Local
Yellow Vest Movement - French Yellow Vest protesters have indicated that they would continue their protests at the weekend, rejecting President Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to defuse the situation. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe offered, on Wednesday to meet with a delegation of demonstrators. Philippe insisted that a carbon tax that has provoked weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations would come into effect in January.
Meanwhile former French actress Brigitte Bardot has shown her support for the movement by posting a picture on her Twitter account wearing a yellow vest, at the entrance to her house in Saint-Tropez "La Madrague”.
National Front - The public prosecutor's office of Lille has dismissed a complaint about suspicions of fictitious jobs at the National Front party including David Rachline, current mayor of Frejus. According to the public prosecutor's office, "the investigation has led to the conclusion that there were not enough sufficient charges to consider prosecution for acts of fictitious employment against" David Rachline and two other collaborators to the regional council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Perfume - After a ten year battle, it has been announced that the savoir faire relating to the production of perfume in Grasse has been registered by UNESCO. A specialised committee met in Port Louis, to review some 40 applications from around the world. The inscription will better protect the land used in the region recognising the culture of the perfume plant, the knowledge of the raw materials used and their transformation as well as the art of composing the perfume". A Tradition which has been handed down from generation to generation since the 16th century in the Grasse region.
Tax - Nice city council has announced a drop in terrace fees as of next year for 906 cafes and restaurants in the city. At present, the tax for cafes and restaurants with a terrace is 8 euros per square meter in less frequented neighborhoods, and 70 euros in the historic center. The amount has not yet been defined but is expected to affect more than 900 businesses in Nice.
Gerard Depardieu - Actor Gerard Depardieu has appeared before police as part of an investigation in which he is accused of "rape and sexual assault". The complaint was filed late August by a young actress at the Gendarmerie of Lambesc in the Bouches-du-Rhone. Depardieu denies the charges.
Gastroenteritis - According to figures published on Wednesday, the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region is one of four in France which is currently experiencing an epidemic of gastroenteritis. Health authorities remind people to regularly wash their hands to avoid contamination.
National
Tax revenue - Figures have shown that France is the European country where the share of tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is the highest. Figures published on Wednesday revealed that social security contributions represent 48.4% of GDP making France European champion of taxes for the third consecutive year.
Luc Besson - Five more women have come forward to allege sex-related crimes against French film-maker Luc Besson, adding to the four already public. After an investigation by French website Mediapart, a former assistant of Besson’s said she was coerced into a sexual relationship with the director, as well as being regularly sexually harassed by him. Besson has denied previous allegations and has yet to respond to requests for comment on the new allegations.
Business
Investors have been given a massive confidence boost by the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve who said on Wednesday that the central bank’s rate policy is now “just below”estimates of a level that neither puts the brake on or boosts the economy.
Jerome Powell’s comments are being interpreted by investors as a sign that the Fed’s 3 year tightening cycle is drawing to a close.
Stocks and US interest rate futures jumped on the statement although some analysts warned that Mr Powell’s comments should not be misinterpreted or misunderstood.
There are suggestions that Mr Powell was pressured into a dovish message following repeated attacks from President Trump who said again on Tuesday that he was “not happy” with the Federal Reserve’s policy.
One analyst said yesterday that Mr Powell’s statement had “probably given the President just what he wanted”.
The Bank of England has warned that a no-deal Brexit could see sterling plunge by 25 percent and tip the UK economy into a worse recession than the financial crisis.
The Bank of England analysis about all possible Brexit scenarios was published on Wednesday and comes hot on the heels on a Treasury report which said that the UK economy would be worse off under any form of Brexit.
The Bank of England said that the UK economy could shrink by 8 percent in the immediate aftermath of Brexit if there was no transition period while house prices could fall by almost a third.
Political reaction to the bank’s analysis has been swift and hostile.The leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said last night that “project fear” had now become “project hysteria” while the former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said that “the bottom line of both sets of reports is that “project fear”,like Frankenstein’s monster has been resuscitated and is stalking the land”.
The shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell said however that the Bank report “confirmed what other reports have been telling us this week,that a no-deal Brexit could be worse than the financial crisis ten years ago”.
Sport
Football-Liverpool will need to win their final European Champions League group game to qualify for the knockout phase after losing 2-1 at PSG last night.
As things stand in Group C Liverpool will need to beat Napoli in the final game after the Italian side beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 to leave it all to play for in the final group match.
Spurs still have a chance of making the last 16 thanks to a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Group B with the other match ending PSV 1 Barcelona 2.
In the other games last night-In Group A Athletico Madrid beat Monaco 2-0 and Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge drew 0-0 and in Group D Lokomotiv Moscow beat Galatasaray 2-0 while Porto were 3-1 winners over Schalke.
There are a stack of group games in the Europa League tonight.Chelsea who are already through to the last 32 face PAOK Salonika while Arsenal are away at Vorskla Poltava in Group E.
Celtic travel to Rosenborg in Group B and Rangers are at home to Villareal in Group G.
There were 6 games in the English Championship last night.Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest shared a crazy 5-5 draw.Bristol City were 3-2 winners at Ipswich.Millwall lost 2-0 at home to Birmingham City.West Brom were 2-1 winners at Swansea.Wigan beat Blackburn 3-1 and Stoke beat Derby 2-1.
Rugby Union-The Wales flanker Ellis Jenkins will see a specialist to find out the extent of a serious knee injury that he sustained during the match against South Africa.
Jenkins has been ruled out of the 6 Nations and could even be out of the World Cup depending on the extent of the damage done to his anterior cruciate ligament.
Boxing-The final news conference ahead of the big fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder descended into chaos on Wednesday as the two men clashed on stage in Los Angeles.
The pair got involved in pushing and shoving after verbal exchanges became increasingly heated.A 60 second melee ensued with both teams getting involved before they were cleared from the stage.
Fury has said that he’ll use some of his purse from the fight to help homeless people in the UK.He also said that he would set up some funds to help drug addicts and alcoholics.
Weather
Mainly fine with light variable or easterly winds.
Top temperature 16 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 8 degrees with partially cloudy skies.
Friday and the start of the weekend-Rain tomorrow,fine again on Saturday.Highs of 13-16 degrees.
Finally
Experts have predicted that DIGITAL assistants like Alexa will soon be able to tell when your relationship is on the rocks,
The devices will listen in on conversations and arguments to work out how couples are getting along.
And by 2021 they will be using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the chances of them staying together to within 75 per cent accuracy, it is claimed. If rows break out, the voice-controlled speakers will also suggest ways of settling them.
According to a report by Imperial College Business School It is just one way AI will play a part in our love lives in the future,
By 2021 they will foresee the chances of staying together to within 75 per cent accuracy, and by 2025 they will tell if there is sexual chemistry between couples
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