Local
France protests against Anti-Semitism - Thousands of people have joined protests across France against a spate of anti-Semitic attacks. The demonstrators marched in the capital Paris and other cities on Tuesday evening. In the Capital, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and more than half his cabinet attended the rally along with two former presidents, Francois Hollande, and Nicolas Sarkozy. Parliament suspended its work for several hours to allow MPs to attend, while religious leaders met with the interior minister to affirm their unity.
In Nice at Place Garibaldi a thousand people gathered in a rally against anti-Semitism. The Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi declared that "To touch a Jew, be it with words or gestures, is to touch all of France,".
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron visited a Jewish cemetery in eastern France where nearly 100 graves had been tagged with Nazi symbols. During the visit Mr Macron said that "Whoever did this is not worthy of the French Republic and will be punished,"
France has the biggest Jewish community in Europe at about 550,000 people. Statistics published last week showed a rise of 74% in the number of anti-Semitic attacks in France, from 311 in 2017 to 541 in 2018.
Man shot in Marseille - Police have shot dead a man in Marseille after he wounded at least two pedestrians with a knife in the centre of the city. The attack occurred on Tuesday afternoon. Police said they opened fire after the man, threatened officers with a weapon. According to local reports the 36 year old man had already been convicted of patricide in 2005 and had served a 15 year prison sentence. At least one other pedestrian was reportedly injured during the confrontation with police.
Karl Lagerfeld - His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco has spoken of his sadness following the death of Karl Lagerfeld. Karl Lagerfeld artistic director of Chanel since 1983, died on Tuesday at the age of 85. Described as “one of the greatest designers in the history of fashion” following his death. The German designer was very close to Monaco. It was Lagerfeld who decorated the famous “Bal de la Croix Rouge” in the Principality and was considered “a member of the family” by Princess Caroline of Hanover who founded a true friendship with the creator.
OGC Nice - Nice football club, OGC Nice has announced that the match against Strasbourg, on March 3rd, will be dedicated to Enzo. 18 year old Enzo from Saint Laurent du Var was a keen supporter of the club and was killed in a road accident at the weekend in Saint-Laurent-du-Var. The club made the announcement in a post on Twitter following the news of his death.
Yellow Vest Protestors - Three yellow vest protestors, two from Antibes and one from Marseille have been given a 2 to 5 month prison sentence. The three were arrested following violent behavior on December 15th at the roundabout in Antibes which had been occupied by the movement.
Nice International Airport - Nice Côte d’Azur airport has become the first airport in France to bring detailed terminal maps to Apple Maps, providing the airport’s 14 million annual passengers with a new tool allowing them to navigate through the airport and find what they are looking for. The service was introduced on February 16th. The terminal maps will be updated regularly to ensure accuracy including when new stores and locations open.
Ferrari exhibition - There are just three weeks left to visit the one-off Ferrari exhibition at the Museum of the private collection of cars of H.S.H. Prince Albert. The exhibition features around 50 of the brand’s most iconic Grand Prix and sports cars, totaling more than 1 billion euros. The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 70 years of passion, glamour and design innovation.
National
Council for Gender Equality - Actress Emma Watson has attended the first meeting for the G7 (Group of Seven) Advisory Council For Gender Equality with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace, in Paris, on Tuesday afternoon. The actress, was appointed UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014 and serves as an advocate for the organization's HeForShe campaign in promoting gender equality. France currently holds the presidency for G7, which also consists of countries Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the US.
13th Century French castle gets new lease of life – Finally, good news for a 13th Century French castle which has remained in ruins since a fire in the 1930s. Thanks to a crowdfunding exercise 28,000 people will be given the opportunity to buy the Château de la Mothe Chandeniers in the Loire region for just 50 euros each.
Business
China has said that the United States should respect the country’s right to develop and become prosperous.
The remarks came as the world’s two largest economies started their latest round of trade talks in Beijing in a bid to resolve the bitter dispute which has seen both sides raise tariffs on imports on each other’s goods.
The United States has accused China of unfair trade practices including forced technology transfers.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said later on Tuesday that “just like the United States,China has the right to development and that the Chinese people have the right to a good life”.
President Trump meanwhile said that trade talks were “going well” and that he was open to pushing back the 1st of March deadline to complete negotiations.
