Nice prison -
Nice is to get a new prison, and the mayor Christian Estrosi has confirmed that it will be on home territory. The mayor has said that one of three pieces of land within Nice’s city limits which are all owned by the state will be used for the new prison.
Bank robber
The Police Judiciaire in Marseille have arrested a man who evaded justice for 17 years. The 58 year old is thought to be responsible for a number of bank heists over the past two decades and was snared by an undercover operation including the infiltration of the Marseille underworld by members of the police force.
Bomb maker
A Cannes man has been sentenced to four years in prison for bomb making by a Grasse court. Although convicted under bomb making and firearms legislation, no link has been found between the man and any sort of terror cell. He did, however, used to play football with one of the suspects in the so-called Cannes-Torcy terror cell.
Fréjus zoo
The power of social media has brought about the desired effect at Fréjus zoo where authorities have demanded an immediate improvement in the living conditions of animals following a petition on Facebook and Twitter which garnered 26000 signatures. Departmental inspectors stopped short of accusing the zoo of animal cruelty or mistreatment however.
Rue Caroline
One of Monaco’s most famous shopping streets, the Rue Caroline, has been re-opened following extensive renovation work, and Princess Caroline herself was wielding the scissors at the official opening. Pedestrian, car-free calm has returned to the street after months of work.
Grasse housing
The town of Grasse has been criticised by the préfecture of the Alpes-Maritimes because of it’s poor record on social housing schemes. Between 2011 and 2013, the town managed to construct just four council flats, representing just 1.5% of the initial target of 267.
National News-
The French parliament on Thursday backed a new agriculture bill which restricts the use of pesticides near schools but stops short of banning them in such areas completely.
Under the new bill, the use of pesticides is to be limited near schools and other places such as children’s playgrounds, hospitals and retirement homes.
United by a dislike for the French government’s rightward turn, and now alledgedly by love,the recently ousted economy and culture ministers are reportedly an item, according to French weekly Paris-Match.
Economy minister Arnaud Montebourg and culture minister Aurelie Filippetti were both booted out of government late last month after a reshuffle by Prime Minister Manuel Valls. According to Paris-Match, the two ex-ministers nursed their wounds together with a holiday on the West Coast of the United States.
Business-
Congress in Argentina has passed a bill aimed at defying a US court ruling that pushed the country back into default in July.
The issue relates to a dispute with hedge funds who are demanding payment of 1.3 billion dollars on bonds they hold from a previous default 13 years ago.
Recently the bond holders won a ruling in the United States preventing Argentina distributing interest payments to all bondholders.
The court had barred some banks from making payments on 29 billion dollars of bonds.
The new Argentine bill is designed to side-step the ruling and would allow the country to make payments locally or in jurisdictions beyond the authority of US courts.
Yahoo says that the US government threatened to fine it 250,000 dollars a day if it failed to hand over user data.
On Thursday,a US federal judge ordered the unsealing of some material relating to the case.
It shows that the US NationaL Security Agency ordered the internet firm to comply with new surveillance rules.Yahoo had protested that the regulations were unconstitutional.
The company’s lawyers say that the publication of the material is ‘an important win for transparency’.
And-The former head of the UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has issued a strong warning to retailers about the costs of doing business in an independent Scotland.
Justin King says that supermarket prices will rise,retailers will put investment on hold and Scottish food production could be hit.
The John Lewis Group and Asda have already said that prices may rise due to the increased cost of trading in Scotland.
Pro independence campaigners have dismissed the warning as scaremongering.
Sport-
Football-The Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal says that he sold Danny Welbeck to Arsenal because he didn’t score enough goals.
Speaking on Thursday,the Dutchman said that home grown players will be given a chance at Old Trafford but Welbeck’s record over the past 3 seasons showed that he was not in the same class as Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney.
The Premier League is back in action this weekend following the international break.
Tomorrow-Arsenal play Manchester City.Chelsea host Swansea.Crystal Palace play Burnley.Southampton are at home to Newcastle.Stoke play Leicester.Sunderland face Spurs.West Brom play Everton and Liverpool play Aston Villa.
On Sunday Manchester United play QPR and Hull play West Ham on Monday.
Formula 1-Teams have been banned from giving advice over the radio aimed at improving drivers’performance.
The FIA says that it will now enforce a rule dictating that drivers must ‘drive the car alone and unaided’.
Teams are concerned by the new directive which in effect will prevent them from communicating any information to drivers including calling them in to the pits or advising on gear ratio’s to conserve fuel.
Messages send to the driver via the steering wheel will also be banned.
Cricket-The former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns is to be charged with perjury by the Metropolitan police in England.
The charge relates to a High Court libel trial in which Cairns won 90,000 pounds in damages and costs against the former head of the Indian Premier League Lalit Modi.
Modi had alleged that Cairns had been expelled from the now defunct Indian Cricket League because of match fixing.
The allegations have since resurfaced although Cairns has denied any wrong doing.
Yorkshire need 5 more wickets to claim their first English County Championship title since 2001.
On day 3 of their match against Notts at Trent Bridge,Yorkshire had reduced the home side to 149-5 following on in their second innings.
Rugby Union-Fans have been warned that unless they obtain their tickets for next year’s World Cup from official sources then they could be prevented from entering grounds.
Media reports suggest that organised criminal gangs are preparing to buy tickets en masse and then sell them on at inflated prices.
England Rugby 2015 says that its ticketing terms and conditions are strict and it reserves the right to refuse entry if tickets have not been purchased through official channels.
Racing-The favourite Kingston Hill could be withdrawn from the last classic of the English flat season because of changing conditions at the course.
14 horses are entered for the St Leger at Doncaster but Kingston Hill may not run if the going is too fast with the track drying out and no rain forecast.
Romsdal,Snow Sky and Windshear are also highly fancied.
Weather-
Sunshine amidst the cloud is the forecast for today and tomorrow with plenty of both. It’ll remain dry for the whole of tomorrow despite the cloud, and for today apart from in the Alpes-Maritimes, where you’ll get isolated showers during the afternoon.
Maximum temperatures for today and tomorrow in the mid-twenties. A mistral will continue to funnel down the Rhone.
Overnight tonight it’ll be cloudy but dry with minimums of 19 celsius on the coast and 14 inland.
Finally-
A thief had a rude awakening after he was caught napping as he burgled a home.
The intruder was found in the bedroom of a home in Sarasota, Florida, by a cleaner who called police.
When they turned up, the accused, Dion Davis, was still dozing next to a bag of jewellery he was apparently planning to steal.
The 29-year-old did not wake up, even when officers began taking pictures of him.
Davis was charged with burglary and held in custody on $10,000 bail.