Evening Update 15th Oct

Yellow Vest protestors who caused over a million euro worth of damage to the payage at Le Muy during the national protests have appeared in court at Draguignan. The damage included unscrewed barriers, broken surveillance cameras and an office set on fire. Of the seven who appeared in court, two were given prison sentences of eight months and two years respectively.

Ryanair has announced it is to cut all its flights from Nice Cote d’Azur airport to London and Dublin for the entire winter season. The next available flights are late March next year. The airline is also to close its French base in Toulouse.

Anger has been expressed by restaurateurs at the government imposed curfew, which will affect a third of France from this weekend. The president of the national restaurants and hotel group has said that the 9pm curfew is ‘economic nonsense and a decision to close’. Meanwhile other European countries are tightening restrictions with 9 million Londoners being banned from meeting family or friends inside, while Germany are curtailing gatherings to just 25 people outside, or 15 people indoors.

Monaco’s push for a carbon-free future has taken a big step with the acquisition of three new wind farms in France. It means that a quarter of the Principality’s consumption needs will soon be met with clean energy. The principality aims to meet its energy consumption needs 100% green electricity production by 2050.

BUSINESS

Oil prices are falling today as new restrictions to stem COVID-19 increase uncertainty over the outlook for economic growth and a recovery in fuel demand. France is placing a third of the population under nightly curfew while the UK is expected to impose similar restrictions on London.

France and the Netherlands have proposed stricter EU rules to oversee large technology firms, such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. They say the EU should stop these firms favouring their own services to the detriment of other businesses and impose an obligation to share specific data.

Tiffany & Co have reported rising sales in October as business rebounds from pandemic lows, firing back at French luxury giant LVMH who are looking to scrap thier $16 billion takeover of the U.S. jeweller. The companies have been locked in a legal battle since LVMH last month cited worsening business conditions at Tiffany as one of the reasons to walk away from the deal.

SPORT

Football - Kylian Mbappe is celebrating today as he scored the winner in last nights France match against Croatia, keeping up their unbeaten Nations League record by beating the Croats 4-2, in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final.

Cycling - Britain's Chris Froome will race against Tour de France runner-up Primoz Roglic at the Vuelta a Espana. Roglic lost the Tour de France on the final time trial in September in one of the event's most dramatic finales. The three-week Vuelta a Espana begins on Tuesday near Bilbao.

Rugby - It looks like Racing 92 will be ready to face Exeter in the Heineken Champions Cup Final after the French all tested negative for coronavirus. Nine Racing 92 personnel had tested positive two weeks ago. The Parisians relocated their training base to Corsica this week to prevent another outbreak and testing on Tuesday showed no positive cases. The final kicks off in Bristol on Saturday at 17.45

Basketball - Despite last nights win against Antwerp, AS Monaco are not taking any pressure off, with the Roca coach saying the team are only ramping up and ready for two tough matches ahead with Bologna and Krasnodar. He congratulated the team for good defense, intensity and fast play, as they beat the Belgian champions, Antwerp Giants, 96-64 last night.