French and Riviera News Wednesday 31st October 2018

Local

Weather warning – The Var region has been placed on an orange weather alert today due to heavy rainfall and the risk of flooding. Businesses and residents of our area have been assessing the damage caused by storms which have hit the region in the last few days. Damage was widespread in coastal areas of the Var and the Alpes Maritimes. In the Alpes Maritimes, damage to buildings and flooding was reported in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Villeneuve-Loubet and Menton. It’s feared that some of the works in the Jean Cocteau Museum in the centre of Menton may have been damaged by the floodwaters. In Menton’s Garavan bay the storms caused extensive damage to beach side restaurants and caused the sinking of a yacht. It was a similar story at the Larvotto beach and the Port of Fontvieille in Monaco and also at Plage Marquet in Cap d’Ail where beachside businesses were  badly affected. Floods were reported in the Var around Draguignan and along the Argens river. On Tuesday evening the Nartuby river in the area of Trans-en-Provence was placed on an Orange level flood alert. Today, with more rain and strong  winds expected ,Meteo France predicts little improvement to the bad weather until Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile the death toll from fierce storms battering Italy has risen to nine. Winds of 110mph caused destruction in ports just across the border and in other parts of France heavy snow fall trapped more than 1,000 drivers.

In Corsica technicians have been working to restore the power supply after the Island was subject to a rare top level red weather warning on Tuesday. Reports say that 21,000 homes were without power on Tuesday morning after gusts of 160 km per hour hit the island.

Tourist arrested at Nice airport in possession of drugs - A 20 year old Latvian tourist has been handed a six year prison sentence after being arrested at Nice International Airport in possession of 14 kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of 548,000 euros. The man was arrested and the weekend and appeared before the court on Tuesday. 

Nice-Cannes Marathon - The 11th edition of the Nice-Cannes Marathon takes place this Sunday. Runners will gather on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice at 8am to take part in the 42km marathon.

GoldenFoot Award 2018 - This year’s GoldenFoot Awards took place here in Monaco at the Fairmont Hotel on Tuesday evening. A star studded event which saw many legends from the football world. This year’s winner was PSG striker Edinson Cavani.

National

7 people arrested in Le Mans - Seven members of a family of "Syrian origin" have been arrested in Le Mans (Sarthe) as part of an anti-terrorist investigation. A preliminary inquiry was opened by the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday following the publication of videos on line supporting the Islamic State Group.


Congestion charges in France - Several French towns and cities could be set to introduce congestion charges for motorists. France’s new draft law on mobility is calling for drivers in towns and cities with a population of more than 100,000 to pay up to €20 to use their vehicles during rush hour. The measure, backed by French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne, has been welcomed by some French municipalities trying to tackle traffic congestion and pollution in city centres.

Changes in France in November –In France November will see changes for Ryanair passengers, those who rent apartments and anyone who uses gas. Passengers using Ryanair will be charged for cabin luggage. As of Thursday November 1st the annual winter truce comes into force which basically forbids landlords and courts from evicting tenants until the weather warms up next April and for those who use gas to heat their homes and for cooking tariffs with the provider Engie will rise by an average of 5.79 percent from November 1st compared to prices in October.

Business

Facebook has reported a slowdown in user growth as it missed profit forecasts on the back of rising costs.

The social media giant said that an average of 1.49 billion people used the service on a daily basis in September-up by 9 percent on last year but below expectations of 1.51 billion.

Growth was flat in the United States  and Canada and fell in Europe  with sales rising by 33 percent to 13.7 billion dollars but falling short of forecasts.

The firm,which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram is struggling with a shift in its business as user growth slows in its most profitable markets.

Co founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that he was confident that advertising sales “would catch up to the change in users’ behaviour” but warned investors that 2019 would be another year of “significant investment”.

 

A survey carried out by Lloyds Bank has shown that businesses across the board are becoming increasingly nervous about the British Prime Minister Theresa May’s ability to pull off a Brexit deal.

Optimism about the British economy slumped to its lowest level this year in October according to the survey with confidence falling in almost all parts of the country.

The concern is spread across both large and small firms who say that they’re increasingly worried about the UK’s impending exit from the European Union.

Meanwhile the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has said that the UK economy will suffer rising unemployment and falling household incomes that would trigger a recession should Theresa May fail to secure a deal to prevent the country crashing out of the EU at the end of March next year.

The agency said that property prices would slump and inflation increase to more than  5 percent in the event of a no deal.

 

And-Profits at BP more than doubled in the third quarter,boosted by rising oil prices and higher production in new fields.

BP said that profits rose to 3.8 billion dollars from 1.86 billion a year earlier,its best quarterly result for five years.

Revenue in the quarter jumped to 80.8 billion dollars up from 60.8 billion last year.

The price of Brent Crude rose to a four year high of more than 86 dollars earlier this month before slipping back to around 77 dollars.

Sport

Football- There were 2 fourth round ties in the English League Cup last night.

Bournemouth beat Norwich 2-1 and League 1 Burton Albion beat Nottingham Forest of the Championship 3-2.

The match between Leicester City and Southampton was called off as a mark of respect for those who died in the tragic helicopter crash outside the stadium last Saturday night.

There are 4 ties tonight.Arsenal play Blackpool,Chelsea are at home to Derby,West Ham play Spurs  and Middlesbrough host Crystal Palace.

 

Rugby Union-Full back Mike Brown has been dropped from the England squad to play South Africa in the first of the autumn internationals at Twickenham on Saturday.

The 33 year old was not retained in the 25 man squad training in Portugal and returned home last night.

Number 8 Ben Morgan has also been released leaving Zach Mercer of Bath in position to make his England debut against the Springboks.

Lock Courtney Lawes has been ruled out of the game with a back injury.,

 

Tennis-World number two Novak Djokovic is through to the third round of the Paris Masters.

The 31 year old beat Joao Sousa 7-5 6-1 and could regain the world number one spot should Rafael Nadal fail to win the tournament.

Nadal and Roger Federer are both in action today.

 

Weather

THERE’S AN ORANGE ALERT FOR THE RISK OF FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS OF THE VAR.

 

Rain across the region for most of the day with some sunny period around lunchtime and moderate to strong easterly winds.

Top temperature 18 degrees Celsius.

Overnight lows of 14 degrees on the coast and 12 degrees inland with heavy rain,scattered thunderstorms and continuing strong easterly winds.

Thursday and Friday-Rain until around lunchtime tomorrow then clearing.Mainly fine on Friday with highs of 17-19 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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