French interior minister Gerald Darmanin has been in Cannes today to give his support to police officers after a knife attack early this morning. According to the Cannes Town Hall, a team of four national police officers who were starting their duties was attacked at 6.35 am this morning in front of the central police station. Two police officers, a woman and a man, were stabbed whilst wearing their bulletproof vests and have no physical injuries. Their two colleagues used their firearms to neutralize the assailant, who is currently hospitalized. Gerald Darmanin said that the attacker is an Algerian national between 35 and 40 years old who has an Italian residence permit and was not known to the police or intelligence services. He said that he had been in France about 20 days and had applied for a residence permit in France on 21 October and the application had been under consideration but no permit had as yet been granted. Reports say that the attacker's home in Cannes has been searched by police and specialist RAID personnel this afternoon. He had reportedly mentioned "the Prophet" during the attack but Gerald Darmanin said that the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office was not yet involved and remains "an observer". Cannes Mayor David Lisnard visited the police station this morning and Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi also travelled to Cannes to offer his support.
Christian Estrosi has expressed his condolances to the families and relatives of the three mountaineers who died in an avalanche in Nepal. The bodies of the three have now been found and identified by a search team. One of the victims was from Nice and the others were from Briancon and Chambery.
President Emmanuel Macron is set to address the nation in a televised speech tomorrow evening. He's expected to give an update on the health situation as well as commenting on other matters such as economic recovery in the update which is scheduled to be aired at 8pm tomorrow evening.
Four people have been rescued from a drifting yacht off Cap Bear near Perpignan over the weekend. They were airlifted to safety by a helicopter from the naval aeronautical base in Hyeres.
BUSINESS
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights to New York took off from London's Heathrow airport simultaneously on parallel runways this morning as flights to the United States were reopened for fully vaccinated visitors. The US has re-opened its borders for passengers who have been fully vaccinated with approved vaccines on flights from many nations including the UK and the 26 Schengen countries.
A widely watched survey of UK businesses has suggested that output has fallen for the sixth month in a row to its lowest level since March. The survey by accountancy and advisory firm BDO found that supply chain disruption and staff shortages continue to hit businesses. Elsewhere in the report, BDO’s Inflation Index continued to rise in October and was at its highest value since April 2017.
Meanwhile, a separate survey, by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research, has shown that consumer sentiment in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since March.
SPORT
Cricket... It's been announced that Australia will tour Pakistan in March and April next year. It will include three Test matches, three one-day internationals and one T20 international. Australia last toured Pakistan in 1998.
England opener Jason Roy will miss the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup because of a calf injury which he sustained in the match against South Africa at the weekend.
Football... Newcastle United have appointed Eddie Howe as head coach. He succeeds Steve Bruce. The former manager of south coast side Bournemouth has signed a contract until the summer of 2024.
A trial of standing instead of seating will take place at several clubs as from Jauary. UK sports minister Nigel Huddleston said that the trial of licensed safe standing areas would take place at Premier League clubs Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea and Championship side Cardiff. If the trial is successful, a widespread rollout is planned. Standing in English football's top two divisions was banned following recommendations made after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
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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