French and Riviera News Friday 29th November 2019

Local

Concerns about the quality of tap water in region - Following a meeting with the Regional Health Agency and despite tests carried out , The sub-prefect of Grasse has recommended residents in the area to remain cautious about the quality of tap water. Following the bad weather at the weekend the quality of tap water in nine communes remains “uncertain”. While tests haven’t indicated the presence of a parasite which causes stomach upset the number of cases of gastroenteritis are higher than last year's figures.

With further tests being carried out as a precaution residents in Grasse and the surrounding area are advised to consume bottled water or boil tap water.

Minimum service for school children during strike action -Following the announcement of a general strike on Thursday 5th December, Nice city council has set up a minimum service for school children. With more than 25% teachers expected to take part in the strike the priority will be given to working parents. Registration is open on Monday and Tuesday the 2nd and 3rd of December from 10am to 7pm

Crack down on parking - Police in Nice have cracked down on illegal parking by motorcyclists. The move comes in an attempt to end motorcycles being parked on pavements and zebra crossings. The situation is particularly bad in old Nice. According to figures, so far this year 4,500 fines have been issued.

Christmas lights - The mayor of Cagnes-sur-mer has turned on the Christmas lights ahead of the festive season. Louis Nègre, pressed the button on Thursday accompanied by several young Cagnois. The city has reduced its energy consumption related to the illuminations by 30% thanks to the use of LED bulbs.

Ski season - This weekend marks the opening of the vast majority of ski resorts on the Côte d'Azur. The weather forecast is clear Friday and temperatures between -1 ° and -5 °, before the sky covers a little on Saturday with the thermometer displaying between -2 ° and 0 °. Sunday it’s expected to snow. In Isola 2000 the resort has 200 cm of snow at the top of the slopes and 130 cm at the bottom. The tourist office ensures that "all sectors will open".

National

European nations - French President Emmanuel Macron has said that European nations should be involved in any talks to forge a new pact limiting mid-range nuclear missiles held by the US and Russia. Washington and Moscow walked away from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in August after each accused the other of violating the terms of the deal. Macron has made no secret of his wish to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a range of disputes, saying he would raise the issue at a NATO meeting in London next week.

Human body donation centre - A human body donation centre at a university in Paris has temporarily closed while a government investigation into its conduct is carried out. According to reports thousands of bodies were left to decay in unsanitary conditions at The Centre for Body Donations at Paris-Descartes University. It’s alleged that some bodies and body parts were reportedly sold to private companies.The university has acknowledged the investigation and apologised to the families of body donors.

Business

Asian shares have slipped this morning leaving global markets just short of an all time peak as investors turned cautious over the latest row between China and the United States.

The decision by President Donald Trump to sign into law a bill backing Hong Kong anti-government protestors has angered Beijing and has raised concerns that the two countries may not now sign a “phase one” trade agreement in the near future.

Markets have been buoyed in recent days on hopes that China and the United States were prepared to give a boost to global trade by signing a “phase one” deal which would ease the 16 month old trade war.

Attention will now be focused on Wall Street to see how traders view the latest developments.US markets will be open for a shortened half-day of trading later.

On Thursday ,Beijing warned Washington that it would take “firm counter measures” in response to the US legislation backing anti-government protestors in Hong Kong.

 

The Black Friday shopping bonanza is underway with billions of dollars of goods worth of goods expected to be sold around the world in the next 24 hours.

Consumer organisations are warning shoppers to be careful before taking the plunge with evidence suggesting that many Black Friday deals are not as attractive as they look with goods priced more competitively at other times of the year.

Retailers are also preparing to deal with the headache of returned goods with shoppers getting cold feet or changing their minds once they’ve been delivered.

Black Friday started in the United States and is traditionally the day when retailers drop the price of goods for 24 hours after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

It marks the start of the run-up to the busy festive shopping period but has been overshadowed in recent years by Alibaba’s Singles Day which is bringing in far greater amounts of revenue for retailers.

