President Macron has inaugurated the first French offshore wind farm. He visited the array of eighty wind turbines located off the coast of the Loire-Atlantique. During the visit he said that the time to construct further installations must be reduced. The project took over ten years to complete and the president said that "we must be able to do it twice as fast as what has just been done".
Industrial action is set to disrupt public transport in Marseille tomorrow. Two unions have filed a notice of strike action which is expected to affect busses and trams in Marseille. The unions are complaining of deteriorating working conditions and a lack of staff.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi has thanked the police officers who arrested the driver of a speeding scooter last night in Nice. It's alleged that he was driving at excessive speed and slightly injured two pedestrians. The mayor called for a heavy punishment.
The Mayor of Gap has ended his hunger strike. Roger Didier stopped taking food on 12 September to draw attention to his opposition to two classes being closed at local schools. The mayor held what was described as a constructive meeting with head of the Academie d'Aix-Marseille yesterday regarding the situation.
Several elected officials were present at a police operation against incivility in the Notre Dame area of Nice this morning. The Brigade for the Fight against Violations of the Living Environment is made up of 18 Municipal Police agents and is in operation 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. So far this year, up to September 18, the municipal police in Nice have issued 3,555 fines to fight against incivility, including 2,277 for the illegal dumping of rubbish.
BUSINESS
The Bank of England has raised interest rates from 1.75% to 2.25% which is the highest since 2008. It also warned that the UK may already be in a recession. The central bank had previously forecast the economy would grow in the current financial quarter, but it now believes it will contract by 0.1%.
Meanwhile, the Swiss National Bank has raised rates by 0.75%, bringing the benchmark rate to 0.5% following about eight years of negative rates.
Japan has intervened to support the Yen. It follows the Japanese central bank leaving interest rates at their ultra-low levels and saying that it would hold them at that level to support growth. It's the first intervention to support the Yen since 1998.
SPORT
Tennis.... Roger Federer is to team up with his old rival Rafael Nadal for his final match. The Laver Cup doubles match will take place tomorrow.
Rugby Union.... Australia player Darcy Swain has been banned for six weeks after his charge into the knee of Quinn Tupaea during a match against the All Blacks on 15 September. The New Zealand centre was ruled out for nine months. Regulatory body Sanzaar decided the incident was "not intentional" but "highly reckless".
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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