News
French President says that a lockdown for the unvaccinated will not be necessary in France - French President Emmanuel Macron has assured that " a lockdown of theunvaccinated in France is not necessary". In an interview with "La Voix du Nord" on Thursday November 18th Macron explains that the "countries which confine the unvaccinated are those that have not implemented the health pass and that this measure is therefore not necessary in France."
Austria on Monday became the first EU country to confine people who have not been vaccinated or have not recently contracted covid, to stem the record number of new cases. Without going that far, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced severe restrictions on the unvaccinated in Germany where the number of new infections jumped by 65,371 in 24 hours, the most since the beginning of the pandemic.
Asked about a possible generalization of the booster dose, Emmanuel Macron told La Voix du Nord to wait for "the opinion of the health authorities" adding that "for those at risk and the elderly, we know that the benefit-risk is positive. If it turns out that a third dose is effective and necessary for other age groups, obviously, we will integrate it into the logic of the health pass."
The Head of State had announced on 9th November that the maintenance of the health pass for anyone over 65 would be conditioned, from 15th December, by the injection of a booster dose, which will benefit anyone over 50 from the beginning of December. This speech gave a new boost to the vaccination campaign and France has just surpassed the five million booster doses injected mark.
French professor claims "it's suicidal not to get vaccinated" - Meanwhile speaking to French media on Thursday evening the head of the resuscitation and infectious diseases department at the Bichat Hospital Jean-Francois Timsit , has said that "it's suicidal not to get vaccinated". Timsit went on to explain that he clearly sees the effects of vaccination within his department. Of the seven patients who were admitted to his ward on Thursday, five patients were unvaccinated, one patient had received only one dose, and the last patient was of high risk. Asked why his patients did not receive the injection, Jean-François Timsit believes that the vast majority of the people he sees in the hospital who are still unvaccinated would comply with a total vaccination obligation. A decision that would nevertheless push "people into the street" and which is "political" according to him. But which would be according to the professor, "be the most logical speaking from a health point of view ".
Republican MP presents his programme for the presidential elections - Republican MP for the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti has presented his programme. A few weeks ahead of the Republican party choosing their candidate for the presidential election Ciotti, who is candidate, presented his programme on Wednesday November 17th, focusing on preserving what he considers to be the values of France.
In his programme he presents himself as fundamentally against immigration and for strengthening the authority of the State.The candidate is also positioning himself against the current government and assures that he will not make "any alliance with Macronism". Ciotti would also like to eliminate 250,000 civil service positions, while specifying that the hospital and sovereign civil service would be spared by this measure. On the other hand, he would like to abolish the 35-hour week. The candidate also plans to increase the legal retirement age to 65. However, he assures that no pension will be "below the SMIC". From 1st to 4th December, the right-wing party Les Républicains (LR) are organising a congress to designate the party candidate who will represent them in the 2022 presidential election.
Traffic wardens continue strike action in Nice - Employees of Moovia the company which manages the parking metres in Nice have demonstrated in front of its agency to denounce the lack of action from management and the city hall. Private agents in charge of controlling the payment of parking metres in Nice are on their fifteenth day of strike action demanding better wages and working conditions.
Pub in Old town of Nice, acts after being mentioned on "Balance ton bar Nice" - A bar in old Nice has announced new measures after being mentioned on the "balance ton bar" Instagram account. On Wednesday November 17th, it was reported that the international movement, set up to denounce bars where alleged assaults had been carried out on women, had launched an account for both Nice and Cannes. Since, the bar Bulldog Pub Pompeï, in Old Nice, has announced to take immediate measures in its establishment, after being implicated in several testimonials on the Instagram profile "Balance ton bar Nice".
Monaco National Day - As part of the National Day festivities in Monaco, 196 drones have flown over Port Hercule and the Rock of the Principality on Thursday evening. Flying above the Princely Palace lit in red and white: the planet Earth, a sea turtle, a tree, the Prince's Palace, the Monegasque flag, a ten to evoke the tenth wedding anniversary of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene along with the monogram of Albert of Monaco turning into "A" and "C" for Albert and Charlene. To close the drone show, a "Viva Munegu" appeared above the Princely Palace of Monaco.
New law ends practice of wild animals being used in live circus shows - French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot welcomed a vote by lawmakers on Thursday to end the practice of wild animals such as tigers, lions or bears being used in live circus shows. Lawmakers in the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour. This means performances of wild animals in circuses will be prohibited in two years and owning them outlawed in seven years, an issue that has been under debate since 2020. The law, once signed by President Emmanuel Macron, will also ban live dolphin shows in the next five years and immediately end mink farming, meaning the country's last operator will close. Macron's centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party called the legislation "a historic step in the animal rights combat".
