French and Riviera News Thursday 8th November 2018

Local

Marseille - Rescue operations following the collapse of two buildings in Marseille on Monday have been suspended for 24 hours while two neighbouring buildings, which pose a threat, are demolished.  The death toll from the building collapse in Marseille has risen to six. As the investigation continues into the cause of the incident, it’s been confirmed that only one of the buildings was inhabited with nine of the ten apartments being occupied. Local residents and traders held a meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss the collapse and obtain answers to their questions. 

Parking tickets - Members of a police union have said that during the day of protest against the rise in petrol prices parking ticket will not be issued. A spokesperson for the union Unit SGP said that they would be in solidarity with their fellow citizens on the 17th of November.


Italy extreme weather - The recent extreme weather in Italy has now claimed 29 victims, including 12 people who lost their lives as a result of the flooding in Sicily. Prince Albert II of Monaco has sent his condolences to the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.  The Prince said that his family, the population of Monaco and the prince himself, express their most heartfelt condolences following the tragedy that took place in Italy.
 

Emmanuel Macron in Toulon - It’s been announced that President Emmanuel Macron will be in Toulon next Wednesday to visit the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. He is expected to meet the crew of the ship and to attend airborne exercises. The nuclear powered Charles de Gaulle is the flagship of the French Navy and has recently undergone a renovation.

Inmates given game console - Unions have reacted angrily following the confirmation by the management of the prison of Draguignan, in the Var, that they intend to purchase a PS4 game console for inmates, with the intention of “creating a new activity within the prison”. Unions argue that not only is it the cost of such equipment but also the access it gives to communications, through the internet, outside of the institution. 

Francis Lai - The French composer and musician Francis Lai, has died at the age of 86. Author of the music for the films "A man and a woman" and "Love Story", for which he received the Oscar in 1970. Francis Lai from Nice owned a home in Isola and was close friends with the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi who in response to the news of his death paid tribute to him on Twitter.

Weather - If you are fed up with the rain the good news is that the month of November is set to improve. Records have been broken across the Alpes Maritimes for the amount of rain which has fallen since the beginning of the month, a shock to some, especially following this year’s second hottest summer in the region since 1943.

National

Homage to Nazi collaborator - French President Emmanuel Macron has sought to justify paying homage to Nazi collaborator Philippe Pétain during commemorations marking the end of World War One later this week. Mr Macron said Marshal Pétain was a "great soldier", even though he had made "disastrous choices" during WW2. Pétain was praised for the defence of Verdun in 1916, but he was sentenced to death for high treason after WW2. Some French politicians and Jewish leaders condemned Mr Macron's comments. However by Wednesday evening the government’s spokesman and secretary of state Benjamin Griveaux confirmed that Macron’s comments had been misinterpreted and that there would be no tribute made to Phillippe Petain.  

Brexit - Meanwhile the British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt will attempt to overcome the awkward coincidence of Brexit and the commemorations of the Armistice marking the Anglo-French victory in the first world war by claiming relations between the two countries are bigger than Brexit. Speaking in French on a visit to Paris today, the British foreign secretary will say the UK and France will remain “tied by bonds of friendship and commerce for decades to come”. The Armistice Day commemorations in Paris and London on Sunday come days before the UK cabinet is expected to finally meet to agree on the terms of the British withdrawal from the EU.

Business

A report by Reuters says that investors are hoping that the split between Republicans and Democrats controlling the US Congress will open up new opportunities as some government policies will be difficult to predict.

The report says that with Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives but with the Republicans maintaining an advantage in the Senate,fund managers will be able to take opposite sides of various policy bets.

These include whether financials will benefit from deregulation with stricter House oversight and whether healthcare will face more proposals aimed at restricting costs.

President Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he was willing to work with Democrats on some policy priorities.

Issues that could gather bipartisan support include a package to improve infrastructure,protections against prescription drug prices and a push to rebalance trade with China.

 

Shares in Michael Kors have fallen after the firm reported licensing revenue fell by 7 percent and sales at its stores open for at least 12 months down by 2.1 percent.

Profits for Michael Kors were down 37 percent to 137.6 million dollars for the three months to the 29th of September.

Total revenue was up 9 percent boosted by last year’s takeover of the luxury footwear maker Jimmy Choo.

Total revenue for the Michael Kors brand alone were flat though on weaker sales in Europe.

 

And-Marks and Spencer has reported falling food and clothing sales and has warned that it sees little improvement this year.

Like-for-like sales were down by 2.2 percent for the six months to the end of September.Food sales were down by 2.9 percent and clothing by 1.1 percent.

The firm warned that trading conditions for the remainder of the year will remain “challenging”.

 

Sport

Football-Manchester United scored twice in the last 5 minutes to come out 2-1 winners away against Juventus in Group H  of the European Champions League.

The win will boost United’s chances of making the knock out phase with the other group game ending Valencia 3 Young Boys 1.

In Group F Manchester City thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 while Lyon and Hoffenheim drew 2-2.

In Group E it finished Benfica `1 Ajax 1 and Bayern Munich 2 AEK Athens 0 while in Group G Roma were 2-1 winners at CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen were thrashed 5-0 at home by Real Madrid.

There are a stack of games in the Eufa Europa League tonight including BATE Borisov against Chelsea in Group L,Arsenal against Sporting Lisbon in Group E,Spartak Moscow against Rangers in Group G and Celtic against Leipzig in Group B.

Cricket-It’s day 3 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and England in Galle.

Having dismissed the home side for 203 in their first innings,the tourists are looking to build on their lead.

Midway through the first session of the day,England had reached 58 without loss-a lead of 197.

Formula 1-The sport’s owners Liberty Media have announced that there will be a Grand Prix in Vietnam for the first time in 2020.

A multi year deal has been agreed to stage a race on the streets of Hanoi.

It’s the first addition to the race calendar since Liberty Media took ownership of the sport.

 

Weather

Sunshine and showers with light easterly winds and a high of 17 degrees Celsius.

Overnight lows of 14 degrees with cloudy skies.

Friday and the start of the weekend-Rain tomorrow,sunshine and showers on Saturday.Highs of 18 degrees.

 

Finally 

It appears that some prefer old-fashioned simplicity – as more than 7,000 homes in the UK are still watching television in black and white.

Colour transmissions began more than 50 years ago with the broadcast of Wimbledon on BBC Two in July 1967.

And figures, revealed by TV Licensing, show that 7,161 UK households are yet to switch over.

The number of black and white licences issued each year has steadily declined.

In 2000, there were 212,000 black and white TV licences in force, but by 2003 the number had shrunk to 93,000. By 2015, it had dipped below 10,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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