National News
Protests against new Prime Minister - Thousands of angry leftwing protesters have taken to the streets in France over the weekend, in protest against the appointment of conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Demonstrators have accused French President Emmanuel Macron of a “denial of democracy” after his decision to name the former EU Brexit negotiator, 73-year-old Michel Barnier, as Prime Minister.
Locally in Nice, Toulon and Draguignan demonstrators took to the streets in what they called a “march for democracy”. The mass protests had been called by the NFP’s dominant group, France Unbowed (LFI), and appeared to have widespread support on Saturday despite being shunned by some of its alliance partners and unions.
France bids goodbye to the Paralympic Games - France has bid goodbye to the Paralympic Games with an explosion of fireworks, laser beams, breakdancing and electro music. The night of celebration on Sunday at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis saw some of the world’s top elite para-athletes doing the conga on a track where days before records were being broken. The Paris Games organisers said they wanted the Paralympics closing ceremony to “show we know how to party”.
Paris 2024 sold a record 12m tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics combined, beating the Games record previously set by London in 2012. This included 9.5m tickets sold for the Paris Olympics and 2.5m for the Paris Paralympics. In 2012, London organisers had set the record for the Paralympics, with 2.7m tickets sold, but only 8.2m were sold for the Olympics.
Local News
Bad weather - In other news the bad weather in our region left six boats stranded on the Côte d'Azur and saw numerous sea rescue operations be carried out. Météo France had placed the Var and the Alpes Maritimes on an orange alert for storms, rain and flooding on Sunday. In Fréjus in the Var, 20 mm of rain fell in 15 minutes and six boats which were at anchor ran aground along the coast of the Alpes Maritimes, including a 12-meter sailboat that got stuck under the Garoupe lighthouse in Antibes. The Cross Med had to carry out 14 rescue operations at sea to help people. The maritime prefecture reminds every one of the safety instructions: do not go out to sea if the conditions are expected to be difficult and reminds everyone that the emergency number at sea 196.
Shooting in Toulouse leaves one dead - A shooting in Toulouse has left one person dead and two others injured. The incident took place in the Bagatelle district west of the city on Sunday evening. The perpetrator was reported to still be on the run this Monday morning. The reason behind the shooting is not yet known.
Investigation into stabbing - An investigation is underway after a student was stabbed several times in Nice Nord over the weekend. The incident occurred at around 10pm on Friday evening as the 22-year-old woman was returning home. The victim was stabbed several times on the Avenue Léo Imbert in the north of the city. Her condition is reported to be stable. The reason for the attack remains to be determined.
Le Lavandou to decide if it will fund the protection of the beach in neighbouring Cavalière - The town hall of Le Lavandou in the Var is expected to announce a decision today on whether or not it will commit public funds to protect the beach of neighbouring Cavalière following severe erosion. In recent months the two private hotels as wells as private homes have been affected by the massive erosion and the topic has caused an animated debate amongst local officials. A decision is expected today due to the urgency of the situation.
Charles Leclerc is a winning with his childhood friends - Monegasque Formula One driver Charles Leclerc has won the Jules-Bianchi Karting Marathon with his childhood friends at Le Castellet. A week after his triumph at the Italian Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver joined some long-time Monegasque friends on Sunday to take part in the long-distance karting race (42 hours, 19 minutes, 50 seconds) in the memory of his late godfather the French racing driver Jules-Bianchi who passed away nine years ago following an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Leclerc said that the event was about honouring his memory and helping the Jules Bianchi #17 association. The organisation managed to gather 32 crews, with around 400 drivers on the track.
