The French terrorism prosecutor has said that the man alleged to have carried out the knife attack near the former Charlie Hebdo premises in Paris was "completely unknown" to the intelligence services. In a press conference this afternoon Jean-Francois Ricard said that the suspect had said he was angry after the republication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad by Charlie Hebdo and thought that his victims worked at the magazine. Two people were seriously injured in the attack last Friday.
French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly has announced that a badly damaged nuclear submarine will be moved from Toulon to Cherbourg. The Pearle was damaged by a fire in June which lasted more than twelve hours. Once the submarine has arrived in Cherbourg a decision will be made on whether to scrap the vessel.
A municipality in the Bouches-du-Rhone has closed all its schools because of an outbreak of covid-19 amongst school maintainence staff. The schools in Cuges-les-Pins, near La Ciotat are expected to reopen later this week after disinfection of the facilities has been carried out.
Traffic was disrupted in this morning's rush hour near Hyeres in the Var. A heavy goods vehicle belonging to the army left the road and became lodged in a ditch on the RD12, the route de Pierrefeu. Diversions were put in place.
At the end of the summer season, the mayor of Antibes, Jean Leonetti, has paid tribute to the work done by local firefighters in saving the lives of swimmers at the municipality's beaches. He said that the 50 firefighters had intervened in around twenty early drownings and had saved four heart attack victims.
Another event in our region has been postponed because of the coronavirus situation. Organizers of "Autour du Vin et des Terroirs" said that they had decided to postpone the event to a later date given the fact that the Var is in a French government coronavirus "alert" zone. The event had been scheduled to take place in Draguignan on the 17 and 18 October.
A new fully digital nuclear medicine department has been inaugurated at the Princesse Grace Hospital in Monaco. The investment, totaling 8.2 million euros, was supported by the Monaco government but also by private donations paid by the Tabor Foundation to the Fondation des Amis du CHPG. For patients all nuclear medicine explorations are now being offered with “Full Digital” support thanks to a nuclear cardiology unit and two new latest generation PET units.
The famous Pampelonne beach in the Var is being prepared for winter. The municipality of Ramatuelle says that storms and the violence of the waves have made it necessary to remove the access mats to the sea for people with reduced mobility. However, access is being retained for the moment, at one place near the Patch sector first aid station, which will remain in place until the station closes on October 11.
Meteo France have warned of storms affecting France at the end of this week. They say that a first depression will reach the north-west of the country from Thursday night to Friday, causing strong gales towards Brittany and the Pays de Loire. Heavy rain is expected in many areas, including the Cote d'Azur, during Friday. The weekend may also see high winds and rain, with thunderstorms still possible in some areas.
BUSINESS
Nokia has agreed a deal with BT to provide base stations and antennas for EE's 5G network. The deal will also see Nokia replace Huawei in BT's 2G and 4G networks. The UK government has banned mobile operators from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and has mandated removal of all Huawei 5G equipment from their networks by 2027.
Mortgage approvals in the UK rose sharply in August. 84,700 mortgages were approved in the month, which is they highest level since 2007. 66,000 mortgages were approved in July.
Shares in UK bakery retailer Greggs fell earlier today after it revealed that like-for-like sales in the three months to 26 September have averaged only about 71% of the levels recorded in the same period last year. However, the company still plans to open a net 20 new shops this year and has rolled out a "cick and collect" service to all its existing stores.
New data suggests that economic sentiment in the Eurozone improved in September. The survey by the European Commission recorded a figure of 91.1 in the month, up from 87.5 in August. It's the fifth consecutive month that sentiment has improved in the Eurozone, but it is still at a lower level than before the pandemic.
SPORT
Football...West Brom have signed another season-long loan deal for Filip Krovinovic with Spanish club Benfica. He made 40 appearances for West Brom last season and scored three goals.
Tennis.... Second seed Karolina Pliskova has beaten Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif at the French Open today. The final score was 6-7 6-2 6-4. Meanwhile, in the mens singles Chilean player Cristian Garín beat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber by 3 sets to 1 to go through to the second round.
Motorsports... Michael Schumacher's son Mick Schumacher is one of three Ferrari academy drivers who will be given Formula 1 race weekend debuts. The other two drivers are Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman. Schumacher will drive in the first practice session at the Eifel Grand Prix on 9 October.
Rugby Union... Scotland have named Ryan Fraser and Ryan Porteous in the squad which will play Israel in the Euro 2020 play-off semi final. Scotland are also set to play Nations League matches against Slovakia and the Czech Republic in October.
Cricket... England's womens team will travel to New Zealand for a series of matches in February and March. However, the format of the tour hasn't yet been announced.
The post-mortem will take place next Monday for a 33-year-old man whose body was recently found in the Var after being missing for more than a month....
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French scientists have been developing technological tools for the past four years to help athletes optimize their training for the Paris 2024 Olympic...
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Nice airport says as many as 60% of flights will be cancelled tomorrow due to a nationwide strike by air traffic controllers....
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After eight months of work and several sea trials, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has begun a six-week operation in the Mediterranean, ...
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A group of experts have come up with more than 150 recommendations for how Nice can deal with the increasing effects of climate change....
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