This is News from France, a weekly review for Sunday March 7th

The focus for this week was:

departmental restrictions to control the spread of Covid 19

the sentencing of former President Nicolas Sarkozy for fraud

an easing in the trade dispute with the USA

and a survey of honesty includes four French cities.

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At least ten million people should be vaccinated against Covid 19 by the middle of next month Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday.

According to the mobile app on Sunday, 3.58 million people have been vaccinated while new cases reported for the previous 24 hours were 23,306.

There are “alert zones” in the north and south east of France under a close watch in addition to the nightly curfew.

Measures include weekend lockdowns in Pas-de-Calais, on the Alpes-Maritimes coast and in Dunkirk and affect about 2.5 million people.

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In a landmark ruling, former President Nicolas Sarkozy has been given a three-year sentence for corruption and influence peddling.

He is the first, former president in the Fifth Republic to be given a prison sentence for corruption.

Sarkozy has launched an appeal in the so-called “eavesdropping affair” (des écoutes de Paul Bismuth) and denies the charges.

He faces two further trials – one concerning the financing of his 2012 presidential campaign and the other over Libyan funds for his 2007 campaign.

Sarkozy is unlikely to face prison time – he is eligible to serve his sentence under house arrest and with electronic surveillance.

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In welcome news for French wine exporters, the US government has announced the 25 percent tariffs on French wine and cognac imports are to be suspended for four months.

The measures are part of an agreement following a phone call on Friday between US President Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and confirmed in a statement from the US trade department.

The four-month period will give time for the two sides to find a settlement for the long-running trade dispute over subsidies for aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing.

French wine exports to the US in 2018 were worth about 9 billion euros but fell dramatically after tariffs were applied by the Trump administration in the US in 2019.

Imports of French wine then fell by 50 percent in the six months from January 2020, according to the US International Trade Commission.

Finance minister Bruno Le Maire welcomed the news via Twitter, “I rejoice for our French winegrowers” he wrote.

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and in a survey by German car sales data analysts Twinner just four French cities made the top 75 in its “honest city index.”

The study ranks cities to compare how honest citizens are in different sectors of society, including car dealership reviews, government, theft and civic duty.

Lille (37), Lyon (49), Toulouse (55) and Paris (69) made the list – although cities in China, India and Latin America were excluded for lack of data.

Switzerland’s business hub Zurich came out top, followed by Tokyo and Adelaide.

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