Local News

 

Nice Olympic swimmers’ honoured - In Nice this afternoon at 3 pm, the mayor is honouring the city's star swimmers who have won gold, silver and bronze medals at the London 2012 Olympics. Camille Muffat, Yannick Agnel and Clement Lefert have won a total of seven medals between them. A ceremony is planned to welcome them home from London at the Maison du Department in the avenue des Phoceens.

 

Call for witnesses - In Nice, police are looking for witnesses to an attempted handbag snatching yesterday evening on the promenade des Anglais. At around 7 pm, two men on a scooter tried to steal the bag of an elderly lady in the Lenval area of the seafront. Two suspects were arrested later but deny their involvement. They are aged 22 and 23, already known to police, with one of them wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet. Authorities also hope to find the victim of the crime.

 

Var campsite fire - In the Var, a fire, thought to be suspect, broke out yesterday afternoon in bushes near Les Tournels campsite in Ramatuelle. At around 3:30 pm, a team of firefighters on the ground and also using two water-bombing helicopters, fought the blaze, preventing the fire reaching nearby mobile homes. An enquiry has been opened to try to determine its origin.

 

Cap d’Ail petrol supply OK - In Cap d'Ail, there will once again be petrol as of this morning at the Total service station on the basse Corniche. The stock started to run out last Sunday and the final drops were used by 11 am yesterday morning. Reports say the reason was because of a ban on heavy-goods vehicles carrying hazardous products across the commune. Local authorities have made an exception so that fuel can be delivered.

 

Sir Elton in St Trop’ - Sir Elton John was spotted in Saint-Tropez yesterday afternoon, with his civil partner, David Furnish and their son, Zachary. They were shopping on the seafront, along with another couple – the actor Neil Patrick Harris, who plays the role of Barney in the series, How I Met Your Mother and David Butka...the? They had also taken their two babies out for the day on the port.

 

Nice dancer at Olympics - A local dancer from Nice is in London as part of the troupe entertaining the crowds at the Olympic Games. 21-year-old Sara Maurin Kane from Nice-Nord has has already danced during the Pixie Lott concert in the Olympic Village and is also due to dance during Mika's gig in the next few days. Sara is also one of the formation who will dance during the Basket Ball finals on 11 and 12 August.

 

Red Cross Ball in Monaco - In Monaco, it's one the most glamorous balls of the season tonight at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club. The Salle des Etoiles will be lit up by the annual Red Cross Ball, hosted by His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. It's the 64th edition of the Gala de la Croix Rouge, where the red carpet will surely be shimmering tonight. The Scorpions are performing, with Boy George as DJ.

National News

 

Cottrez released - In Douai in the Pas-de-Calais, a woman convicted for the infanticide of eight of her newborn babies in 2010 has been released from prison on appeal. Dominique Cottrez confessed to the facts during her trial. She has been freed without a monitoring bracelet and has been ordered to remain under psychiatric care.

 

Carla Bruni statue - A controversial statue of former first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has been erected in the Paris suburb of the Val-de-Marne.  At a cost of 82,000 euros, La Valnurese was originally due to be part-financed with public money, causing outrage amongst Socialist politicians.  The two-metre bronze work by sculptor, Elisabeth Cibot, was commission to decorate a new building named La Petite Italie.  The local mayor defended the decision to use Mme Bruni-Sarkozy’s image, saying she was undeniably pretty and was of Italian origin.

 

Business

 

European markets fell back on Thursday, after the president of the European Central Bank failed to come up with any concrete proposals to assist struggling eurozone nations.  The president of the bank, Mario Draghi, said on Thursday that ways to ease the debt crisis affecting Spain and Italy in particular would be announced over the coming weeks.  Markets were looking for more decisive action and all fell sharply  following the news.  Speaking in Frankfurt, Mr Draghi said that the debt crisis was worsening and the bank was ready to help countries facing high borrowing costs by buying their debts at lower rates than on the open markets.  However, there was no information on when the bond buying might start, how much it would be or how long it would last.
The US car giant, General Motors, has reported a fall in quarterly profits due to weak sales in Europe.  GM says that net income for the three months to June came in at 1.5 billion dollars, down from 2.5 billion last year.  The company says that the decrease was almost entirely due to the strengthening of the US dollar against other major currencies.  North America continues to be General Motors’ strongest market.  In Europe, its Opel and Vauxhall divisions made  a loss before interest and tax of 400 million dollars.
The business-focused social networking website, Linkedin, has announced a fall in quarterly profits but still managed to beat analysts’ expectations.  The company says that net profit in the three months to June fell by 38 percent to 2.8 million dollars, compared with the same period last year.  However, revenue soared by 89 percent to 228 million dollars, fuelled by an increase in premium subscriptions.  The results came as the shares of its larger rival, Facebook, fell by another 4 percent to 20 dollars and 4 cents.  The share price opened at 38 dollars in May but the stock has been falling ever since.

