Local
Burglaries - Police in Nice have increased their presence after local residents spoke out about their growing concern over a recent spate of burglaries in the area. Residents in Cimiez have seen a significant rise in break-ins over the last two months with many households being repeatedly broken into.
Mistral - Strong winds which hit the Var region on Monday have caused considerable damage in the region. Several trees were blown over and roofs were damaged. Meteo France had placed the region on a yellow weather alert on Sunday and Monday due to a strong mistral, gusts of up to 120km/ hour were recorded in La Ciotat near Toulon.
Tax - The introduction of the new pay-as-you-earn tax regime will see nearly nine million French tax-payers receiving credits in their bank accounts today. The average €700 credit will apply to people who have recurring expenses, through the employment of a home-based employee, donations to associations or rental investments.
Bus service - Menton will see more disruption to bus services today, as industrial unrest continues at Zest bus. Strike action will affect services mainly during the morning and afternoon rush-hours. Full details are available on the company website ZestBus.fr
Tramway - Some late night trams will not be running in Nice for the next two weeks, as Lignes d’Azur carry out works to stop tram wheels squeaking. Replacement buses will be run where any late night trams are cancelled.
Vegan restaurant in Nice awarded Michelin star - A Vegan restaurant in Nice has been awarded a Michelin star. “Vegan Gorilla” located on the rue du Lycée has made its way to the stars in just two years. Run by Willy Berton and his wife, from Menton it boasts a “homemade” cuisine, using fresh products and is 100% vegetarian.
Football - Football coach Thierry Henry has spoken of his hopes of AS Monaco winning Wednesday’s derby against Nice. An important game for both teams, speaking to local media Henry said a “Derby remains a derby and a win would be an amazing result”. His comments come after AS Monaco draw 1-1 against Marseille on Sunday.
National
National debate - To mark the beginning of the National debate, French President Emmanuel Macron will today meet in Northern France with 600 mayors from Normandy. The aim is to hear the grievances of each region with meetings of this type planned throughout France over the coming months. The debate is set out in three forms firstly with "Local initiative meetings" organized between mayors and citizens, secondly the possibility to submit written contributions online or in town halls and finally from the 1st March, "regional citizens' conferences" will be held, to bring together in each region, around one hundred people drawn to form a representative group.
Meanwhile reactions to President Emmanuel Macron’s open letter have been pouring in since Sunday evening. Opposition parties were quick to criticize it and the Yellow Vests movement brushed it aside once again and called for Macron to step down.
Electric scooter on the A86 - A man has been filmed on an electric scooter on the A86 motorway near Paris travelling at 85km / hour. The scene filmed by another motorist shows the man without protection and no license plate and has led to calls for a new law to be introduced for this new category of vehicle. Five people died and 284 were injured in crashes involving scooters in France in 2017.
Business
The US banking giant Citigroup has blamed recent turmoil on global markets for a surprise drop in revenue.
Citigroup reported a 2 percent drop in 4th quarter revenue to 17.1 billion dollars-short of Wall Street estimates of 17.5 billion.
The bank said that income on its bond trading desks had slumped by 20 percent following fluctuations on financial markets in December.
4th quarter profit rose to 4.2 billion dollars from 3.7 billion a year earlier.
Citigroup is the first of the major US banks to post results this year with JP Morgan,Bank of America and Goldman Sachs all due to issue 4th quarter figures later this week.
Leading executives from the US car industry have called on President Trump to resolve trade disputes and end the government shutdown.
Representatives from the industry meeting at the Detroit Motor Show on Monday said that political uncertainty was costing car makers and is resulting in a slowdown in demand for vehicles across North America this year.
The chief executive of Ford,Bill Ford said that vehicle manufacturers required certainty and that was not being provided at the moment.
Talks between US and Chinese officials in a bid to avoid new tariffs are of major interest to car makers who are also concerned that the new regional trade deal between the US,Canada and Mexico still requires Congressional approval.
And-Chinese exports registered their steepest decline in two years in December according to the latest official trade figures.
Exports fell by 4.4 percent last month compared with a year earlier while imports fell by 7.6 percent.
The data suggests further weakening in the world’s second largest economy and sent markets lower on Monday.
Other data released yesterday showed that China’s trade surplus with the United States reached a record high last year.
Sport
Tennis-Serena Williams has stormed into the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-0 6-2 victory over Tatjana Maria.
The 37 year old took just 49 minutes to see off her opponent and will now play either Eugenie Bouchard or Peng Shuai.
Great Britain’s Johanna Konta is also through to round two following a marathon three set victory over Ajla Tomljanovic.
In the men’s event Kei Nishkori has made it into round two despite losing the first two sets against Kamil Majchrzak.He won the third 6-0 before his opponent retired with an injury in the 4th.
There were also first round wins for Ivo Karlovic,Fabio Fognini and Daniil Medvedev.
Football-Manchester City have closed the gap on English Premier League leaders Liverpool to 4 points following a 3-0 win over Wolves.
The visitors had a man sent off as City cruised to an easy win and kept the pressure up on Liverpool.
There are three FA Cup third round replays tonight in England.Blackburn play Newcastle.Luton Town play Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke play Shrewsbury.
Cricket-Australia are playing India in the second one day international in Adelaide.
The home side won the toss and decided to bat.They’d reached 134-3 after 27 overs.
Rugby Union-The Wales number 8 Taulupe Faletau is set to miss the 6 Nations after breaking his arm.
Faletau suffered a fractured forearm while playing for Bath in October and missed the autumn internationals.He returned to action on Saturday during Bath’s 18-16 win over Wasps but it later emerged that he’d sustained another break.
Weather
Clear skies with light variable winds.
Top temperature 16 degrees.
Overnight lows of 7 degrees on the coast and 5 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.
Wednesday and Thursday-Partially cloudy tomorrow,sunshine and showers on Thursday. Highs of 12-14 degrees.
Finally
Increased use of technology among young people has often been blamed for mental health concerns but scientists have found this to be a myth.
Oxford researchers found less than one percent of an adolescent's wellbeing is associated with technology use.
This, they claim, is comparable to the negative impact of wearing glasses and regularly eating potatoes.
Smoking cannabis and being bullied were found to be significantly worse for an individual's mental state than prolonged screen time.
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