Local
Chrisitan Estori’s favourite to win 2020 election - A survey published on Wednesday has shown that the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi is favourite to win the first round of the municipal elections in 2020. Estrosi has been mayor since 2017 and is credited with 39% of voting intentions. According to the survey his rival Eric Ciotti would get 24% of the vote. The radical left party follows in third with 17% of votes and the right-wing National Rally led by Phillippe Vardon in fourth with 14%.
Emergency landing - A pilot of a light aircraft has had a lucky escape after losing control of his plane. The incident occurred on Wednesday shortly after 2.30pm when the aircraft lost control and laned in a vineyard in the Saint Joseph district in Draguignan in the Var. The owner of the land discovered the plane in his field with two men inside unscathed. The 65 year old pilot, a Swedish national living in Valbonne was taking a friend from Cannes to Dijon when he was forced to make the emergency landing due to a technical problem.
Speed cameras - Two speed cameras situated on the A8 motorway at Cagnes sue mer in the Alpes Maritimes and Les Adrets in the Var are amongst the top ten cameras which flash the most in France. According to the report there has been an increase in the number of motorist flashed in Cagnes sur mer following the lowering of the speed limit from 110km to 90km /h. Previous years had shown between 50,000 and 60,000 offenses however in 2018 the number jumped to 115,558.
Road accident - A motorist has been slightly injured following a road accident in Falicon. The accident happened at 6pm on Wednesday after two cars had a head on collision. Emergency services intervened with one of the victims being taken to hospital.
Fete de la Musique - The City of Nice has announced that it has renewed its partnership with France Televisions for next year’s Fete de la Musique. For a third year running the city will host the music festival along with France 2. Last year the event attracted 30,000 spectators and 2.2 million viewers and was broadcast in more than 50 countries. The Fete de la Musique is held on the 21st June every year and this time it will coincide with the Tour de France which will be starting and finishing in Nice.
National
Anti-food waste day - Two French supermarket chains have come under fire after a lawmaker staged raids on Paris trash cans that uncovered packages of food within their use-by dates as France marked its national anti-food waste day on Wednesday. A city councillor in the Paris suburb said he intends to file lawsuits against the chains for not respecting a 2016 law that prohibits stores throwing away edible food. The French agriculture ministry estimates the cost of food waste each year at 12 to 20 billion euros representing 10 million tonnes of lost food.
UK-France military force - A new UK-France military force has carried out naval warfare training in the seas off Scotland. The Combined Joint Expeditionary Force is being set up to respond to any future crisis affecting the UK and France. Since 2010, the UK and France have been working together to develop the joint expeditionary force, which when operational could draw on 10,000 personnel. It is due to be fully operational by next summer and would be deployed on humanitarian relief missions, or short-term peacekeeping, but also for use in military intervention.
Business
A former US trade chief has warned that the UK should not expect to get more favourable terms on trade because of its “special relationship” with the United States.
In an interview with the BBC ,Michael Froman said that the United States would never compromise its own economic interests in the context of a trade dispute or a trade negotiation.
The UK government is keen to strike a quick trade deal with the US after Brexit but may still face tariffs on a range of goods if Washington feels that its gaining any sort of an advantage.
Mr Fromon was speaking ahead of the introduction of fresh tariffs by the United States on a range of European goods which come into force tomorrow.
Among items on the list are Scottish single malt whisky and Scottish cashmere which will see a 25 percent tariff introduced as a result of the 15 year old trade dispute between the US and EU over Airbus and Boeing.
Shares in Netflix have risen after the streaming firm announced that it had added slightly more paying subscribers than Wall Street had expected in the third quarter.
The results for the period between July and September represented a rebound for Netflix from the previous quarter when it lost US subscribers for the first time in 8 years and missed overseas targets.
The firm’s shares rose by 9.2 percent on the news to 312 dollars 69.
However ,the firm is still facing challenges ahead from Disney and Apple’s new streaming services in particular.
Both Disney and Apple will launch their new services next month in what’s been dubbed “The Video Wars”.
Other competitors including HBO Max and a new offering from Comcast are expected to enter the market next year.
And-The US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin says that negotiators are working to nail down a Phase 1 trade text that President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping can sign next month.
Speaking in Washington on Wednesday ,Mr Mnuchin said that he was prepared to travel to Beijing for more meetings if necessary although he added that ,so far, there had been no invitation.
The Treasury Secretary said that negotiators from both sides have been holding telephone conversations this week and that the objective was for the preliminary agreement to be signed at the November summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation countries in Chile.
Sport.Wednesday.17.10.2019.
MA NOLANS RUGBY WORLD CUP REPORT.
The countdown to the World Cup quarter finals is on with England coach Eddie Jones naming his side to face Australia on Saturday.
George Ford has been dropped at fly half with Owen Farrell taking the number 10 jersey and Henry Slade and Manu Tuilagi in the midfield.
Both Billy and Mako Vunipola have been passed fit while George Kruis drops to the bench with Courtney Laws starting in his place at lock.
Jack Nowell is not even in the squad having failed to recover from a hamstring injury.
Saturday’s second quarter final is between Ireland and New Zealand with the All Blacks undefeated in their last 17 World Cup games.The Ulster hooker Rob Herring has been called into the squad in place of the injured Sean Cronin.
Skipper Rory Best is set to start but Bundee Aki will be missing after being handed a three match ban for the red card he picked up against Samoa.
All the signs point to an All Blacks victory.
Tomorrow we’ll be looking at Sunday’s quarter finals between France and Wales and Japan and South Africa.
Boxing-The American fighter Patrick Day has died at the age of 27 four days after suffering a brain injury in a contest against Charles Conwell.
Day was put into a coma on Saturday after being knocked out in the 10th round of his welterweight fight against Conwell in Chicago.
He was taken from the ring on a stretcher and never regained consciousness.
Football-Paul Pogba has been ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool with a foot injury.
The 26 year old has only played twice since the end of August.
United goalkeeper David de Gea is also doubtful with a groin injury.He’s to have a scan today to assess the extent of the damage.
Formula 1-The sport’s owners say that they have an agreement “in principle” with the owners of the Miami Dolphins NFL stadium to hold a race in the city from 2021.
The proposal features a track layout looping around the stadium in central Miami.
It’s the latest attempt by Formula 1 to establish a race in Miami.
A series of hurdles will need to be crossed before a race can go ahead including approval from Miami-Dade County.
There’s also considerable local opposition to holding a race in the city.
Weather
Partially cloudy with some showers in the Var.
Top temperature 22 degrees.
Overnight lows of 15 degrees on the coast and 13 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies and occasional showers.
Friday and the start of the weekend-Partially cloudy tomorrow with some rain towards evening.Sunshine and showers on Saturday.Highs of 18-21 degrees.
Finally
The fastest ant in the world can run 108 times the length of its own body every second.
Named the Saharan silver, after the desert in which it lives it runs at a pace that, in human terms, would be equivalent to running at 360mph.
The tiny creature runs faster in proportion to its own body than a cheetah and manages about 12 strides for every one that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt does in a second.
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