News
Conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza - French President Emmanuel Macron will today, Thursday 9th November, host a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza although Israel, which has been bombarding the territory since an October 7th attack by Hamas, will not be present. Israeli officials say that Hamas militants stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on October 7th, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 240 hostages. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, in retaliation Israeli military has killed more than 10,500 people, many of them children. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there will be no fuel delivered to Gaza and no ceasefire with Hamas unless the hostages are freed. Macron spoke to Netanyahu on Tuesday and the pair will talk again, once today’s conference is over. A conference which has been put together in somewhat of a hurry on the sidelines of the annual Paris Peace Forum on November 10th-11th.
Demonstration banned - The Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes has banned another pro-Palestinian demonstration in Nice. The demonstration was due to take place this coming Saturday, November 11. It follows the banning of a similar march in Nice last Saturday. The same reasons were given by the Prefect, namely the risk of disturbances to public order, clashes, the persistence of the terrorist threat and the increase in anti-Semitic acts. Organizers not respecting the ban risk a sentence of 6 months imprisonment and a fine of €7,500. Participants can be fined €750.
Mayor of Nice attends One Planet-Polar Summit in Paris - The mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi is to attend today and tomorrow the One Planet-Polar Summit in Paris. Numerous heads of state, experts, NGOs and scientists will attend the event at the National Museum of Natural History. French President Emmanuel Macron has entrusted the mission on rising sea levels to Estrosi with the mayor of Nice launching “a major movement to mobilize cities around the Mediterranean, but also on a global scale, to face the major challenge of rising sea levels ahead of the ocean summit which will be held in Nice in June 2025. More than 900 million people, or one in ten inhabitants of the planet, live in low-lying coastal areas and see their livelihoods directly threatened by rising sea levels.
Long covid care is “unsatisfactory” in France - A report presented to the French government has shown that long covid care in France is “unsatisfactory”. Long Covid affects “several hundred thousand” people and is often met with an “insufficient level of knowledge by health professionals” according to the report. A series of measures have been suggested calling for better funding. The advisory body also points out that more than three years after the start of the covid 19 epidemic, care is more satisfactory in neighbouring and Anglo-Saxon countries.
Importance of barrier gestures – Meanwhile, Public Health France has reminded people of the importance of continuing to respect “barrier gestures” to protect ourselves from all winter diseases. The results of its CoviPrev survey, which notably monitors the evolution of preventive behaviours in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic, reveals that one out of three French people do not carry out a covid test despite suffering from symptoms. Although it is no longer obligatory to self-isolate in the event of a positive Covid-19 test, it remains strongly recommended to apply barrier gestures in the event of symptoms.
Road closure - A major landslide has caused the closure of the RD71 in the Gorges du Version. Traffic is affected in both directions until further notice. Large boulders measuring several cubic meters fell onto the road due to bad weather during the weekend.
North of France on a rain-flood alert – Meanwhile, the North of France has been placed on an orange weather alert as the Pas-de-Calais goes into a red “rain-flood” alert from today at 2pm. The red alert comes after exceptional rainfall over several days and the risk of rivers overflowing and flooding. Schools in the region will be closed today and tomorrow Friday 10th November.
2030 Winter Olympics - The application for two regions in the south-east of France to host the 2030 Winter Olympics has been officially submitted to the International Olympic Committee. The Provence-Alpes Cote d'Azur and the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes have submitted a joint bid. The application envisages the closing ceremony being held in Nice and two events being held in Isola2000.
Female firefighter - A female recruit has joined the ranks of firefighters in Monaco for the first time in its history. She was one of ten new recruits who joined the service after five months of training. A ceremony was held in Fontvieille this week to welcome the new recruits.
Most Beautiful Bays in the World Association - Part of the Riviera coastline has been accepted into a prestigious international organization. Bormes-les-Mimosas in the Var has been voted into membership of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World Association. The organization, which has been recognised by UNESCO, counts many of the most beautiful bays in its membership, including San Francisco, and another local bay, La Ciotat.
Eurovision 2024 - Finally, France has unveiled its entry for next year’s Eurovision contest which will be held in Sweden in May. Mon Amour, is a love song performed and written by French singer and songwriter Slimane who won season 5 of the television show The Voice in 2016 and has since released a debut album and nine singles. Slimane describes the song “Mon amour” as a “love letter that everyone would like to be written for them”.
Business
Lloyd's of London has said it is "deeply sorry" for its links to the slave trade. An independent report found the 335-year-old insurance market had played a "significant role" in enabling the transatlantic trade. Lloyd's said it was committed to tackling inequality and will invest £40m in helping impacted communities. But campaign groups said it needed to do more. Lloyd's of London, which was founded in 1688, is often hailed as the world's leading insurance market, focusing on specialist areas such as marine, energy and political risk.
The boss of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, has denied the platform creates housing shortages in cities like New York. The company is facing increasing criticism blamed for housing shortages as well as rising rents in cities across America. Mr Chesky denied that Airbnb has such an effect on cities like New York, which recently enacted rules prohibiting short-term rentals. But he said "unintended consequences" can result from the firm's popularity. Launched in 2007, Airbnb now offers more than seven million properties worldwide for stays through its booking platform.
And - Amazon.com has begun cutting jobs in its Music division. The latest of several rounds of layoffs over the past year have affected more than 27,000 employees of the retail giant. According to reports employees in Latin America, North America and Europe received notices that their jobs had been terminated.
Sport
Football - Manchester United's suffered another significant blow as Marcus Rashford's red card contributed to a dramatic, qualification-damaging Champions League defeat losing 4-3 to FC Copenhagen. This evening in the Europa League Toulouse play Liverpool kick off is at 6.45pm French time.
Cricket – In the Cricket World Cup Ben Stokes gave a boast to England hitting a superb century with a 160-run victory over the Netherlands. Today New Zealand play Sri Lanka.
Boxing – Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk says he hopes his heavyweight world title fight with Tyson Fury will take place in February in Saudi Arabia. Usyk was set to fight Fury on 23 December, but promoter Frank Warren said last week that is "unlikely".
Weather
Cloudy with rain forecast. Moderate to strong winds. Highs of 15 degrees in Nice, Monaco and Saint-Tropez. 14 degrees in Toulon. This evening going down to 9 degrees along the coast and 7 degrees inland.
The outlook for Friday and heading into the weekend. Mainly fine with highs of 18 degrees and a fresh breeze. Sunday light rain is forecast for the Var and sunny intervals in the Alpes Maritimes.
Sunrise 07.16am
Sunset 05.11pm
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