Local
Earth tremors - Fifteen small earth tremors have been recorded in the Alpes Maritimes after an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale occurred in the Drôme region just before midday on Monday. One person was seriously injured after being hit by scaffolding in Montélimar following the earthquake. The Prefecture of the Drôme has said “there was no major damage”. Following the incident, the South East area of the Var and the Alpes Maritimes was on “standby” on Monday.
Princess Charlene and Monegasque Red Cross - Meanwhile Princess Charlene of Monaco has opened a school in Italy which has been rebuilt with funds from the Monegasque Red Cross after the earthquake of 2016. The Abruzzo region had been devastated by several earthquakes in 2009 and 2016. At that time, the Monegasque Red Cross raised 170,000 euros of donations which has been invested for the reconstruction of the Parrozzani primary school in Isola del Gran Sasso, a small town of 5,000 inhabitants in the province of Teramo.
To mark the thirty years of collaboration between the Monegasque Red Cross and the Italian Red Cross Princess Charlene received the gold medal of the Italian Red Cross, from its vice president.
Princess Grace of Monaco - And today marks the anniversary of the birth of Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco in 1929 who would have celebrated her 90th birthday today. Events and numerous exhibitions have been taking place in and around the Principality throughout the year to mark the anniversary with the treasury of the Principality of Monaco issuing new silver crown coins in memory of the much loved Princess.
Cruise ships - Following the introduction on an environmental charter for cruise ships this summer. The City of Cannes has carried out its first control aboard the Norwegian Epic. More than 400,000 cruise passengers have visited Cannes so far this year. Cannes ranks 4th in France for the port with the greatest number of boats in the bay after Marseille, Ajaccio and Le Havre.
Electric scooters - New regulations for those using electric scooters have been announced with a speed limit of 25km an hour and drivers must be over the age of 12. From July next year equipment will also be required such as front and rear lights, reflective clothing and a helmet. Failing to respect any of the new measures could result in fines ranging from between 35 and 1,500 euros.
National
Cocaine washed up on the west coast of France - Beaches have been closed to the public after several hundred kilograms of cocaine was washed up on the west coast of France. According to a local prosecutor, a total of about 760kg of the drug contained in small packets has been recovered in the area from the Loire-Atlantique to the Landes departments. Several municipalities have banned access to beaches because of the dangers posed by the drugs. It’s thought at this stage that the packets have come from a smuggler’s vessel which was either damaged or affected by bad weather.
Business
President Trump is expected to announce this week that he’s delaying a decision over whether to impose tariffs on cars and auto parts imported from the European Union.
Reports from Brussels say that EU officials are expecting Mr Trump to put back the introduction of tariffs for 6 months and that they don’t expect the US leader to push ahead with his plans this week.
The Trump administration has until Thursday to decide whether to impose threatened “section 232” national security tariffs of as much as 25 percent on imported vehicles and parts under a Cold War era trade law.
Earlier this month ,the US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that America might not need to impose tariffs after holding “good conversations” with carmakers in the European Union ,Japan and South Korea.
The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba says that sales in the 24 hour period of its Singles’ Day promotion hit a new record of 38.4 billion dollars.
Sales growth for the annual shopping bonanza did ease back to 26 percent mainly due to falling consumer confidence in China.
Singles’ Day is now the the world’s largest online shopping event with sales expected to eclipse those of Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
The latest event came as rumours persist that Alibaba which is already listed in the United States may now announce plans to proceed with a multi-billion dollar listing in Hong Kong-possibly as soon as before the end of this week.
And-Gold futures settled firmly lower on Monday driving the precious metal to its lowest level in around 3 months.
The recent resurgence in equity markets have sapped demand for gold and other perceived safe havens including treasuries.
December gold was down by 0.4 percent to 1,457 dollars an ounce.
Commodity experts say that precious metals may be in a tricky spot at the moment after recent record gains on Wall Street.Gold could suffer larger falls in the coming week as risk appetite for equities grows.
Sport
Football-The English Football Association says that Raheem Sterling will not play in England’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro on Thursday following “a disturbance in a private team area”.
Sterling was involved in an on field dispute with the Liverpool defender Joe Gomez during the Premier League match against Manchester City on Sunday and reports say that the pair were again involved in a row on Monday.
The England manager Gareth Southgate said that “emotions from the match on Sunday were still raw” and the decision had been taken not to select Sterling for Thursday’s match.
Formula 1-The sport’s owners have announced plans to make the industry carbon neutral by 2030.
Liberty Media says that it intends to wipe out the carbon footprint of activity at race tracks including road and air transport of staff and equipment to the events.
It says that it will switch to ultra-efficient logistics and travel and move to 100 percent renewably powered offices ,facilities and factories.
The sport is to start carbon-reduction projects immediately.
Tennis-World number one Rafael Nadal has lost his opening match at the season ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Nadal lost in straight sets to Alexander Zverev and said afterwards that he had “not been good enough”.
Nadal had been a fitness doubt for the tournament after picking up a small abdominal tear which forced him out of the Paris Masters last week.
In Monday’s other game Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6 6-4.
Weather
Clear skies with light to moderate westerly winds.
Top temperature 17 degrees.
Overnight lows of 10 degrees on the coast and 6 degrees inland with clear skies.
Wednesday and Thursday-Clear skies tomorrow with a high of 16.Rain on Thursday with some snow over the higher ground and a high of 12.
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