 

Sport

 

Olympics News - Great Britain are up to fifth in the Olympic medals’ table, following a fantastic day that  yielded 3 golds and 2 silvers.  Team GB won both gold and silver in the men’s canoe slalom event.  Tom Baillie and Etienne Stottt got the gold with David Florence and Richard Hounslow grabbing silver.

 

A little later on Thursday, Peter Wilson grabbed Team GB’s fourth gold of the games, as he won the men’s double trap shooting event; and the day was rounded off in style when the British men’s sprint trio cycling team smashed their own world record to beat France to gold in the London Velodrome.

 

Elsewhere, the incredible Michael Phelps of the United States won the sixteenth gold medal of his career as he pipped team-mate, Ryan Lochte, in the men’s 200 metre individual medley; and there was more success for America in the pool when Rebecca Soni beat her own world record to claim gold in the women’s 200 metre breaststroke.

 

Meanwhile in the gymnasium, Gabby Douglas of the United States added individual gold to her Olympic team title, as America continued to dominate the women’s gymnastics competition.  The 16-year-old, who’s nicknamed “the flying squirrel”, outscored Viktoria Komova of Russia to win the event.

 

So, in the medals’ table after day six, it’s still China out in front with 34 medals, including 18 golds. The United States are in second with more medals overall at 37, including 18 golds, but they have less silvers than China.  South Korea are in third with 14 medals including 7 golds; and then it’s France with 16 medals including 6 golds; and Team GB with 15 medals and 5 golds.

 

Cricket - South Africa hold the upper hand heading into day two of the second Test against England at Headingly.  Alviro Petersen was the star for the tourists as he hit 124 not out in a first day total of 262 for 5.  To add insult to injury, Petersen was dropped when he was on 29 and, as is often the case, he went on to punish the bowling attack with a fine display of attacking batting in sometimes tricky, overcast conditions.  England must hope that they can knock the other five South African wickets over relatively cheaply this morning if they’re to get back into contention.  Play resumes at noon French time.

 

Football - Liverpool will take a slender first-leg lead against Gomel in their Europa League third-round qualifier. Stewart Downing scored the only goal of the game against the Belarusian side. The match marked Jamie Carragher’s 700th appearance for Liverpool.

 

Horseracing - Johnny Murtagh continued his outstanding record at Glorious Goodwood as the 2-1 favourite, Saddler’s Rock, landed the Goodwood Cup on Thursday.  Murtagh has now won 10 times on the course in 21 rides.  Askar Tau finished second, with Colour Vision in third.

 

Weather

 

Meteo France say highs of between 26 on the coast and up to 34 degrees further inland this afternoon, with light to moderate, variable winds…going down to between 22 on the coast and 19 degrees inland…for tomorrow, top temperatures of up to 33 degrees, sunshine and light to moderate, variable winds with the chance of a shower in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes away from the coast…and for Sunday, the chance of a shower, otherwise a partly cloudy day with highs of 31 and light, variable winds.

 

And finally...

 

Former footballer turned TV host, David Icke, claims the London 2012 opening ceremony was a secret Satanic ritual.  The ex-Coventry City goalkeeper and snooker host shocked Britain in 1991 when he announced he was the son of God and predicted that the world would end in 1997.  Now he has resurfaced to insist that Danny Boyle's spectacular was a "mass satanic ritual disguised as a celebration of Britain and sport".  Writing on website TheTruthIsNow.com, Icke - a key BBC presenter during the 1988 Olympics - claimed the giant bell rung by cyclist Bradley Wiggins during the ceremony was tuned to a frequency which could be heard by a group of Satanists who secretly rule the world.  Icke believes the devil-worshippers are shape-shifting lizards who are descended from a reptile race from the Drago constellation.  He explained: "The opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics are mass satanic rituals disguised as a celebration of Britain and sport.  Their medium is the language of symbolism... The Olympic Stadium is also strategically placed on the earth-energy grid to tap into that power on the Global Cabal's own satanic frequencies or vibrations.  The enormous Olympic bell, the biggest harmonically-tuned bell in the world made specially for the opening ceremony, is designed to dictate that frequency right at the start."  And on his own website, DavidIcke.com, he called the Opening Ceremony, which delighted billions across the globe, a "vile, inhumane Satanic ritual" which was held on a key day in the devil-worship calendar.