 

And-In the UK, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has poured cold water on the spending plans of both the Conservative and Labour Parties with just over 2 weeks to go until the General Election.

The IFS says that it’s highly likely that the Conservatives will end up spending more than their manifesto pledges while it warned that Labour will be unable to deliver on its programme.

The director of the IFS Paul Johnson warned that neither party was being honest with voters  but he added that the Liberal Democrat’s spending plans were credible but still radical.

Sport

Cricket-It’s been another testing day for England on day one of the second Test against New Zealand at Hamilton.

England won the toss and decided to field and they took 2 wickets before lunch before Tom Latham scored a century to put the home side in the driving seat.

Latham made 101 not out before rain stopped play early and at stumps New Zealand were on 173-3.

It’s day 1 of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan in Adelaide. Australia won the toss and decided to bat in the day/night game.

At tea, they’d reached 70-1.

Football-The pressure is mounting on the Arsenal manager Unai Emery after his side lost 2-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League last night leaving him without a win in 7 games.

Fans booed the team from the pitch and called for Emery to be sacked.It’s Arsenal’s worst run of form since 1992.

Also last night Manchester United lost 2-1 at FC Astana but they’re already through to the last 32.Wolves moved into the knockout phase after drawing 3-3 at Sporting Braga.Celtic beat Rennes 3-1 and Rangers went top of their group following a 2-2 draw at Feyenoord and will qualify for the last 32 if they win their final game.

In the English Premier League this weekend.

On Saturday Newcastle play Manchester City.Burnley host Crystal Palace.Chelsea play West Ham.Liverpool play Brighton.Spurs host Bournemouth and Southampton play Watford.

On Sunday Norwich host Arsenal.Wolves play Sheffield United.Leicester play Everton and Manchester United are at home to Aston Villa.

Formula 1-First practice for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi takes place at 10am this morning with  all pretty much done and dusted for 2019.

Lewis Hamilton will be presented with his 6th drivers’ championship trophy over the weekend while Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas will start at the back of the grid because of an engine-related penalty.

Ferrari will be hoping that both drivers manage to stay on the track after the Brazilian Grand Prix fiasco while all the teams will already be eyeing up next season and testing out a number of new ideas.

Second practice is at 2pm with qualifying at 2pm tomorrow and the race at 2.10 on Sunday afternoon.

Rugby Union-There’s one game in the Gallagher Premiership in England tonight.Bath play Saracens and in the Guinness Pro 14 Munster play Edinburgh and Ulster host Scarlets.

The new Wales coach Wayne Pivac takes charge of the team for the first time tomorrow against the Barbarians in Cardiff.

Justin Tipurac will captain the side and the Barbarians will be coached by former Wales boss Warren Gatland who’ll be saying his goodbyes to the crowd.

Kick off is at 3.45 french time tomorrow.

Weather

Partially cloudy with moderate to strong westerly winds.

Top temperature 18 degrees.

Overnight lows of 11 degrees on the coast and 8 degrees inland with clear skies.

The weekend-Clear skies tomorrow with a high of 17.Rain on Sunday with a high of 13.

Finally 

Prepare for family arguments this festive season as Monopoly has launched a new 'longest game ever' just in time for Christmas.

Monopoly has released its 'longest ever version' of the iconic game with 66 properties, 40 spaces. 

The traditional form of the game with 28 properties has been trumped by this $30 product.

An advertisement for the new version read: 'Think the original Monopoly game takes forever to play? It's got nothing over this edition.' 

Even bankruptcy won't get a player out of this Monopoly game. The game doesn't end until someone owns every single property - and there are three versions of each in this board game,' it continued.

The latest version is available exclusively on Amazon so you'll need to get it shipped before the silly season begins.

There has been a mixed reaction from fans online with some saying they couldn't wait to try it and others wanting to steer clear.

 

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