Ford has said that it will close a major factory in Brazil after 50 years as it prepares to stop selling heavy trucks in South America.
The US carmaker said that it saw “no viable path to profitability” for the Sao Bernardo de Campo plant which employs some 2,800 people.
The closure is the latest move in global restructuring by Ford which has also warned of thousands of job cuts in the UK and mainland Europe.
Ford is struggling with a sharp decline in profits at its international operations.
Revenue in South America fell by 9 percent last year and the firm lost market shares in most major countries.
And-The US retail giant Walmart has announced its best holiday quarter in at least a decade boosted by higher grocery and e-commerce sale.
The firm said that it saw no signs of weakness in US consumer spending despite recent signs of a slowdown.
Walmart says that online sales jumped by 43 percent in the quarter helped by the expansion of its grocery collection programme which was expanded to more than 2,100 stores at the end of last year.
Shares in Walmart rose by 2.2 percent on the news with the firm’s stock up by 9.7 percent so far this year.
Sport
Football-Liverpool were held to a 0-0 home draw by Bayern Munich last night in the first leg of their round of 16 European Champions League tie. The home side had the better chances but were frustrated by a well organised Bayern defence. The second leg is in Munich on the 13th of March.
In last night’s other round of 16 tie Lyon and Barcelona drew 0-0.
There are two more ties tonight.Athletico Madrid play Juventus and Schalke host Manchester City.
There was one game in the English Championship last night.QPR lost 3-2 at home to West Brom and in a Scottish Cup 5th round replay Inverness Caledonian Thistle beat Ross County 5-4 on penalties after the scores were tied at 2-2 after extra time.They’ll now play Dundee United away in the quarter finals.
Formula 1-Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest on the second day of pre-season testing in Barcelona.
The 21 year old Monaco born driver was within 0.1 seconds of the time achieved by team mate Sebastian Vettel on the first day of testing.
British rookie Lando Norris was second quickest for McLaren while Red Bull’s Piere Gasly suffered a late crash after spinning into the gravel trap on Turn 12,damaging his rear wing in the process.
World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished 10th quickest in the Mercedes.
Cricket-The first one day international between West Indies and England is being played in Barbados today.
Chris Gayle will be returning for West Indies as he starts his swansong to the international game.
Play in Bridgetown starts at 4pm French time.
Rugby Union-Scotland have suffered a blow ahead of their 6 Nations game against France with fly-half Finn Russell ruled out after failing a concussion test.
Russell suffered a head knock in the French Top 14 game between Racing 92 and Toulouse last weekend and hasn’t recovered in time.
Wales hope that full back Leigh Halfpenny will be passed fit to play against England in Cardiff on Saturday.
Halfpenny hasn’t played since being concussed on the 11th of November but is now said to be in the reckoning for selection.
Boxing-World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has insisted that a future meeting with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury will not be held up by television companies.
The three main men in the heavyweight division are signed to rival US broadcasters which could make negotiations over a fight difficult.
Joshua will fight in the US for the first time in June when he defends his IBF,WBA and WBO titles against Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden.
He says that TV companies are there to make “our dreams come true” and that there is no reason why the fights can’t take place.
Weather
Partially cloudy with light variable winds.
Top temperature 14 degrees.
Overnight lows of 7 degrees on the coast and 3 degrees inland with clear skies.
Thursday and Friday-Mainly fine with highs of 15-17 degrees.
Finally
A ticket bought in Ireland scoops £153 MILLION EuroMillions jackpot – the country's biggest-ever lottery prize
The record breaking win dwarfs the £99 million won by Dolores McNamara, from Limerick, in July 2005.
National Lottery chief executive Dermot Griffin said the shop where the ticket was bought would not be revealed for a few days as procedures had to followed.
After eight months of work and several sea trials, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has begun a six-week operation in the Mediterranean, ...
Read More
A group of experts have come up with more than 150 recommendations for how Nice can deal with the increasing effects of climate change....
Read More
Some communes in the Alpes-Maritimes will be plunged into darkness this Monday evening. For the third year running to mark Earth Day, mayors in the Al...
Read More
Gendarmes in the Var have appealed for information after a 34-year-old man went missing in Cavalaire-sur-Mer....
Read More
A man from Nice used a stolen bank card to make purchases in Monaco, spending over €1,700 in various shops, mostly on airpods that he planned to resel...
Read More
