Evening News Update Friday 1 February

As of late Friday afternoon, the Alpes Maritimes and the Var are both on Meteo France Orange alert for high waves and flooding until 6.00am Saturday morning. An Orange Alert is the third highest level out of the four alert levels. Meteo France say that the surges associated with the powerful waves as well as the elevated sea levels may cause flooding on the low or vulnerable parts of the coast. The City of Nice has banned access to beaches and the coastal path. They are also advising limiting travel, particularly in the most exposed areas. There’s also an orange alert for avalanche risk in the Alpes Maritimes and in several other departments until 9.00 this evening. Meteo france say that the expected avalanche activity is observed once per winter in the mountains of the southern Alps.

The Lignes d’Azur bus network is expected to be disrupted on Tuesday. The disruption is expected to affect urban and suburban areas because of national strike action. There will be no tram services in Nice on Tuesday, with services expected to start running down on Monday evening and only to be fully operational again on Wednesday morning.

A school was evacuated in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin today because of a gas leak. The leak reportedly occurred this morning in the canteen of La Plage Roquebrune school. No injuries were reported.

Changes to motorway tolls, gas prices and certain food products have been announced for February. In the Alpes-Maritimes, the toll barriers of Antibes and La Turbie will increase by 10 centimes, however motorists who make at least 10 return trips per month on the same strip of motorway will benefit from a 30% discount. Gas prices are expected to fall by 0.7% and the price of over 500 food products will increase by nearly 10%, affecting brands  such as Nutella, Coca-Cola, Danette, Evian and Ricard.

Campaigners for British nationals settled in the EU have called on the British Prime Minister to guarantee health cover payments for pensioners for at least two years to help secure wider residential rights as well as medical care in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The government has indicated that it is in advanced conversations with countries including Spain, France and Ireland about continuing reciprocal arrangements, which would kick in to place if the UK crashes out of the EU.

 

BUSINESS

 

The US economy added 304,000 jobs in January, official figures have shown. The figure was far in excess of economists' forecasts of 165,000. However, December's jobs growth figure was revised to 222,000, down from an initial estimate of 312,000.

A closely-watched survey has suggested that UK manufacturers prepared for Brexit by stockpiling raw materials at a record pace last month. Employment in the sector fell, and the survey warned that export orders were "near-stagnant". It added that there was a risk of the sector slipping into recession. Overall, the IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 52.8 last month from 54.2 in December, which was the second weakest reading since July 2016.

Honda has reported a 35% drop in third quarter profit before tax to 226 billion yen. The weaker profit comes as Honda faces reduced global demand for cars, while investing heavily in self-driving and low-emission vehicle technology to keep pace with rivals.

 

 

SPORT

Cricket… It’s day two of England against the West Indies in Antigua.

Motorsports… Sauber will be rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing from the start of the 2019 season. Alfa Romeo was last on the Formula 1 grid as a constructor in 1985 but returned to the sport last season as Sauber's title sponsor. The Swiss team say the ownership and management structure remains unchanged but the Sauber name will disappear.

Rugby Union… The Allianz Riviera stadium is hosting an international rugby match this summer. France will play Scotland on the 17th of August as part of the lead up to the World Cup in Japan. Ticketing information is expected to be released shortly.

Football.. In the English Premier League this weekend, on Saturday Spurs play Newcastle in the lunchtime game and then its Brighton against Watford. Burnley against Southampton. Chelsea play Huddersfield. Crystal Palace face Fulham. Everton play Wolves and Cardiff host Bournemouth. On Sunday Leicester play Manchester United and Manchester City play Arsenal. West Ham play Liverpool on Monday.

American Football…Superbowl 53 takes place at the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta on Sunday night. The New England Patriots will play the Los Angeles Rams with the game set to start at half past midnight French time. It’s the Patriot’s third successive Superbowl after they beat the Kansas City Chiefs  while the Rams reached the Superbowl after beating the New Orleans Saints.

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