A 20-year-old motorcyclist has died in a crash in the hills above Grasse this morning. According to initial reports, the biker was knocked off his bike by a car heading in the opposite direction, which had swerved to overtake a scooter. The incident happened at about 8.30am on the road from Saint-Cezaire-sur-Siagne to Grasse, on the approach to the town of Tignet. The mayor of Saint-Cezaire-sur-Siagne himself happened to be passing at the time and stopped to give the victim first aid until paramedics arrived. The man died on the spot. The driver of the car was slightly injured and taken to hospital in Grasse. Gendarmes are taking witness statements to determine the exact circumstances of what happened.
Residents of an apartment block in central Nice fear they could be facing homelessness after they were ordered to leave their property because of a major safety risk. 26 residents at the building on Boulevard Riquier were given two days' notice by the city of nice to pack their bags and leave. It comes after walls in the building started to crack during construction work on the property next door. All eight apartments present a safety risk. The residents are being put up in a hotel for a week. The city of Nice will then have to look at other rehousing options for them.
The mayor of Mandelieu has stepped into the ongoing debate about an exclusive floating resort due to be moored off the town's coast that is due to open shortly. Campaigners say Canua Island, moored 600 metres off Mandelieu's coastline, is an ecological mistake. France's minister of ecological transition, Christophe Béchu, is against the project, as is the president of the Paca region and the mayor of Cannes. Mandelieu mayor Sébastien Leroy said the project has his full support and 120 jobs are at stake if it isn't allowed to go ahead. The floating beach club, which includes a bar-lounge and freshwater swimming pool, is currently moored in the Var awaiting the necessary paperwork to be allowed to set up in Mandelieu.
The mayor of Ajaccio has issued an order banning Marseille football supporters from the city centre . Thousands of OM fans are expected to head to Corsica this Saturday ahead of their Ligue 1 match against Ajaccio at 9pm. The decree prohibits anyone who ostensibly appears to be a Marseille supporter from any part of the city centre. Drinking alcohol in public is also banned - a measure that applies to everyone, not just Marseille fans.
As part of National Diabetes Prevention Week, the city of Nice is offering all residents the chance to get their blood sugar and blood pressure tested free of charge. The diabetes prevention tests will be available from Monday to Thursday next week, from 9am to 4.30pm, at the vaccination centre on Rue Hancy in the centre of Nice, and next Tuesday morning at the social care centre in Les Moulins.
New figures from the holiday website Booking.com confirm that the Paca region is a strongly sought-after destination this summer. While Paris comes top of Booking.com's list of the most searched-for cities in Europe, Marseille and Nice come 9th and 11th respectively. The Paca region as a whole had the highest number of searches in France, followed by the Languedoc-Roussillon. A Booking.com survey found six out of 10 users were looking for "Instagrammable" destinations with beautiful scenery that they can post on social media.
BUSINESS
The US Congress has approved a deal to lift the country's borrowing limit, days before the world's largest economy is due to default on its debt. The bipartisan measure sped through the Senate by a vote of 63-36, a day after it cleared the US House of Representatives. President Joe Biden has said he will enact the measure into law. His signature on the bill will spare the US from a catastrophic default on its $31.4tn debt. The country is forecast to overshoot its current debt ceiling on Monday 5 June.
Apple's biggest supplier Foxconn will start manufacturing iPhones in the southern Indian state of Karnataka by April next year, the state government has said. The project will create around 50,000 jobs, it said. Taiwan-based Foxconn manufactures the majority of Apple's phones. The firm has been making older versions of iPhones at a facility in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu since 2017. Last month, the company announced it had bought 1.2m sqm of land in Karnataka. Bloomberg reported Foxconn planned to invest $700m on a new factory in the state. On Thursday, the Karnataka government said the project was valued at $1.59bn.
Twitter's head of trust and safety has resigned from the social media company, according to a report. Ella Irwin told Reuters news agency she had resigned, not long after Fortune reported her internal Slack account appeared to have been deactivated. Irwin oversaw content moderation - a controversial subject for a company that has been criticised for lax protection against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk took over in October. Soon after Musk took over, he sacked half of the company's 8,000 workers, including around 15% of the trust and safety department.
SPORT
Football - Manager Sam Allardyce has left Leeds United after his four-game tenure ended in relegation from the Premier League. The 68-year-old lost three and drew one of his matches in charge, having succeeded Javi Gracia on 3 May. Leeds will return to the Championship after a three-season stay in the top flight. The club said "an announcement on a new Leeds United head coach will be made in the coming weeks".
Referees' body PGMOL says it is appalled by the "unjustified and abhorrent" abuse directed at Anthony Taylor in Budapest Airport following Wednesday's Europa League final. The Englishman had officiated the game, where Sevilla beat Roma on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Taylor and his family were then shouted at by angry fans at the airport. It came after Roma boss Jose Mourinho was seen in a car park confronting Taylor with a foul-mouthed rant. In the video, which is being shared on social media, Taylor and his family are accosted by fans as they are escorted through the airport. Scuffles then break out as they disappear through a secure door and a chair is thrown.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo says the Saudi Pro League can become a "top-five league in the world" if they can attract more big-name players. Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia and Ronaldo, 38, says they are "very welcome" to join him. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has completed his first season with Al Nassr after joining in December. He has a contract to 2025 and added he "will continue here" next season. Paris St-Germain have confirmed Messi will leave the club this summer and the Argentina forward, 35, has a role as a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo's former Real Madrid team-mates Benzema and Modric are also thought to be looking for lucrative moves at the tail end of their careers.
A man from Nice used a stolen bank card to make purchases in Monaco, spending over €1,700 in various shops, mostly on airpods that he planned to resel...
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Electric bike-sharing firm Pony says all of its vehicles will be back out on the streets of Nice no later than June, after they were withdrawn last mo...
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Gabriel Attal announced new measures In response to recent acts of violence among young people during a visit to Viry-Châtillon. Attal highlighted the...
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The owners of a vast floating artificial island that had been planned for last summer off the coast of Mandelieu have won a legal battle to be allowed...
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The Monegasque State has successfully conducted its first national voluntary surrender operation, with 123 firearms being handed over by private indiv...
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