French and Riviera News Monday 14th January 2019

Local

Yellow Vests - Some 84,000 Yellow Vest demonstrators have turned out across France for new protests. Numbers on Saturday were higher than last week, with a marked decline in violence.

In Toulon a reported 3,000 yellow vests gathered and an investigation has been opened after one demonstrator suffered head injuries during clashes with police.

Meanwhile some 50 deputies have been the target of attacks, including death threats and gunshots. For the last two months, around 50 members of La République en Marche (LREM) party have faced unprecedented threats from the "Yellow Vest" movement.

And Franck Delestre the yellow vest from Vallauris has arrived in Paris after cycling more than 900km to deliver a letter from yellow vests in the region. However on arrival at Place Beauvau in Paris on Sunday, Delestre was told by police to turn back.

Weather warning - A yellow weather warning from Meteo France issued on Sunday, with strong winds forecast for the region remains in place until midday today. The Alpes Maritimes and the Var were both placed under alert due to strong winds.

OGC Nice - Gauthier Ganaye has been appointed president of OGC Nice. 31 year old Ganaye who is currently managing director at Barnsley will arrive in Nice in the coming days. The announcement came following the departure of Jean Pierre Rivère at the weekend.

Cannes Urban Trail - 3,000 runners have taken part in this year’s Cannes Urban trail. Benjamin Chabarot from Rouen arrived first completing the race in 1 hour 43’57” while the Mayor of Cannes David Lisnard completed the race in 2 hours 09’01”.

National

Gas explosion - The death toll from a suspected gas explosion in central Paris has risen to four after rescue workers found the body of a woman in the rubble. Two firefighters and a Spanish tourist were also killed in Saturday's blast at a bakery near a popular area. Dozens more people were injured in the blast, which also caused damage in nearby streets. Around 200 firefighters were mobilised to battle the fire that broke out after the explosion and evacuate victims and residents in the area.

National Debate - Ahead of the great national debate French President Emmanuel Macron has published a letter to the people of France. Published on Sunday the letter outlines 32 “essential” questions on taxation and public spending, the organization of the state, climate change and democracy. The government is encouraging everybody to participate and have set up a hotline and website which will be available from Tuesday 15th January for a period of two months.

National Rally - France’s far-right party, the National Rally formerly known as the National Front party has announced 12 candidates for the upcoming European elections. The group will be led by Jordan Bardella, a long-time supporter and loyal activist of party leader Marine Le Pen. The party held a meeting on Sunday aimed to motivate party members and supporters to get out and vote for its candidates as the party is hoping to have a major impact on reforming the EU. The party is well on the way to securing some significant victories with 24 percent of the stated voting intentions in recent polls.

Business

Reports in Japanese media say that Hitachi is to suspend construction on its Horizon division’s nuclear power plant in Wales.

The reports throw the UK government’s nuclear policy into doubt although Hitachi says that no formal decision has yet been made.

If the project is scrapped then 400 jobs will be lost and it will leave the Hinkley Point power station in Somerset as the only new nuclear reactor being built in the UK.

In November,plans to build a nuclear plant at Moorside in Cumbria were halted when Toshiba announced that it was winding up its NuGeneration subsidiary which was behind the project.

The UK government says that it’s still in discussions with Hitachi about the nuclear plant in Wales.

 

The United States has warned German firms involved in the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that they could face sanctions if they stick with the project.

President Trump has accused Germany of being a “captive” to Moscow because of its reliance on Russian energy and has urged it to halt work on the 11 billion dollar pipeline.

The pipeline would carry gas direct to Germany under the Baltic Sea and has been criticised because it would deny Ukraine lucrative gas transit fees.

The issue has been addressed in a letter by the US ambassador Richard Grenell to several firms and says that any companies operating in the Russian energy export pipeline sector is in danger of sanctions.

 

And-Greek politicians are about to test investors’confidence that the country’s years of turbulence are a thing of the past.

The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s future is on the line after he called a confidence vote in parliament following the breakdown of his coalition government.

Mr Tsipras had a two seat majority and  defeat in the confidence motion would raise the prospects of an early general election.

A general election could shift power to the centre-right New Democracy opposition party.

Sport

Tennis-The Australian Open is underway in Melbourne with first round matches taking place.

So far today,Rafael Nadal and Kevin Anderson have both made it safely into round 2  while in the women’s competition the British number two Katie Boulter had a fine first round win over Ekaterina Makarova.

Andy Murray may well play his final competitive match later when he faces Roberto Bautista Agut in round one.Murray has said that he will retire after Wimbledon but may not even make it that far as pain from his hip is preventing him from playing to the best of his ability.

Football-There were two games in the English Premier League on Sunday.Everton beat Bournemouth 2-0 and Manchester United made it 6 wins in a row under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as they won 1-0 at Spurs.

There’s one game tonight.Manchester City host Wolves.

Rugby Union-Saracens are through to the quarter finals of the European Champions Cup thanks to a 28-10 win at Lyon in Pool 3 on Sunday.The other Pool match ended Glasgow 33 Cardiff Blues 24.

Also on Sunday Exeter beat Castres 34-12 in Pool 2.

Weather

Clear skies with a moderate to strong Mistral developing across the region with gusts in excess of 60 km/h in the Var later.

Top temperature 16 degrees.

Overnight lows of 8 degrees on the coast and 3  degrees inland with clear skies.

Tuesday and Wednesday-Mainly fine with highs of 14-16 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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