A third case of the Zika virus has been identified in Hyères. The latest person to be infected lives within a radius of just 90 metres from the initial outbreak. The outbreak took place in August and is now over, but is only now being revealed as health authorities seek to understand the spread of the virus. They are aiming to take blood samples from residents in the immediate vicinity of the outbreak and local information meetings are planned for the 14th and 15th of November.
A 21 year old man from Nigeria has been sentenced to two years in prison for drugs smuggling. He had been apprehended by customs officers in Nice on a train in September. He was found to have ingested 115 bags of cocaine and heroin.
The head of the SNCF, Guillaume Pepy, has this morning confirmed that employees will not be paid during strike action. Discussions with unions about working conditions and hours are continuing but M. Pepy confirmed that one claim which would not be met was the renumeration of employees for strike days.
A 32 year old man from Albania has been convicted of committing burglaries in the Nice area. He had already been sentenced several times by courts in Nice in the past and had been banned from France. On this occasion, he was sentence to two years in prison and was banned from France again, for a period of five years.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is visiting Nice today. He is expected to attend a meeting of the Assembly of Communities of France this evening.
About twenty people were evacuated from a building in Cannes because of a fire last night. A launderette on the ground floor of the building in Boulevard du Riou caught fire but no injuries were reported.
There's been another incident of violence against staff at the emergency room of the Pasteur 2 hospital in Nice. A patient reportedly attempted to strangle an intern at the weekend. Security staff were called and the patient was sedated.
The mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, has called for the alleged perpetrators of an attack in Cannes to be expelled from France, along with their victim. Several people were arrested in connection with an attack on a man with a hammer near the Forville market on the 22nd of October. The men, who are reportedly in an irregular immigration situation, have not yet stood trial - their trial is scheduled for the 2nd of December.
A motorcyclist has been caught doing 235 km per hour on the A8 motorway. The speed limit in the area near St Maximin where he was caught is 130 km per hour. According to reports, he was driving without insurance or a valid licence. His bike has been impounded.
French Minister Julien Denormandie has announced that the government plans to open an additional 14,000 temporary places for the homeless. Speaking to French media this morning he added that while “some of the places would be temporary during the winter months, others would be permanent”.
A reminder that train services in the area between Nice and Marseille will be severely disrupted from tomorrow until Sunday. Trains originating in Nice will terminate in Toulon. For those passengers boarding in Hyeres or Toulon, trains will terminate in Aubagne. There will be no trains between Aubagne and Marseille. Travelers are advised to postpone their train journey or use another mode of transport.
BUSINESS
Two of the world's largest carmakers are discussing the possibility of a merger. PSA Group, the French owner of Peugeot, said that it is exploring a merger with Fiat Chrysler. This is Fiat Chrysler's second attempt at a merger this year after it pulled out of an agreement with Renault in June. Discussions are in their early stages and there is no guarantee of a deal.
Facebook has decided not to pursue an appeal against a £500,000 fine imposed by the UK's data protection watchdog in connection with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Information Commissioner's Office had argued that Facebook didn't do enough to protect UK users' information. Facebook has made no admission of liability.
Japanese media company Nikkei may have lost $29m in an alleged fraud involving international transfers of money from its US subsidiary. In a statement, Nikkei said it believed the transfers took place in late September and were based on “fraudulent instructions by a malicious third party who purported to be a management executive of Nikkei”. The matter is under investigation by the FBI and Nikkei said that it was "taking immediate measures to preserve and recover the funds."
Boris Johnson's Brexit deal will leave the UK £70bn worse off than if it had remained in the EU, that's according to a new study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. It concluded that GDP would be 3.5% lower in 10 years' time under the deal. However, the Treasury said it plans what it called a 'more ambitious' agreement with the EU than the one that the organization "is basing its findings on".
The passport and banknote maker De La Rue has issued its second profit warning in five months, after losing out on the government's contract to make new blue UK passports after Brexit. It has said profits will be "significantly lower than market expectations".
Airbus has cut its full-year delivery goal for commercial jets, as it struggles with production delays at a newly expanded German plant. Airbus said that it now expects to deliver "around 860" airliners in 2019 instead of the 880-890 previously envisaged.
SPORT
Tennis... Defending champion Elina Svitolina has beaten Simona Halep to secure a place in the semi-finals of the 2019 WTA Finals in China. The Ukrainian world number eight won 7-5 6-3.
Roger Federer has withdrawn from the inaugural ATP Cup in January for "family reasons". The decision means that Switzerland no longer qualify for the event. Switzerland had been drawn in the same group as Great Britain, who qualified after Andy Murray confirmed his entry. An extra team will now qualify for the event, which runs from 3rd to 11th of January next year.
Athletics... The International Olympic Committee has said that the people of Tokyo deserve to be "fully briefed" on why two events have been moved to a different city for next year's Olympic games. The IOC's coordination commission chief John Coates made the comment at the start of a three-day meeting in Tokyo. The IOC has moved the marathon and race walking to Sapporo because of concerns over the summer heat but the governor of Tokyo is against the decision.
Football… Celtic and Lazio have been charged by Uefa after supporters sang what are being referred to as "illicit chants" in their Europa League game last week. The chants were not racist, but related to the use of obscene language. Celtic have also been charged after fans displayed "illicit banners" at the match. The cases will be heard by Uefa's control, ethics and disciplinary body on 21 November.
Cricket...Scotland have secured a place at the T20 World Cup with a 90-run win over hosts United Arab Emirates in their play-off in Dubai. The UAE fell to 108 all out chasing Scotland's 198-6.
Australian Lisa Keightley has been appointed as the first full-time female head coach of the England women's cricket team. The 48-year-old previously coached Australia women and is a former head coach of England Women's Academy.
MA NOLAN'S RUGBY WORLD CUP REPORT
England have been fined for crossing the halfway line as the lined up in a V formation to face the haka before the World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand last Saturday.
World Rugby rules stipulate that teams must remain in their own half of the pitch when facing the challenge.
The referee Nigel Owens and his team had to usher several England players back after they strayed over the halfway line.
World Rugby said that England had breached tournament rules relating to “cultural challenges”.
With all eyes on Saturday’s World Cup final between England and South Africa ,the matter of the bronze medal game between Wales and New Zealand shouldn’t be ignored which is being played on Friday.
The Wales coach Warren Gatland who’s taking charge of his last game has made 9 changes to the side that lost to South Africa in the semi-final.
Gatland has kept a core of experienced players in the side with Alun Wyn Jones captaining the team again in his 134th appearance for Wales
Wales haven’t beaten New Zealand since 1953 and they’ve lost all 11 games against them since Gatland took charge in 2007.
Gatland is returning home to New Zealand after the World Cup to coach the Chiefs.
The Côte d'Azur is on alert for a surge in imported cases of dengue fever. Since the beginning of 2024, a record 1,679 imported cases have been record...
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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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