French and Riviera News Tuesday 29th June 2021

News

Hospital pressure continues to decline despite Delta variant - The pressure on hospitals continues to drop in France, despite the Delta covid variant. According to official figures published on Monday June 28th 1,304 patients are currently in intensive care and less than 9,000 are hospitalized marking the lowest figures in the last eight months. The death toll in France has now reached 111,041 deaths since the start of the epidemic in early 2020.

In recent days, the French government and health authorities have insisted on the importance of being fully vaccinated to block the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than other strains.

City of Nîmes offers gifts to encourage young people to get vaccinated – However, as the pace of vaccination against Covid slows down in France, the city of Nîmes is trying to convince young people to get vaccinated by offering them gifts. Reserved for 18-25-year olds a range of gifts from, a year’s electric bike subscription to concert tickets, are being offered by the city council to encourage the young to get their first dose. A draw will designate 34 winners at the end of July. In France, only 12% of 18-24-year olds are fully vaccinated.

Head of State says there are no plans to replace Prime Minister following local election results - Following the results of the regional elections in France French President Emmanuel Macron, has excluded replacing current Prime Minister Jean Castex. On Monday June 28th the day after difficult regional and departmental elections for La Republique en Marche, the Head of State said that "the local elections do not call for national consequences,".

Second day of Brevet examination for college students in France - After French and mathematics on Monday June 28th, third grade college students in France will today sit the next part of their Brevet with history-geography this morning, followed by science and modern foreign languages this afternoon.

Some 800,000 candidates are registered to sit this year’s Brevet in France. During Monday’s French exam students worked on a dictation taken from the Mémoires d'outre-tombe de François-René de Chateaubriand, before facing a grammar test on an extract from Capitaine Fracasse de Théophile Gaultier and a photogram from the film Beauty and the Beast produced by Jean Cocteau in 1946.

Helpline for victims of domestic violence - The helpline for victims of domestic violence in France has extended it operating hours. The 3919 is now available 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday with the 24-hour extension planned for weekends by end of the summer. The service is anonymous and free. The 3919 remains reachable on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It is estimated that around 210,000 women experience domestic violence each year. In 2020, 90 women were killed by their partner or ex-partner, according to the latest official figures.

Strike action at Europe 1 against billionaire Vincent Bolloré - Employees at Europe 1 have organised a rally tomorrow, Wednesday June 30th, in their continued fight against Vincent Bolleré. After a five day strike last week the station's unions have called for action this Wednesday in front of its premises at 10am to denounce what they call "the growing hold" by billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Unions want "Europe 1 to remain a generalist radio station" and "not to become an opinion radio".

Unprecedented in its scale, strike action was launched to challenge the dismissal of a journalist, against a background of growing concerns about the future of the station and its increased ties to CNews, the Canal+ news channel a subsidiary of the Vivendi group controlled by Vincent Bolloré.

Fishing - Jersey has said that it has agreed to a three-month extension to post-Brexit transition arrangements to allow "certain French vessels" to carry on fishing in the Channel Island's waters while difficult negotiations over future licences continue. The request for the extension was made by France’s maritime minister on 12th May.

Business

Facebook shares have risen by more than 4% after a judge dismissed US federal and state anti-trust complaints against the firm which would have forced the social media giant to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The ruling saw Facebook’s market capitalisation rise to more than $1 trillion for the first time. The dismissal by a judge at the US District Court for the District of Columbia is the first big blow to state and federal lawsuits against big tech firms. Judge James Boasberg said that the case was “legally insufficient”. The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Facebook has monopoly power in the social networking market and could