National News Frnace
French police officer being questioned following fatal shooting - A French police officer is being questioned by police after the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man as he fled an attempted control of a vehicle for speeding. The young man was among three people in the car on Sunday night when police tried to stop them near Cherbourg in Normandy, north-western France. The driver refused to stop and sped away before being forced to halt by a second police car. It is the latest incidence of alleged police violence against suspects that has prompted protests in recent years by critics citing heavy-handed tactics, in particular against people from ethnic minorities.
French President to hold press conference today - French President Emmanuel Macron is to hold a press conference this afternoon Tuesday 11th June, two days after dissolving the National Assembly following the large victory of the National Rally in the European elections. Meanwhile, intense negotiations have started on the left and on the far right, to prepare for the early parliamentary elections which will take place on June 30th and July 7th. The president of the National Rally party Jordan Bardella met with Marion Maréchal head of the Reconquête party (the nationalist political party founded by Eric Zemmour) at the National Rally headquarters in front of a swarm of cameras. Bardella, recognises that it is "difficult to win alone" and has also "extended his hand" to the Republicans, claiming to have had "discussions" with some of their executives. On the left, the negotiations started with a meeting taking place at the headquarters of the Ecologists, in which members of the far-left “France Insoumis” participated, as well as the head of the communists party Fabien Roussel and the first secretary of the Socialist party Olivier Faure.
Local News
Gatherings to demand the union of the left-wing following the European election results - Meanwhile, locally on Monday evening a spontaneous gathering took place in Nice on Place Garibaldi to demand the union of the left-wing parties in France. Around a hundred citizens and activists gathered demanding “the union of the left in the face of fascism”. Similar gatherings were held in cities across France including Marseille and Riems.
School canteen staff strike in Marseille – In other news, School canteen staff in Marseille have gone on strike protesting their working conditions. Unions are demanding a 12% reduction in working hours, along with 400 new jobs to be created and a training plan. Monday saw around 3,000 city schools being called to take part in the movement as demonstrators gathered in front of the city hall on the Old Port. The strike is expected to continue until tomorrow Wednesday 12th June. A first strike had already taken place on May 30th.
New Minister of State for Monaco - Former Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume has been officially appointed Minister of State in Monaco replacing Pierre Dartout. The former Minister of Agriculture from 2018 to 2020 under President Emmanuel Macron and first vice-president of the Senate, as well as former executive of the Socialist Party Didier Guillaume, will succeed Pierre Dartout in September. Following the announcement from the Palace H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, expressed his most sincere gratitude to Pierre Dartout for his service and great loyalty. During his mandate in Monaco, M. Dartout enabled the Principality to get through the health crisis while supporting the long-term objectives of sustainable development, digital transition, attractiveness and administrative modernization.
Giant ticks present in both the Var and the Alpes Maritimes - Public health France has warned of the presence of giant ticks in both the Var and the Alpes Maritimes region and has called for vigilance. The Hyalomma marginatum tick is twice as large as the standard species and has so far been spotted in 11 departments in the south of France. It can transmit Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (also known as CCHF) and is native to Africa and Asia, but has been present in Corsica for several decades, and on the Mediterranean coast since 2015. In October of last year and for the first time in France CCHF disease was detected in these ticks collected from cattle in the Pyrénées Orientales and Corsica. However, the national health agency adds that “no human cases have been diagnosed in France to date”. CCHF can cause fever, chills, digestive problems and in rare cases severe forms with uncontrolled bleeding which can lead to death. As far as the advice when walking in hiking trails, fields or vineyards it is advisable to wear clothing covering the legs and arms, preferably light in colour to better see the tick, but also to wear closed shoes. It’s also recommended to regularly inspect your body and that of your children and ideally have a tick remover or fine tweezers to remove the tick quickly in the event of a bite.
New exhibition - A new exhibition has opened at the natural history museum in Nice. The exhibition allows the young and the old to explore biodiversity through lego. It is part of the relaunch of the museum and comes after eight months of work, more than 20,000 bricks and around a hundred minifigures. It will open to the public this Wednesday, June 12th for more information go to https://www.nice.fr/fr/culture/musees-et-galeries/museum-d-histoire-naturelle
Business
France’s Paris Stock Exchange the CAC 40 limited its decline on Monday closing close to 7,900 points after being disrupted by the climate of political uncertainty in France caused by the dissolution of the National Assembly. It showed its biggest drop since May 29th, after French President Emmanuel Macron's surprise decision to dissolve the National Assembly.
In the Artificial Intelligence race amongst software creators the iPhone maker Apple has announced plans to boost its Siri voice assistant and operate systems with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Apple announced the Siri makeover along with several other new features at its annual developers show on Monday. It is part of a new personalised AI system - called "Apple Intelligence" - that aims to offer users a way to navigate Apple devices more easily. The announcement, however, has not been warmly welcomed by all. Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and Twitter/X, threatened to ban iPhones from his companies due to "data security".
And - The US has expanded an investigation into BMW after the car manufacturer was found to have imported vehicles into America that contained banned Chinese parts. The firm has been asked for more details about its supply chain, including whether it had now stopped importing banned components. BMW Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month, BMW said it had "taken steps to halt the importation of affected products".
Sport
Football – England have landed in Germany ahead of the Euro 2024. The tournament has an element of ‘now or never” for Gareth Southgate’s team after the World Cup losses in Croatia in 2018 followed by France four years later, along with the missed opportunity of losing to Italy on penalties at Wembley in the Euro 2020 final. England’s first match of the tournament will be on Sunday June 16th against Serbia, kick off is at 9pm French time.
In other football news Liverpool legend 68 year old Alan Hansen is seriously unwell after being rushed to hospital at the end of last week. The former Liverpool and Scotland defender is understood to have fallen ill unexpectedly and taken to hospital close to his home in Southport.
Cricket - South Africa have claimed a four-run victory over Bangladesh which puts them on the brink of securing a place in the T20 World Cup Super 8s. South Africa, who have won all nine of their T20 internationals against Bangladesh, are unbeaten in the tournament so far with three victories and top Group D.
Golf - Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in south Wales is to host the Women's Open for the first time in its history in 2025. The event will be the 49th Women's Open. The 2024 Women's Open will be held at St Andrews from 21-25 August.
Boxing – Tyson Fury has had to be escorted out of a Morecambe bar with the heavyweight boxing star claimed to have 'enjoyed one drink too many'. Fury was seen in the video footage being led out by two security staff at Nowhere bar, with fans on social media dubbing them as 'Britain's bravest bouncers'.
Weather
Mostly cloudy with sunny intervals. Moderate winds in the Alpes Maritimes, strong winds in the Var. Highs of 23 in Nice and Monaco, 25 degrees in Toulon, 26 degrees in Puget-Théniers, 28 degrees in Draguignan and Saint-Tropez. This evening going down to 19 degrees along the coast with clear skies.
The outlook for Wednesday and Thursday, fine and sunny. Winds persisting in Saint Tropez and the Var highs of 26 degrees.
Sunrise 05.48
Sunset 09.12
Sea temperature
Cannes 21.1°
UV level 9
Weather elsewhere
Rome 27° sunny intervals.
Palma 25° thundery showers.
Brussels 15° light rain.
Copenhagen 16° light rain.
And Finally
Lottery players in the UK and Europe are gearing up for the chance to win an incredible £123 million jackpot in the Euromillions Super draw this evening 11th June, 2024.
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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