Celebrated French 'chanson' singer Christophe, who first found fame in the 1960s and whose last album was released in 2016, has died in hospital at the age of 74 from emphysema, his family has announced, while press reports had previously suggested he was being treated for infection from the Covid-19 virus.
In an interview with the Financial Times, and during a week of heightening diplomatic tensions between Paris and Beijing, French President Emmanuel Macron said it would be 'naive' to believe the Chinese authorities had dealt better with the Covid-19 virus crisis than Western democracies, and that in China 'There are clearly things that have happened that we don't know about'.
In his daily briefing on Thursday, French health administration head Jérôme Salomon announced 753 people in the country had died of coronavirus over the past 24 hours, when the number of those in intensive care units fell slightly, bringing the total of recorded deaths in France from the virus to 17,920.
French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has pledged frontline healthcare staff treating patients with the Covid-19 virus will receive tax-free bonus payments of up to 1,500 euros and higher overtime rates, part of an 8 billion-euro injection into the country's health system.
The Chinese ambassador to France was summoned by the foreign ministry in Paris after his embassy posted online criticism of French management of the Covid-19 epidemic, which Chinese officials have since insisted was a 'misunderstanding'.
One third of the crew of French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – 668 out of a total 1,767 – have tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus, with 31 of them in hospital, one in intensive care, following an outbreak reported during the ship's tour of duty in the Atlantic.
The French health authorities on Tuesday reported the highest 24-hour death toll yet from Covid-19 virus infection, with a total of 762 new fatalities, bringing the total number of recorded coronavirus-related deaths to 15,729, but the numbers of patients treated for the infection in intensive care fell for the sixth day in a row, to 6,730.
US online retail giant Amazon has been ordered by a French court to only deliver essential items in France during the Covid-19 virus epidemic, warning it will be fined 1 million euros per day if it fails to comply.
General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who is co-ordinating the project of restoring the fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, says that delays, including that caused by the coronavirus epidemic, could still be overcome to return the building 'to a place of worship within five years'.
The prestigious Tour de France cycling race, due to be held over three weeks this summer, has been postponed, probably until September, organisers said on Tuesday, following President Emmanuel Macron's announcement on monday that no major public gatherings will be allowed before mid-July.
