Evening Update Friday 29 March

The Prefecture of the Alpes Maritimes is reportedly preparing a ban on demonstrations in parts of Nice in anticipation of the Act 20 of the yellow vest protests.  However, the scope of the restriction is expected to be less wide than the restrictions last Saturday.  Meanwhile, the public prosecutor has said that a police officer caused the fall of Geneviève Legay, the protestor who was injured in a demonstration in Nice last Saturday. He said he had opened a judicial inquiry for voluntary violence by a person in charge of public authority. The Attac anti-globalization organization has called on yellow vests to mobilize this Saturday in support of Madame Legay.

A vegetation fire at the side of the A8 motorway was quickly brought under control by pompiers this lunchtime. Almost one hectare of undergrowth was consumed by the fire near Roquebrune-sur-Argens before being extinguished by authorities using five appliances. 

Police in the Alpes Maritimes who have been the subject of insults on social media have filed a complaint. The Police Alliance is asking the authorities to prevent publication of such material and for the protection of the families of officers.

The French postal system “La Poste” in Hyeres in the Var has suspended deliveries to a neighbourhood in the town, following the murder of a young person on March 14th. Management said on Thursday, that the decision to suspend the service had been in the interest of the safety of their employees. The Val des Rougières district has seen several outbursts of violence recently leading to the Prefect deploying the CRS in the area in an attempt to stamp out the delinquent behaviour.

The Opera de Nice is putting 500 of its costumes up for sale.  The costumes were made for various productions between 2006 and 2009.  They are being sold via the www.agorastore.fr auction website from the 2nd to the 21st of April.

BUSINESS

Chinese telecoms company Huawei said revenues topped $100bn in 2018 despite a US-led campaign against the business on fears it poses a security threat. The firm said revenue for 2018 hit 721.2bn yuan (that’s about $107bn), while net profit jumped 25% to 59.3bn yuan.

In the UK, the Office for National Statistics has revised its figure for annual growth to 1.4% between October and December from 1.3% in its previous estimate. The annual growth for 2018 was 1.4%, the lowest growth since 2012.

Travel operator Tui has warned of a €200m hit from the grounding of 737 Max aeroplanes. As a result, it expects its underlying profits for the year, which the company had previously said would be "broadly flat", will now be down 17%.

US consumer spending rose 0.1% in January, the Commerce Department said. That was less than the 0.3% rise which had been expected by analysts.

SPORT

Football…The English Premier League is back in action this weekend after the international break. On Saturday Fulham play Manchester City. Brighton host Southampton. Burnley play Wolves. Crystal Palace host Huddersfield. Leicester play Bournemouth. Manchester United play Watford and West Ham face Everton. On Sunday Cardiff play Chelsea and Liverpool play Spurs. Arsenal play Newcastle on Monday.

Rugby Union…-It’s quarter finals weekend in the European Champions Cup. On Saturday Edinburgh play Munster. Saracens face Glasgow and Leinster play Ulster. Racing 92 play Toulouse in the last tie on Sunday.

Motorsports…Practice sessions for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix got underway at noon French time today and five fastest in first practice were Leclerc, Vettel, Bottas, Hamilton and Verstappen. In Second Practice, Sebastian Vettel was just ahead of Charles Leclerc with Lewis Hamilton in third place.