Local
Medal of recognition - 36 victims of the Nice terror attack have been awarded a “medal of recognition”. 124 victims of terrorism were awarded the medal on Sunday including 36 victims of the Nice attack, on July 14th 2016. The medal was created on July 12th 2016, following the attacks which took place in Paris and Saint-Denis on November 13, 2015, during which 130 people died, and that of Charlie Hebdo in January of the same year.
Clean up operation on the region’s beaches - According to the Prefecture of the Bouches de Rhone the cleanup operation carried out on the region’s beaches following the oil spill has been completed. The oil pollution had hit the coastline from Ramatuelle in the Var to the beaches of the Camargue. Authorities have now moved on to the Port de Bouc. Meanwhile emergency services have set up a floating dam around Pomègues to protect a fish farm and authorities have once again stressed to people not to touch any of the pollution particles and to contact 112.
Road accident - Four people have been taken to hospital in Nice following a road accident on Sunday morning. The accident occurred shortly after 10.30am on the road between Roquefort and Opio. The driver of the vehicle is believed to have lost control due to slippery road conditions. The road was cut off in both directions as firefighters attended the scene.
Former mayor of Nice - The former mayor of Nice Jean-Paul Baréty has died aged 90. Baréty was Mayor of Nice from 1993 to 1995. Following the news at the week-end the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi expressed his “great sadness”.
Monaco Million Maiden - The inaugural Monaco Million Maiden Sprint over 1160m took place at the weekend in South Africa. Africa’s richest race for maidens is sponsored by Prince Albert II, of Monaco, and several businessmen in the principality, and is the brainchild of Mike Wittstock, whose daughter Princess Charlene is married to the prince. Wittstock and the Racing Association have worked together to put the race in place. It replaces the two R250 000 Maiden Plates, both sponsored by Princess Charlene, formerly run on Charity Mile day.
National
New Caledonia - Voters in New Caledonia have rejected independence in a referendum which took place on Sunday, with just over 56% choosing to keep ties with the mainland. On the final count, 56.4 percent of people had rejected the proposition that New Caledonia become independent, in a clear but smaller-than-expected victory for loyalists to the mainland. As the results came in, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of his "immense pride" that the Pacific islanders had voted to remain part of the French Republic.
Letter by French poet - A letter by the French 19th-Century poet Charles Baudelaire announcing he would kill himself has sold at auction for €234,000. The note, dated 30 June 1845, was addressed to his lover Jeanne Duval. The poet, who was 24 years old at the time, attempted to commit suicide on the same day - but survived. The French auction website said the letter sold to a private buyer for three times the estimated price.
Business
There have been widespread protests on the streets of Tehran after US sanctions against Iran came into force.
The Trump administration has reinstated all sanctions removed under the 2015 nuclear deal and will target both Iran and states that trade with it.
The sanctions will hit oil exports,shipping and banks which are all key parts of the Iranian economy.
Thousands of demonstrators chanting “death to America” gathered in the streets of the Iranian capital on Sunday while the Iranian military said that it would hold drills today and tomorrow to prove Iran’s defensive capabilities.
Washington says that it wants to stop what it called Iran’s “malign” activities which it says include cyber attacks,ballistic missile tests and support for terror groups and militias in the Middle East.
70 leading business figures have written an open letter to the Sunday Times newspaper calling for a public vote on the UK’s Brexit deal.
The 70 ,who include the chief executive of the Waterstones bookchain,the co-founder of Innocent Drinks,the founder of Lastminute.com and the former chief executive of Sainsbury’s say that a destructive hard Brexit will damage the ecomomy.
The letter was co-ordinated by the People’s Vote campaign which is pressing for a ballot on whether to accept the terms of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
A group called Business for a People’s Vote will launch on Thursday.
The Prime Minister’s Downing Street office says that Theresa May has been very clear that there will be no fresh referendum.
And-The pound has risen to a two week high against the dollar on growing hopes of an “orderly Brexit”.
News of any kind of deal between the UK and the EU has been feeding into sterling for some weeks and a report in the Sunday Times newspaper that an all UK customs deal is to be written into the agreement governing Britain’s withdrawal was enough to send the pound up to 1 US dollar 30.62 cents-its highest level since October the 22nd.
The British Prime Minister’s Downing Street office said that the Sunday Times report was “speculative” but added that 95 percent of the withdrawal agreement was settled.
Sport
Football-There were two games in the English Premier League on Sunday.
Manchester City thrashed Southampton 6-1 to stay top of the League while Chelsea leapfrogged Liverpool into second place thanks to a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.
There’s one game tonight.Huddersfield play Fulham.
In the Scottish Premiership on Sunday Kilmarnock lost 2-1 at home to Aberdeen while in the English Championship Leeds United went back to the top of the table with a 2-1 win at Wigan.
Cricket-The former Australia captain Mark Taylor has resigned from his position as board director of Cricket Australia in the fallout from the ball tampering scandal.
Mr Taylor said that it was time for someone else to bring some fresh impetus to the game in Australia and that his role had become “increasingly challenging” since the ball tampering scandal in Cape Town six months ago.
On the pitch Australia were thrashed by 6 wickets at the hands of South Africa in the first one day international in Perth-their 7th consecutive one day international defeat.
Rugby Union-Owen Farrell has been cleared to face New Zealand next weekend after avoiding disciplinary action for his 84th minute challenge on Andre Esterhuizen at the end of the England against South Africa match at Twickenham.
Farrell’s tackle was sent upstairs for the TMO to look at and could have resulted in a red card and penalty which would have given the Springboks the chance to kick a victorious 3 points.
The TMO ruled that the challenge had been legal and the citing commissioner has decided that it did not meet the red card threshold and that no action will be taken.
Rugby League-England have beaten New Zealand 20-14 to take the series.
A Tommy Makinson hat-trick of tries made the difference at Anfield on Sunday.The final Test is in Leeds next Sunday with England having a 2-0 unassailable lead.
Tennis-Russia’s Karen Khachanov has upset new world number one Novak Djokovic by beating him in the final of the Paris Masters.
The 22 year old beat Djokovic 7-5 6-4 in one hour 37 minutes to end the Serb’s 22 match unbeaten run.
Djokovic replaces Rafael Nadal as world number one in the new ATP rankings which are published today.
Athletics-Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia has won the men’s event at the New York City Marathon in a time of 2 hours 05 minutes and 59 seconds-just 54 seconds short of the record set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011.
The women’s event was won by Mary Keitany of Kenya in a time of 2 hours 22 minutes and 48 seconds.
Weather
Rain spreading across the region with a gusty moderate to strong easterly wind.
Top temperature 19 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 15 degrees on the coast and 10 degrees inland with cloudy skies.
Tuesday and Wednesday-Rain and scattered thunderstorms tomorrow,sunshine and showers on Wednesday.Highs of 17-19 degrees.
The Riviera's ski resorts are celebrating a record winter season.
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The Monegasque government informed its residents today that a fraudulent call campaign is currently targeting the Principality, mainly the most vulner...
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A new study suggests businesses in the Alpes-Maritimes are losing millions of euros per year and hundreds of thousands of hours of workers' time due t...
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Food safety inspectors plan to carry out 100,000 checks on French restaurant and bakeries this year, almost twice as many as last year, to coincide wi...
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France's foreign minister has said that it is no longer in Paris's "interest" to talk to Russia after differing accounts emerged from a rare phone cal...
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