Local
Woman stabbed in Monaco - A woman in her forties has been stabbed in the street by her husband. The incident occurred late afternoon on Thursday in the Moneghetti district of Monaco. According to witnesses the victim was stabbed "about fifteen times" by her husband who was “in a fit of anger”. Police later arrested the man also in his forties while his wife is reported to be in a critical condition in hospital in Nice.
Weather - A lightning strike has caused a fire in Moulinet located in the hills behind Nice. Three helicopter water bombers were at the site on Thursday evening battling the blaze. The region had been placed on a weather alert on Thursday with storms forecast. By 8pm 731 lightning strikes had been recorded in the region.
Meanwhile Météo France has announced that high temperatures are set to make a comeback across France this weekend with highs of 36 degrees in the South West and 34 degrees in the South East. According to Météo France, this high temperatures should continue into the beginning of next week.
Aquasplash Antibes - The Aquasplash park in Antibes has been evacuated. Visitors were asked to leave the amusement park an hour before it was due to close on Thursday evening. According to reports a security procedure was put in place following the discovery of an unidentified object which later proved to be harmless. The park will, this morning re open as usual.
National
The Amazon “international crisis”- French president, Emmanuel Macron has said the fires in the Amazon are an “international crisis” and called for them to be top of the agenda at the G7 summit. His comments have prompted a furious response from Brazil’s leader. Macron tweeted “Our house is burning. Literally,” adding that the Amazon produced 20% of the world’s oxygen. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro took exception to his French counterpart’s comments accusing him of “taking advantage of what is a domestic Brazilian issue for his own personal political gain. Since celebrities, including Madonna, Lewis Hamilton and Crisitano Ronaldo have also tweeted about the urgency of the Amazon fires.
Press conference – Meanwhile in a joint press conference between Macron and his British counterpart Boris Johnson held on Thursday, Macron insisted that the Irish backstop mechanism was needed to protect the Northern Ireland peace deal and the European single market.
Meanwhile a photo of Boris Johnson putting his foot on a coffee table at the Elysee in front of Emmanuel Macron was abundantly relayed on social networks on Thursday. Boris Johnson indeed appeared particularly relaxed during the interview. The new British Prime Minister immediately set foot on a table as a joke under the amused eye of the French president.
Later in the day Macron also met with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting, one of several held ahead of the G7 summit comes as Modi’s government has faced international criticism over its crackdown in the disputed Kashmir region.
Unpopular reforms –France's Council of Ministers have returned from their summer break, and are focused on implementing several unpopular reforms, including raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Macron and his government are pushing for reforms in three areas; unemployment insurance, the pension system and cutting back on public administration. Macron's predecessors - François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande - have either failed to implement such reforms or avoided them altogether.
Trade unions are expected to bitterly oppose pension reforms just as they did in 1995, the last time France attempted recalling the failure of France’s last serious attempt at pension and social security reform in 1995.
The government expects to save €3.4bn by the end of 2021 if it can implement these reforms.
Migrants – Thirty migrants including eleven children, have been rescued off the Pas-de-Calais. Two different boats were spotted around 11:50 west of Le Touquet: a first containing 14 migrants (8 men, 2 women and 4 children), and a second with 16 migrants on board (5 men, 4 women, 6 children and A baby). The migrants were approached shortly before 2 pm and sent to the port of Calais. Two people have gone missing since last week. On Sunday, research was also launched unsuccessfully to find a swimmer off Dunkirk, "probably" a migrant. A week earlier, another migrant woman, an Iranian woman, was reported missing after a boat crossing attempt
Business
Google has shut down 210 channels on YouTube it said were part of a "coordinated” attempt to post material about the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. The firm said attempts had been made to "disguise the origin of these accounts and other activity commonly associated with coordinated influence operations”. The search giant linked its move to similar action taken by Twitter and Facebook earlier this week.
US toy maker Hasbro will acquire Peppa Pig owner Entertainment One for around £3.3bn ($4bn). Hasbro said the deal would expand its entertainment and "family-oriented storytelling" portfolio. UK-listed Entertainment One owns other preschool titles including PJ Masks. The deal is the latest in a string of foreign acquisitions of UK-listed firms including the £4.6bn buyout of pub chain Greene King.
Ryanair has come bottom in an annual Which? survey rating the customer services of 100 popular UK brands. The budget airline achieved a customer satisfaction score of only 45% for 2019. It is the sixth year in a row that Ryanair has come last.Given a choice of 50 terms to describe the airline, many respondents picked "greedy", "sneaky" and "arrogant". It comes as Ryanair pilots in the UK strike for a second day over pay and conditions.
Sport
Cricket – Jofra Archer, playing in his second Test, claimed his first five-wicket haul to help bowl Australia out for 179. Australia opener David Warner, who made 61 at Headingley before being dismissed by Archer. England are yet to bat.
Football - Wolves are in a good position to qualify for the Europa League group stage for the first time after winning 3-2 away in Italy against Torino.
In the Premier league tonight Aston Villa play Everton kick off is at 9pm French time and tomorrow Arsenal head north to face Liverpool.
Rugby Union – Ahead of Saturday’s game at Twickenham where England play Ireland. England’s head coach Eddie Jones has said there is no limit to what Tom Curry and Sam Underhill can achieve when playing together. Kick off is at 4pm French time.
Golf - Rory McIlroy carded a superb round of 66 to move within one shot of the lead at the season-ending Tour Championship. The Northern Irishman began round one five shots off the lead as part of a staggered starting system derived from the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list. McIlroy, 30, raised concern with the scoring system but went on to shoot four birdies in a four under par round.
Weather
Clear skies with highs of 29 degrees in Nice, Cagnes sur mer, Vence and Antibes reaching 31 degrees in Frejus in the Var. Storms are expected by later afternoon in Nice and Monaco. Moderate north easterly wind. Going down to 23 degrees this evening in the Alpes Maritimes and 19 degrees in the Var.
The outlook for Saturday possible showers to begin with in Nice, Antibes and Cannes. Clear skies in Saint Tropez and the Var. Sunday clear skies with highs of between 33-36 degrees.
Finally
New TV show is looking for Britain’s loudest snorers whose long-suffering partners have had enough. If you feel you're nearing your breaking point (or at least frantically searching for a new place with separate bedrooms), we have some good news.
Fed up of your partner's snoring? Why not apply for this new TV show which is trying to track down Britain's loudest snorer.
A production company is on the hunt for Britain's LOUDEST snorers to participate in a new television series.
Although the details of the show are remaining largely under wraps, it's likely to follow the format of a sleep clinic.
An advert for the unnamed show - which is being produced by Firecracker Films - read: "Is your partner's snoring ruining your life?
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