New measures to stop bullying - French president Emmanuel Macron has announced new measures to tackle bullying in schools, which affects one child in ten. Among these, the introduction of a new mobile application to enable victims and witnesses report problems. To mark a National Day of Awareness on the dangers of school bullying on Thursday it was announced that as well as the existing 3020 hotline for harassment and 3018 for cyberbullying, a new mobile application would be launched in February to allow victims or witnesses to send screen shots to show harassment taking place, to better support victims.
Carrefour will take back old mobile phones in return for vouchers - Carrefour has announced a partnership with Back Market which will see terminals set up allowing customers to return an old smartphone, in exchange for vouchers. More than 100 million smartphones are discarded in a drawer and the French have trouble parting with their old phones with only 15% of the devices being put on the market to be reconditioned or recycled. In order to encourage the French to give them away, Carrefour will install smartphone take-back terminals in its stores. There are about 50 terminals already operational in some Carrefour hypermarkets and supermarkets, 135 are expected by the end of the year and 250 by the end of January.
Business
Alibaba shares have slumped by more than 10% in Hong Kong trade after the Chinese online retail giant warned of a slowdown in consumer spending. The company forecast that its annual revenue would grow at the slowest pace since its stock market debut in 2014. On Thursday, Alibaba's US-listed shares ended the New York trading session more than 11% lower.
U.S. banking regulators have finalized a rule on Thursday 18th November, that directs banks to report any major cybersecurity incidents to the government within 36 hours of discovery.
Consumer goods giant Unilever has agreed to sell its tea business - which includes PG Tips, Brooke Bond and Lipton - in a €4.5bn (£3.8bn) deal. The business, which with 34 brands and annual revenues of €2bn (£1.7bn) is the world's biggest tea maker, is being acquired by private equity firm CVC Partners.
The UK government has scrapped the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line as part of a package that ministers promise will transform services. The prime minister said the overhaul would mean faster travel up to 10 years earlier than planned and said claims of broken promises are "total rubbish". The package won support from some business leaders, and anti-HS2 groups. But Boris Johnson faced criticism that he had reneged on investment promises to the Midlands and north of England.
In three years, the minutes of delay generated by forgotten luggage have been multiplied by two according to the SNCF. The phenomenon of forgotten luggage is gaining momentum at the SNCF despite posters warning of fines of up to 150 to 200 euros. The consequences of forgetting your luggage can lead to up to 3 hours of immobilization for the train concerned.
Sport
Tennis - Serena Williams says the case of Chinese player Peng Shuai "must be investigated" and urged people "not to stay silent" about her welfare. Peng, 35, has not been heard from since she made sexual assault allegations against a leading Chinese government official two weeks ago. Chinese state media has released an email attributed to Peng, but doubt has been cast about its authenticity.
Rugby Union - England captain Owen Farrell could miss the start of the Six Nations as he faces up to three months out following ankle surgery. Farrell's club and country team-mate Jamie George will also be out until the end of January with a knee injury. Both players were injured during England's win against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday. England's Six Nations campaign begins against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, 5 February.
Cricket - Azeem Rafiq has apologised and said he is "deeply ashamed" for using anti-Semitic language in Facebook messages from 2011. Rafiq has spoken of his experiences of racism at Yorkshire and appeared at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee this week. The 30-year-old said he had "absolutely no excuses" for the messages.
Formula One - Lewis Hamilton says Formula 1 is "duty bound" to raise awareness of human rights issues in Qatar at the country's maiden grand prix. Hamilton said: "As sports go to these places, they are duty bound to raise awareness for these issues. Qatar is holding its maiden F1 race this weekend and, from 2023, has a 10-year contract that is said to be the most lucrative in F1.
Football - In this weekend's Premier League; on Saturday Leicester are at home to Chelsea. Aston Villa play Brighton, Burnley play Crystal Palace, Newcastle play Brentford, Norwich play Southampton, Watford are at home to Manchester United, Wolverhampton against West Ham and Liverpool play Arsenal. On Sunday Manchester City play Everton and Tottenham play Leeds.
Weather
Plenty of sunshine. Highs of 17 degrees in Monaco, Nice and Cannes and Saint Tropez. This evening going down to 11 degrees with clear skies in the Alpes Maritimes and 8 degrees in the Var.
Outlook for Saturday and Sunday. Remaining fine on Saturday highs of 16 degrees. Sunday feeling cooler with highs of 15 degrees and showery weather is forecast for late on Sunday night until Tuesday afternoon.
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