Protesters across France are preparing for the day of action against petrol prices scheduled for Saturday 17 November. Amongst many events planned for our region, a rally will reportedly take place at the Leclerc at Saint-Isidore and at the Allianz Riviera at 1:30 pm, before moving to the A8 to block the motorway. A gathering will also be held at the Stade du Ray. In the centre of Nice, a traffic go-slow operation will take place from 10am to 8pm. Demonstrations are also expected at various petrol stations and at several other locations. About thirty road blocks in total have been planned for tomorrow in the Bouches du Rhone, Alpes Maritimes and the Var. The national police, the gendarmerie and the municipal police are all preparing for the demonstrations. The prefecture of the Alpes Maritimes is opening a departmental operations centre early tomorrow morning to co-ordinate the actions of the police with the aim of maintaining safety for motorists and protesters. Motorway operator VINCI Autoroutes is recommending that motorists postpone non-essential travel and to keep well informed before taking to the road.
In Nice a worker has died while working on a building in the old town. According to local reports, several people were carrying out works in the basement of a building on Rue Droite when a wall collapsed. One man was taken to hospital where he later died. As a precautionary measure, authorities have adopted an imminent danger order and residents are being relocated for security reasons.
In Marseille, the town hall has announced the opening of a help centre to give administrative help to those affected by the recent building collapse. The centre will be open from Monday and will bring together representatives of many local and regional government departments to offer advice to those in need. Meanwhile, buildings continue to be assessed for safety. Yesterday, a building in rue d'Italie had to be evacuated in order for the structure to be examined.
Former president Nicolas Sarkosy has been visiting our region today. He was in Nice to inaugurate two streets in memory of politicians Charles Pasqua and Philippe Seguin.
The city council in Nice has announced plans to renovate the Cours Saleya in Old Nice. The 5 million euro project will be carried out in installments from March next year until February 2021. It was under the municipality of Malausséna in 1861 that the first flower, fruit and vegetable market was created on the Cours Saleya.
BUSINESS
In the UK, Virgin Media and EE have been fined £13.3m by Ofcom for leaving customers who quit broadband and phone contracts early "out of pocket". The regulator said about 400,000 EE customers who ended their contracts early were over-billed and paid up to £4.3m too much as a result. Ofcom said about 82,000 Virgin customers were overcharged by almost £2.8m. Virgin said it would appeal.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that France wants the World Trade Organization to be reformed. Speaking at the opening ceremony of a trade conference in Paris today, he expressed his concerns that a cold war over trade is looming which he said could affect the whole world. Commenting on Brexit, the finance minister said that leaving the single market can be done but at what he called “an exorbitant economic price”.
The boss of engineering giant Rolls-Royce says politicians must get behind a "practical plan" for Brexit. Warren East said time was running out, and that any deal was better than leaving the EU without an agreement. He added that Rolls-Royce is continuing with contingency plans such as stockpiling parts.
SPORT
Tennis… Germany's Alexander Zverev is through to the ATP Finals semi-finals with a straight-set win over American John Isner. Third seed Zverev will play Roger Federer in the semi-finals tomorrow. It also means Novak Djokovic is through as group winner.
Cricket.. England captain Joe Root hit a century on day three of the second Test against Sri Lanka. England were on 324-9 and a lead of 278 runs when bad light stopped play. England lead the three-Test series 1-0.
Formula 1… Renault have appointed Thierry Koskas as the head of their Formula 1 programme. The Frenchman will replace Renault Sport president Jerome Stoll on 1 January, as the team seeks to close the gap on Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Rugby Union..Steve Brown has resigned as chief executive of the RFU, after 14 months in the role. He will leave the role at the end of the year. Director of professional rugby Nigel Melville will be interim CEO until a replacement is appointed.
The autumn internationals continue tomorrow. Italy play Australia. Wales play Tonga. England host Japan. Scotland face South Africa. Ireland play New Zealand and France play Argentina.
Football.. There’s action in the Uefa Europa League tonight.The Netherlands play France in Group A1 while Wales face Denmark in Group B4.
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