Evening News Update Monday 21 January

A body has been discovered on a beach in Antibes this morning. The body of the 51 year old woman was found by a walker on the Gravette beach at around 11.00am.  The cause of death is currently being established.

The Maritime Prefecture in the Var has announced that four German torpedoes and a World War II mine are to be neutralized this week. The devices are located in the waters off Pampelonne in the gulf of Saint Tropez. The operation will be carried between today and Thursday. The last operation of its kind was carried out in the same area, in April of last year.

The annual census is underway in Menton.  Each year, about 8 per cent of the population is visited to collect information on such matters as how many people live in the household and if it’s a main residence. All those who have been selected by authorities to participate in the survey will receive a letter or e-mail before the visit.

An annual tradition at the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival is taking place this evening. The annual ecumenical celebration is happening in the Fontvieille Big Top. About forty representatives of Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant denominations will be present, along with some of the performers.  This Monday is the traditional rest day for the circus performers.  Performances resume tomorrow and the circus is on until the 27th of January.

The head of the largest French farmers' union has said that a no-deal Brexit could have a severe impact on French agricultural exports. Christiane Lambert of the FNSEA union said French wine and spirits producers would be hit hardest as their sector had a trade surplus of 1.3bn euros a year with the UK. Dairy goods and fruit are also major French exports.


BUSINESS

French data protection body, the CNIL, has fined Google 50 million euros.  The fine was for failing to provide users with enough information on how their personal data would be accessed by advertisers.

Facebook has announced that it intends to create 1,000 new jobs in Ireland this year. The new employees will be based at Facebook's sites in Dublin, County Meath and County Cork. Facebook already employs 4,000 people in Ireland.

New figures indicate that China's economy grew at its slowest rate since 1990. The economy expanded at 6.6% in 2018, according to official figures released today.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that escalating trade tensions could undermine global economic growth. For the world economy, the IMF is now predicting growth of 3.5% in 2019, down from the 3.7% it forecast in October.


SPORT

Tennis…Serena Williams has beaten top seed Simona Halep in the last 16 of the Australian Open. The final score was 6-1 4-6  6-4.  Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, world number one Novak Djokovic has reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2016 after  defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-4  6-7  6-2  6-3. 

Rugby Union...Leinster boss Leo Cullen has said that Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton is nearing a return to full fitness ahead of the Six Nations opener against England. Sexton has been suffering from a knee injury and hasn't played in almost a month.

 

 

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