Local
Natural disaster recognised in the Var - Several towns in the Var have been verified as being in a state of natural disaster following the drought in 2017. The extremely dry conditions led to land slips and subsidence in many areas. The list was published on October 20th in the Official Journal. Those concerned now have up to ten days to submit their claims to their insurance company.
Traders speak out about threats from gangs - Traders in Old Nice on the Rue Rossetti have expressed their concern at a wave of gang rivalry and drug related offences in the area. Some have spoken to the local press of dealer gangs claiming their “territory” with threats to local businesses. Earlier this month a violent fight broke out in front terraces packed with tourists. Many business owners fear reprisals for speaking out but have appealed for action to be taken.
The French Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity, François de Rugy, has visited the Var to assess the environmental impact of the ship collision off Corsica. The minister inspected the oil pollution at the Pampelonne beach in St Tropez before going to the port of Cavalaire. He later went to the island of Porquerolles and inspected a ship equipped with anti-pollution nets which has been operating off the coast of the Var. The Maritime Prefecture has said that ten communities and thirty seven beaches in the Var have been affected by oil from the incident. One hundred and fifty people are involved in the beach clean-up. In addition, fifty people from a specialist company began clean-up operations on the Pampelonne beach in Saint-Tropez on Tuesday.
Fly furniture stores in Nice to close - The furniture store “Fly” has announced the closure of its stores in Riquier and Saint-Isidore. 23 out of the 54 stores in France are due to close after the group was placed in receivership and taken over by a discount brand. Stock will be liquidated but the group says the transition, which will lead to a name change, will not affect employees.
It’s been announced that the Red Bull Air Race will return to the skies over Cannes in 2020. The first race in France was held in Cannes in April this year. The mayor of Cannes said that the event must be financed privately as it is being staged without public assistance.
National
Former French minister goes on trial - The former French minister Georges Tron has gone on trial accused of raping and sexually assaulting female staff at the town hall in Draveil, south of Paris, where he is mayor. Two former town hall employees allege Tron made them submit to foot massages that turned into rape and sexual assault. Tron, who told the court on Tuesday that he was “totally innocent”, was forced to resign from his junior cabinet post under Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011.
Burqa ban - The UN Human Rights Committee has criticised France's so-called burqa ban, saying the law "violated" the rights of two women who were fined for wearing full-face veils in public. The committee called for the women to be compensated and for a review of the 2010 law that forbids people from publicly wearing clothing that conceals their face. It added that it was not convinced by France's claim that the ban was necessary for security and social reasons.
Lion cub found in Paris apartment - A 30-year-old man has been arrested after a lion cub was discovered in an apartment in Paris. According to French media, police were alerted after the suspect tried to sell the six-week-old female for €10,000. The animal is said to be in good health and has been handed to wildlife authorities.
Anti-spasm drug to treat alcoholism - French health authorities have approved the use of a muscle relaxant to help treat people addicted to alcohol. Critics of the drug says its use to treat alcoholism has not been sufficiently proven, with some questioning the wisdom of trying to stop dependence on a product by replacing it with a pill. But a French drug oversight agency said last year that drug had shown "clinical benefits in some patients". In its trial with 132 heavy drinkers, it found that 80 percent either became abstinent or turned into moderate drinkers.
Business
The European Union has told Italy to revise its budget after saying that its concerned about the impact of higher spending on the already high debt levels in the eurozone’s third largest economy.
The Italian government has pledged to push ahead with its plans which include promises of a minimum income for the unemployed ,tax cuts and scrapping extensions to the retirement age.
Italy now has three weeks to submit a revised draft budget to Brussels or could face fines for exceeding debt limits.
The European Commission said that the first budget draft represented a “particularly serious non-compliance” with its recommendations.
The UK National Audit Office has said that Britain will “pay the price” of a no deal Brexit because complicated new border controls may not be ready in time.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday,the NAO said that thousands of UK exporters will not have time to prepare for new border rules and that criminals could exploit any border weaknesses and that queues and delays were likely at crossings.
In response the British government said that it was confident of striking a “good deal” with the EU for as “frictionless” trade as possible.
The National Audit Office acknowledged that the government had made “some progress” on preparing for the possibility of a hard Brexit but had openly admitted that the border would be “sub-optimal” of there is no deal with the EU on the 29th of March 2019.
And-President Trump has intensified his attacks on the US Federal Reserve after saying that it poses the biggest risk to the economy.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal,Mr Trump said that he thought that interest rates were being raised too quickly and that the Fed chair Jerome Powell looked like he was “happy” to be increasing borrowing costs.
He also said that it was “too early to say” whether he regretted nominating Mr Powell but “maybe” he did.
The US Federal Reserve has been gradually increasing rates since 2015 and maintains that the economy is strong enough to handle the measures.
Sport
Football-Christiano Ronaldo was on the winning side as Juventus beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford in Group H of the European Champions League last night.
Dybala scored the only goal of the game on 17 minutes to put Juventus top of the group with United hanging on to second spot mainly because Young Boys and Valencia could only manage a 1-1 draw in the other group game.
In Group F Manchester City were 3-0 winners at Shakhtar Dontesk with the other game ending Hoffenheim 3 Lyon 3.City top the group with 6 points with Lyon in second on 5.
In the other games last night in Group E AEK Athens lost 2-0 at home to Bayern Munich while Ajax beat Benfica 1-0.
In Group G Real Madrid were 2-1 winners over Viktoria Plzen and Roma beat CSKA Moscow 3-0.
There are 8 more games tonight.In Group A Club Brugge play Monaco and Borussia Dortmund face Athletico Madrid.
In Group B PSV play Spurs and its Barcelona against Inter Milan.
Group C pairs Liverpool against Crvena Zvezda and PSG against Napoli while in Group D Galatasaray play Schalke and Lokomotiv Moscow face Porto.
There were 7 games in the English Championship last night.Birmingham beat Reading 2-1.Middlesbrough and Rotherham drew 0-0.Millwall were 2-1 winners over Wigan.Norwich beat Aston Villa 2-1.QPR were 3-0 winners over Sheffield Wednesday.Sheffield United and Stoke drew 1-1 and Swansea beat Blackburn 3-1.
Cricket-England fell to their heaviest ever one day international defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka on Tuesday as the lost the fifth and final match by 219 runs under the Duckworth Lewis Method.
Sri Lanka batted first and made 366-6 from their 50 overs.
England had slumped to 132-9 in just 26.1 overs when the heavens opened and no further play was possible.
England win the series 3-1.
Rugby Union-The next three English domestic seasons will be extended and will also include in-season breaks with players limited to a maximum of 35 matches per season.
The measures are designed to protect players during a demanding schedule that will include the 2019 World Cup and the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.
Tennis-The defending champion Caroline Wozniacki has beaten Petra Kvitova for the first time in 4 years at the season ending WTA Finals in Singapore.
Wozniacki came through in three sets despite needing treatment on her knee in the second set.
The other White Group game ended with Elina Svitolina beating Karolina Pliskova 6-3 2-6 6-3.
Weather
Clear skies with light variable winds.
Top temperature 23-25 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 17 degrees on the coast and 10 degrees inland with clear skies.
Thursday and Friday-Clear skies tomorrow with highs of 22-24 degrees.A bit more cloudy on Friday and cooler with highs of 21-22 degrees.
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