Local
Morandi bridge in Genoa - A little more than a year after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, which left 43 dead, a 50-meter stretch of the new viaduct designed by Renzo Piano has been laid. A portion of about 1.2 kilometers of this viaduct spanning the port city collapsed on August 14, 2018 for a reason still undetermined. Two investigations into the tragedy are continuing, but according to the 5-member Movement (M5S), the disaster is due to negligence in the maintenance of the bridge.
Pernod Ricard France - French drinks company Pernod based in Paris and Ricard in Marseille have announced plans of a merger resulting in 190 job cuts. The new group will become Pernod Ricard France and move to Marseille. Despite the merger in 1975, the two companies remained administratively independent.
Anniversary stamps - To mark the 160th anniversary of the union of Nice with France the French postal service “La Poste” in partnership with Nice city council has issued a special stamp collection showing famous parts of the city such as the Port, Promenade and the city’s famous blue chairs. Promoting the capital of the Riviera the book of eight stamps is available in all post offices for 9 euros 50.
A new agreement has been signed to keep the Tax-Free World Exhibition in Cannes for the next seven years. The Exhibition, which is organized by TFWA, the global duty free and travel retail association, is currently being held at the Palais des Festivals until the 4th of October.
A new analysis of statistics by INSEE has shown that in 2018 more than 70 per cent of people who died in the Var had been born elsewhere. For France as a whole, 47 per cent of all people died in the department of their birth. The high figure for the Var, and similar numbers in the Alpes Maritimes, are thought to be the result of retirees moving to the south.
Sea turtles - The new Monegasque Center for Marine Species Care (CMSEM) is at the heart of a new action and awareness-raising program, which makes it possible to welcome sick or injured sea turtles. The CMSEM contributes directly to the protection and conservation of these endangered species and through a brand-new space at the Oceanographic museum “The sea Turtles Odyssey” visitors are invited to discover their world. The programme will include several actiivites aimed at school children on Wednesday and during the upcoming school holidays.
Football - Teenager Lamine Diaby-Fadiga will be joining Paris FC in Ligue 2 after admitting to stealing his Nice team-mate Kasper Dolberg's watch. A club statement said: 'Following the confession of the player, the Club made the decision to break the contract of the attacker... with immediate effect.' Dolberg was furious when his luxury timepiece went missing on September 16 and took his complaint to the police. OGC Nice, managed by Arsenal and France legend Patrick Vieira, terminated Diaby-Fadiga's contract after he admitted taking the watch, which is said to be worth £62,000. The 18-year-old has since apologised to Dolberg and agreed to reimburse him. OGC Nice and Dolberg are expected to drop the criminal investigation into the matter.
National
Police stage a “walk of anger” in Paris - Police unions have announced a “walk of anger” today in Paris. Unions hope to see between 15,000 and 20,000 demonstrators in the streets of the capital. The rally has been launched against the backdrop of a suicide wave within the institution and pension reform. According to figures 52 police officers have committed suicide since the beginning of the year.
Sarkozy loses final court appeal - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has lost a final court appeal against an order that he stand trial on charges of illegal financing for his 2012 election campaign. Sarkozy, who already faces a separate trial for corruption involving a judge, is accused of spending nearly double the legal limit of 22.5 million euros on his failed re-election bid. France's highest criminal appeal court rejected his attempt on Tuesday to avoid facing the charges, paving the way for a trial date to be set after multiple challenges by Sarkozy's legal team
Lubrizol chemical plant - France’s agricultural minister has said that tests for health risks will be made public later this week, after an angry public outcry over the handling of a fire in the Lubrizol chemical plant in Rouen. Two environmental groups and leftwing politicians called for rallies on Tuesday evening. The cause of the huge blaze, which started last Wednesday night, is still not known. The managing director of Lubrizol, Frédéric Henry, told France Info public radio that he was “very surprised” that the fire started outside the plant, “where there is no activity, only a warehouse.” Lubrizol employs 420 people and makes products to thicken industrial oils and paints. At least 1,800 farmers in 112 surrounding villages have been affected by the fire, due to a ban put in place on the sale of their products since Saturday. The Agriculture Minister said those who were not able to sell their products would receive compensation from a special fund, available in the next ten days.
Data protection watchdog - France’s data protection watchdog has urged caution over plans to allow authorities to monitor individuals’ social media posts and purchasing activity on websites such as eBay in order to identify those committing tax fraud. The French parliament is to debate proposals for a three-year trial during which the tax office’s computer system would collect information on peoples’ lifestyles from social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and also monitor their activity on sites such as eBay and the French site Le Bon Coin. The idea, first suggested by the public action and accounts minister, Gérald Darmanin, is aimed at identifying gaps between a person’s declared revenue and their lifestyle, as evidenced on their social media accounts.
Youtuber crashes the catwalk - A woman has crashed the catwalk at Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week show, jumping up onto the runway and walking amidst the models, much to the horror of security guards. Having been a mere spectator of the Chanel show moments earlier, the room was aghast to see the female guest run from her seat and storm the catwalk herself, joining the finale procession. The audience watched as she strutted down the runway in a black and white tweed suit, not unlike a Chanel design itself. Hands on hips, she was seen posing her way along the recreated Parisian rooftop set in the Grand Palais, as guards struggled to locate her in the line-up.
