News National
Six departments of France still on weather alert - Météo-France has maintained the orange weather alert in six departments of northeastern France due to the risk of flooding, as the tail end of Hurricane Kirk hit western Europe on Wednesday ripping up trees in Spain and Portugal and drenching France. French authorities warned the public of a high risk of flooding in more than 30 areas. The rain associated with the storm is gradually weakening.
Local
Locally weather alert lifted - Locally the weather alert in the Alpes Maritimes and the Var has been lifted. As a precaution residents were evacuated on Wednesday evening in Saint-Martin-Vésubie as the region was placed on an orange flood alert at 6pm. Up to 134mm of rain was recorded inland in Lucéram. According to a press release from the Prefecture, the inland region experienced the heaviest rainfall. As expected, the coast was relatively spared with between 15 and 20mm of rainfall. On the regions roads the bad weather caused some trees to fall and landslides leading to road closures but thankfully no injuries.
Regional train services - A report published this week by the UFC Que Choisir has exposed the poor quality of service of TER trains in our region for 2023. Coming last in the ranking, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region was the worst for reliability in France last year with only 84.7% of TER trains arriving at their destination on time. The number of passengers is up 10% in 2023 compared to 2022, and by more than 11% since the beginning of the year. 35 million passengers per year use the TER. From this December the SNCF plans to improve the service with 75% of more trains in circulation on the Sud Azur zone or one train every quarter of an hour between Cannes-Nice-Menton. In June 2025, Transdev will take over the Marseille, Toulon, Nice, Ventimiglia line, with one train per hour. As for the Nice-Ventimiglia line, under construction until June 2025, following talks with Monaco, authorities announced that the closure of the line at 9pm has been pushed back to 10pm.
La Condamine Market - A popular spot with locals and tourists the Condamine Market here in the Principality is set to have a makeover and this week local market stall holders were invited to meet with officials to discuss the upcoming redevelopment which is set for completion in 2027. Businesses will remain open during the modernization of the site and the town hall will work with those that work at the market to share suggestions as well as their concerns.
Macron defends Emily in Paris – Finally, the hugely successful Netflix show Emily in Paris has in its latest season visited Rome. However, the move has led to France’s President Emmanuel Macron saying that France “will fight hard to keep Emily in Paris in France”. Macron told the US showbusiness paper Variety “We will fight hard. And we will ask them to remain in Paris! Emily in Paris in Rome doesn’t make sense.” Macron’s wife, Brigitte, a 71-year-old former teacher, has a cameo appearance in the show’s fourth season, in which, during a chance meeting in a restaurant, she says she follows Emily on Instagram. Cast members said Brigitte Macron was “so game” to appear and was allowed to improvise and wear her own clothes. Macron told Variety he was very pleased that his wife had a cameo. “I was super proud, and she was very happy to do it. It’s just a few minutes, but I think it was a very good moment for her.”
Business
The Tata Group has announced that Indian tycoon Ratan Tata has died aged 86. Tata was one of India's most internationally recognised business leaders. The Tata Group is one of India's largest companies, with annual revenues in excess of $100bn (£76.5bn). In a statement announcing Tata's death he was described as a "truly uncommon leader".
Elon Musk the boss of Tesla, is to unveil the firm's long-awaited Cybercab, at the Warner Bros Studios in California today. Self-driving cars have long fascinated Mr Musk, and he has made a series of bold predictions about them - including that they will save lives or earn their owners money, through being rented out for rides or even overnight stays. The project has undergone delays, having been originally slated for release in August before being moved to October.
Sport
Football – Former Sheffield United defender George Baldock has died at the age of 31. The England-born Greece international was found dead in the swimming pool of his house in Athens.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp's reputation among supporters in Germany is taking a hit after his appointment as head of global soccer at Red Bull. Beginning in January, Klopp will oversee all footballing developments within the company.
And – Harry Kane will not be fit to start England's Nations League match against Greece at Wembley this evening. In other matches Finland play the Republic of Ireland.
Tennis – After 147 years line judges are to disappear from Wimbledon after. The All England Club has announced that it will adopt electronic line calling from next year. The technology will be in place for all qualifying and main draw matches and replace the judges who were responsible for calling shots 'out' and 'fault' on a serve. The Australian Open and US Open adopted electronic line calling in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Wimbledon's decision means the clay-court French Open is the only major yet to ditch line judges.
Weather
Fine and sunny with moderate to strong winds. Highs of 26 degrees in Nice, Monaco and Cannes. 24 degrees in Saint-Tropez and 22 degrees in Vence and Toulon. This evening going down to 13 degrees with clear skies.
The outlook for Friday remaining fine and sunny with highs of 22 degrees. The outlook for Saturday sunny intervals to starts rain expected in the Var by the afternoon. Sunday remaining dry with sunny intervals highs of 25 degrees in Saint-Tropez.
Sunrise 07.38am
Sunset 06.54pm
Weather elsewhere
Paris 15° and hurricane force winds.
Liverpool 10° and hurricane force winds.
Palma 25° and hurricane force winds.
Bordeaux 19° thundery showers.
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