Local
Dead body - The body of a man, missing since Monday, has been found in Six Fours in the Var. His disappearance had been reported to police by his wife on Monday. Police found his body in the back of his car on Tuesday morning. An investigation is underway to determine whether it was a suicide or not.
Olive trees - An olive tree with the killer bacterium Xylella Fastidiosa has been destroyed. Authorities cut down the contaminated hundred-year-old tree in the Badine area of Juan-les-Pins on Wednesday morning. The area has been cordoned off, and prohibited to all residents for security reasons.
Fire - A fire has broken out in the basement of a building in Hyères in the Var. Firefighters were at the scene on Wednesday evening after residents raised the alarm. No casualties were reported.
Homeless man sentenced - The Nice Criminal Court has sentenced a homeless man to five months in prison for assaulting a nurse’s assistant at the Pasteur Hospital on the 5th of August. Unions have been calling for increased security to protect emergency department workers. Staff from several hospitals have been demonstrating in front of the courthouse in Nice in support of their colleagues.
Charles Leclerc - Monégasque Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc was received at the palace in Monaco on Wednesday morning by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II. Leclerc has won two Grand Prix in consecutive weeks, in Belgium and Italy. He said that Monaco has always supported him enormously in his career, helping him in his education and allowing him to pursue his passion.
National
Investigation for financial misconduct - The French National Assembly President Richard Ferrand, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, has been put under formal investigation for financial misconduct allegations. In a statement this morning Ferrand, denies any wrongdoing, and said he would use the procedure to defend himself and was confident the case would be dropped. Under French law, being put under formal investigation means there is "serious or consistent evidence" that points to probable involvement of a suspect in a crime.
Yellow Vest movement - Several groups of "yellow vest" protestors have called for a national gathering on Saturday, September 14th in Nantes. The 44th Saturday of mobilization will take place the city which was last July marked by the death of Steve Maia Caniço, a young man who disappeared in Nantes on the evening of the Fete de la Musique. The last major event in the capital of the Pays de la Loire region took place on August 3, a few days after the discovery of Steve's body in the Loire. After denouncing "police violence", at least 1,700 protesters marched and the police had 42 arrests.
Jeffrey Epstein - French authorities have appealed for victims and witnesses to come forward to help their investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, who owned property in Paris, saying they have already interviewed three people who said they were his victims. The police appeal, published Wednesday on Twitter, provided both a phone number and an interior ministry email address.
High Court - Up to 200 people turned out at Paris' High Court this Wednesday to show their support for 8 ecological militants and a video director accused of unhooking official portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron. The 9 accused, aged between 23 and 36 were in court on charges of "group theft" for their involvement in taking down portraits of Macron on display in Paris district town halls last February.
Business
President Trump is delaying a planned tariff hike on 250 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods in what he says is a “goodwill gesture” ahead of fresh trade talks.
Mr Trump tweeted that a 5 percent increase in duties which had been due to kick in on the 1st of October will be delayed for two weeks.
He said that the delay had been requested by China and that he’d granted it after Beijing said that it would be scrapping tariffs on some US goods.
The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a damaging trade dispute for the past year that’s been hurting businesses and weighing on the global economy.
Preliminary discussions between the two sides are to be held in Washington later this month before more formal talks take place in October between the US Treasury Secretary,the US trade representative and the Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.
Reports from the United States this morning say that the drug making giant Purdue Pharma has reached a tentative agreement with federal authorities to settle a host of lawsuits against it.
The firm ,which is owned by the billionaire Sackler family is accused of helping to fuel the US opioid crisis through the marketing and distribution of its OyxContin painkiller.
The agreement is thought to amount to billions of dollars and would remove the firm from the first federal trial over the opioid crisis which is set to start in Ohio in October.
Several US states including New York ,New Jersey and Massachusetts have said that they’re not party to any deal and that Purdue could still face legal action.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that some 130 Americans die from an opioid overdose every day and that more than 200,000 people in the US have died from opioid-related overdoses in the past two decades.
And-Shares in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing have fallen by more than 3 percent in Asian trade today as investors weighed the merits of its 39 billion dollar takeover approach to the London Stock Exchange.
The proposed deal ,which would create a global trading giant is aimed at being able to better compete with US rivals such as Intercontinental Exchange and CME Group.
Terms of the proposed deal stipulate that the LSE would have to abandon its 27 billion dollar acquisition of the financial information provider Refinitiv.
Any merger would require regulatory approval with some analysts saying that it could be “politically tough” in the current climate.
Sport
Cricket-The 5th and final Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway at The Oval today with the home side looking to level the series even though the urn has gone.
The best that England can hope for is a series draw while Australia ,who most commentators think have been the better side will be looking to make it a 3-1 victory.
Jason Roy and Craig Overton have been dropped by England to be replaced by Sam Curran and Chris Woakes.
Mitch Marsh comes in for Australia.
Play is due to start at noon French time.
Rugby Union-Danny Cirpiani says that he would have had to turn “water into wine” to convince the England coach Eddie Jones to take him to the World Cup.
Cipriani missed out on a place in the 31 man squad although he’d been part of pre-tournament training camps.
Jones went for Owen Farrell and George Ford as his fly-half picks instead and Cipriani expressed his disappointment at being overlooked despite being named as the English Premiership player of the season for his performances for Gloucester.
Golf-Rory McIlroy has been named as the PGA Player of the Year.
The Northern Irishman claimed the honour for the third time ahead of world number one Brooks Koepka who won the US PGA this year and finished second in two of the season’s three other majors.
McIlroy won the Tour Championship for a second time last month to secure the FedEx Cup title.
Cycling-Phillipe Gilbert of Belgium has won Stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana with Nairo Quintana moving up to second place in the overall classification.
Quintana finished way ahead of race leader Primoz Roglic to close the gap at the top to 2 minutes 24 seconds.Alejandro Valverde has slipped to third place.
Today’s 18th Stage is 177.5 kilometers through the mountains from Colmenar Viejo to Becerril de la Sierra.
Weather
Clear skies with light variable winds.
Top temperatures 26-30 degrees.
Overnight lows of 21 degrees on the coast and 16 degrees inland with clear skies.
Friday and the start of the weekend-Clear skies with highs of 26-30 degrees.
Finally
According to a recent survey Brits do not truly become adults until the age of 26 and believe it is harder than ever for young people to grow up to fend for themselves.
More than half of the 2,000 adults polled blamed the economy, a longer time spent in education and a 'lack of effort' for the struggle.
Seven in ten feel they should be taught life skills from an earlier age to help young adults become independent faster as well as more financially savvy.
In contrast, children in the 1980s were cooking family meals and helping out around the house long before they became teenagers.
The Monegasque State has successfully conducted its first national voluntary surrender operation, with 123 firearms being handed over by private indiv...
Read More
A hospital in Cannes has had to postpone all non-urgent consultations and operations after falling victim to a cyberattack....
Read More
Potential presence of broken glass in pizzas. A recall has been issued for several pizzas distributed by Auchan Avallon in France due to the potential...
Read More
The Riviera's ski resorts are celebrating a record winter season.
Read More
The Monegasque government informed its residents today that a fraudulent call campaign is currently targeting the Principality, mainly the most vulner...
Read More
