French and Riviera News Monday 7th January 2019

Local

Yellow Vest movement - Women Yellow Vests have marched in Paris and other towns in France to show a different, more pacifist, side to the movement the day after ‘Act VIII’ was marked by new violence on Saturday. Several hundred women gathered in Paris on Sunday. Act VIII of the yellow vest protests on Saturday brought 50,000 people onto the streets according to Interior Ministry figures. Largely peaceful, violence did break out late afternoon between protestors and riot police.

Meanwhile an investigation has been opened after a police officer was filmed hitting several people on the sidelines of a demonstration of "yellow vests" in Toulon on Saturday.

Victims of terrorism - 14 victims of the Nice terror attack have been given a National medal of recognition. The National Medal of Recognition to the victims of Terrorism was created by the President of the Republic on July 12th 2016 following the attacks that occurred in France in 2015.

Police discover body - Police have discovered the body of a man in a burnt out car in Cannes La Bocca. A passer by alerted police on Sunday evening  shortly after 8pm. Police have not yet identified the body and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the blaze.

Prom’Classic - More than 9,500 runners have taken part in the 20th edition of the Prom'Classic on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on Sunday. The 10km race was completed in a record time of 28’59 by Frenchman Hassan Chadhi.

National

New measures by French authorities - The French authorities have set out plans to prevent people in small boats risking the dangerous Channel crossing to England after the Royal Navy agreed to deploy a vessel to the Strait of Dover. Measures being taken include improved cooperation between law enforcement agencies and more surveillance and security on beaches along the northern French coastline.

Green Monday - 500 personalities, artists, scientists and environmentalists have launched a campaign to change people’s eating habits. Entitled “Green Monday” the campaign invites consumers not to eat meat or fish on Monday’s throughout 2019. The campaign is supported by several NGOs such as Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd and aims to highlight industrial farming, overfishing and the cancer risks related to the consumption of red meat as well as  animal suffering.

French film director - French author and film director Yann Moix has attracted criticism following an interview in the French magazine Marie Claire in which he admits to being “unable to date 50 year old women as he says they are physically invisible” adding he is “only attracted to Asian women”. Users of social media were quick to react to Moix comments.

Business

Officials from China and the United States have started talks in Beijing aimed at resolving a damaging trade dispute.

Last year,both countries imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on each other’s goods.

The two day talks are the first formal meeting since both sides agreed to refrain from further tariffs for 90 days and come amid rising concerns about the impact of the dispute on the global economy.

Failure to agree a deal could see both countries resume taxing each other’s goods.

On Sunday,President Trump said that the negotiations were “going well” and that he expected that China would “get it resolved” as “their economy is not doing very well”.

 

Samsung Electronics is poised to announce its first drop in quarterly earning profit for two years as slowing economic growth in China erodes demand for its key products.

Poor results from the world’s leading manufacturer of semiconductors and smartphones is set to add to worry for investors who are already on edge after rival Apple cut its sales forecast on slowing iPhone demand in China.

Samsung is due to publish its preliminary 4th quarter results tomorrow and is expected to announce a 12 percent drop in year-on-year operating profit to 11.85 billion dollars.

Analysts say that China’s overall smartphone market is stalled  and declining and that depressed demand will also further drive down Samsung’s chip sales.

 

And-The activist investor Starboard Value has acquired a stake in the discount store operator Dollar Tree and will ask the firm to sell its Family Dollar Business.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Starboard is seeking majority control of the board and will also push for Dollar Tree to tweak its pricing model.

The hedge fund has nominated 7 directors to Dollar Tree’s 12 member board but has so far refused to comment on the media reports.

Dollar Tree has been struggling to turn around its family dollar business since its acquisition in 2015.

Sport

Football-There were several shocks in the third round of the FA Cup in England on Sunday.

Fulham of the Premier League were beaten 2-1 at home by Oldham of League 1 while Newport County of League 2 beat Leicester City 2-1.

In the other results Manchester City thrashed Rotherham 7-0.Millwall beat Hull 2-1.Preston lost 3-1 at home to Doncaster Rovers.QPR beat Leeds 2-1.Sheffield United were beaten 1-0 at home by non-league Barnet and Woking lost 2-0 at home to Watford.

The remaining third round tie is tonight.Wolves play Liverpool.

Cricket-India have won their first ever Test series in Australia after the 4th Test in Sydney ended in a draw.

Persistent drizzle in Sydney prevented any play on the final day of the final Test meaning that India win the series 2-1.

The two sides will now meet in three one day internationals to round the tour off.

Formula 1-The  three time world champion Niki Lauda has been taken to hospital suffering with flu,5 months after he underwent a lung transplant.

Mr Lauda underwent the surgery in August after doctors diagnosed him with severe lung disease.

It’s understood that the latest development is a precaution owing to the serious nature of the 69 year old’s surgery.

Rugby Union-There was one game in the Gallagher Premiership on Sunday.Wasps beat Northampton 27-16 while in the Pro 14 Zebre lost 27-12 at home to Cheetahs.

Weather

Clear skies with light  variable winds.

Top temperature 16 degrees.

Overnight lows of 6 degrees on the coast and 1 degree inland with clear skies and a widespread frost.

Tuesday and Wednesday-Mainly fine with highs of 12-14 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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