French and Riviera News Thursday 19th October 2023

News

Funeral of French teacher killed last Friday in knife attack is to take place this morning - The funeral of Dominique Bernard, the French teacher killed last Friday, during a knife attack at the Gambetta-Carnot high school in Arras northern France, is being held this Thursday morning at 10am at the Cathedral of Arras. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will be present. The ceremony, not accessible to the public, will be broadcast on a giant screen which has been set up by the city council, at the request of the family, who said they were “overwhelmed by public support following the attack”. The Minister of National Education Gabriel Attal will also attend the ceremony.

False alerts - Fifteen airports in France, including Nice, have been evacuated and 130 flights cancelled on Wednesday October 18th due to false alerts. Alerts have multiplied in recent days following the fatal attacks in Arras and Brussels. The Palace of Versailles also had another false bomb alert on Wednesday morning, its third since Saturday.

French are worried – Meanwhile, a recent survey carried out by Elabe has shown that the French are worried about the terrorist threat with 61% parents of school children saying they fear that their child's school could be the target of a terrorist attack and more than 4 in 10 French people intend to change their behaviour when it comes to their daily life and going out.

Man armed with a knife attempts to attack the manager of a garage in C