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News Covid-19 policy - The government has said that its “more or less" decided on what extra measures it intends to take to reduce the spread of coronavirus. 20 departments are on heightened surveillance and Ministers have been consulting with local officials in a bid to reach agreement on the best way forward. Weekend lockdowns could be imposed in some departments with an announcement expected before the end of the week. The Alpes Maritimes is already going into a second weekend lockdown from Friday at 6pm but there are suggestions that the Var may escape the tougher regulations. Speaking after Wednesday’s meeting of the French Health Defence Council in Paris, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that full details of extra measures would be announced at a press conference with Prime Minister Jean Castex this evening. Mr Attal said that while there had been no spike in new cases, the virus was still spreading and there is concern over the number of beds in hospital ICU currently being occupied by patients requiring ventilation. He added that it was still government policy to take a targeted approach and act in those areas where the virus was still spreading fast. On Monday, President Macron said that he expected the situation to return to “almost normal” within 4-6 weeks. Lockdown maintained - A panel of judges at the Nice Adminstrative Court has ruled that the weekend lockdown in the Alpes Maritimes is legal. A class action lawsuit brought by some 200 citizens had taken the case to court in a bid to have the prefect’s decision overturned. The court says that after taking into account the high virus infection rate in the department, the prefect’s decision is perfectly legal and the lockdown must be maintained. The Alpes Maritimes will enter weekend lockdown for the second time this Friday at 6pm. Monaco - Monaco health authorities have announced a 26th death from coronavirus. The latest victim of the virus was an 84-year-old resident of the Principality. 8 new cases of Covid-19 were detected in Monaco on Wednesday. 1981 people in the Principality have now been infected with the virus since the start of the pandemic. 29 patients are currently receiving hospital treatment in Monaco with 4 on mechanical ventilation. Algeria - The French government has admitted for the first time that a prominent Algerian nationalist was tortured and murdered by its soldiers during the War of Independence in 1957. Ali Boumendjel was arrested by French forces and his death was covered up as suicide shortly afterwards. President Macron has now conceded that Boumendjel was in fact tortured and then murdered. He was detained during the Battle of Algiers and then placed in solitary confinement before being tortured, murdered and then thrown from the 6th floor of a building to make it look like suicide. Mr Macron has apologised “in the name of France” to the family of the victim. It’s the latest in a series of moves aimed at improving relations between the two countries. Algeria gained independence in 1962 but the war left a bitter taste on both sides for decades. Drug reporting - The French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has launched a new website where members of the public can alert police and gendarmes to the presence of drug dealers in their locality. Mr Darmanin says that he’s hoping members of the public will help the government to crack down on drug dealers who he said were “ruining the lives of thousands of ordinary citizens”. Members of the public can tip authorities off anonymously on the website www.moncommissariat.fr and information will be passed to police. The Interior Minister was in Marseille last week to talk to police and local officials. The city has one of the worst drugs problems in France with reports saying that the situation is as bad as the dark days of the 1980s. Cheese recall - A batch of grated Comte cheese is being recalled owing to possible listeria contamination. The LES CROISES brand which was being sold in Leclerc supermarkets should be returned immediately if it was purchased after February the 23rd. The entire batch has now been pulled from the shelves. The affected product was packaged in 130 gramme bags and has a sell by date of April 16th 2021. More information is available by calling Leclerc’s customer advice service on 0800 86 52 86. Pollen alert - High levels of pollen from cypress trees are likely to cause hay fever sufferers discomfort over the coming days. The entire PACA region is on a level 3 alert with pollen levels in the Alpes Maritimes particularly high. Allergy sufferers are advised to make sure that they have plenty of medication and to limit time spent outdoors. Sufferers are also advised to rinse their hair after being outside during the day and to keep doors and windows closed to prevent pollen from entering. Sunshine and wind should help to disperse the pollen more rapidly. Political jockeying - The Party of President Macron is continuing to try and show that it has nothing in common with the far-right policies of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National. Left wing parties have been accusing Mr Macron’s La Republique en Marche (LREM) of “cosying up” to Le Pen’s core vote with more hardline policies on immigration and law and order. However, in an interview on Europe 1 radio on Wednesday, the LREM leader in the National Assembly Christophe Castaner said that in the event of a second round presidential runoff between Marine Le Pen and the hard-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, he would cast his vote for leader of La France Insoumise. Mr Castaner, the former Interior Minister was keen to stress that his comments represented a hypothesis and that he was confident that Mr Macron would be elected to serve a second term in 2022. Energy saving - The Mougins town council says that it’s made a saving of 100,000 euros per year and reduced its electricity consumption by 600,000 kilowatt hours by upgrading street lighting and other public illuminations. The town’s first assistant mayor, Christophe Ulivieri says that changing the network was vital, with local