French and Riviera News Tuesday 11th June 2019

Local

Fatal road accident - A motorcyclist has died following a road accident on Monday evening in Nice Saint Isidore. The accident occurred shortly after 7.30pm following a collision with another vehicle and resulting in two other passengers being taken to hospital. It was the second fatal accident on Monday occurring on the same stretch of road. Earlier on in the afternoon a 63 year old motorcyclist was killed. No other vehicles were involved. Police have launched an investigation.

Mobile phone antenna - Residents in Nice have opposed plans for a second mobile phone antenna to be installed on the roof of a building on Avenue Sainte-Marguerite. Worried residents have aired their concern on the project which the operator justifies in its goal to boast 4G coverage in the area.

Mosquito vacuums - The city of Hyeres in the Var has invested nearly 750,000 euros to equip itself with “mosquito vacuums” deployed in coastal areas. From June the area will see the deployment of a radical plan to fight against mosquitoes with 157 “mosquito vacuums” being installed.

Meanwhile, while some see it as “spying” and others have welcomed the new security measure; talking surveillance cameras have been installed in Hyères. The system has already been tested in Le Cannet and Mandelieu.

Traffic - Traffic restrictions will affect the Promenade des Anglais for the next month.  Works are being carried out to improve security and to renovate the area.  Only the southern carriageway, in other words the one nearest the sea, will be affected and all the works are scheduled to be carried out overnight, between 9pm and 6am, on every other night.  The voie rapide will be kept fully open throughout this period.

Beach cleanup - Volunteers in the Var have collected 750 kilos of waste in a “Beach cleanup” campaign, as part of World Ocean Day. Sixteen teams along with the “Ecole de voile Marines de Cogolin” took part in the event, cleaning beaches between Sainte-Maxime and Rayol-Canadel.

Thief apologizes - An Italian student has apologized on Facebook after stealing a Gucci backpack which he found left on a bench in Monaco. The incident occurred on April 21st when the 21 year old stole the bag from and bench and emptied the contents. Later as he explained, out of remorse, he returned the bag to where he had found it. Identified on CCTV the offender was issued a 1,000 euro fine.

National

Protests - Emergency workers in France will hit the streets today as part of ongoing measures to protest against poor working conditions – as increasing numbers of paramedics take sick leave citing exhaustion. Sixteen out of 19 staff members in the emergency department of Paris’s Saint-Antoine hospital were the latest to be written off for burnout, after being forced to work for 18 hours straight on Saturday.

Health emergency - Parents and an association have announced plans to take action against the Council of State to obtain the brand names of nappies which contain toxic substances. The National Food Safety, Environment and Labor Agency (ANSES) published a report in January on the presence of potentially dangerous chemical substances in 23 different brands of nappies but no names were published. A member of the association and parent said “it’s a health emergency” adding that "Scientific evidence shows that we exceed all standards, with the study finding toxic substances which have been banned in Europe for 10 years".

Wine taxes - US leader Donald Trump has suggested that more tariffs on French wine could be imposed after declaring that the current situation is “unfair”. In the US taxes range from 5.3 to 14.9 cents per bottle compared to France where they range from 11 to 29 cents, a tariff fixed by Brussels. The comments come as the United States and the European Union are in talks to find a trade deal. Between 2007 and 2018, imports of "made in America" ​​wine have increased by 200% in France.

Tony Parker retires from basketball - French basketball player Tony Parker has announced he is retiring. After four titles in the NBA Parker is ending his career which in France has seen him be referred to as the “Zidane of Basketball”. Alongside his NBA career, he led the France’s basketball team to win Eurobasket 2013.

Business

President Trump has expressed concern that a merger between two of America’s major defence giants could reduce competition.

On Monday ,US Technologies and Raytheon proposed a 121 billion dollar merger which would combine the makers of missiles ,electronic warfare systems and engines for Airbus and the F-35 fighter jet.

Analysts say that the proposed merger would reshape the defence sector as other firms look to consolidate.

President Trump said that the merger could hurt competition and make it more difficult for the United States to negotiate defence contracts.

