Evening Update Thursday 9 January 2025

A man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his brother in Grasse. The man in his fifties was convicted of fatally shooting his brother in 2020. The sentence handed down by the court in Grasse also included a 15 year ban on the possession of a weapon and ten years of monitoring.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi has said that his thoughts are with the victims of the wildfires in California and their families. In a social media post in French and English the mayor said that "the images of the fires in Los Angeles are devastating, and the toll is tragic". He said that he wanted to express his support for the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, as well as firefighters and law enforcement officers. He added "this disaster vividly illustrates the dangers of climate change that affect us all".

One person has been detained by police and placed under judicial supervision for anti-semitic graffiti. The national police said that last Saturday, after a motorway bridge in Cagnes-sur-Mer was daubed with anti-Semitic slogans for two consecutive nights, BAC police officers caught the person who wrote the slogans red-handed. The trial is scheduled for February 28.

A man has been arrested in Hyeres on suspicion of having been responsible for several knife attacks in the town recently. He is expected to appear in court tomorrow.

Two people have died as a result of bad weather in the north of France. The prefect of the Hauts-de-France, Bertrand Gaume, said that both deaths occurred during snowy and icy conditions in the Nord department. One person was a homeless individual who had died from hypothermia and the other had slipped on ice. Several departments in northern France are now on alert for floods.

A tribute ceremony has been held in Paris to honor those who lost their lives during the Hypercacher store attack in January 2015. The ceremony follows other commemoration events held earlier this week. Today's event was organized by the CRIF, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France and was attended by many leading political figures including Gerald Darmanin, Manuel Valls, mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and Valerie Pecresse, the President of the Ile-de-France region .

Two police officers from the BAC anti-crime brigade have been injured at a traffic checkpoint near Marseille. The two officers were involved in a car chase on the A55 motorway in the early hours of this morning when their police car was hit by a vehicle.

 

BUSINESS

The Chinese government has expanded a list of household and electronic goods products residents can trade in to get a discount on new goods as the country tries to boost its flagging economy. State backed trade-in schemes have already covered televisions, phones, tablets and smart watches as well as electric and hybrid vehicles. The Chinese economy has been facing several challenges, including weak consumer demand and a property crisis.

Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has sent a legal "cease and desist" letter to current Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer demanding he stop saying she "crashed the economy". Her lawyers argue the claim made repeatedly by Sir Keir is "false and defamatory". Truss was the UK's shortest-serving Prime Minister, forced to resign after just 49 days in office when borrowing costs soared in the aftermath of her government's mini-budget. A spokesperson said that Sir Keir "absolutely stands by government" his language about the previous's record.

The UK government has said that it will introduce new sanctions targeting the finances of people smuggling networks. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC that would involve freezing the bank accounts and assets of people smugglers. He said that sanctions could be imposed on companies and individuals aiding illegal migration, including those which manufacture materials for small boat crossings.

 

SPORT

Football.. Graham Potter has been confirmed as the new manager of West Ham. He's signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club, which is 14th in the Premier League. He was formerly with Chelsea, which he left in April 2023.

In the FA Cup third Round this evening, Sheffield United play Cardiff City, Everton play Peterborough and Fulham take on Watford.

Cricket…Former captain Steve Smith will lead Australia in the upcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. He replaces Pat Cummins for the series, who is on paternity leave. Smith was previously banned from captaincy for a two-year period after being involved in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

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