French and Riviera News Wednesday 13th March 2019

Local

Body found is that of young man who went missing on Sunday - Police in Hyeres in the Var, have confirmed that the body discovered near the A57 motorway in Solliès-Villes is that of a 17 year old boy who was reported missing on Sunday following a night out. Worried relatives had alerted police following his disappearance and his scooter was later discovered abandoned on the side of the road at Solliès Ville. The investigation continues. 

French justice system rejects city of Nice as a “victim” - The Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has spoken of his disbelief following a decision announced this week that the French justice system has refused to recognize the city of Nice as a “victim” following the terror attack on July 14th 2016. The city had previously filed an application to become a “civil party” in order to be alongside the victims involved as well as being part of the procedures and investigations into the attack, thus recognising that all the people of Nice had been harmed as a result. Speaking on Tuesday Estrosi confirmed that despite the decision “he will continue to fight alongside the victims to shed light on the circumstances of the attack."

Skier dies - A Russian skier has died following a fall in the Hautes-Alpes. The accident occurred around noon on Tuesday. The 35-year-old of Russian nationality, dropped 300 meters at an altitude of 2,500 meters in an off-piste area. Rescue services intervened and the victim was taken to hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Paris-Nice - Ireland's Sam Bennett has won the 3rd stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race, ahead of Australia's Caleb Ewan. Tuesday’s third stage saw Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen take 3rd place, ahead of Britain's Dan McLay and France's Bryan Coquard. Sam Bennett, who is 28, had already won a stage in Paris-Nice in 2017. Today’s 4th stage takes place in Le Loire region.  

Town Hall of Nice - A new service has been introduced at the town hall in Nice in an attempt to improve relations between members of the public and elected officials. Every Monday between 5pm and 7pm citizens of Nice are welcome to dialogue with an elected official on topics such as housing and employment. Citizens have 20 minutes to present their complaints or concerns to an elected representative.

Nice Chateau – For those wishing to enrich their historical knowledge of Nice the association Nissa Pantai continues to offer guided tours of the Chateau of Nice which will take place once a month. The association allows visitors to discover the historical site in the local language of Nissart. Since 2005, 1750 people have taken advantage of this free service which is open to all.

Environment - Monaco has launched its proposals for a future waste treatment center. On Tuesday the government revealed plans for the creation of a treatment centre of non-recyclable waste. The objective is that with the use of the latest technology and giving priority to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions to create a waste treatment centre by 2026.

National

French aviation regulators have decided to ban Boeing 737 Max aeroplanes in French airspace. The decision comes as many other countries, including the UK and Germany, have introduced a ban on the plane following the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash in which 157 people lost their lives.

The French government has announced an additional pay package for customs officers.  Officers have been carrying out industrial action for the last ten days and have demanded additional resources because of Brexit.  The package, which has yet to be put to union members, amounts to an additional 14 million euros. 

Tax havens - The 28 EU member states has expanded its blacklist of tax havens on Tuesday from 5 to 15 countries. Created for the first time by the Europeans in December 2017, following several scandals, including The Panama Papers, the list aims to combat tax evasion of multinationals and wealthy individuals. In addition, 34 countries remain on the gray list and will therefore continue to be closely monitored by the European Commission. Some European MPs remarked on Tuesday that "The European blacklist of tax havens is starting to have an impact: more than 50 countries have started to modify some of their most damaging tax laws and have agreed to become more transparent,". At present, the sanctions against the blacklisted countries are quite limited: with funds which could have been received from Europe being frozen.

Nearly 6,000 boxes of Camembert recalled - The Company Fromagère Mill Carel, a subsidiary of the Lactalis Group, has withdrawn from sale 5800 boxes of camembert sold under the brand after the discovery of E. coli. The announcement was made on Tuesday concerning the product which was marketed in France from 31st January 2019 under lot number L19009C. Customers are requested to not consume this product and to return them to the point of sale any questions from consumers can be answered by contacting the following number 05.65.58.54.17.

The news comes after it was reported on Tuesday that angry producers of Camembert in France are preparing to post the cheese into every French MPs letterbox in protest over the way the cheese is labelled. The operation is a protest against plans to allow factory-made Camembert to use the European label - Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) which is usually reserved for foods produced in the traditional way in the region where they were developed.

