French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said that he is willing to meet representatives of the yellow vest movement who have been protesting about fuel prices. He said in a television interview today that “there are many very legitimate things that need to be heard”. However, he also reiterated the government’s intention to increase the fuel tax on January 1st together with a system to limit the impact if the price of the raw materials increases. Two representatives of the movement were received yesterday by the government’s Minister of Ecological Transition, François de Rugy. After the meeting, a spokesperson for the yellow vests called for demonstrations every Saturday. Locally, reports say that a request for a demonstration in Nice this Saturday has been filed at the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes. The request details a route starting at the Theatre de Verdure and heading towards Cagnes-sur-Mer. A number of semi-permanent protest encampments are still in place across our region. About a dozen protestors are still present in the Saint-Jacques district in Grasse today, as they have been from the start of the protests and protestors are also at the Provence roundabout in Antibes, where they are aiming to have a 24 hour presence.
The General Inspectorate of the National Police visited the police headquarters in Nice yesterday in connection with the continuing investigation into the Nice Attack of July 14th 2016. Speaking to local media they confirmed that the next stage of the investigation was to see if there had been any discrepancies in the surveillance system ahead of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais.
A 25 year old homeless woman has been convicted of cruelty to animals by the criminal court in Grasse. A witness alerted police after the woman was seen behaving violently towards four dogs in her possession at Cannes railway station. One of the dogs did not survive the attack. The three others were taken into care by the ASA06 animal welfare association.
The criminal court in Marseille has sentenced fourteen people for their involvement in prostitution networks. Romanian, Bulgarian and French nationals were given prison sentences of up to seven years for the exploitation of prostitutes in Nimes and Avignon from 2013 to 2016.
BUSINESS
New Zealand has become the latest country to block a proposal to use telecoms equipment made by Chinese company Huawei because of national security concerns. Spark New Zealand wanted to use the company’s equipment in its 5G mobile network. However, a NZ government security agency said the deal would bring significant risks to national security. The move follows a decision by Australia to also block Huawei and Chinese firm ZTE from providing 5G technology for the country's wireless networks on national security grounds.
In the UK, shareholders in The Restaurant Group have voted in favour of a plan to buy the Wagamama chain for £559m. The deal will be funded by a £315m rights issue.
The UK competition regulator has said that it has serious concerns about a merger of the country’s two largest credit score firms, Experian and Clearscore. In provisional findings, the Competition and Markets Authority says it could harm the development of the sector. The regulator has given all parties until 19 December to provide a response.
SPORT
Football…Former Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane has announced his retirement from professional football and a playing career that spanned 23 years. Keane was recently named as part of new Republic manager Mick McCarthy's backroom team.
Cricket…Earl Eddings has been named permanent chairman of Cricket Australia following the resignation of David Peever. Eddings took temporary charge four weeks ago. Peever stepped down after a review into Australian cricket in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal earlier this year.
Speed restrictions are in place on all major roads in the Alpes-Maritimes today because of a smog alert....
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A Marseille magistrate has been sentenced on the 17th of June in Nîmes for repeatedly avoiding motorway tolls using fake license plates. ...
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A major police stop-and-search operation along France's borders is being carried out today, involving 4,000 police officers, gendarmes and customs off...
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SFR has announced automatic compensation of 100GB of free mobile data for affected customers following a major network outage on the 16th of June....
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French President Emmanuel Macron will chair a high-level Security and Defence Council meeting at the Élysée Palace today Wednesday, June 18th at 4pm, ...
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