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Video: French police play ‘Titanic’ theme while driving through flooded street in Paris
Fun reaction to storm attracts millions of viewers on social media
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Ski resort in French Alps to close due to lack of snow and funding cuts
Local officials have announced the closure of the Alpe du Grand Serre station in Isère, halting plans to keep it open year-round
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Good news for Occitanie residents as ‘in demand’ flight route to run all year
Domestic flight will connect Perpignan and Lille twice per week
Limited chloroquine use against Covid-19 approved
Use of the drug chloroquine, more commonly used to treat malaria, has been officially authorised for ‘serious’ forms of Covid-19.

The announcement was made by Health Minister Olivier Véran, following the go-ahead of public health watchdog le Haut conseil de santé public; however the minister said it should not be used for less serious forms.
The drug has already been making headlines due to its unofficial use in a Marseille hospital where would-be patients have been queuing up to potentially be treated with it, and its inclusion in European (including French) official trials in search of treatments.
A decree is now about to be made, clarifying guidelines for its use, the minister said.
Following announcements by Prof Didier Raoult (who is a member of the scientific advisory committee to the government on Covid-19) about how the drug is proving to be promising in Marseille it has been much-discussed, with a Les Républicains MP from the Bouches-du-Rhône, Valérie Boyer, praising it after she tested positive for Covid-19 and was treated with it.
However officials say prudence is needed and say it is necessary to follow formal clinical testing protocols.
According to Prof Didier Raoult, who initially tested chloroquine on 24 patients, three-quarters of the people treated recovered within six days.
The infectious diseases expert was instrumental in persuading the government to perform wider tests on the drug.
However so far there has been no official, formal, study according to the usual rules, so as to confirm the drug’s effectiveness, hence the cautious advice only to use it for the most serious cases for now.
The Health Ministry says further results from official French trials should be available in two weeks’ time. They are part of European trials evaluating four possible treatments for Covid-19.
The latest figures for Covid-19 in France show 19,856 confirmed cases and 860 deaths since the start of the epidemic.
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