Local
Bad weather causes chaos in Nice - Nice has experienced chaos on the roads following heavy rain which fell in both the Var the and Alpes Maritimes on Thursday late afternoon. The worst affected areas were the West of Nice and Saint Laurent du Var where firefighters carried out 30 interventions. Motorists became stranded in their vehicles and 30 people were evacuated from premises in Saint Laurent and shoppers at Cap 3000 shopping centre had trouble getting out of the car parks as two exits were closed. Tramline 2 came to a complete standstill for almost an hour due to flooding and several departures were delayed at Nice International Airport.
Meanwhile in the Var the A57 motorway was closed to all traffic from Nice to Toulon on Thursday evening due to an accident shortly after 7pm. Three people were injured and taken to hospital the road was finally reopened at 9pm.
Customers evacuated from a Chinese restaurant in Nice - Customers at a Chinese restaurant have been evacuated after a fire broke out on Thursday evening. The restaurant located on 14 Alsace Lorraine in Nice alerted firefighters after smoke was seen coming from the back of the restaurant. An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the blaze.
Car smashes through shop window in Cannes - Three people have been taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries after a car drove through a shop window in Cannes. The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon at 4pm at a store in the industrial area of Tourrades. The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and ended up several meters into a large fabric store.
Changes as of November 1st – A reminder that changes are being introduced in France, as with the 1st of every month several reforms have been announced from November 1st including modifications to unemployment benefits, the price of a packet of cigarettes is to increase by 50 centimes, gas prices are on the increase by 3% and French schools are to offer at least one vegetarian menu per week. For more details on these changes go to rivieraradio.mc.
Nice Cannes Marathon - The Nice Cannes marathon takes place on Sunday 3rd November. Participants will depart at 8am from the Promenade des Anglais with restrictions for motorists in the area and some parking areas closed from Saturday. More than 11,000 runners will be at the starting line and nearly 30,000 spectators are expected. Motorists are advised to use the A8 motorway and the voie rapid will be exceptionally open to traffic on the Saturday and Sunday night.
National
New measures to held one of the poorest areas in France - The French government has announced 23 measures as part of an aid package to help the Seine-Saint-Denis department, just outside Paris, considered the poorest in France. They include hiring more police officers and bonuses for public servants. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe made the announcement during a visit to the area, accompanied by ministers and mayors.
Unlicensed cancer drugs - A man found guilty in the UK of selling an unlicensed cancer drug could be extradited to France under a European Arrest Warrant. 66 year ol David Noakes, , from Plymouth, is wanted by French authorities for nine alleged offences, including marketing unauthorised medicines. Noakes's former business partner Lynda Thyer has already been extradited to France on charges relating to the sale of cancer drug GcMAF.
Foie Gras - As the New York city council moved to to ban the sale of foie gras, members of the hospitality industry and diners expressed surprise and concern over the legislation – including the possibility of significant fines. The measure, passed on Wednesday, will prohibit sales of the fattened liver of a duck or goose at restaurants, groceries, delicatessens and other venues citywide. Critics of the delicacy contend its production is cruel, as most foie gras involves force-feeding by putting a tube down animals’ throats. The measure will take effect in 2022.
Business
The owner of Peugeot PSA and Fiat Chrysler have announced that they’re to merge, creating the world’s 4th largest car company.
Details are yet to be finalised but the 50-50 merger will create a firm worth around 50 billion dollars and is expected to provide significant cost savings.
Trade unions have called for talks with PSA which owns both Peugeot and Citroen as well as Opel and Vauxhall.
Both firms have said that there will be no plant closures but unions representing 3,000 Vauxhall staff in the UK say that their members feel “particularly vulnerable” to any restructuring.
The French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has welcomed the merger but said that the government would work to protect national interests and strive to preserve PSA’s industrial footprint in France.
The combined group will have its headquarters in the Netherlands and have an 11 member board which will include Peugeot chief executive Carlos Tavares and John Elkann from FCA who’s a member of Italy’s Agnelli family.
US non-farm payroll numbers look likely to have slowed in October with the unemployment rate rising slightly from a near 50 year low of 3.5 percent.
The US Labor Department’s closely watched monthly report follows data released earlier this week which showed a slowdown in third quarter economic growth as trade tensions resulted in a slump in business investment.
A 40 day strike by members of the United Auto Workers Union could muddy the waters for the employment report as well as distort the health of consumer spending.
A Reuters survey of economists suggests that non-farm payrolls probably only increased by around 89,000 in October with 50,000 jobs lost in manufacturing-the most since 2009.
