Local
Missing person - Police have launched a missing person appeal following the disappearance of 49-year-old Patrice Cottais from Cannes. Mr Cottais was last seen on Christmas morning. Described as having short brown hair a beard and blue eyes, his family has called for anyone who may have seen him to contact police in Cannes on 04.93.06.21.43.
Investigation into death of 20-year-old who fell from 4th floor - Police have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 20-year-old man after he fell from the 4th floor of an apartment block in Nice on Sunday morning. Emergency services intervened shortly after 11am on Sunday on Rue Valperga but were unable to revive the victim who was declared dead at the scene.
Body found in park in Mougins – At a press conference on Sunday prosecutors in Grasse have announced that the body of a 37-year-old woman found partially burnt in the Valmasque park near Mougins on Christmas day has been identified as a prostitute. A 28-year-old man has been arrested and placed in police custody after admitting to having “strangled” the victim. An autopsy is to be carried out today as the criminal investigation continues.
Skiers stranded on chairlift - A hundred skiers have been left stranded on a ski lift for nearly two hours after it broke down in the ski resort of Serre Chevalier in the Hautes-Alpes. The incident occurred shortly after 3pm on Sunday. Mountain rescue workers managed to evacuate the chairlift. According to authorities at the resort the incident was caused by a “mechanical breakdown”
Strike action - Trains continue to be disrupted in the region as strike action against the pension reform enters its 26th day. In the Var and the Alpes Maritimes only 4 out of 10 regional trains will be running.
President spends festive period in the Var - The President of the Republic and his wife, Brigitte Macron, who have been staying at Fort de Brégançon in the Var over the Christmas holidays have been spotted walking around the village of Collobrières in the Var and even stopping to purchase local products from businesses in the village. On Saturday afternoon they went on to visit the island of Port Cros.
National
Income tax - Emmanuel Macron has announced a total of 27 billion euros in tax cuts for households in France during his time in office, including 5 billion in income tax from 2020. The government announced the tax relief aimed to help the middle classes with the government lowering the threshold for entry into the tax bracket to 30%. Announced by the Ministry of Finance the average gain is 350 euros for 12.2 million households belonging to the first tranche of the tax scale which ranges from 9,964 € to 25,405 € in annual income.
Most popular celebrities for the French - The French singer songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman and French actress Sophie Marceau have been ranked as the most popular celebrities by the French. In the ranking published on Sunday actors Omar Sy and Dany Boon appeared in the top ten however no politicians were present in the list.
Business
The outgoing governor of the Bank of England has said that the world will face irreversible heating unless firms shift their priorities soon.
In an interview with the BBC ,Mark Carney said that the financial sector had started to curb investment in fossil fuels but the change was not happening quickly enough.
He said that according to leading pension fund analysis , “if you add up all the policies of all the companies out there , they are consistent with warming of between 3.7 and 3.8 degrees Celsius”.
He warned that the rise of almost 4 degrees was far above the 1.5 degrees that people say that they want and that governments are demanding.
Mr Carney is leaving the Bank of England to start a new role as UN special envoy for climate action and finance in January.
He said that the concern is whether we will spend another decade doing wortjy things but not enough and we will blow through the 1.5 degrees mark very quickly.
China’s Commerce Ministry says that it has “proactively dealt” with trade frictions with the United States this year.
In a statement issued on Sunday ,the Ministry said that it had implemented the decisions of central government and “resolutely safeguarded” the interests of the Chinese people and the country.
China and the US cooled their 17 month old trade war earlier this month after announcing a “phase 1” deal that would reduce some tariffs in exchange for an increase in purchases of farm goods and other products.
The Ministry said that it was in close contact with the United States and that both sides are going through the necessary procedures before signing the deal.
And-Analysis from the UK Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has found that 140,000 high street jobs have been lost this year as a result of store closures and business failures.
The CRR says that the data makes 2019 one of the most challenging years for high street retailers in a generation.
The report predicts that the situation will worsen in 2020 unless the government intervenes by lowering business rates and other charges.
The CRR’s director Professor Joshua Bamfield said that retail was in crisis owning to high costs ,low levels of profitability and sales moving online.
More than 16,000 shops have closed in the UK this year at a rate of 61 a day.
One pound out of every five pounds spent in the sector is now online -more than double the level at the start of the decade.
Sport
Football-David Moyes has been appointed as West Ham manager following the sacking of Manuel Pellegrini.
The 55 year old Scot has signed an 18 month deal and will take charge of West Ham’s New Year’s Day game against Bournemouth.
Pellegrini was sacked following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Leicester.
Moyes joins the club for a second time after having saved them from relegation at the end of the 2017-18 season.
There were three games in the English Premier League on Sunday.Liverpool maintained their 13 point lead at the top of the table thanks to a hard fought 1-0 win over Wolves while Manchester City beat Sheffield United 2-0 and Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea.
In the Scottish Premiership Rangers won at Celtic Park for the first time in 10 years with a 2-1 win in the old firm derby which narrows the gap on the leaders to 2 points.
Hearts and Aberdeen drew 1-1.Livingston beat Hibs 2-0.Hamilton were 2-1 winners at Motherwell.St Johnstone and Ross County drew 1-1 and St Mirren beat Kilmarnock 1-0.
In the English Championship on Sunday Leeds went back to the top of the table following a 5-4 ding-dong win at Birmingham while second placed West Brom lost 2-0 at home to Middlesbrough.
In the other results Bristol City beat Luton 3-0.Fulham beat Stoke 1-0.Huddersfield beat Blackburn 2-1.Millwall beat Brentford 1-0.Nottingham Forest beat Wigan 1-0.Preston lost 2-0 at home to Reading.QPR went down 2-1 at home to Hull.Sheffield Wednesday lost 2-1 at home to Cardiff and Swansea and Barnsley drew 0-0.
Cricket-South Africa have beaten England by 107 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four match Test series.
England were bowled out for 268 in their second innings on day 4 while attempting to reach an improbable 376 for victory.
The second Test starts in Cape Town on Friday.
Rugby Union-There was one game in the Gallagher Premiership in England on Sunday.Exeter beat Saracens 14-7.
Tennis-Andy Murray says that he’s “gutted” to be missing the Australian Open next month after pulling out through injury.
The three time Grand Slam champion was hoping to play in his first Major singles event in 12 months but he’s struggling with a pelvic injury and says that he won’t risk it.
Weather
Mainly fine with light variable or westerly winds.
Top temperature 14 degrees.
Overnight lows of 7 degrees on the coast and 3 degrees inland with a touch of ground frost in places.
New Years Eve and New Years Day-Clear skies with highs of 13-15 degrees.
Finally
According to a recent study a rising number of dogs, cats and even rabbits are being treated for mental health problems.
Pet insurance firms have seen soaring claims for tackling psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorders.
Payouts to treat the problems have hit £750,000 this year, a 50 per cent rise on 2018, according to The Sunday Times.
Common problems for dogs include jumping up at people, while cats scratch and many rabbits repeatedly bite the bars of their run or hutch.
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