Congratulations! Another successful fund-raising event for the Princess Charlene Foundation - After 22 hours of racing and covering more than 180kms, more than €283,000 has been raised for the Princess Charlene Foundation. It’s congratulations to all the teams which took part in the “Calvi – Monaco Water Bike challenge" all for a good cause. The five teams left Calvi on Friday arriving to a warm welcome from spectators and HSH Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene at the Larvotto beach on Saturday morning. The first participant to come out of the water was former cyclist Gustav Larsson, representing the "Lionheart" team who were closely followed by the "Rock to rock" team. In third place, was the "Serenity" team, composed among others of the Secretary General of the Princess Charlene Foundation, Gareth Wittstock, the F1 driver Valtteri Bottas and the newly retired cyclist Peter Sagan. Finally, in fourth and fifth place, the Ferrari team followed by the "U17" team. More than 283,000 euros in donations were raised online which will be used to finance the various programs of the Princess Charlene Foundation.
Business
Google’s ad tech business goes on trial today as the US government takes aim at the engine of Google's immense wealth. The Department of Justice's case will today hear that the search engine's parent company Alphabet illegally operates a monopoly in the market. The company earned more than $200 billion last year through the placing and selling of ads seen by internet users. Alphabet has argued its success is due to the "effectiveness" of its services - but prosecutors say it has used its market dominance to stifle rivals.
The eight day stay for two astronauts on the International Space Station has turned into eight months after Boeing's Starliner spacecraft completed its journey back to Earth without them. The empty craft travelled back in autonomous mode after undocking from the orbiting lab. The capsule, which suffered technical problems after it launched with Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, was deemed too risky to take the astronaut’s home. They will instead return in a SpaceX Crew Dragon in February 2025.
And - According to a senior executive at the Chinese car giant Chery the possibility of building cars in the UK, is being considered. Chery, which is already preparing to build cars in Spain, was determined to take a "localised" approach to the European market. Chery, which was set up in 1997, is one of China’s largest car companies. It is already the country’s biggest exporter of vehicles but has ambitious plans to expand further.
Sport
Paris Paralympics - The Paris 2024 Paralympics concluded on Sunday evening with its closing ceremony. The event closed off a fantastic and historic summer of sport in the French capital. Despite heavy rain twenty-four artists from the French electronic music scene led a party atmosphere despite at the Stade de France in front of 4,400 athletes from 168 Paralympic delegations. The International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said France set a "benchmark" for future Games.
France slipped from 5th to 8th in the ranking by the end of the games, with a total of 19 gold medals. Great Britain were 2nd with 49 gold medals ahead of the United States in 3rd with 36. China were top of the ranking with 94 gold medals.
Tennis - World number one Italian Jannik Sinner stormed past Taylor Fritz to win the US Open and secure a second Grand Slam title of the year.
Football – Cristiano Ronaldo’s late Nations League winner broke Scotland hearts in Portugal as they were beaten 2-1 in the Nations League. France slipped to a 3-1 defeat against Italy at the Parc des Princes on Friday in their Nations League fixture. It was the first time France had lost to Italy on home soil in over 70 years with rumours since of serious unrest within the French team.
Meanwhile, England celebrated a 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin on Saturday that got Lee Carsley's reign as the Three Lions interim manager off to a convincing victorious start.
Cricket - Sri Lanka closed day three of the final Test on 94-1, needing 125 more runs to reach their target of 219 and earn a famous win. At 2-0 up, England have already secured the series.
Formula One – Adrian Newey is joining Aston Martin on a salary that could rise to £30m, including bonuses and add-ons.
Boxing – Conor McGregor has revealed that he had to go up a shoe size following the toe injury that forced him out of his UFC return in the summer. An official return date is yet to be announced but McGregor has his eyes on the final pay-per-view of the year in December.
Weather
Fine and sunny. Highs of 27 degrees in Monaco, Nice and Saint-Tropez. Strong winds are forecast for the Var. This evening going down to 19 degrees along the coast with clear skies.
The outlook for tomorrow and Wednesday, much the same with a moderate breeze and highs of 28 degrees.
Sunrise 07.03am
Sunset 07.50pm
Beach Weather
Sea temperature 25° Marseille
Air temperature 24°
UV level 6
Clear skies with strong winds.
Weather elsewhere
London 17° light cloud
Paris 19° cloudy
Dublin 17° sunny intervals
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