French and Riviera News Friday 21st June 2019

Local

Credit card scam - Several people have fallen victim to a credit card scam in Old Nice. The technique involves stealing your credit card details while you withdraw money. Police have warned people to be extremely vigilant. Those who have fallen victim to the scam have seen transfers being made from their accounts to bank accounts in India.

53 million euros has been paid to 2,256 victims of the Nice terror attack - Figures published on Thursday have shown that 2,256 victims of the July 14th terror attack in Nice have received compensation. In total 53 million euros has been paid out to victims of the attack, with 50% of victims being given a definitive compensation. Those whose state of health is still evolving will still have to wait for compensation.

Train des Pignes - The Train des Pignes service from Nice is likely to be disrupted again this weekend due to strike action by the CGT.  They are protesting the scheduling of the ‘steam train’ tourist attraction on Sundays. They say the planning has been badly implemented and they intend to continue strike action until better plans are put in place.

Fete de la Musique - It’s been announced, that American singer Aloe Black, who had an international hit with ‘The Man’, will appear at the Fete de la Musique concert on Place Massena in Nice this evening. 27,000 people are expected for the free concert, featuring many of the top names in French music including; No.1 selling French artist Patrick Bruel, hiphop superstars BigFlo and Oli, local hero dance act The Avener and Mika. Entrance is free and no tickets are required. The concert runs from 6pm to midnight and will also be broadcast nationally on France 2 television.

Traffic in Nice ahead of Fete de la Musique – Meanwhile several road diversions have been put in place in the centre of Nice with motorists being advised to avoid the area and take an alternative route. The move comes ahead of this evening’s Fete de la Musique which is taking place in the heart of the city. The closures will be in place until Saturday morning.

Tribute to Johnny Hallyday - The mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has announced that the place in front of Nikaia in Nice is to be named the “Place du Johnny Hallyday” as a tribute to the late French singer songwriter, who died 18 months ago. A commemorative plaque is to be put in place during an inauguration in September in the presence of the singer’s wife Laeticia. 

The Who - The Who's guitarist Pete Townshend has been spotted on vacation in Cap d'Antibes. A passionate sailor and owner of the yacht Eva, Townshend last year participated in the regattas of the Voiles d'Antibes. The guitarist is currently touring with Roger Daltery perfoming in London on the 6th of July then heading to the States in September. He has also announced the release of his first novel entitled “The Age of Anxiety” which will be published in the UK in November.

Barack Obama - As the holiday of former US President Barack Obama and his family comes to an end in the region. The owner of the Chateau Saint Pierre Jean-Philippe Victor has spoken of the surprise visit from the 44th President of the United States on Thursday. Speaking to local media he said “the President along with an impressive entourage arrived for a quick stop at his vineyard in Les Arcs before heading to the airport”.

Painting by Pal Sarkozy fails to sell at auction - A painting by Pal Sarkozy, the father of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has failed to find a buyer at an auction in Nice according to local media. Priced at 10,000 euros, the work, a large print on canvas is part of a series of several works called Cycle of life and had already found takers in 2008 in Madrid where it had been acquired by an individual of the Côte d'Azur.

National

Blood donations - Gay rights groups alleging discrimination have filed a complaint with the European Commission over a French ban on blood donations by gay men unless they abstain from sex for a year beforehand. The move on Thursday, came three years after France lifted a 30-year ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, on condition they abstain from sex for 12 months to guard against HIV transmission. The complainants hope that the policy will be formally recognised as illegal discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Sun cream - As the summer holiday approaches, Que Choisir magazine has publishes the results of tests on children's sunscreens. 20 products have been reviewed, and it is not necessarily the most expensive that are the highest rated. According to “UFC Que Choisir” some organic sun creams for children are not protective enough. Twenty products have been tested and "there are organic products that are at the bottom of our ranking," says the magazine's cosmetics specialist. Under the official recommendation, it is necessary that the UVA protection reaches one third of the UVB protection. According to results, there are UVB 50 index creams whose UVA index is below 16, which is the recommended minimum.  

New version Monopoly to hit the shops - It’s a game which has no doubt been at the centre of many a family argument and now a brand-new version of the Monopoly boardgame may just put an end to that. This new version to be released in July can speak to you with an activated voice command and no banknotes making it nearly impossible to cheat. With Mr Monopoly telling you “you’re bankrupt” or that you “don’t have enough money to build hotels” the days of hiding a few notes up your sleeve are well and truly over as are the electric company and railway stations which no longer appear on the board.

Business

Shares in the messaging app Slack have surged by 49 percent after the firm became the latest tech start-up to join the stock market.

Slack had set a guide price of 26 dollars a share but the stock rose by 60 percent at the start of trading before closing at 39 dollars.