Business

The United States Federal Aviation Authority has said that it will not suspend Boeing 737 Max aircraft depite mounting pressure from lawmakers and unions.

The FAA said a review showed “no systemic performance issues” and that there was no basis for grounding the aircraft.

Many countries  and blocs have now banned the plane from their airspace following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet on Sunday which killed all 157 people on board.It was the second fatal accident involving the 737 Max 8 model in 5 months.

The UK ,China , the European Union and Australia have now all banned the jets from their airspace.

Some leading US Senators are calling for the Boeing jets to be suspended but the FAA  said that other civil aviation authorities had so far “not provided data  to us that would warrant that action”.

Business leaders in the UK have said that they’re “exasperated” after the Prime Minister’s EU Withdrawal Bill was rejected again by Parliament.

The vote on the Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening went down by a 149-smaller than the previous defeat but still a crushing blow to Theresa May and her government.

The finance industry body The City UK said  that leaving the EU without a deal would be “an own goal of historic proportions” while the director general of the Confederation of British Industry(CBI) Carolyn Fairbairn said that the extension of the Brexit process “should be as short as realistically possible and backed by a clear plan”.

The government will publish more details of its no-deal plans today.There’s also to be a vote in Parliament on whether the UK should leave with or without a deal.Conservative MP’s will be given a free vote and not whipped in a pre-ordered direction.All eyes will be on the Prime Minister to see which way she votes.

And-The pound had another rollercoaster ride on the foreign exchanges as the debate and vote was taking place in Parliament on Tuesday.

Initial euphoria on Monday night that Theresa May had secured meaningful legal guarantees over the Irish Backstop evaporated at lunchtime when the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the House of Commons that the bottom line was that the UK couldn’t  unilaterally exit the Backstop resulting in sterling falling by 1.1 percent against the dollar.The losses were pared after Mrs May suffered a smaller defeat than the 230 vote margin after the first meaningful vote in January.

Today’s planned free vote on leaving the European Union with or without deal is being seen by markets that ministerial resignations are less of a risk.

Trading volumes in the currency were more than double their  2019 average on Tuesday according to leading trading platforms.

Sport

Football-There were two second round ties in the European Champions League round of 16 last night.

Manchester City thrashed Schalke 7-0 to move through to the quarter finals 10-2 on aggregate while a Ronaldo hat-trick for Juventus overturned a 2-0 deficit against Athletico Madrid from the first leg to give the Italians a 3-2 aggregate win.

There are two more ties tonight.Barcelona host Lyon with the scores tied at 0-0 from the first leg and it’s also 0-0 heading into the second leg of the tie between Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

There were 5 games in the English Championship last night.Blackburn beat Wigan 3-0.Bristol City and Ipswich drew 1-1.Sheffield United beat Brentford 2-0.Bolton lost 2-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds were 3-0 winners at Reading.

There were two Scottish Cup quarter final replays on Tuesday night.Hearts beat Partick Thistle 2-1  and Rangers lost 2-0 at home to Aberdeen.

Rugby Union-The 6 Nations Championship is considering selling a stake in the event to CVC Capital Partners.

The offer from the private equity firm could result in a windfall of more than 100 million pounds to each union  but would mean partly surrendering control of the competition.

The news comes as World Rugby convenes a meeting in Dublin this week over the proposed Nations Championship.

However,if the 6 Nations decide to sell to private equity  it would present great difficulties for the Nations Championship to even get off the ground.

Formula 1-The Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said that he expects the team to be pushed “all the way” in the Championship fight this season.

The first Grand Prix of the year takes place in Australia on Sunday and Wolff  said that judging by the pre-season testing in Barcelona,Ferrari  are going to give them a proper fight.

He added that a Formula 1 season is not just about who comes out of the blocks quickest.

Racing-Espoir D’Allen won the big race on the first day of the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.

The 16-1 chance ridden by Mark Walsh stormed clear in the Champion Hurdle as the leading three runners failed to make an impact.

The feature race today is the Queen Mother Champion Chase which is off at 4.30 French time this afternoon

Weather

Mainly fine with a moderate to strong Mistral developing across the Var with gusts of up to 75 km/h.

Top temperature 17 degrees Celsius.

Overnight lows of 9 degrees with clear skies.

Thursday and Friday-Clear skies,windy in the Var.Highs of 17-21 degrees.

 

 

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