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News Macron - President Macron has addressed the nation to speak about the delta variant and introduce tough new measures to reduce its spread. In a televised address last night, Mr Macron said that vaccination was the key to prevent the spread of the variant and said that it would become mandatory for all health care staff with checks carried out from the start of September. Later, the French Health Secretary Olivier Veran warned that health care staff who did not get vaccinated would not be allowed to work and would not be paid. President Macron also said that an extension of the health pass will be introduced from the 1st of August at establishments where 50 people or more are gathered including bars, restaurants, cinemas and fitness centres. It will also be required for long distance train and bus travel. The President said that France is facing a surge in the epidemic across the country and if we do not act now, the number of cases will increase significantly and will lead to a rise in hospitalisations. He said that there are 9 million vaccine doses available now and urged as many people to take up the offer as soon as possible. Mr Macron also said that although he was not making vaccination compulsory for all French adults, he would consider it if the situation takes a turn for the worst and he concluded that vaccination is “the only path back towards a normal life”. Cannes - Police in Cannes are trying to establish the value of jewellery stolen from the hotel room of the British actor Jodie Turner-Smith. The actor spent two and a half hours in the police station on her last day at the festival trying to describe the stolen jewels and their value. There were no signs of a break in at Ms Turner-Smith’s hotel room where the jewels were reported missing on Friday afternoon. It’s also not been revealed whether the jewellery is the personal property of the actor or whether they’d been loaned by a manufacturer, a common practice at the festival. Today’s competition films are “Ghahreman” or “Hero” by the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, about a man imprisoned for an unpaid debt and his efforts to persuade his creditor to come to an arrangement and the Franco-Belgian movie “Titane” from Julie Ducournau starring Vincent Landon and Agathe Rouselle. After a series of unexplained crimes, a father finds his son again after he’s been missing for ten years. Mandelieu death - Police are still searching for three men who left the scene of a fatal accident on the boulevard des Termes in Mandelieu on Sunday morning. A 32-year-old motorcyclist was killed in the incident after being hit head on by an Italian-registered car at around 6 am. The car was abandoned at the scene and police are asking for assistance from the public in finding the three men who were in the car when the accident happened. Drug driver - A man who crashed an Audi A1 into a chemists in the middle of Nice on Saturday afternoon was driving under the influence of drugs. A woman who was with her two young daughters was seriously injured after being struck by the car. The children were treated for shock but otherwise unharmed. The incident happened at the angle of the avenue Felix Faure and the rue Alberti. Toxicology reports on the driver have come back as positive for a banned substance or substances. He’ll appear before a judge in Nice later today. Alpha Parc - The Alpha wolf park in the Vesubie Valley will open again tomorrow 9 months after being destroyed by Storm Alex. The development comes just a few days after the main road between Saint Martin Vesubie and le Boreon was reopened to traffic in another sign that things are slowly returning to normal in the area following last year’s devastating storm. Bastille Day restrictions - The prefect of the Alpes Maritimes has announced a number of restrictions for the 14th of July Bastille Day celebrations. A ban on the sale and use of fireworks will be in force and the consumption of alcohol in public places will be forbidden from midnight tonight until 6am on the 15th of July. Children under the age of 13 will not be allowed out without an adult during the 14th of July celebrations. Laughing gas ban - The prefect of the Alpes Maritimes has banned the use of nitrous oxide or laughing gas in all public places in the department. The sale of laughing gas to minors is already banned but authorities are becoming increasingly concerned about its popularity among young people. Use of the gas as a stimulant has been associated with causing a public nuisance such as playing music too loud or fighting. Health experts say that repeated use of nitrous oxide can cause problems such as fainting, dizziness, anaemia and psychiatric disorders and there is growing concern about the large numbers of young people who are using it as a stimulant. |
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Business A new report in the United States has found that the Biden administration’s plans to force the rapid uptake of renewable energy would cut greenhouse gas emissions and save hundreds of thousands of lives from air pollution. The report, carried out by a consortium of researchers from Harvard University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Syracuse University found that an 80 percent clean energy goal by the end of the decade would save an estimated 317,500 lives in the US over the next 30 years due to a sharp reduction in air pollution from the burning of coal, oil and gas. Any move to massively scale up the use of renewables would require utility firms to increase the amount of clean energy that they use through a system of incentives and penalties. In addition, a total of 1.13 trillion dollars in health savings due to cleaner air would be achieved between now and 2050 with air quality improvements and every state would benefit. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD has said that the growth-cycle outlook for the world’s leading economies i |
