French and Riviera News Friday 2nd November 2018

Local

Flooding - The Var region remains on a yellow weather alert due to the risk of flooding, as the Argens River continues to rise. The body of an elderly man was discovered in a car in Saint-Antonin-du-Var on Thursday morning. The victim was reportedly at the time on a road which had been closed due to severe weather conditions. More than six hundred people were evacuated from their homes and taken to emergency shelters in the Var. Meteo France has said that the Var received seventy per cent of its annual rainfall just in the month of October.

On the roads the RN202 going north from Nice to Grenoble has been affected by a landslide with diversions being put in place. The road is expected to re-open at midday on Saturday.

Meanwhile the Prefecture of the Var has announced its Plan Grand Froid for the winter.  The aim of the plan is to provide accommodation for all homeless people when the temperature falls below zero. 565 places are available under the scheme, plus additional hotel accommodation if necessary. 

Halloween celebrations - The mayor of Cannes has called for an increased police presence in the town after violence broke out during Halloween celebrations on Wednesday. David Lisnard condemned acts of violence which involved cars being set on fire and clashes with police adding that “Halloween had become a pretext for thugs to destroy the property of others”.

Meanwhile in Brittany the sale of alcohol, fuel and fireworks was banned ahead of Halloween celebrations. The measure was put in place after overenthusiastic Halloween celebrations in 2016 and 2017.  

Oil - Oil residue continues to be washed up on some of the area’s beaches almost four weeks after the collision of two ships off Corsica. Oil pellets were found on Thursday on a beach in the Calanques National Park near Marseille. Oil has also been washed up at La Ciotat.

Strike - The region’s bus network Ligne d’Azur is on strike today 24 bus routes in and around Nice are expected to be affected. However the tramway will be running as normal.

National

Emmanuel Macron - French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that a nationalist "leprosy" was spreading across Europe, similar to the time between the two World Wars. In an interview on Thursday, he called to "fight back" nationalism, and also for less dependence on foreign powers for Europe's security.

Minister for equality - France's minister for equality has donated her hair to a charity that makes wigs for women with cancer and has encouraged others to do the same. Marlène Schiappa shared the reason behind why she had chopped off her hair in an online post, alongside her sister who donates her hair every two years.

Somme memorial - Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron will mark the signing of the armistice to end fighting in the first world war with a meeting at a Somme memorial to the tens of thousands of people who died on the conflict’s bloodiest battlefield. The British prime minister and the French president will have lunch at the town hall in Albert, northern France, on 9th November. The event will have particular significance for Macron, who was born in nearby Amiens and grew up in an area of France scarred by the conflict. His little-known British great-grandfather fought at the Somme and was decorated for bravery.

Business

Apple has warned of slower festive period sales despite posting record results for the third quarter.

The tech giant’s shares fell by 7 percent in after-hours trading after it briefly lost its 1 trillion dollar valuation.

Apple said that revenues rose by 20 percent in the third quarter to 62.9 billion dollars with profits up 31 percent to 14.1 billion.

However,the share slide occurred after Apple said that it could register weaker sales in the coming months  and that it would stop disclosing the number of units sold.

The firm has defended its decision arguing that the figures are no longer good indicators of the company’s financial health.

Analysts have warned that outsiders may not see it that way and may think that Apple is attempting to mask a less than solid performance.

 

A BBC investigation has found that hackers appear to have compromised and published messages from at least 81,000 Facebook users’ accounts.

Hackers told the BBC’s Russian Service that that had details from a total of 120 million accounts which they were attempting to sell.

Facebook says that security has not been compromised and that the data had probably been obtained through malicious browser extensions.

The company said that it had taken steps to prevent further accounts being affected.

The BBC says that many of the affected account holders live in Russia or Ukraine but some are from the UK,the US and elsewhere.

 

And-A German consumer association has filed a class lawsuit against Volkswagen over the emissions scandal.

VZBV which represents 41 German consumer groups has accused the carmaker of “deliberately and unethically causing damage” to two million drivers.

It’s seeking a judgement on whether the firm should be liable to pay damages to German consumers.

The class action lawsuit is only possible due to recent new laws pushed through by the German parliament.

 

Sport

Football-Manchester City are through to the quarter finals of the English League Cup after beating Fulham 2-0.

The victory was marred slightly by an injury to star player Kevin De Bruyne who limped off three minutes from time.The 27 year old Belgian was only making his second start of the season after suffering a knee ligament injury in August.

In the English Premier League this weekend.

On Saturday Bournemouth host Manchester United.Cardiff play Leicester.Everton face Brighton.Newcastle play Watford.West Ham play Burnley.Arsenal host Liverpool and Wolves play Spurs.

On Sunday Manchester City play Southampton and Chelsea host Crystal Palace.Huddersfield play Fulham on Monday.

Rugby Union-The autumn internationals start tomorrow with Japan hosting New Zealand,Wales against Scotland,England against South Africa and Ireland against Italy.

England coach Eddie Jones has named Owen Farrell at Fly half with Ben Te’o at inside centre despite having only played less than 30 minutes for Worcester this season.

There’s no place for Chris Ashton but Manu Tuilagi is on the bench.

Formula 1-Government officials in Vietnam say that there will be a Grand Prix in Hanoi in 2020.

The Hanoi People’s Committee says that the Grand Prix circuit will be unveiled at a gala next week.

There’s been no  confirmation from Formula 1 so far.

Tennis-Both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are through to the quarter finals of the Paris Masters.

Djokovic,who’ll become world number one next week come-what-may reached the last 8 after his opponent Damir Dzumhur retired with a back injury while Federer beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-4 6-3.

Weather

Rather cloudy with some bright spells and some scattered showers too.

Light to moderate westerly or variable winds and a high of 19 degrees.

Overnight lows of 13 degrees on the coast and 9 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

The weekend-Partially cloudy with occasional showers and highs of 19-20 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last local news

Evening Update Thursday 28th March 2024

Seven people have been questioned by police in a fraud investigation relating to the loss of almost half a million euros by Nice university hospital.... Evening Update Thursday 28th March 2024 Read More

28/03/2024

French and Riviera News Thursday 28th March 2024

France's prime minister Gabriel Attal has announced that a teenage girl who falsely accused her headteacher of striking her in a heated exchange over... French and Riviera News Thursday 28th March 2024 Read More

28/03/2024

Evening Update Wednesday 27th March 2024

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has asked for national police reinforcements to help bring the Les Moulins housing estate under control.... Evening Update Wednesday 27th March 2024 Read More

27/03/2024

French and Riviera News Wednesday 27th March 2024

The headmaster of a high school in Paris has resigned after receiving death threats on social media following an altercation with a student, which dat... French and Riviera News Wednesday 27th March 2024 Read More

27/03/2024

Evening Update Tuesday 26th March 2024

More than 20 secondary schools on the Riviera have been targeted by bomb alerts today, forcing some of them to stay closed all day.... Evening Update Tuesday 26th March 2024 Read More

26/03/2024