”.
Pressure has been growing on the corporate world to address links to slavery and tackle racial inequality following the death in police custody of George Floyd in the United States last month.
And-The Australian carrier Qantas has cancelled all international flights except for those to New Zealand until late October.
The news comes as the Australian government said that its border would remain closed into next year to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Qantas and its domestic subsidiary Jetstar are now boosting domestic flights as travel restrictions inside Australia ease.
Qantas has seen domestic passenger numbers double this week while Australia’s tourism minister has urged people to take their holidays at home this year.
Sport
Football-The English Premier League resumed last night with the first two matches played after a 100 day break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Strugglers Aston Villa got a point in a 0-0 draw against Sheffield United at Villa Park while David Luiz was sent off for Arsenal as his side went down 3-0 at Manchester City.
Cricket-Moeen Ali has moved a step closer to a Test return after being named in England’s training squad for the series against West Indies.
The 32 year old all-rounder took a break from international cricket after being dropped during last summer’s Ashes series against Australia.
There are 8 uncapped players in the 30 man squad which will start training in Southampton next week.
The first Test against West Indies starts behind closed doors on July the 8th.
Racing-Lord North ,trained by John Gosden won the big race at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.
The 5-1 shot burst into the clear in the closing stages of the race to win by three-quarters of a length from Addeybb.Barny Roy finished in third.
Today’s feature race is the Gold Cup which is off at 4.35pm French time. Frankie Dettori will be seeking a third consecutive Gold Cup success on Stradivarius.
Weather
Mainly fine with a moderate to strong south westerly wind across the region gusting at up to 60 km/h in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Top temperatures 25-27 degrees.
Overnight lows of 18 degrees on the coast and 14 degrees inland with clear skies.
Friday and the start of the weekend-Mainly fine with highs of 24-27 degrees.
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