French and Riviera News Thursday 31st October 2019

Local

Halloween - The prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes has announced in a statement several measures introduced to "prevent any disturbance to public order and tranquility" during Halloween celebrations.

The consumption of alcoholic beverages on public roads is forbidden from this evening at 11pm to 5am tomorrow and from November 1st at 11pm to November 2nd at 5am. Unaccompanied children under the age 13 are not allowed to circulate during these hours and the sale and use of fireworks is forbidden from today until November 2nd. Finally, those planning to dress up for Halloween have also be told to choose carefully as any use of replica firearms or artificial weapons is strictly forbidden in public places.

Weather - Météo France has warned of another spate of bad weather over the next few days with heavy rain expected. Some areas in the Var and the Alpes Maritimes are still recovering from last week’s storms which caused flooding in some areas. The weather is to remain unsettled through until Sunday.

Extension of Nice International Airport - The region’s Prefect is set to make a decision in the coming days on whether or not to agree an extension plan for Nice International Airport. The project at terminal two aims to accommodate 4 million extra passengers from 2022 but has recently been strongly criticized by environmentalist groups in the region. 

Zika virus - A third case of the Zika virus has been identified in Hyères. The latest person to be infected lives within a radius of just 90 metres from the initial outbreak. The outbreak took place in August and is now over but is only now being revealed as health authorities seek to understand the spread of the virus. They are aiming to take blood samples from residents in the immediate vicinity of the outbreak and local information meetings are planned for the 14th and 15th of November.

A reminder that train services in the area between Nice and Marseille will be severely disrupted from today until Sunday. Trains originating in Nice will terminate in Toulon. For those passengers boarding in Hyeres or Toulon, trains will terminate in Aubagne and there will be no trains between Aubagne and Marseille. Passengers are advised to postpone their train journey or use another mode of transport.

National

Lubrizol factory - More than a month after the fire at the Lubrizol factory in Rouen, French President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise visit on Wednesday. The head of state said he came to "bring a message of support " to Rouen, and praise the action of the state services, which "have acted with skill and professionalism.  After meeting the mayor of Rouen, Yvon Robert, and speaking to the press, the President of the Republic went to the streets of the city. Facing chants of "Macron, resign" young people expressed their concern. He was notably attacked by a woman who accused him of "turning a blind eye" while "the country is in revolt". "If there is one thing I do not do, it's closing my eyes," replied Emmanuel Macron.

Paris metro - Parisians waiting for a metro train at Miromesnil were astonished to see a man running along the tracks in a bid to escape inspectors. Trains were halted and the power was cut at six stations for half an hour on the busy line 9 shortly before midday on Wednesday. The man fled towards a tunnel as inspectors pursued him along the station platform. The man was later caught. It is not clear what action has been taken although travelling without a ticket commands a fine of at least €50 (£43; $55) on the Paris metro.

The head of the SNCF, Guillaume Pepy, has this morning confirmed that employees will not be paid during strike action. Discussions with unions about working conditions and hours are continuing but M. Pepy confirmed that one claim which would not be met was the renumeration of employees for strike days.

French Minister Julien Denormandie has announced that the government plans to open an additional 14,000 temporary places for the homeless. Speaking to French media this morning he added that while “some of the places would be temporary during the winter months, others would be permanent”.

Business

Market reaction to the US Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate cut has been positive but somewhat muted after the central bank said that the latest reduction could be followed by a pause in monetary policy.

On Wednesday , the Fed lowered the target for its benchmark rate by a quarter of one percent to a range of 1.5 and 1.75 percent ,the third cut in four months.

The decision came as US GDP slowed to an annualised rate of 1.9 percent in the third quarter but Fed chairman Jerome Powell implied that the bank would “ hold off “ on further cuts.

Mr Powell said that he believed that Fed policy was “ well positioned”  and that risks to the economy had subsided as he pointed to the possibility of a limited “phase 1” trade agreement between Washington and Beijing.

He added that he did not expect the bank to change rates again unless economic conditions worsen unexpectedly.

Wednesday’s GDP numbers also showed that consumer spending remains robust although manufacturing and business investment continues to fall.