councils having fewer resources and having to make savings in a number of areas. Work to change street lights and lighting on public buildings started in 2019 with 20 year low energy LED bulbs replacing the old fittings. Previously, electric bulbs in the town network had to be replaced on average every three months. Bargains ! - Monaco is having a clear out of its car pound and is putting vehicles up for sale at auction, some for as little as 30 euros. Until the 19th March, a range of cars manufactured between 1993 and 2014 will be auctioned off along with scooters and other motorbikes. The Monaco authorities will not give any guarantees for the state of the vehicle sold and a minimum price will be fixed for some vehicles. Full details are available by going to the Monaco government website https://www.gouv.mc. Business The UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the country’s rapid Covid-19 vaccine rollout will foster a “swifter and more sustained” economic recovery. Delivering his annual Budget to Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Sunak warned that repairing the long-term damage to the economy would “take time” but pledged to put the UK’s finances on the right track. Official forecasts predict that the UK economy will grow by 4 percent this year and return to its pre-pandemic size 6 months sooner than previously expected. Mr Sunak said that he would be extending the government’s furlough scheme to limit job losses but he said that he would be increasing tax on large company profits from 19 percent to 25 percent in 2023. Unemployment is forecast to peak at 6.5 percent next year, lower than the 11.9 percent previously predicted. National insurance and VAT will not go up but more people will be pushed into the top income tax bracket and a million extra people will start paying income tax. The opposition Labour Party leader Sir Kier Starmer said in reply that Mr Sunak was “simply papering over the cracks” and that the budget measures were “nowhere near ambitious enough” to salvage the UK’s Covid-ravaged economy. A spike in bond yields last week caught some hedge funds unaware according to several market experts. The moves resulted in macro and long-short funds giving back February profits to end the month only modestly up. Hedge funds take positions in a variety of assets including bonds, currencies and equities depending on strategy. The sharp rise in yields which saw 10 year treasuries hit a one-year high of over 1.6 percent last Thursday came after a roller coaster ride in January when some funds got burned by holding short positions in stocks caught up in the GameStop debacle. Long-short equity hedge funds don’t take bets on the bond market but many failed to anticipate the spillover from the market which took 2 trillion dollars from global equities. The US Senate has started debating President Biden’s 1.9 trillion dollar coronavirus relief package with Democrats seeking to advance key priorities such as unemployment benefits and direct payments to every qualifying citizen. The bill is intended to pay for vaccines and medical supplies, boost unemployment assistance and pump a new round of financial aid into small businesses and local government. Democrats are seeking for it to be signed into law before the 14th March when some benefits expire. Republicans are unlikely to cooperate meaning that Democrat unity in the Senate is crucial if the legislation is to pass. The House of Representatives has already passed the bill but Democrats in the Senate have had to make concessions on items such as a minimum wage increase as well as funding for a subway expansion in California’s Silicon Valley and money for a new bridge connecting Canada and New York State. |
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Sport Cricket - The 4th and final Test between India and England is underway in Ahmedabad. England won the toss and decided to bat. India lead the 4 match series 2-1. Australia have beaten New Zealand by 64 runs in the third T20 in Wellington to keep the series alive. Australia made 208-4 in their 20 overs before Ashton Agar took 6-30 as New Zealand were bowled out for 144. The home side lead the five match series 2-1 Football - There were 3 games in the English Premier League last night. Burnley drew 1-1 with Leicester. Sheffield United were 1-0 winners over Aston Villa and Crystal Palace drew 0-0 with Manchester United. There are 3 games tonight. Fulham play Spurs. West Brom host Everton and Liverpool play Chelsea. In the English Championship last night Norwich were 1-0 winners over Brentford. QPR lost 3-1 at home to Barnsley. Watford were 2-0 winners over Wycombe. Bristol City lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth. Sheffield Wednesday lost 2-1 at home to Rotherham and Stoke lost 2-1 at home to Swansea. In the Scottish Premiership Hamilton drew 1-1 with St Johnstone and Livingston lost 1-0 at home to Rangers. Rugby Union - England Premiership Rugby may be willing to relax its rules to allow Scotland players to take part in a rearranged 6 Nations match against France in Paris. The game had to be postponed last weekend because of a coronavirus outbreak in the French camp. The most likely date for the fixture is now March 26th which is outside the international window. Some of Scotland’s key players including Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray are playing in the English Premiership. Formula 1 - Alpine’s Esteban Ocon says that he’s sure Fernando Alonso will be as strong as ever when he returns to the sport this season. Alonso was excused from the launch of Alpine’s new car as he recovers from a fractured jaw and because of coronavirus travel restrictions. Ocon says that he’d been impressed by the Spaniard when he drove the Renault at the end of last year. He doesn’t look like a 39-year-old and he doesn’t drive like one, said his team-mate. Weather Partially cloudy with light to moderate south westerly winds. Top temperature 15-16 degrees. Overnight lows of 8-9 degrees with partially cloudy skies. Friday and the start of the weekend - Partially cloudy with highs of 13-16 degrees. |
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