Local
Student protests - Students across the region have announced further demonstrations today in Nice, Antibes and Grasse. Authorities have said that secondary schools will remain open for as long as the safety of fellow students can be guaranteed. Thirty students were taken into police custody on Thursday after demonstrations led to violent clashes with police in Nice, Cannes and Hyères. One of the students in Nice was carrying a can of petrol, while a couple in Cannes set fire to a street bin. 280 high schools and colleges in France participated in the protests on Thursday with 45 of them being blocked by students.Several incidents were recorded, leading to more than 700 arrests.
The unrest comes as students have been angered by President Emmanuel Macron's plans to change the end-of-school exam, known as the baccalaureate, which is required for entrance to university. Critics fear the reforms will limit opportunity and breed inequality.
Meanwhile this evening’s match between AS Monaco and OGC Nice has been cancelled. Scheduled to take place at the Stade Louis II as part of the 17th round of league 1, officials have announced that due to current protests by the “Yellow Vests” as a measure of security the match will not go ahead. As the movement continues to show little sign of easing the French government has said that it fears "major violence" in Paris on Saturday. The Eiffel Tower is to close along with many shops, restaurants and museums. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that across France, 89,000 police officers will be on duty and armoured vehicles will be deployed in the capital.
Exceptional car exhibition – His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco has attended the opening of an exceptional exhibition taking place here in the Principality. Accompanied by Formula One driver Charles Leclerc the exhibition at the car museum in Fontvielle gives you the opportunity to discover the A 512S which appeared in the cult movie "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen, the Ferrari Aperta 2016, the most powerful ever produced in Maranello, or the F1 driven by Nigel Mansell in 1990. The exhibition runs until March 15th.
National
Tax for digital giants - France plans to introduce its own tax for digital giants in 2019 if the European Union fails to agree on a unified plan for the GAFA group (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon). France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France 2 television on Thursday that he would give himself "until March" to reach a deal with other EU members on a digital tax. France had been hoping to reach an agreement on the issue by 31 December.
Abuse - The number of reported cases of sexual abuse in France has jumped by a third in just one year. INSEE say recent #metoo campaigns have encouraged people to speak up about abuse. While reporting rates for burglary or car theft are around 75%, the rate plummets to 30% for sexual abuse, or down to just 15% when it comes to sexual abuse within a household.
Business
Markets in Europe suffered big falls on Thursday spurred by fears about China-US trade tensions and global growth.
The FTSE 100 in London tumbled by 3 percent to its lowest level in two years and declines in Frankfurt and Paris were even steeper at around 3.5 percent.
Oil prices also fell by more than 2 percent.
The worst hit sectors of the market included mining firms,oil companies,carmakers and technology firm.
Concerns over trade tensions,slowing global growth and oil prices sparked losses at US financial,energy and materials firms early in the day,sending all three major US indexes lower before they recovered later in the session.
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund,Christine Lagarde said that worries about recession were a “little overdone” although uncertainty was certainly increasing volatility.
An investor who predicted the 2008 financial crisis has revealed that he’s betting against the UK banking system.
Steve Eisman says that he’s had bets against three major UK banks although he declined to name them.
Mr Eisman said that he expected UK markets to fall as a result of Brexit and said that he’d taken his positions after weighing up the probability of the UK leaving the European Union and Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.
The process,known as shorting,pays out if the banks’s shares fall.
Mr Eisman shot to fame when he featured in the book “The Big Short” by Michael Lewis which was later turned into a Hollywood film starring Steve Carell.
And-The Nikkei Business Daily has reported that Tokyo prosecutors plan to indict former Nissan Motors Chairman Carlos Ghosn on Monday for financial misconduct.
It’s also reported that prosecutors will also charge former Nissan representative director Greg Kelly and will lay charges against Nissan itself.
Mr Ghosn and Mr Kelly were arrested on the 19th of November shaking the foundations of the Renualt-Nissan alliance and stunning the industry.
Sport
Football-The English Premier League is back in action this weekend with the big match Chelsea against Manchester City.
On Saturday Bournemouth play Liverpool in the lunchtime game and then it’s Arsenal against Huddersfield.Burnley play Brighton.Cardiff face Southampton.Manchester United play Fulham.West Ham play Crystal Palace.Chelsea play Manchester City and Leicester face Spurs.
On Sunday Newcastle play Wolves and Everton play Watford on Monday.
Cricket-It’s day 2 of the first Test between Australia and India in Adelaide.
India didn’t add to their overnight total and were bowled out for 250 but Australia have been struggling in reply and were on 120-5 midway through the final session of the day.
Rugby Union-There’s action in the European Champions Cup this weekend with two games tonight.Scarlets play Ulster in Group 4 and Edinburgh play Newcastle in Pool 5.
Boxing-The referee at last weekend’s world heavyweight showdown between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury has rejected claims that he was slow on the count after Fury was knocked down in the 12th round.
Jack Reiss counted the full ten seconds when Fury went down for the second time but says that he wanted to give the fighter “every opportunity”.
He denied claims by the Wilder camp that he had “stalled the count” and just wanted to do what he thought was best for boxing.
The pair are set for a rematch sometime next year but no date or venue has yet been confirmed.
Weather
Mainly fine with light to moderate westerly winds.
Top temperature 17 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 11 degrees on the coast and 9 degrees inland with clear skies.
The weekend-Mainly fine with highs of 16-17 degrees.
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