The Monaco government has released details of its health pass, the "Monaco Safe Pass" for Monegasque nationals and residents. Employees in Monaco who were vaccinated in France or Italy will need to use their national health pass system. However, people who are employed in Monaco and who take a PCR test in Monaco will receive a Monaco health pass by SMS with the results of their test.
The health pass will be available no later than July 5 and will be usable in the Principality and in France. It will also be possible, on a voluntary basis, to convert the Monaco Safe Pass into a European Health Pass which will be recognized in the countries of the European Union and in countries having agreements with France and the EU, which are currently Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Monaco Safe Pass takes the form of a document that you can print or keep on your smartphone. Further details of how to obtain the pass can be found on the website covid19.mc
In Monaco, current health measures are being eased by ending the curfew and expanding access to restaurants and bars in a supervised manner from tomorrow, Saturday, June 26. It has been decided, following consultation with catering professionals by the Minister of State, to remove the constraints on the origin of restaurant and bar customers. From Saturday June 26, people wishing to go to a restaurant in Monaco must have a health pass or an equivalent proof allowing their vaccination status, their result of a negative test or their certificate of recovery to be verified. This measure does not apply to Monegasques and residents of Monaco, nor employees, nor residents of the Alpes-Maritimes and the province of Imperia. However, those people must have a document proving their residence.
There have been severe delays on the A8 motorway around Nice this evening. An accident involving a heavy goods vehicle and three other vehicles happened at around 3.20 p.m. between Nice Nord and the Nice St Isidore exit on the carriageway towards Aix en Provence. At one point early this evening delays of one hour were being reported. The vehicles have now been removed and the carriageway fully reopened with backed-up traffic gradually clearing.
TGV trains between Marseille and Paris are experiencing delays today, Friday, after signal cables caught fire near Valence in the early hours of this morning. TGV's are using older lines instead of the high speed lines resulting in delays. Trains are not stopping at Valence TGV station. Repair work is being undertaken but it's expected that disruption will continue until at least tomorrow.
The Palace in Monaco has said that Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco has had to undergo several complicated procedures after contracting a severe ear, nose and throat infection in May. The most recent operation took place yesterday after complications arose during her first operation in May. The Princess is curently in South Africa where she is involved in the field of wildlife conservation, wilderness and the fight against poaching in Africa. The Palace said that her medical team has asked her not to make the trip back to Monaco because the Princess still has to undergo other interventions and recover. Princess Charlene said that this year will be the first time that she will not be with her husband Prince Albert during their wedding anniversary in July, which she said is difficult and saddens her. She said that her daily conversations with Prince Albert and their children helps her enormously to keep her spirits up, but that she misses their presence very much. Prince Albert and their children will visit her in South Africa shortly.
Access to Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris has been disrupted by protests today. Protestors were demonstrating at economic measures taken by the airport operator, Groupe ADP. The demonstrations ended early this afternoon.
The Renault plant in the Seine-Maritime department in northern France has informed workers that the plant will be closing for 13 days before the end of July because of a shortage of components from Asia. The plant has already been closed for several days earlier this year because of shortages which are affecting vehicle manufacturing worldwide.
BUSINESS
The UK Competititon and Markets Authority has opened a formal probe into Amazon and Google over concerns that they have not been doing enough to combat fake reviews on their sites. The move comes after an initial CMA investigation, which opened in May 2020, and assessed several platforms’ internal systems and processes for identifying and dealing with fake reviews. If, after investigating, the CMA considers the firms have broken consumer protection law, it can take enforcement action but it said that it hasn't reached a view on whether Amazon and Google have broken the law at this stage.
UK car production rose in May, according to the latest figures released by trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders but it said the industry still faces ongoing Covid-related issues. Over 54,000 cars were produced compared to just over 5,000 a year ago, when coronavirus halted manufacturing. Performance, however, is still far below pre-pandemic levels, down 52.6% on the same month in 2019.
SPORT
Euro 2020... The first two round of 16 games are being played tomorrow. Wales play Denmark in Amsterdam at 6 pm and then it’s Italy against Austria at Wembley at 9 pm. On Sunday the Netherlands play the Czech Republic and Belgium play Portugal. On Monday it’s Croatia against Spain and France against Switzerland and on Tuesday England face Germany and Sweden play Ukraine.
Motorsports....Max Verstappen was fastest in both practice sessions today for the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria. In first prectice this morning, Pierre Gasly was second and Lewis Hamilton in third. In second practice this afternoon, Daniel Ricciardo was second, followed by Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
The Turkish Grand Prix has been reinstated on the Formula 1 calendar this year for the second time. The Grand Prix in Turkey will replace Singapore, which was called off this month as a result of immigration restrictions. The race is scheduled for 1-3 October.
Cricket...Jos Buttler will miss the remainder of England men's white-ball series against Sri Lanka because of injury. Buttler injured his calf in the Twenty20 match in Cardiff on Wednesday.
Tennis... Simona Halep has pulled out of Wimbledon because of a calf injury. The injury occured at the Italian Open in Rome last month. US Open champion Dominic Thiem pulled out of Wimbledon yesterday with a wrist injury. Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal are also missing this year. The tournament, which gets underway on Monday, will operate at 50% crowd capacity across the grounds, building to full capacity of 15,000 on Centre Court for the finals weekend.
Cycling... The 2021 Tour de France starts in Brest in Brittany tomorrow. The race takes place over three weeks ending in Paris on the 18th of July. There are two individual time trials and six mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees, with riders covering a total distance of 3,414km on this year's race.
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