French train operator SNCF has been found guilty of offences relating to a train crash in 2013 in which seven people died and several hundred were injured. The court found SNCF guilty of manslaughter and involuntary injuries and fined it 300,000 euros. The Paris to Limoges Inter-City train derailed at Bretigny, south of Paris in July 2013. The court said that negligence in monitoring the state of the track was linked to the derailment.
President Macron is due to be interviewed on French television this evening. He'll appear on France 2 at 8.30pm and is expected to comment on the cost of living, energy prices and fuel shortages.
A new president of the Var departmental council has been elected. Jean-Louis Masson beat Francois de Canson, taking 27 votes out of 46 cast in the second round of the election.
An investigation has been opened after two people were seriously injured in a fight in Cannes last night. Local reports say that one man was stabbed on rue de Colmar and another man turned up at a local hospital with stab wounds a short time later.
A control operation for drugs has taken place on a train travelling between Toulon and St-Cyr. It was led by gendarmes with a canine team. The director of the office of the Var Prefect was also present. Four people were arrested, three of whom were sentenced to a fixed criminal fine for possession of cannabis and one person placed in police custody for possession of over 100 g of cannabis resin.
BUSINESS
The UK government has said that the medium-term economic plan due to be presented next Monday will now take place on 17 November as a full autumn statement. UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the delay would ensure it is based on the "most accurate possible" economic forecasts.
Heathrow airport has said that demand it is not fully recovered from the pandemic. The airport is forecasting that total passenger numbers for 2022 will reach between 60 and 62 million, approximately 25% fewer than 2019. It said that headwinds of the global economic crisis, war in Ukraine and the impact of COVID-19 mean that it’s unlikely to return to pre-pandemic demand for a number of years, except at peak times.
Mercedes has become the latest Western company to pull out of Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine. It stopped manufacturing in and exporting to the country in early March. It says it will withdraw from the Russian market and sell shares in its subsidiaries to a local investor.
SPORT
Cricket…England have suffered a major upset in the Men's T20 World Cup as they were beaten by Ireland. England were 105-5 in the 15th over when rain arrived. With England behind the required rate, Ireland secured a five-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method when the match was called off. Meanwhile, the New Zealand against Afghanistan match was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Rugby Union…New Zealand Rugby have said that there was "never an intent to overshadow" the Women's Rugby World Cup after an All Blacks Test match was scheduled at the same time as the women's team play their quarter-final against Wales. The All Blacks play Japan on Saturday but the organization said that it "did not take into account" the clash when Japan Rugby set the kick-off time.
The Regional Health Agency (ARS) reports 124 chikungunya cases in southern France as of Monday, with major clusters in the Var. ...
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France is set for one of its biggest strike days in years as around 800,000 people are expected to protest nationwide today, Thursday 18th September, ...
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A 19-year-old woman has been jailed for complicity in attempted murder after last week’s knife attack at a horticultural high school in Antibes, Alpes...
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A suspected arsonist has been arrested after six fires broke out within an hour in the village of Châteauneuf-Villevieille, near Nice, on Tuesday even...
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A water leak has led police to discover a squat filled with drugs, weapons, and cash in Nice.
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