French and Riviera News Monday 20th May 2019

Local

Knife attack in Nice – A 22 year man has been seriously wounded after being stabbed in Nice. The incident occurred shortly after 6pm on Sunday in the Moulin district of the city. It’s the second stabbing in the last five days. Last Wednesday a 30 year old man was left in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed near the city’s main train station.

Avalanche kills skier - A skier has died following an avalanche in Saint Martin-Vésubie. Recue services said the man did not survive from his injuries after being taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon. Adverse weather conditions had delayed the intervention making it impossible for the victim to be air lifted by helicopter. It’s the first deadly avalanche in the Alpes-Maritimes since March last year when four skiers were killed in the region.

Yellow Vest protests continue - Despite a ban issued by the Prefecture of the Alpes Maritimes for certain areas in Cannes and Nice.  “Yellow Vest” protestors have continued mobilization as part of the 27th Saturday of demonstrations. Protestors avoided the banned areas blocking the Promenade des Anglais on Saturday causing traffic to be diverted.

Giant Magnum goes missing in Cannes - The giant iconic decorative Magnum stick has been stolen from the Magnum beach in Cannes. The all gold ice stick went missing on Saturday night. The decorative Magnum is two metres long and weighs 20 kilos and was placed on a stand, a few metres from the sea, in front of the beach structure. The brand has offered a reward to whoever tracks it down.

The Magnum beach has long been one of the must-see places of the Cannes Film Festival hosting a string of parties but also offering a free ice bar open to the public every day from 4pm.

Meanwhile in Cannes, former footballer Diego Maradona failed to make the red carpet on Sunday to attend a documentary dedicated to his life which was being screened on Sunday evening. The documentary "Diego Maradona" is made from more than 500 hours of unpublished footage from the footballer's personal archive.

And despite a petition and protests from feminist associations French actor Alain Delon received his Palme d’Or on Sunday night. It was the actors his first prize at the Cannes Film Festival despite having been in competition seven times.

National

Parents try to save severely brain-damaged son - The parents of Vincent Lambert, paralysed and severely handicapped following a road accident ten years ago, have launched a new appeal to prevent the termination of his life-preserving treatment. Today the parents plan to have the doctor caring for their son removed before he halts life-sustaining treatment the same day. His parents have already asked President Emmanuel Macron to step in and override the court order. The case has torn the family apart, putting them legally and emotionally against other relatives who concur with doctors that the humane path given Lambert's condition is to end life support.

Bear attacks sheep - A female brown bear released in the French Pyrenees has killed eight sheep in Spain, prompting emergency talks between the two countries. Spanish environmental officials are meeting with French counterparts. It’s reported that some sheep are now wearing tracking devices and there are plans to deploy guard dogs. There have been protests by some shepherds in both France and Spain.

Nuit des Musées - The 15th edition of the “Nuit des musées” has shown a huge success with more than two million visitors. Every year on May 18th the “European Night of Museums” is held. Some 1,300 museums in France took part opening their doors to the public for free.

Business

Google has excluded the Chinese technology giant Huawei from some updates to its Android Operating System.

The decision will come as another blow to Huawei with its new smartphones losing access to popular Google apps.

Google’s decision comes after President Trump added Huawei to a list of companies that US firms can’t trade with unless they have a license.

Google says that it’s “complying with the order and reviewing the implications”.

The move will mean that Huawei will lose Google’s security updates and technical support and any new devices will no longer have apps such as YouTube and Maps.

Huawei is yet to comment.

A senior adviser to the German government has said that he fears that there’s another Eurozone financial crisis brewing.

Dr Lars Feld who is on the German Council of Economic Experts was one of the first to predict a slowdown in Europe’s largest economy last year.

The German government is expecting growth of just 0.5 percent this year-down from a forecast of 1.8 percent a few months ago as manufacturing struggles with a number of issues.

Dr Feld is also particularly concerned about Italy which he says is “particularly vulnerable” as it struggles to stay out of recession with higher government debt and a banking crisis.

He says that there is the chance of contagion from Italy to the entire eurozone banking system.

And-A report in the Guardian newspaper says that Sir Philip Green is considering closing down some  stores as part of a rescue restructure for his retail empire.

The paper says that Arcadia-the group led by Sir Philip needs to secure a deal involving some 50 UK store closures ,rent cuts and a reduction in pension fund payments.

Several of Arcadia’s brands including Topshop ,Miss Selfridge and Wallis have been struggling in the current economic climate and the Guardian says that if a deal can’t be agreed well before the group’s next rental payment in late June then it could be facing administration.

As part of the rescue efforts , it’s understood that Arcadia is attempting to refinance a 300 million pound mortgage on TopShop’s 400 million pound Oxford Circus building in central London.

Sport

Golf-Brooks Koepka has retained the USPGA Championship despite a final round wobble that allowed  Dustin Johnson into contention.

The American carded a final round 4 over par 74 which included 4 bogeys but secured his 4th major after finishing on 8 under par,two shots clear of Johnson.

England’s Matt Wallace ended equal third ,earning his best finish at a major.

Only 6 golfers ended the tournament at Bethpage Black ,New York under par.

Rory McIlroy finished on 1 over with Tommy Fleetwood fading away to end on 8 over par.

Motorsport-Fernando Alonso has failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 after finishing 4th out of 6 drivers vying for the final 3 places in the race.

Alonso had been hoping to pull of motorsport’s unofficial “triple crown” but he’ll have to wait another year if he’s to achieve the feat.

He said that his team McLaren had “tried their best” but that the car had just “not been fast enough”.

The Dutch driver Beitske Visser has dominated the second race in the new W Series with Britons Jamie Chadwick and Alice Powell finishing second and third respectively at Zolder in Belgium.

Visser led from start to finish with Chadwick and Powell battling it out for second place until the final lap.

Jamie Chadwick stays top of the leaderboard after two round of the 6-race championship.

The next race is at Misano in Italy on June the 8th.

Football-The Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that securing the English domestic treble is “not enough” and that the team will be judged on how they do in the European Champions League.

City won the FA Cup on Saturday after thrashing Watford.The trophy was the final piece in the domestic treble with the club having already won the Premier League and the League Cup.

Guardiola said that unless City can win the European Cup then “ it will not be enough”.

Cricket-England have beaten Pakistan by 54 runs in the 5th one day international at Headingly to take the series 4-0.

England batted first and made 351-9 from their 50 overs including 84 for Joe Root and 76 for skipper Eoin Morgan.

In reply ,Pakistan could only manage 297 all out from 46.5 overs.Chris Woakes took 5-54.

England will announce their squad for the World Cup tomorrow.

Rugby Union-Exeter will play Northampton and Saracens will face Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership playoff semi-finals.

The two matches will be played back-to-back this coming Saturday with the winners meeting in the final at Twickenham on the 1st of June.

Tennis-Rafael Nadal has claimed his first title of the year after beating Novak Djokovic in the final of the Italian Open in Rome.

Nadal came through in three sets 6-0 4-6 6-1 in 2 hours 25 minutes.

The victory will be a major confidence boost to the Spaniard  ahead of the French Open which starts at Roland Garros on the 27th of May.

Weather

Partially cloudy with the chance of some showers and a rumble or two of thunder this afternoon.

Moderate westerly winds and a high of 19 degrees Celsius.

Overnight lows of 13 degrees on the coast and 10 degrees inland with clear skies.

Tuesday and Wednesday-Partially cloudy with scattered showers at times.Highs of 17-20 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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