Evening Update Tuesday 12 September

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has been in Nice this afternoon after visiting Marseille this morning. He visited the site of the planned new police station in the Saint Roch area of Nice which is scheduled to be completed in 2025. He was accompanied by Nice mayor Christian Estrosi and Alpes-Maritimes deputy Philippe Pradal. The visit comes after recent violence in the Moulins district of Nice and the recent deployment of a CRS riot police unit to the city. Gerald Darmanin also announced two additional units to combat illegal immigration at the Italian border as well as additional resources for customs.

French economy minister Bruno Le Maire has said that income tax will be indexed to inflation in 2024. He said that this would be at the rate of 4.8% and that the move would cost the government six billion euros. He added that "no employee will pay more taxes and some will even pay less taxes". Income tax was also indexed to inflation in 2023 at the rate of 5.4%.

Mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard has emerged as the only candidate for the post of president of the Association of the Mayors of France. He has already held the role for the past three years. His candidacy for a further term at the head of the organisation is now expected to be approved at its congress in late November.

The body of a man has been discovered in undergrowth near Martigues in the Bouches-du-Rhone, to the north-west of Marseille. The discovery was made by firefighters who were putting out a blaze. The man had suffered gunshot wounds and also lacerations to the legs.

 

BUSINESS

The owner of Poundland in the UK has agreed to take on the leases of dozens of Wilko shops. Pepco Group announced that it has agreed with administrators to take control of up to 71 Wilko store leases. It said that Poundland intends to move these stores over to its brand “as soon as practical”.

Casino and hotel operator MGM Resorts has said that some of its systems were shut down due to a "cyber-security issue". However, it added that its facilities remained "operational". In a statement posted on social media, MGM Resorts said it had begun an investigation "with assistance from leading external cybersecurity experts".

Wage growth in the UK has caught up with rising prices for the first time in nearly two years. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose by 7.8% in May to July on average compared with a year earlier.  However, there are also signs the jobs market is beginning to weaken, with fewer job vacancies and rising unemployment.

 

SPORT

Tennis...  Simona Halep has been banned for four years following alleged breaches of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme. An independent tribunal determined that she had committed "intentional" anti-doping violations. Halep said in a statement she intends to appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and is doing "everything in my power to clear my name of these false allegations" .

Rugby World Cup… France have made 12 changes for their Pool A match against Uruguay in Lille on Thursday. Uruguay, who are ranked 17th in the world will be playing their first match at the 2023 tournament.

Women’s Cricket.. Scotland bowled out France for just 49 runs in their T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier, winning by 155 runs.

Meanwhile, England are playing Sri Lanka today in the one day international. England currently lead the three-match series 1-0.

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