The Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes has banned another pro-Palestinian demonstration in Nice. The demonstration was due to take place this coming Saturday, November 11. It follows the banning of a similar march in Nice last Saturday. The same reasons were given by the Prefect, namely the risk of disturbances to public order, clashes, the persistence of the terrorist threat and the increase in anti-Semitic acts. Organizers not respecting the ban risk a sentence of 6 months imprisonment and a fine of €7,500. Participants can be fined €750.
Nice Deputy Mayor Anthony Borre has said that he "strongly condemns" an attack on an officer of public housing body Cote d'Azur Habitat. He said that the organization intends to file a complaint regarding the attack, which he said was by drugs dealers in the Moulins district. He added that he had already informed the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes and expected "a firm reaction".
French electricity network operator RTE has said that the outlook for the security of electricity supplies during the winter is much more favourable than last year. In a report released today it said that the risk of imbalance between electricity supply and demand is low. The uncertainties mainly relate to weather conditions as well as the maintenance of low levels of consumption in France and Europe, as well as the availability of nuclear reactors.
A national day of industrial action is affecting some local train services today. The SNCF have said that some TER trains on the Nice - Tende and Nice - Ventimiglia lines are affected. You can check your train via the timetable search on https://www.ter.sncf.com/sud-provence-alpes-cote-d-azur
French Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Bechu has said that parts of the Pas de Calais may have to be returned to a top-level red alert for flooding tomorrow. The department has already suffered the worst flooding in over twenty years during the past few days. Speaking on a visit to the department today, he said that three months of rain had fallen there in the past week and the weather episode "is not yet behind us".
The application for two regions in the south-east of France to host the 2030 Winter Olympics has been officially submitted to the International Olympic Committee. The Provence-Alpes Cote d'Azur and the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes have submitted a joint bid. The application envisages the closing ceremony being held in Nice and two events being held in Isola2000.
A female recruit has joined the ranks of firefighters in Monaco for the first time in its history. She was one of ten new recruits who joined the service after five months of training. A ceremony was held in Fontvieille yesterday to welcome the new recruits.
Part of the Riviera coastline has been accepted in to a prestigious international organization. Bormes-les-Mimosas in the Var has been voted into membership of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World Association. The organization, which has been recognised by UNESCO, counts many of the most beautiful bays in its membership, including San Francisco, and another local bay, La Ciotat.
BUSINESS
Service has now been resumed to several million customers of telecoms company Optus in Australia. The country's second-largest provider said that more than 10 million people and thousands of businesses were affected. Services were restored after about 12 hours of disruption. Optus said there was no evidence of a cyber-attack and blamed a "technical network fault" which it is continuing to investigate.
Marks & Spencer has reported a large increase in profits for the first half of the year. Profit before tax rose 56% to £326m in the six months to the end of September. However, chief executive Stuart Machin said that the company was cautious about the year ahead, saying that high interest rates, slowing price rises, global conflict and erratic weather could hit trading.
UK media company Reach has announced plans to cut about ten per cent of its workforce. The company, which owns many national and regional newspapers including the Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star and Liverpool Echo, said that it plans to reduce its operating costs by 5 to 6 per cent next year to help it continue to develop its digital business.
SPORT
Cricket... England have beaten the Netherlands by 160 runs in the World Cup. England batted first and were 339 for 9. The Netherlands were all out for 179. England are already eliminated from the tournament but have boosted their Champions Trophy qualification chances with today’s win. The Netherlands needed to beat England to keep their hopes alive but are now out of the competition.
Football... Brennan Johnson has returned to the Wales squad from injury. The side face Armenia away on Saturday, 18 November, then play Turkey on 21 November in Cardiff. They need to win both games to qualify for the European Championship.
Jordan Jones and Ciaron Brown have been included in the Northern Ireland squad for their two upcoming Euro 2024 qualifying matches. They play Finland on 17 November and Denmark on 20 November.
TGV services across much of France are gradually improving after several arson attacks affected the network in the early hours of this morning....
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Paris is getting ready to shut down it’s city centre and its airspace as well as mobilise 45,000 police and several army units in what has been billed...
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Lucie Castets, the left-wing candidate for Prime Minister, reiterated her desire to lead the government during a media appearance on July 25. A poll s...
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French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to welcome world leaders to the Olympic games opening ceremony tomorrow night and has been visiting key ...
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France will host the 2030 Winter Olympics in the Alpes, conditional on state and regional financial guarantees. President Macron confirmed his full su...
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