Slack has chosen a direct listing on the stock market and rejected the use of traditional underwriters who normally manage the price of new stocks.

The company is currently valued at 25 billion dollars after the first day of trading but along with many of its fellow tech start-ups is yet to make a profit.

The governor of the Bank of England has given a cautious welcome to Facebook’s proposed digital currency Libra.

In a major speech at the annual Mansion House dinner in London last night ,Mark Carney said that the system could substantially lower costs  and increase financial inclusion.

However ,he said that Libra would need regulation to protect against risks such as data privacy and money laundering.

Libra has pledged  to foster a secure network  with anti-money laundering and anti-fraud programmes.It added that it would not hold any personal data.

Mr Carney also spoke about climate change ,saying that it was the “greatest risk” warning that financial institutions would need to be assessed as to whether they were strong enough to survive a crisis.

And-Apple has warned that US plans to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods would hurt its “global competitiveness”.

The tech giant is the latest in a growing number of firms to urge the Trump administration to drop plans for more tariffs.

Apple says that additional levies would “tilt the field” to its global rivals and that the proposed tariffs would include its major products including iPhone ,iPad and Airpods as well as parts used to repair devices in the United States.

Apple said that its Chinese competitors would not be impacted by US duties and urged the Trump administration to reconsider.

Sport

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

The final group games took place on Thursday with the USA beating Sweden 2-0 to top Group F and Chile beating Thailand 2-0.

In Group E an injury time winner for Cameroon gave them a 2-1 win over New Zealand and put them into the last 16  while the Netherlands beat Canada 2-1.

There are no games today with the knockout phase starting tomorrow.

In the last 16 Germany play Nigeria and Norway face Australia while on Sunday England play Cameroon and the hosts France face Brazil.

On Monday it will be the USA against Spain and Sweden against Canada and on Tuesday Italy play China and the Netherlands play Japan.

The winners of those games will go through to the quarter finals which will be played from Thursday through to Saturday next week.

Formula 1-First practice for Sunday’s French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet in the Var takes place at 11am this morning.

Lewis Hamilton lead the drivers’ championship by 29 points from team-mate Valtteri Bottas with the signs suggesting that it’s going to be another good weekend for Mercedes.

Ferrari have already said that the Paul Ricard track is not best suited for their package while Honda are bringing an engine upgrade for Red Bull but it’s not expected to bridge the gap to the fastest cars.

Qualifying is at 3pm tomorrow with the race at 3.10 on Sunday.

Cricket- An innings of 166 from David Warner helped to guide Australia to a 48 run victory over Bangladesh on Thursday and put them top of the World Cup table.

Australia batted first at Trent Bridge and made 381-5 from their 50 overs.

In reply ,Bangladesh battled hard but it was always going to be a tough ask and they ended on 333-8 from their 50 overs with Mushfiqur making 102 not out.

Today-England play Sri Lanka at Headingly.Play is due to start at 11.30.

Racing-Frankie Dettori won the first four races at Royal Ascot on Thursday including the Gold Cup.

Dettori guided Stradivarius to his second successive Gold Cup triumph on Ladies Day with Dee Ex Bee second and Master of Reality in third.

Today’s feature race is the Coronation Stakes which is off at 5.20 this afternoon.

Hermosa is the evens favourite with Jubiloso at 4-1 and Castle Lady and Pretty Pollyanna at 7’s.

Rugby Union-Matthieu Bastereaud has announced that he’s retiring from international rugby after being left out of the French squad for the World Cup.

The 31 year old didn’t make the cut and will join the American Major League Rugby  side Rugby United New York instead.

Tennis-Andy Murray has made a victorious return to competitive tennis as he won his first round doubles match with partner Feliciano Lopez at the Queens Tournament in London on Thursday.

The pair beat the top seeds Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal 7-6 6-3 to move into the second round.

Murray said afterwards that he’d felt good after a “slow start” and had enjoyed being back on court.

Weather

Fine in coastal areas,more cloud inland.

Light to moderate south  easterly winds.

Top temperatures 25-29 degrees.

Overnight lows of 21 degrees on the coast and 16 degrees inland with clear skies. The weekend-Clear skies in coastal areas,possible thunderstorms  inland.Highs of 25-29 degrees.

Finally 

Scientists have claimed that People are ‘more likely to return wallet full of cash rather than empty one’ because they don’t want to be seen as thieves. According to a shock new study, we prefer to hand in a brimming wallet because nicking it would make us feel like thieves.

An international group of scientists turned 17,300 "lost" wallets containing 0£, £10 or £74 worth of cash into public and private buildings in 355 cities across the world.

Each wallet contained a fake person's name, title and email address in the form of business cards. The team's goal was to see just how honest people would be when it came to returning the "missing" property to their owners.

To their surprise, the fullest wallets were the most likely to be returned.

 

 

 

 

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