Lunchtime News Friday 28th August 2020

Local

Restaurant destroyed in fire - A fire has destroyed part of a restaurant on rue Commandant-Raffali, in Nice this morning. Thirty firefighters were at the scene shortly after 5am and managed to control the flames to limit the damage. No one was injured in the blaze. An investigation has been opened to determine the cause.

Cannes Half-Marathon cancelled - Organisers of the 28th Cannes Half-Marathon have announced that the event has been cancelled. The Half-Marathon was initially scheduled for March 1st and then postponed to Sunday September 20 due to COVID19.

Environmentalists call for cancellation of the Tour de France - As Nice prepares for the Grand depart of the Tour de France this weekend local environmentalists have called for the event to be cancelled.

In a letter to the Prefect of the Alpes Maritimes elected ecologists requested the cancellation, following the news on Friday that the region had been classified as a ‘Red Zone” for the circulation of Covid-19, asking authorities not to “endanger the public’s health for events and economic purposes”.

National

Masks become compulsory in Paris - The authorities have announced new measures to fight the resurgence of the coronavirus in France with wearing a mask being made compulsory from this morning in the French Capital. Failure to comply can lead to a fine of 135 euros.  

Emmanuel Macron visit pharmaceutical laboratory - Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting a pharmaceutical laboratory today in Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine).

Accompanied by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, the Head of State is to inaugurate a production workshop on this site which is one of the oldest factories of active ingredients in the world.

Banksy funds rescue ship - British street artist Banksy has funded a new ship to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean according to reports in The Guardian newspaper.

Named after 19th-century French anarchist "Louise Michel", the ship decorated with graffiti by the British artist left Spain on August 18th and on Thursday 27th August rescued 89 people, including 14 women and two children, in the Central Mediterranean. The boat is a former French customs vessel.

Meanwhile The Sea-Watch 4, a ship of Médecins sans Frontières and Sea-Watch NGOs, has been present in the area since mid-August already carrying out several rescues, recovering more than 200 people.