Business
Manufacturing activity in the United States has fallen to a ten year low as trade tensions weighed on exports.
The fresh data has heightened market fears about a sharp slowdown in third quarter growth with the blame being attributed to the fallout from the Trump administration’s 15 month trade war with China which has sapped business confidence.
The data ,which was published on Tuesday in a survey by the Institute for Supply Management comes on the heels of figures last week which showed a cooling in consumer spending in August.
Manufacturing has borne the brunt of the trade tariffs which President Trump says are necessary to protect industries from what he says is unfair foreign competition.
Mr Trump is blaming the Federal Reserve for the problem and says that the central bank has allowed the dollar to get too high which he says is having a negative effect on US manufacturers.
The World Trade Organisation has slashed its forecast for trade growth this year and has warned that the slowdown could affect living standards and jobs.
The WTO said that expected trade volumes to grow by only 1.2 percent this year -down from the 2.6 percent that it had forecast in April.
The organisation has also cut its global economic growth forecast from 2.6 to 2.3 percent.
The downgrades are being blamed on slower growth in major economies ,trade wars and the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit.
And-A new survey by the Swiss banking giant UBS has found that travellers are starting to turn their back on air transport over concern for the environment.
The bank says that the concept of “flight shame” appears to be spreading.
One in five people surveyed said that they’d cut the number of flights that they’d taken over the past year because of the impact on the climate.
UBS said that the expected growth in passenger numbers could be halved if the trends are borne out.
At the moment ,global numbers of people travelling by air are doubling every 15 years.
Sport
MA NOLANS RUGBY WORLD CUP REPORT.
There are two games at the World Cup today with France expected to put on a big score against the United States when the two teams meet in Pool C at 9.45 French time this morning.
The other game is between New Zealand and Canada in Pool B with the only question really as to whether Canada can keep the score against them below three figures.That one kicks off at 12.15.
The England centre Manu Tuilagi has said that he wants to make the most of the rest of his career and at one point thought that he’d never play for the country again.
Tuilagi has been dogged by injury over the past 6 years and has also had a number of high profile disciplinary problems.
He says that he knows it’s not going to last forever and that he’s just happy to be out training and being able to play.
Meanwhile ,the Argentina hooker Agustin Creevy says that it will “be like a war” when his side face England in Pool C on Saturday.
Creevy says that he thinks that the battle will be among the forwards and that Argentina would need to win the scrum ,the lineout ,the maul and the breakdown.
England top Pool C with two wins out of two while Argentina have one win and one defeat.
The Puma’s haven’t beaten England since 2009 and England have won 18 of their 23 meetings.
Football-Spurs got thrashed 7-2 at home by Bayern Munich in Group B of the European Champions League last night while Manchester City beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in Group C.
Paris St Germain won 1-0 at Galatasaray in Group A.
There are 8 more games tonight in Groups E,F,G and H. Liverpool are at home to Red Bull Salzburg in Group E while Chelsea travel to Lille in Group H.
In the English Championship last night Blackburn and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1.Hull beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0.Leeds United beat West Brom 1-0.Middlesbrough and Preston drew 1-1.Wigan beat Birmingham 1-0 .Reading lost 4-1 at home to Fulham and Stoke lost 1-0 at home to Huddersfield.
Athletics-Noah Lyle of the United States has won the men’s 200 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Doha.
Lyle capped a memorable season with a time of 19.83 second with Andre de Grasse of Canada taking the silver and Alex Quinonez of Ecuador the Bronze.
The men’s 800 meters was won by Donovan Brazier of the USA who set a new American record.
Sam Kendricks of the USA retained the men’s pole vault title while the women’s javelin was won by Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia.
The USA still tops the medals table with 7 golds.China ,Jamaica and Kenya have two gold medals each.
Formula 1-Ferrari’s former technical director Ross Brawn has said that Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel need “careful handling” in the aftermath of the Russian Grand Prix.
There’s turmoil inside Ferrari as to who is their number one driver after Vettel disobeyed team orders last Sunday when he refused to let Leclerc pass.
Vettel’s race was ended when his car failed and the resulting virtual safety car scuppered Leclerc’s chances of winning the race.
Brawn said that Ferrari have made a lot of progress but they need to deal with the balance between the drivers.
Weather
Clear skies-but windy with a strong Mistral gusting at up to 70 km/h across the Var.
Top temperature 25 degrees.
Overnight lows of 17 degrees on the coast and 13 degrees inland with clear skies.
Thursday and Friday-Clear skies with highs of 21-24 degrees.
Finally
A mum in the UK has been left fuming after her 12-year-old son was banned from classes for going to school with a Peaky Blinders-style “skin fade” haircut deemed by teachers as "too short".
Andrea Kerr has pulled her son, Robbie, out of school after teachers put him in isolation because his short back and sides style was not policy.
The furious mum claims her son was "treated like a prisoner" as he was not allowed to go on a break or drink anything other than water while he was isolated.
Rules at Richard Rose Central Academy in Carlisle, Cumbria, state boys hair should be shaved no shorter than a grade two.
Andrea received a text from the school telling her Robbie had been placed in isolation due to an "unsuitable haircut".
But she insists her son's grade 0.5 style - which fades into a longer length higher up his head - makes him look smart and tidy.
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