Local
Motorist killed in road accident - A motorist has died on the region’s roads this morning following an accident on the RN98 in Gassin, in the Var. The accident occurred shortly after 5am when two vehicles were involved in a head on collision. The road was temporarily closed in both directions, reopening just before 6am. Police have launched an investigation.
Traffic – Meanwhile, traffic has been completely paralyzed on the Promenade des Anglais due to works being carried out. Tuesday evening saw long queues as motorists were left at a standstill for up to 40 minutes. Renovation work on the Prom started in 2016 and is scheduled to end by September this year. Restrictions were put in place on Tuesday and will remain until July 11th with the Prom being closed every other night from 9pm to 6am. Meanwhile traffic was disrupted between Ventimiglia and La Turbie due to road works and an accident on the A8 on Tuesday morning caused delays during the morning rush hour.
Begging banned in Nice - The anti-begging measure introduced by the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has been reintroduced. From May 1st to September 30th from 9am to 2am it is forbidden to beg in certain areas of the city. Last summer saw 160 fines issued. This summer the ban has been extended and will see fines of up to 38 euros.
Noise prevention in Nice - The city council of Nice has launched its third noise prevention plan. Around fifty sensors are scattered all over the city making it possible to record the level of noise emitted. The challenge is to reduce noise pollution that still affects 5% of the inhabitants of Nice. Daily readings show that the Promenade des Anglais and its 80,000 vehicles per day represent 72 decibels on average compared to the 68 recommended by the European standards.
Heritage Lotto - The list of monuments in France selected for the this year’s edition of the Heritage Lotto has been announced and out of the 121 sites selected 7 are located in the Provence Alpes Cotes d’Azur region including the only windmill in the Alpes Maritimes located at Berre-les-Alpes. The mill has been part of the landscape of Berre-les-Alpes since the middle Ages and is placed at the foot of a cliff with only the tower remaining. Nearly 350,000 euros are needed for the renovation work. The draw for the restoration of the monuments will take place on July 14th with the Francaise de Jeux launching two scratch cards in September. The demand was made by a dynamic association is Berre-les-Alpes - "The wings of Berre".
National
Prison hostage - Two guards which had been taken hostages at the Condé-sur-Sarthe prison have been released. An inmate, took hostage a supervisor and a trainee under the threat of a homemade weapon on Tuesday evening. The detainee was allegedly acting on a request to be transferred in order to be closer to his family.
Health service strike - Emergency room doctors and nurses have protested outside the French health ministry amid strikes at dozens of hospitals across the country on Tuesday. In the past three months, over 50 hospital emergency rooms across France have held strike action with doctors and health workers complaining of funding cuts, a government reduction in the number of beds and a serious lack of medical staff leading to dire working conditions for emergency room staff.
Investigation - French police have dismantled a cell of neo-Nazis who were allegedly plotting attacks on Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques. Five members of an alleged neo-Nazi group were charged between September and May over a plot, but no specific targets or motives were given. Anti-terrorism agents took over the case in 2019 and charged the five with terror offenses. Their alleged crimes include participation in a terrorist conspiracy and fabricating and transporting explosive devices. France has been the target of a number of terrorist attacks since 7 January 2015, when the Charlie Hebdo massacre killed 12 in Paris.
New tree for Trump - French president Emmanuel Macron has said that he will send American leader Donald Trump a new tree. The death of an oak tree he planted with US president Donald Trump last year, has prompted comparisons with the difficult relationship the two leaders have had since the visit. The two men celebrated the special relationship between the United States and France during Macron’s state visit in April 2018 to Washington by planting the oak on the grounds of the White House.
Business
The survival of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire is described as being on a “knife edge” this morning ahead of a crucial vote by landlords and other creditors.
Last week ,a vote on Sir Philip’s proposals to cut rents was postponed after some landlords including the shopping centre owner Intu refused to back them.
Media reports suggest that Intu is now planning to vote against the rescue plans which could tip Arcadia into administration and threaten some 20,000 jobs.
In May ,Arcadia revealed that it was facing “serious liquidity issues” and Sir Philip has proposed implementing a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to renegotiate terms with creditors as part of an insolvency procedure.
However, for the plan to go ahead ,creditors and landlords have to approve 7 different CVA’s as Arcadia’s firms which include Topshop ,Miss Selfridge ,Burton and Dorothy Perkins are interlinked.
Ten US states including New York and California have filed a lawsuit to stop T-Mobile’s 26 billion dollar takeover of Sprint after warning that consumers will be hit by increased prices due to reduced competition.
The lawsuit was filed as the US Justice Department is nearing a final decision on the merger which would reduce the number of countrywide wireless providers from four to three.
The ten US states say that the merger and resulting reduced competition would cost consumers more than 4.5 billion dollars annually.
T-Mobile which is owned by Deutsche Telecom and Sprint which is owned by Japan’s Softbank have so far made no comment.
And-Shares in the fashion house Ted Baker have plunged by more than a quarter after the firm said that profits would fall short of expectations.
More than 150 million pounds was wiped off the value of the firm as investors sold shares in response to the profit warning.
Ted Baker has blamed “extremely difficult trading conditions” for the lower than expected earnings.
It’s the latest setback for the company after its founder Ray Kelvin left in March following harassment allegations.
Sport
AEROPORT DE NICE –QATAR AIRWAYS FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP REPORT.
There were three games on Tuesday with the United States recording the biggest ever win in the history of the tournament with a 13-0 hammering of Thailand in Group F.
The other Group F game ended Sweden 2 Chile 0.The players were forced off the pitch for 40 minutes in the second half in Rennes during a torrential rain and thunderstorm.Both the goals came after the break.
Earlier in Group E The Netherlands beat New Zealand 1-0.
There are three games today.In Group A Nigeria play South Korea and the hosts France play Norway at the Stade Allianz Riviera in Nice at 9pm.
In Group B Germany play Spain at 6pm.
In men’s football-European Championship qualifying has been continuing.
Northern Ireland recorded their 4th straight win with a 1-0 win in Belarus but Scotland couldn’t cope with Belgium and went down 3-0.
Wales lost 1-0 in Hungary while France were 4-0 winners in Andorra.
The biggest win of the night came in Munich where Germany thrashed Estonia 8-0 in Group C.
Cricket-The weather ruined yet another game in the World Cup on Tuesday as Bangladesh’s match against Sri Lanka in Bristol was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Three matches in the tournament have now been lost to the weather-a record for the competition.
Australia are due to play Pakistan in Taunton today.The weather is expected to be cloudy and cool but no rain is forecast.Play starts at 11.30.
Golf-Tiger Woods has said that he hopes to have “another ten years”to win majors ahead of the US Open that starts at Pebble Beach ,California tomorrow.
The 43 year old claimed his 15th major at the US Masters in April following an 11 year drought.
He says that the trick will be to keep himself healthy and strong enough given his injury problems over the past few years.
He last won the US Open in 2000 by a massive 15 shot margin.
Weather
Mainly fine with light ,variable winds and highs of 23-26 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 17 degrees on the coast and 13 degrees inland with clear skies.
Thursday and Friday-Mainly fine with highs of 23-26 degrees tomorrow and 29-31 degrees on Friday.
Finally
Humans aren't the only species whose mental state is affected when they lose their lover.
A new study has found that female cichlids, a type of monogamous fish that primarily dwells in South America, become depressed and lovesick when their mate is removed and they're placed with a non-preferred male partner.
Researchers came to this conclusion after the female fish took longer to investigate boxes that either contained food or were empty, demonstrating symptoms of apathy.
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