The skipper of a sailboat was rescued by helicopter off Toulon today. A distress call was received from the yacht Peterpunk Solosailor at about 9.00 this morning. The boat was heading for Saint-Raphaël as part of the Mini Med regatta when the boat lost its mast. Crossmed requested the assistance of the navy who dispatched a helicopter to rescue the sailor on board.
Hospital staff have been demonstrating in front of the hospital in Draguignan this lunchtime. They were protesting at what they say is rising aggression towards hospital personnel from patients. Unions are also calling for extra nursing staff and say that this would lead to fewer incidents as staff currently do not have enough time to diffuse potential conflicts through discussion.
The investigation continues into the death of a 29 year old British crew member after a collision between two charter yachts in the bay of Cannes on Saturday. Police have said that they believe that “speed was the main factor”. Taken into police custody on Sunday the 42 year old French captain of the 30 meter yacht “Vision” has since been released and placed on judicial control charged for non-compliance with regulations and manslaughter. He will appear in court in Marseille.
A 39 year old man has been airlifted to hospital in Toulon following a road accident in Cogolin in the Var. The accident occurred on Monday evening on the RD98. The victim is reported to have suffered multiple head injuries and police have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.
A high capacity power cable is to be built between France and Ireland. President Macron and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar signed a letter in Brussels today committing the countries to build the cable from Brittany to the south coast of Ireland. The cable will bypass the UK and allow Ireland to be connected directly to EU power supplies after Brexit.
Two more French nationals have been sentenced to death in Iraq for belonging to Islamic State. The latest convictions made today by the Iraqi court brings to six the total number of French citizens sentenced to death since Sunday. Six more French nationals are due to appear before the court in the next few days for membership of IS.
BUSINESS
A survey of 180 financial executives has found that London is no longer regarded as the top financial centre. Just over half of respondents said New York was the world’s top financial centre while 36% said London was the leader, that’s down 17% from last year. Duff & Phelps, who carried out the survey, said that last year, Brexit “cast a shadow of uncertainty over the United Kingdom’s economy; it has now escalated to a full-blown crisis,”
According to reports, The European Commission is likely to start disciplinary procedures against Italy for breaking EU debt rules.According to Bloomberg, Italy could face a €3.5bn penalty for breaching rules which require countries to keep their deficit below 3% of GDP and debt under 60% of GDP. Italy’s debt is more than twice the EU limit.
Scandinavian airline SAS has reported a rise in second-quarter pre-tax losses after being hit by costs relating to a pilots strike. The company lost 1.22bn Swedish crowns (that’s about 111.4 million euros) in the three months to the end of April. SAS estimated the impact from the strike was 650m crowns.
SPORT
Tennis… Eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro has beaten world number 58 Nicolas Jarry to reach the French Open second round. Del Potro lost the first set but recovered to take the match 3-6 6-2 6-1 6-4. Meanwhile, British number one Kyle Edmund needed just seven minutes to book his place in the French Open second round as he completed his interrupted match against Jeremy Chardy. They resumed at 5-5 in the fifth set after bad light stopped play at Roland Garros yesterday. Edmund won 7-6 5-7 6-4 4-6 7-5. But British number two Cameron Norrie lost 6-3 6-0 6-2 to local French qualifier Elliot Benchetrit who is from Nice.
Football… Spanish police have made a number of arrests as part of an investigation into match-fixing. Reports say that current and former players as well as club executives have been detained.
La Liga said that the police action follows complaints about possible match-fixing in a May 2018 match. La Liga has reported a further eight possible match-fixing cases to police.
In other football news, Neymar has lost the Brazil captaincy for next month's Copa America and will be replaced by his Paris St-Germain team-mate Dani Alves.
Cricket…. It’s the World Cup Warm-up match Bangladesh against India today. India were 359 for 7.
The post-mortem will take place next Monday for a 33-year-old man whose body was recently found in the Var after being missing for more than a month....
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French scientists have been developing technological tools for the past four years to help athletes optimize their training for the Paris 2024 Olympic...
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Nice airport says as many as 60% of flights will be cancelled tomorrow due to a nationwide strike by air traffic controllers....
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After eight months of work and several sea trials, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has begun a six-week operation in the Mediterranean, ...
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A group of experts have come up with more than 150 recommendations for how Nice can deal with the increasing effects of climate change....
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