The SOS Mediterranee rescue ship Ocean Viking will dock in Toulon tomorrow. The ship, which is carrying over two hundred migrants and is currently off Corsica, has been the subject of a stand off between the French and Italian governments. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the ship would be able to dock in Toulon on "an exceptional basis" and described Italy's decision not to welcome the ship as "incomprehensible". Four people have been evacuated from the ship to a hospital in Corsica. The European Commission described the situation on board as "critical".
The Monaco government has reported strong economic growth for 2021. Data released today by the Principality's statistics office IMSEE shows that GDP reached 7.27 billion euros in 2021, compared with 6.6 billion in 2019 and 5.9 billion in 2020. After a sharp drop in 2020, the economy grew in 2021 by 21.6%, and by 5.8% compared to to 2019. However, there are strong disparities according to the field of activity. Although the vast majority of major sectors of activity saw their GDP increase, four sectors have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic level, in particular accommodation and catering, the sector most impacted by the health crisis.
A national day of industrial action means that there are no trams running in Nice today and bus services in our region are disrupted. However, it's expected that there will be only slight disruption to train services this evening. More information about specific trains is available on www.sncf.com and the SNCF app.
Nice mayor Christian Estrosi has announced that an "action plan" for the arriere pays of Nice will be unveiled from next year. It will centre around travel, roads and neighbourhood events around village squares. The mayor made the announcement whilst inaugurating an allotment in Saint-Roman de Bellet today. He added that other allotments are planned in Nice from next year.
The SNCF has announced an agreement for the installation of solar panels on the rooves of many station car parks. 180,000 square metres of panels will be installed on 119 car parks by 2024. It's part of the organization's plan to install one million square metres of panels over a ten year period.
BUSINESS
Inflation in the United States fell to 7.7% last month. It's down from 8.2% in September. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.4% in October.
Consumer confidence in the UK has hit its lowest level since April 2020 when the UK was in Covid lockdown. The survey by YouGov also showed that confidence in short term house prices has fallen significantly. Optimism regarding household finances improved slightly since the last survey but is still in negative territory.
Civil service workers and train drivers in the UK have voted for strike action. The PCS union said that its members who work in various government departments have voted to take industrial action and further plans will be announced on 18 November, unless it receives acceptable proposals from the government. Meanwhile rail union Aslef has said that train drivers at twelve rail operators will strike on 26 November.
The head of retailer Next has urged the UK government to let more foreign workers into the UK to ease labour shortages. In an interview with the BBC, Lord Wolfson said the UK's current immigration policy was crippling economic growth. He suggested that businesses should pay a tax to employ foreign workers, to encourage them to recruit from the UK first.
SPORT
Cricket... England have beaten India in a decisive victory to reach the T20 World Cup final, winning by ten wickets. They will now meet Pakistan in the final.
Football.... England manager Gareth Southgate has announced his team for the World Cup. James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Callum Wilson, Kyle Walker and Ben White are all included. However Fikayo Tomori, Ivan Toney and Jarrod Bowen all miss out.
Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has been named in the Belgium World Cup squad, despite concerns over his fitness. Eden Hazard has also been included in the squad.
Rugby Union... Sam Simmonds and Jack van Poortvliet will start for England against Japan at Twickenham on Saturday. David Ribbans and Jonny May will also start. Manu Tuilagi drops to the bench, with Guy Porter being named at outside centre.
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