Part of the reason for the deal is the huge investment needed to develop next-generation equipment including weapons and incorporating artificial intelligence into defence systems.

 

The UK economy contracted sharply in April on the back of a big fall in car manufacturing and an easing of stockpiling as the 31st of March Brexit date passed without Britain leaving the EU.

The UK Office for National Statistics said that the economy shrank by 0.4 percent from the previous month resulting in a slowdown of 0.3 percent overall for the three months to April.

Last month ,the car industry said that factory shutdowns designed to cope with disruption from a March Brexit ,slashed UK production by half in April.

Analysts said that the figures meant that the UK is likely to experience more subdued growth for the rest of the year.

 

And-A report in the Guardian newspaper says that the world’s most expensive painting is being kept on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s superyacht.

The paper says that the location of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi has been a mystery since it was sold for a record 450 million dollars at auction by Christie’s in New York in 2017.

On Monday ,it was revealed that the painting is being kept on the Prince’s 500 million dollar yacht, Serene.

The art industry news service Artnet said that the masterpiece had been “whisked away in the middle of the night” on the Prince’s plane and relocated to his yacht.

Salvator Mundi-or “Saviour of the World” has been at the centre of a storm of controversy over claims that it was painted by one of Leonardo’s assistants and not by the artist himself.

It was supposed to go on display at a Middle East branch of the Louvre gallery last September but the opening was postponed and hasn’t been rescheduled.

Sport

AEROPORT DE NICE –QATAR AIRWAYS FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP REPORT.

There were 2 games at the Women’s World Cup on Monday.

In Group D Argentina held the 2011 winners Japan to a 0-0 draw which puts England as clear leaders of the group after the first round of matches.

In Group E Canada,one of the highly fancied teams got their campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory over Cameroon.

There are three games today.

In Group E New Zealand play the Netherlands at 3pm while in Group F Chile play Sweden at 6pm and the holders the United States meet Thailand at 9pm.

New Zealand have failed to win any of their previous 12 World Cup matches while the Netherland’s only previous win came against New Zealand in the 2015 tournament.

Chile have lost 6 out of their last 8 matches  while Sweden failed to win a single match at the last tournament.

The only previous meeting between the USA and Thailand was in a 2016 friendly where the States ended up 9-0 winners.

In men’s football-European Championship qualifying has been continuing with the Republic of Ireland beating Gibralter 2-0 in Group D.

Tonight Wales visit Hungary in Group E.New Scotland manager Steve Clarke will be looking to make it two wins out of two but his side face a tough challenge away at Belgium in Group I while Northern Ireland are away at Belarus in Group C  and France visit Andorra in Group H.

Cricket-Monday’s World Cup match between West Indies and South Africa in Southampton was washed out by rain.

South Africa had reached 29-2 when the heavens opened and no further play was possible.The sides got a point each but that may not be enough for South Africa to reach the last 4 having lost their opening three matches.

There’s one game today.Bangladesh play Sri Lanka in Bristol.Play is due to start at 11.30 but the weather might have something to say about that !

Formula 1-Ferrari have appealed against the time penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Opinion is split over whether Vettel deserved the 5  second time penalty after he was judged to have re-entered the track dangerously after making a mistake at turn 3 on the 48th lap while under pressure from  Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari haven’t stated their reason for the grounds of appeal.

Weather

Hazy sunshine with some showers inland and light to moderate westerly winds.

Top temperatures 24-26 degrees Celsius.

Overnight lows of 18 degrees on the coast and 14 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

Wednesday and Thursday-Clear skies with highs of 24-27 degrees.

Finally 

Recent research has suggested that people looking for love do have a particular 'type'.

While those going through a break-up may be tempted to try something different, it seems that most will end up with someone similar to their previous partner.

A study, published in the journal PNAS, found people tend to date partners with consistent personalities and suggests it may be possible to predict who an individual will couple up with in the future.

The researchers found that the current partners of participants described themselves in ways that were similar to their former partners.

However, people who were extrovert or open to experiences were more likely to date someone a bit different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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