French and Riviera News Wednesday 5th August 2020

Local

Toddler killed - An 18-month-old child from Champigny sur Marne, on vacation with his family in Cannes, has been killed after managing to get stuck under the wheels of the “little tourist train”. The tourist vehicle was as the time making its usual tour of the city when the accident happened.

Emergency services, who witnessed the scene, immediately intervened but were unable to revive the young boy. The driver was meanwhile taken to hospital suffering from shock.

An investigation has been opened to determine the exact circumstances and the tourist train will no longer run for several days.

Two new cases of Covid-19 in Monaco - Two new cases of Covid-19 have been declared in the Principality. One of the two people was reportedly infected outside of Monaco.

To date, 123 people have been affected by the coronavirus in the Principality's 105 of whom have been declared cured. Four of them died.

One patient is currently hospitalized at the Princess Grace Hospital and eight people are being taken care of by the home monitoring center.

Scientific Council gives warning about the current situation concerning the Covid-19 pandemic in France – Meanwhile the Scientific Council, which is the body set up to advise the French government during the coronavirus pandemic, has said it is concerned about the current situation.

In a statement made public today the council warns that "The virus is circulating more actively, with an increased loss of distancing measures and barrier gestures it’s a fragile situation which means that at any moment France can switch to a less controlled scenario similar to that of Spain for example",

The Council goes on to add that "the future of the epidemic in the short term is largely in the hands of citizens". Beyond the situation this summer, the Scientific Council still considers it to be "highly probable that there will be a second epidemic wave in the fall or winter".

Man injured by boat propeller - Emergency services have intervened on the port of Cannes following a boating incident on Tuesday afternoon in which a man suffered serious leg injuries. The victim who was taken to hospital in Nice is believed to have been injured by the propeller of a boat.

Forest Fire – A forest fire has devastated several hundred hectares of vegetation in the Bouches du Rhône west of Marseille. The fire led to three campsites in the area being evacuated on Tuesday evening.

More than 1,000 firefighters were on site assisted by several Canadair planes and a section of the A55 motorway between Marseille and Martigues was also closed.

Since the weekend, access to all the forest areas of the Bouches-du-Rhône has been prohibited due to strong winds and high temperatures which increase the risk of fires.

National

Aid following blasts in Beirut - France has been among the first European nations to offer aid after a blast in Beirut killed at least 73 and injured 4,000 on Tuesday.

World leaders have rallied round to offer aid. French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, tweeted that his government was ready to assist, and President Emmanuel Macron said his thoughts were with the Lebanese people.

Paris to make it compulsory to wear mask in certain public spaces - Paris looks set to make it compulsory to wear masks in certain public spaces. The measure was presented by the Mayor Anne Hidalgo and is intended to concern the quays of the Seine and open markets although the areas have not yet been confirmed.

According to the latest data Covid-19 contamination is on the rise again in Paris, as in many departments and cities in France which, like Lille, Tours, Orléans, Megève, Annecy in particular, have already taken measures making the mask compulsory in their city centre.

Champagne losses - Producers in France's eastern Champagne region say they've lost €1.7bn in sales this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. And in May, with France under lockdown, sales were down by 70%.

One industry leader said, "We are experiencing a crisis that we evaluate to be even worse than the Great Depression”.  With tens of millions of bottles likely to go to waste and huge amounts of grapes ready to be harvested, a crisis meeting has been called for 18 August.

Business

Virgin Atlantic has filed for bankruptcy in the US as the global aviation industry feels the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is the second Virgin-branded airline to struggle this year. Virgin Australia went into administration in April.

Disney plans to launch a new streaming service outside the US next year as it tries to build on its early streaming success.

The new service will operate under the Star brand and stream a wider variety of content than Disney+.

The firm said Disney+ had already attracted 60.5 million subscribers.

But the media giant reported enormous losses due to the pandemic as its theme parks closed.

An ex-engineer for Google's self-driving car unit has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for trade secret theft shortly before he joined Uber.

A US District Judge in San Francisco said Anthony Levandowski had carried out the "biggest trade secret crime he had ever seen".

Levandowski loaded more than 14,000 Google files onto his laptop before leaving the firm in January 2016.

Sport

Football - Fulham beat Brentford 2-1 in the Championship play-off final to secure an immediate return to the Premier League thanks to two extra-time goals from Joe Bryan.

And Manchester City have completed the signing of Valencia winger Ferran Torres for 23m euros.

Tennis - Defending champion Rafael Nadal has decided not to play the US Open later this month because the coronavirus pandemic is "not under control".

Spanish world number two Nadal has not entered the tournament, which takes place in New York from 31 August.

Golf - Tiger Woods has said playing in front of no fans at the US PGA Championship will be stepping into the unknown.

The event at TPC Harding Park, put back from May because of the coronavirus pandemic, is 2020's first major running from tomorrow 6th August until 9th.

Weather

Clear skies and sunshine in Monaco, Nice, Vence and Mougins with highs of 29 degrees, inland in the Alpes Maritimes reaching up to 31 degrees. In the Var highs of 31.

This evening going down to 18 degrees in the Var and 21 in the Alpes Maritimes with clear skies.

Outlook for Thursday and Friday remaining fine with temperatures rising.

 

 

 

Last local news

French and Riviera News Tuesday 19th March 2024

Civil servants in France have called for strike action today Tuesday 19th March, demanding better salary conditions. No less than eight unions in the ... French and Riviera News Tuesday 19th March 2024 Read More

19/03/2024

Evening Update Monday 18th March 2024

Police in Nice are reinforcing their patrols of the Cimiez district after a spate of vandalism and arson attacks.... Evening Update Monday 18th March 2024 Read More

18/03/2024

French and Riviera News Monday 18th March 2024

A schoolboy has been arrested after threatening his English teacher with a knife. The 15-year-old student was placed in pre-trial detention following ... French and Riviera News Monday 18th March 2024 Read More

18/03/2024

Evening Update Friday 15th March 2024

Hundreds of colleagues, friends and relatives have attended the funeral for an Escota motorway worker who was killed on the A8 earlier this month.... Evening Update Friday 15th March 2024 Read More

15/03/2024

French and Riviera News Friday 15th March 2024

The lower house of parliament in France has backed a string of measures to make low-cost fast fashion less attractive to buyers. ... French and Riviera News Friday 15th March 2024 Read More

15/03/2024