French and Riviera News.Tuesday January 28th 2020

More strikes-Further public strike action is taking place in Nice tomorrow as trade unions continue to protest over the government’s proposed pension reforms.

For the 6th time since the protest movement started on the 5th of December ,there will be no buses or trams in the city.

A protest march starting at the Jardins Albert Premier has also been organised for 10am with motorists advised to avoid the area.

Nice city hall has said that there will be free parking for the entire day tomorrow.

 

Missing girl found-A young girl who went missing from her home at St Paul en Foret on Saturday has been found alive and well.

Maena Andre was found in Frejus.It’s not yet clear why she had left her home without telling anyone.

 

School strikes-Several colleges and lycees around the region were unable to fulfil examination sittings on Monday because of a strike by some teachers.

Teachers ,backed by trade unions are protesting over government reforms to high schools and some students were unable to sit exams as a result.

The Rector of the Nice Academy says that he’s confident that all students will be able to sit exams during the required period and that some rescheduling would be necessary.

 

Sexual Assault-A 22 year old man has been remanded in custody after being accused of sexually assaulting a young woman on a train between Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles last Tuesday.

Police boarded the train and arrested the suspect who was found to be in possession of several small wraps of cocaine.

Authorities say that during his questioning ,the man vandalised a toilet door in the police station and insulted an interpreter.

He’s being held in custody pending a court appearance.

 

5th term-The Mayor of Antibes Jean Leonetti has announced that he’ll be seeking a 5th term in office at the forthcoming municipal elections.

Mr Leonetti has been Mayor of the town since 1995 and says that he reached his decision to run again after a careful period of reflection over the summer.

He says that he feels perfectly capable “mentally and physically” to serve Antibes for another 6 year term.

 

Gas leak-19 people have been evacuated from a hotel In Hyeres in the Var following a gas leak on Monday night.

Firefighters were called to the Ibis Hotel opposite the Stade Perruc at around 9pm and the road was sealed off to traffic.

Officials said that leak of carbon monoxide had come from a faulty gas heater and that no-one was injured.

 

In National News.

 

Coronavirus-The French Health Minister has said that 15 more people are being checked for Coronavirus in the country and that she expects more cases to be detected.

Agnes Buzyn says that there are 5 people who are under observation in isolation and a further 10 who are under surveillance.

The Minister said that she expects ,as in other countries ,more cases of the virus to show up in France.

So far all of the suspected cases are in people who have recently travelled in China.

The Minister said that passengers arriving back in France from China would not be screened with temperature tests as she said that it served “no purpose”.

Flights from China will not be suspended but the French government is to repatriate nationals who’ve been working in the Chinese city of Wuhan where the epidemic began.

 

Holocaust-President Macron has paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and has urged the world not to give in to “the intolerable rise of anti-Semitism”.

Speaking to a crowd of around 200 people at the Paris  Shoah memorial museum on Monday ,Mr Macron said that “the memory of the horror must never be forgotten”.

The French President was speaking after unveiling a new memorial wall of names of 76,000 French Jews who were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

More than 1.1 million people ,mainly Jews died at the Nazi death camp in Poland ,either in gas chambers or from starvation and disease.

A memorial ceremony with many world leaders in attendance was held at the camp to mark the 75th anniversary of its liberation on Monday.

 

Business.

 

Worries over the continued spread of the coronavirus have hit financial markets, with stocks from Wall Street to Tokyo declining.

The three main US indexes closed down more than 1.5%, while London's FTSE 100 index ended almost 2.3% lower.

Firms with significant sales in China were among the hardest hit.

The virus has so far killed 81 people in China with almost 3,000 confirmed ill, while at least 44 cases have been confirmed abroad.

The outbreak has coincided with the Chinese New Year, when travel and spending typically spikes.

Many Asian stock markets were closed on Monday for the holiday, but concerns about the impact of the virus on the Chinese economy were felt globally, weighing on travel and fashion companies.

Oil prices also dropped more than 2%, with Brent crude falling to $59.32 a barrel, as traders fear demand could drop if China's economy stalls.

 

The UK government is expected to decide on Tuesday whether to ban equipment made by Chinese technology giant Huawei from its 5G networks.

The US is lobbying the UK to exclude it on the grounds of national security.

Huawei insists it would never take orders from the Chinese government.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is chairing a meeting of the National Security Council at which the decision will be made - although it may not be announced immediately.

There is speculation Mr Johnson might choose to ban Huawei from the "core" parts of the networks only.

The core carries out essential functions such as authenticating subscribers and sending voice and data between devices and is sometimes described as the "brains" or "heart" of a network.

 

And-Sainsbury's has promised to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero over the next 20 years.

The supermarket chain, which is the second largest in the UK, has said it will spend £1bn to reach the target.

It pledged to reduce emissions from areas like refrigeration and transport.

But, while the 2040 target puts Sainsbury's ahead of rivals, critics noted that it does not extend to the supermarket's supply network, which accounts for most of its emissions.

Currently, Sainsbury's produces one million tonnes of carbon each year, although, the supermarket said that figure had fallen by a third in the last 15 years.

 

Sport.

 

Tennis—Home favourite Ashleigh Barty has reached the semi finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The top seed beat Petra Kvitova 7-6 6-2 and will now face the American 14th seed Sofia Kenin.

Barty is the first Australian woman to reach the last 4 in Melbourne since Wendy Turnbull in 1984.

 

Cricket-England have beaten South Africa by 191 runs in the 4th Test in Johannesburg to win the series 3-1.

The Proteas put up some stubborn resistance in their second innings on day 4 but they eventually capitulated and were bowled out for 274.

It’s the first time that England have won 3 Test matches in South Africa since 1914.

The one day and T20 series will now follow.

 

Football-Arsenal are through to the 5th round of the FA Cup in England thanks to a 2-1 win at Bournemouth last night.

The draw has been made for round 5 and has thrown up some interesting ties with Chelsea to play the winners of the 4th round replay between Liverpool and Shrewsbury and Wayne Rooney could find himself facing his old club Manchester United if Derby come through their replay against Northampton Town.

 

Formula 1-Pat Fry is to start work at Renault as their new chassis technical director on the 5th of February.

Fry had been placed on gardening leave by McLaren last July  and he’ll replace Renault’s former technical director Nick Chester  who left at the end of last season.

 

Rugby Union-Eddie Jones has warned his England players about the “curse of World Cup finalists” as they prepare to face France in Paris on Sunday on the opening weekend of the 6 Nations Championship.

The previous 4 World Cup finalists all then went on to experience a sharp slump in form and Jones says that it’s important that the squad understands what can happen.

England are currently at a training camp in the Algarve.

 

Weather.

 

Partially cloudy with a moderate to strong westerly wind developing across the region.

Top temperature 15 degrees.

Overnight lows of 10 degrees on the coast and 6 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

Wednesday and Thursday-Partially cloudy tomorrow with a high of 17 degrees.Quite cloudy on Thursday with a high of 14.

 

 

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