Evening Update 15 Jan

The Mayors of Villefranche and Eze have both appealed for the Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi and Eric Ciotti to finally settle their differences. They say Nice need the two working together, as does the region and France. The Mayors were speaking after President Macron officially launched the national debate, where Mayors across the country will organise public forums, to discuss issues raised by the gillets jaunes movement. The debates will last until March, after which the President has pledged to respond by Easter, in order to forge a new contract with France.

The ‘Black Widow of the Riveira’ Patricia Dagorn has had her prison sentence reduced by eight years. Dagorn was appealing her original sentence, for poisoning several elderly men, with the purpose of defrauding them. Today, the Assize Court of Bouches-du-Rhone reduced the sentence from an original 22 years, to 14.

The movie Benedetta which was filmed at Thoronet Abbey in the Var last autumn, will not be shown at the Cannes Film Festival as planned. The creators say the controversial movie, about a 15th century lesbian nun, will not be ready on time.  

Retailers in Nice are to petition the town hall to extend free parking from 30 minutes to an hour or more. They say 30 minutes does not allow enough time for a person to park, walk to the store they need, and return.

BUSINESS

Figures from 2018 show Germany's economy grew at its slowest rate since 2013. A weaker global economy and problems in the car industry, have slowed the growth rate to just 1.5%.

The Monaco Economic Board has said the principality is seeing a steady rise in the number of people arriving to live and work here. They say the Princes Governments balance of attracting new people, while  ensuring quality of life, is working.

Shares in Netflix have jumped today, after the company announced price hikes, up €1 for a basic package and an extra €2 a month or a HD package. The new rates are effective immediately for new customers, with existing customers grandfathered in over the next three months.

SPORT

Football - Arsenal keeper Petr Cech is to retire at the end of the season. He said after playing 15 years in the Premier League, he’s won every single trophy possible and feels he’s achieved everything he set out to achieve. However, the goalkeeper has promised to work hard at Arsenal for the remainder of the season, and hopefully win just one more trophy!

Tennis - France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face top seed Novak Djokovic in the next round of the Australian Open, as the Serb powered through a straight-set win over American qualifier Mitchell Krueger.

Both Williams sisters are also through to the second round. All eyes are on Serena, who’s last title win was in Melbourne when she was pregnant two years ago. She currently holds the most Open era singles titles, but this year is looking to equal or beat Margaret Court's all-time record of 24.

Formula 1 - The start times of the 21 races in this years calendar have been revealed. The schedule follows the same pattern as last year, with every race beginning at ten past the hour, in order to suit television. The only exception is the French Grand Prix which will begin this year at 3.10pm, after being pushed back an hour last year to avoid a clash with the soccer World Cup.