Evening News Update Tuesday 11 December

The Nice Côte d'Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry has revealed the results of a wide-ranging survey into the economic impact of the yellow vest protests in the Department. More than 10% of the companies that responded to the survey say they have experienced a decline in their turnover since the beginning of the protests. Those businesses reported a decline of between 20 and 50% of turnover. According to the Chamber of Commerce, the retail sector is particularly affected.  Seventy Eight per cent of retail traders experienced a drop in sales exceeding ten per cent and more than fifteen per cent had a drop of more than fifty per cent. A questionnaire was sent by the Chamber of Commerce to 27,000 companies as part of the survey. Meanwhile, about twenty yellow vest protesters once again blocked the access to a commercial logistics park in Nice St Isadore this morning, but had dispersed by lunchtime. The mayor of Menton, Jean-Claude Guibal, attended an informal meeting of yellow vests on the steps of the town hall yesterday evening and expressed his support for the protests.

High school students have been continuing their demonstrations at several of the area’s schools today.  In Grasse, about a hundred students reportedly blocked the access to two schools. Students also partially blocked access to a school in Drap this morning. Students are protesting about the increasing tuition fees of students abroad, the reform of the baccalaureate, geographical inequalities and the 2,600 posts eliminated in secondary education.

In Vence, about 3 out of 4 of the town’s parking meters have been vandalised. The motive for the vandalism hasn’t yet been established.  Authorities say that the meters will be replaced.

A gas leak disrupted traffic in Antibes this morning. The leak was reported at about 10.00 this morning on the rue Gouverneur-Chavannes, near the D6107. Pompiers, police and specialist personnel attended the incident.

BUSINESS

In the UK, new figures show that average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, grew by 3.3% in the three months to October, which is the biggest rise since November 2008. Average weekly wages in the UK are now £495, which is £25,740 a year. The number of people in work rose by 79,000 to 32.48 million, the highest figure since records began in 1971.

Shares in advertising company WPP have risen today after chief executive Mark Read set out his strategy for revitalising the business. The new strategy aims to boost like-for-like revenue by 15% by the end of 2021.

SPORT

Football…It’s crunch time for Liverpool and Spurs in the European Champions League tonight with both sides needing a win and relying on other results if they’re to make it through to the knockout phase. Liverpool need to beat Napoli 1-0 or by two clear goals in Group C to make it through, although they could also qualify if Paris St Germain don’t beat Red Star Belgrade. In Group B Spurs face the daunting challenge of winning at Barcelona and they need to match the result from the game between Inter Milan and PSV which the Italian side are firm favourites to win.

Rugby Union.. Johnny Sexton has signed a contract extension with the Irish Rugby Football Union until the end of the 2020-21 season. Sexton plays at fly-half for Leinster and Ireland.