French Health Minister Olivier Veran has said this morning that half a million appointments were available throughout France to get vaccinated. He added that "hundreds of thousands" of additional appointments will be open every day throughout the week and people should not hesitate to get vaccinated. The health minister's statement comes as several communities in the Var are currently experiencing delays to the availability of vaccination appointments, with the next appointments on the doctolib.fr website being in mid-to late August or even September in some localities.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced that 70% of adults in the EU have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. She said that 57% already have full vaccination. She added that the Delta variant is "very dangerous" and called on "everyone who can to get vaccinated" for their own health and to protect others.
The Monaco government has released Covid-19 testing and incidence rates as of Sunday July 25. 5,679 PCR and antigen tests were carried out in the period from 19 to 25 July inclusive. The positivity rate was 4%. The incidence rate over the past 7 days was 268.58 per 100,000 people compared with 156.45 in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the town hall in Antibes-Juan-les-Pins has also released data for the week from 19 to 25 July. 444 PCR tests were performed of which 25 were positive. There were 4 hospitalized patients with 2 in intensive care. There were no deaths from Covid-19 in the period. The town hall also released details of tests carried out at Fort Carré. Out of 2,052 tests performed 10.53% were positive.
Sanitary measures on the Île du Levant in the Var have been extended until August 9 by the Prefect. Measures were put in place recently following the detection of a high number of cases of the Delta variant on the island.
Nice has been listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO. The highly anticpiated decision was announced this afternoon. Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi expressed his gratitude to the World Heritage Committee, to its President and the representatives of the 21 member states of the body. He also thanked a wide range of individuals involved in the application including President Macron who in January 2020 chose the candidacy of Nice to represent France.
Demonstrators have been gathering in Gap in the Hautes-Alpes today to protest at government migration policies. The gathering has been banned by the Prefect because of disturbances to public order during a "No Border" demonstration in Briançon last Sunday and because no declaration of demonstration had been filed. People are being advised to avoid the town centre and the shopping areas of Gap and motorists are advised to avoid going through the town until 8 p.m. this evening.
The number of people unemployed in France has fallen during the second quarter of this year with Category A jobseekers falling by 1.3%. The number of jobseekers in Categories B and C, who exercise a partial activity, increased by 1%.
BUSINESS
Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser has reported a fall in operating profit of 16% for the first six months of the year. Like for like revenue fell by 4.5%. The company warned of the impact of rising raw material prices.
UK retail sales continued to grow at a rate well above the long-run average in the year to July, while orders grew at the fastest pace since December 2010, according to the CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey. However, the survey found that stock levels are at a record low and are expected to fall further still, while the main concern for many firms is labour shortages throughout the supply chain as staff self-isolate.
SPORT
Olympics.... Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka is out of the Olympics after suffering a shock defeat to world number 42 Marketa Vondrousova. Osaka lost in straight sets 6-1 6-4. Meanwhile, Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury are through to the men's doubles quarter-finals.
Team GB's Tom Dean and Duncan Scott have taken gold and silver in the 200m freestyle swimming.
Bermuda's Flora Duffy has won gold in the triathlon. The win means that Bermuda has become the smallest nation or territory to win an Olympic gold medal at a summer Games. Great Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown won silver.
Australian surfer Owen Wright has won bronze in the surfing event. The medal marks a remarkable comeback for the 31 year old who suffered a serious brain injury in 2015.
Rugby Union... Warren Gatland has made three changes to the British and Irish Lions starting XV for the second Test in Cape Town on Saturday. Mako Vunipola replaces Rory Sutherland, Conor Murray is in for Ali Price and Chris Harris replaces Elliot Daly.
Motorsports... Red Bull have asked for a review of the penalty awarded to Lewis Hamilton after his collision with Max Verstappen at the British Grand Prix. Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty but Red Bull want the penalty increased.
Monaco will mark its National Day today, Wednesday 19th November, with a full programme of traditional and ceremonial events, following last night’s f...
Read More
A man has been arrested after making threats to attack a synagogue in our region. In a post on social media, the man threatened to “blow up” the synag...
Read More
A sharp drop in temperatures is expected across Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes as a cold spell moves in during the third week of November. After a rainy...
Read More
France and Ukraine have signed a major new arms deal. President Zelinsky and President Macron signed the agreement...
Read More
All football fixtures scheduled for Sunday in the Alpes-Maritimes were postponed after the department was placed on an orange alert for heavy rain and...
Read More