 

Weakening iPhone sales have affected third quarter profit at Apple ,dropping by 10 percent year-on-year.

In the most recent quarter ,Apple says that iPhone sales came in at 33.4 billion dollars extending a streak of declines and hitting profits which slipped to 13.7 billion dollars-that’s down 3 percent from the same quarter last year.

Apple’s profit and revenue for the full financial year also fell for the first time since 2016.

The firm’s chief executive Tim Cook has stressed that declines in iPhone sales are slowing thanks to the popularity of the new iPhone 11.

He said that trends look good and that Apple is “bullish” about the future.

Other parts of the business look healthy with sales of wearables up by more than 50 percent and services revenue which includes Apple Pay and the App store up 18 percent year-on-year.

 

And-UK car production fell by 3. 8 percent in September according to the industry’s trade body.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders blamed political uncertainty at home and weaker demand overseas for the latest decline.

Overall car output for the year to date is down by 15.6 percent making it the weakest three quarters since 2011.

The trade body said that the latest figures capped a 15 month period of decline for the sector and said that UK carmakers also had to divert “huge resources” to prepare for the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

Sport

MA NOLANS RUGBY WORLD CUP REPORT.

 

The England coach Eddie Jones has named his side for the World Cup Final against South Africa on Saturday.

Captain Owen Farrell has been passed fit as have winger Jonny May and prop Kyle Sinckler.

Ben Youngs will start at scrum half again with Ben Spencer on the bench after flying out to replace Willi Heinz.

George Ford will start again at fly half with Farrell at inside centre.

The pack is the same as that which worked to such great effect in the semi final victory against New Zealand and Jones says that England will go out and play “with no fear”.

He added that South Africa  will be difficult opponents and that England would have to fight really hard to win.

 

For the Springboks, electric winger Cheslin Kolbe will be back after missing the semi final against Wales with an ankle injury

He’s the only change made by Rassie Erasmus to the side that beat Wales.

Sbu Nkosi drops to the bench which the coach says is tough but he’ll probably get a run out at some point.

Erasmus said that South Africa had been building momentum throughout the tournament  which he said had come from consistency.

 

Football-There were three fourth round ties in the League Cup in England last night.Liverpool beat Arsenal on penalties after a ten goal thriller which saw the sides tied at 5-5 after extra time.Liverpool won the shootout 5-4.Aston Villa beat Wolves 2-1 and Manchester United were 2-1 winners at Chelsea.

In the Scottish Premiership last night.The leaders Celtic beat St Mirren 2-0 while second placed Rangers were 4-0 winners at Ross County.

In the other results Hibs and Livingston drew 2-2.Motherwell beat Kilmarnock 2-1 and St Johnstone beat Hearts 1-0.

 

Cricket-The England one day captain Eoin Morgan says that he’ll decide his future after next year’s T20 World Cup.

Morgan who’s 33 led England to victory in the 50 over World Cup final in July and says that he wants to lead the T20 side in the finals in Australia next October.

The 33 year old has a long history of injuries and said that he’d make the call after the World Cup.

Tennis-The defending champion Elina Svitolina is into the semi finals of the season ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen.

The world number 8 beat Simona Halep 7-5 6-3 to guarantee her passage into the last 4 with one game in the group to go.

Karolina Pliskova can still make it after beating Bianca Andreescu who retired with a knee injury but she’ll have to beat Halep in the final group game.

Weather.

Overcast with outbreaks of rain and light easterly or variable winds.

Top temperature 19 degrees.

Overnight lows of 14 degrees on the coast and 12 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

Friday and the start of the weekend.Partially cloudy tomorrow with some showers towards evening.Sunshine and prolonged showers on Saturday.Highs of 17-19 degrees.

Finally 

The shortest scheduled passenger flight in the world takes just 90 seconds from take off to landing.

The Loganair flight takes just 90 seconds from take-off to landing.

The flight runs between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray, two of the islands in Orkney, Scotland.

It has been measured as the shortest scheduled passenger flight by the Guinness World Records, having first flown in 1967 and welcomed the one millionth passenger in 2016.

Operated by Loganair, the route is just 1.7 miles long, and has seen record times of just 47 seconds (depending on the winds).

The reason for the short flight is due to the rough seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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