Lunchtime News Tuesday 1st September 2020

Local 

Accident - An 18 year old motorcyclist has been seriously injured in a road accident this morning on the RD562 in Montauroux, in the Var. The exact circumstance of the collision between a car and the motorcycle remain to be determined. The victim was air lifted to hospital and an investigation has been opened.

Accident - Traffic has been disrupted on the A8 motorway after an accident at the Saint-Isidore pay toll. The accident occurred shortly after 7.50am this morning eastbound, causing delays with traffic reduced to one lane.

Special teaching unit opens in Mougins – Much to the delight of the local council and support from the Mayor a nursery school for autistic children opens its doors in Mougins today. The Saint-Martin-en-Forêt school will host a special teaching unit for autistic children. There is currently only one structure of this type in Nice.

The specialized establishment in partnership with the National Education and the City will today welcome seven children aged 3.

Yacht confined to port in Monaco - The 90-meter yacht Lionheart owned by Lady Tina Green, has been confined to Port Hercules in Monaco after two positive cases were detected among the crew members. New PCR tests which were carried out on Monday have since come back negative.

Fourteen yachts have been confined by the Monegasque authorities since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. Either because they came from an area deemed to be at risk, or because positive cases were declared on board.

National 

Possible alternative to a vaccination against Covid-19 - A team of French researchers have announced that they have come up with a possible alternative to a vaccination against Covid-19 which could possibly be in the form of a nasal spray and may be ready by the end of the year.

Professor Philippe Karoyan, from the Laboratoire des Biomolécules (LBM) at the Sorbonne Univeristy in Paris said that it is “now up to governments and/or pharmaceutical companies to put money into it to take it to the next level of testing”.

The research team, headed by Professor Karoyan, has spent 18 hours a day, every day, for the past five months working on this alternative remedy.

Charlie Hebdo trial - The trial for the January 2015 attacks on French  magazine Charlie Hebdo, opens in a Paris court on Wednesday, after more than five years of investigations and delays due to the coronavirus epidemic.

In what is set to be a landmark trial for France, 14 defendants face a variety of charges related to helping perpetrators carry out attacks that killed 17 peoiple  over three days in January 2015.

Brexit - France has accused Britain of deliberately stalling post-Brexit trade deal negotiations and having unreasonable expectations. Speaking to his nation’s ambassadors. On Monday French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: ‘Negotiations are not advancing because of the intransigent and unrealistic attitude of the United Kingdom.’ 

Following the comments EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will travel to London today  for unscheduled talks with David Frost in a bid to break the deadlock.

The ‘informal’ discussions are expected to focus on state aid rules and fishing rights, the two issues that have emerged as the biggest barriers to a deal. 

 

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