Evening News Update Friday 14 December

The Paris prosecutor's office has said that a fourth victim has died following the gun attack on the Christmas market in Strasbourg. A fifth victim is described as being brain dead following the attack and 11 others are injured, four of whom are in hospital. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner visited the market, which has reopened to the public today. President Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive in Strasbourg shortly.

Protesters gathered in Nice today in response to calls for a day of action by the CGT trade union. The demonstrators, who gathered in front of the administrative centre of the Alpes-Maritimes, were protesting at austerity measures and their loss of purchasing power. Local reports say that about 200 people were involved in the demonstration. 

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has inaugurated the section of the Nice tramway connecting Nice Cote d’Azur airport. The ceremony took place at Terminal 1 of the airport instead of Magnan, reportedly because of the presence of yellow vest protestors.  The public will be able to use the newly opened section of Line 2 from tomorrow.

A 20 year old man has died after being stabbed multiple times in Marseille last night. The attack took place in rue du Terras , in the 2nd arrondissement, near the Boulevard des Dames. Six emergency personnel were in attendance, but the man died of his injuries at the scene of the attack.

A new pedestrian access tunnel has been inaugurated at Monaco railway station by Prince Albert II. The tunnel, which is 80 metres long and has reportedly cost about 10 million euros, links the boulevard de Suisse with the station. It’s expected that the tunnel will help improve traffic flow on the Boulevard Princesse-Charlotte, which is congested at rush hour because of pedestrians.

Most of the local ski stations will open for the winter season tomorrow with Isola and Auron already open. Valberg,Le Colmiane and The Val d’Allos will all open tomorrow in time for the Christmas holidays. There is adequate snow at the moment but a top up would be welcome.

BUSINESS

French luxury business LVMH is to buy upscale hotel group Belmond, whose properties include the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro and Cipriani in Venice. The deal is worth $3.2bn. The firms said they expect the transaction to be completed in the first half of next year, subject to approval by Belmond's shareholders and approval by the relevant competition authorities.

French business activity has sunk into contraction this month, retreating at the fastest pace in over four years, according to a closely-watched survey. IHS Markit said that its composite purchasing mangers index dropped to 49.3 from 54.2 in November.  A figure below 50 indictaes contraction.The reading is the lowest since November 2014.

Facebook has revealed that a software bug has exposed the photos of up to 6.8 million users. It said several third-party apps had access to "a broader set of photos than usual" for 12 days in September. The company said it would notify affected users.

SPORT

Cricket…It’s been Day One of the India against Australia Second Test in Perth.  At the close of play, Australia were on 277-6.  There were half-centuries from Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch and Travis Head.

Tennis…A five-city shortlist has been announced for staging the ATP Finals from 2021. Singapore, Tokyo and Turin, London and Manchester are on the shortlist. More than 40 cities expressed an initial interest in hosting the season finale. London has hosted the event since 2009 and has drawn a total of more than 2.5 million spectators to the O2 Arena.

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