Lunchtime News Monday 11th January 2021

News 

Road accident - A 20-year-old man has been killed on his scooter, in a road accident in Nice. The accident occurred in the Liautaud tunnel on Sunday shortly after 10pm. The cause of the accident remains to be determined.

Trains disrupted - The region’s rail network has been heavily disrupted this morning after a man was hit by a train at Cannes La Bocca. The incident occurred shortly after 5am this morning leading to trains being halted in both directions as emergency services intervened. The victim a man in his fifties was declared dead at the scene. An investigation has been launched into the cause of the accident.

Residents in Nice want a lasting solution - Residents of the Rue Trachel in Nice have asked for a concrete and a lasting solution from the town council, concerning what has become a “zone of lawlessness”. The street situated not far from the city centre has a history of problems with drug trafficking. Police had only recently raided the neighbourhood as part of a security operation but, for residents the situation is not getting any better.

6pm curfew extended to other departments - France has extended its early-evening Covid curfew to a further eight departments, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the measures were “tough but necessary”. The eight new departments were subject to an earlier curfew as of 6pm on Sunday including the Bouches-du-Rhone, the Vaucluse and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Two additional departments, the Drome and the Var, were later added to the list and will start the curfew, from tomorrow Tuesday 12th January. 

Meanwhile the French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said on French radio this morning that "At this stage, there is no planned lockdown but that the government are monitoring the situation carefully."

Finance Minister to request that banks postpone repayment of State guaranteed loan - France’s minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire has announced that he will ask banks to "defer the repayment of the State guaranteed loan from March 1st, 2021 to March 1st, 2022". Speaking on French media this morning he explained that the request will concern "all those sectors most in difficulty: such as hotels, restaurants and perhaps also the world of culture, the sport".

The Minister will make the request to the French Banking Federation during a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 12th. Bruno Le Maire also said that he is "convinced that in the second part of the year 2021, the French economy will rebound and that it will rebound strongly. Even if there are difficult weeks ahead of us, because of the health crisis". The Minister recalls that the State "will continue to support the economy and businesses and calls on the French not to let themselves be "locked into the pessimism that everything will get worse and worse".

French journalist Georges Pernoud dies at the age of 73 - French journalist and emblematic figure of the television series Thalassa on France 3 Georges Pernoud, has died at the age of 73 in Paris. Pernoud was the creator of the famous magazine programme dedicated to the sea which he had started in Marseille in 1975. He passed away in hospital in Paris following a long illness.  

Christmas lottery - The winner of the French lottery on December 25th is still to come forward. The Christmas lottery jackpot of 19 million euros is still to be claimed after the ticket, with the winning numbers 15 30 33 35 48 and the lucky number 5 was registered in the Isère. The lucky winner has 120 days to claim the winnings.