The economy added 139,000 jobs in September.
And-The Australian airline Qantas has grounded one of its Boeing 737 NG planes after discovering cracking in one section.
The news is a further blow to Boeing with several airlines also checking their 737 NG fleets after the manufacturer said that an area near to the wing may be prone to cracking.
The news agency AFP has reported that as many as 50 of the planes have been grounded globally due to the issue.
US regulators have ordered that checks be carried out on all 737 NG planes that had undertaken more than 30,000 flights.
Qantas said on Thursday that none of its NG fleet has flown more than 30,000 times and that the affected plane had made fewer than 27,000 journeys.
Sport
MA NOLANS RUGBY WORLD CUP REPORT.
The Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones says that he’s preparing to say goodbye to the World Cup as he leads his side into the Bronze medal game against New Zealand this morning.
Jones ,who’s 34 has played at 4 World Cups and says that at his age he’s very unlikely to feature again as a player.
He’s winning his 143rd cap for Wales today with 134 appearances for the national side supplemented by 9 Tests for the British and Irish Lions.
It’s a day of farewells on both sides with Wales coach Warren Gatland stepping down after having done a magnificent job since he took the reins in 2007 and the All Black’s coach Steve Hanson also leaving his job.
Wales haven’t beaten New Zealand since 1953. The match kicks off at 10am.
Attention will then shift to the World Cup Final between England and South Africa at 10am tomorrow morning.
England are at full strength and are expecting a bruising encounter against the Springboks who’ll most likely be relying on the power of their pack ,control of the lineout and their defensive qualities if they’re to win their first Webb Ellis Cup since 2007.
England haven’t won the World Cup since 2003 and lost to South Africa in the 2007 final.
There’ll be a tough contest between the opposing scrum halves with Ben Youngs who’s been in great form in this World Cup up against the equally impressive Faf De Klerk.
A lot will depend on the benches too with England’s 8 replacements thought to have the edge if and when they’re used.
Football-In the English Premier League this weekend.
On Saturday Bournemouth play Manchester United.Arsenal face Wolves.Aston Villa play Liverpool.Brighton host Norwich.Manchester City play Southampton.Sheffield United face Burnley.West Ham play Newcastle and Watford play Chelsea.
On Sunday Crystal Palace play Leicester and Everton host Spurs.
Formula 1-First practice for Sunday’s US Grand Prix takes place at 5pm this afternoon with Lewis Hamilton looking to wrap up his 6th world title.
Hamilton will seal his 6th drivers’ championship as long as he doesn’t lose 22 points to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Second practice is at 9pm with qualifying at 10pm tomorrow and the race at 8.10 on Sunday night.
Cricket-England have beaten New Zealand by 7 wickets in the opening T20 international in Christchurch.
The home side batted first and were restricted to 153-5 from their 20 overs.In reply England got to the target in a total of 154-3 in 18.3 overs with James Vince making 59.
Tennis-World number one Ashleigh Barty is into the semi finals of the season ending WTA Finals at Shenzhen.
Barty beat Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-2 to make the last 4.
The Swiss 7th seed Belinda Bencic is also through after her opponent Kiki Bertens had to retire from their match through illness.
Bencic now plays Elina Svitolina in the last 4 while Barty will face either Karolina Pliskova or Simona Halep.
Weather
Partially cloudy this morning with more rain arriving this afternoon.
Light to moderate south westerly winds and a high of 19 degrees.
Overnight lows of 14 degrees with rain across the region.
The weekend-Prolonged showers tomorrow with some sunny intervals in the afternoon.Rain for most of Sunday-clearing in the afternoon.Highs of 18-19 degrees.
Finally
A mysterious robotics company has an unusual proposition: it wants to pay someone $125,000 in exchange for the rights to use their face on its new line of humanoid robotics.
Working on behalf of the company is London-based machining startup called Geomiq, which will select one person and plaster their face on thousands of humanoid robots meant to serve as virtual companions for the elderly.
Geomiq wrote in a blog post that it was approached by the robotics company to find a new face, but that it signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevents it from sharing too many details about who, exactly, will be buying the rights to someone’s face.
PopMech speculates that the company is likely in the medical sector and Geomiq’s blog post says that the robots are nearly ready to hit the market — all they need is a “kind and friendly” mug — and that all will be revealed soon.
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Some communes in the Alpes-Maritimes will be plunged into darkness this Monday evening. For the third year running to mark Earth Day, mayors in the Al...
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