Evening Update Tuesday 4 January 2022

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi has confirmed that the Nice Carnival, scheduled for 11-27 February, will go ahead. He said that details on its layout in relation to sanitary conditions will be presented in the next few days in conjunction with the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Regional Health Agency. He said that "no risk will be taken for the health of the people of Nice". The Carnival didn't take place last year because of the pandemic.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran has said that almost 300,000 Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours. The daily number is expected to be officially announced by Sante Publique France this evening.

Debates regarding the proposed vaccine pass legislation are resuming in the French National Assembly early this evening. Proceedings were suspended at midnight last night on a show of hands with the opposition voting to suspend the sitting as it ran late into the night.

The Monaco government has released the latest data for Covid-19 testing in the Principality. 7,142 PCR and antigen tests were carried out on resident and non-resident individuals between 27 December and 2 January inclusive, with a positivity rate of 9.4%. As at Sunday 2 January, the incidence rate over the past 7 days was 1,270 per 100,000 people, up from 938 in the previous week. Yesterday evening 38 people were being taken care of at the Princess Grace Hospital because of the virus, comprising 32 people hospitalized and six other patients being treated in intensive care.

A man has been shot dead in Marseille this lunchtime. The man in his twenties suffered several gunshot wounds and died at the scene of the incident in the 15th arrondissement. The attackers are still being sought by police. It's believed that the shooting may be a settling of accounts in the criminal community.

Alpes-Maritimes firefighter Loic Millo has been cited for the French Order of the Nation for courage and exemplary dedication. The award was proposed by Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin. The firefighter lost his life alongside Commander Bruno Kohlhuber during Storm Alex when the vehicle in which they were travelling fell into a river.

Controlled burning of undergrowth has been taking place near Tourettes-sur-Loup today. Firefighters have said that local residents shouldn't be concerned if they see smoke in the area.


BUSINESS

Mobile operator Free has been fined 300,000 euros by the French data protection watchdog. The CNIL said that the company had committed several data protection breaches including transmitting users' passwords by unencrypted e-mail when they subscribed to an offer.

Data from the Bank of England shows that UK consumers borrowed an additional net £1.2 billion in consumer credit in November, which was more than expected and was the largest increase since July last year. Most of the debt was borrowed on credit cards.

Unemployment in Germany fell by a larger amount than expected in December. The number of unemployed fell by 23,000 in the month, but just over 2.4 million people are still unemployed in Germany.


SPORT

Tennis... It's been confirmed that Novak Djokovic will take part in the Australian Open after receiving a medical exemption from having a Covid-19 vaccination. There had been speculation as to whether the world number one would take part in the tournament as he hasn't spoken publicly about his vaccination status. All players and staff at the tournament must be vaccinated or have an exemption granted by an expert independent panel.

Cricket... Ireland have appointed a new head coach for their men's team. Heinrich Malan has signed an initial three-year deal. He succeeds Graham Ford in the role who left last month after being coach for the past four years. Malan is currently head coach of the Auckland Aces and has previously been New Zealand assistant coach.

 

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