Evening Update 20 June

Summer bushfires are beginning to break out across the South of France this week. A second fire occurred today at Le Park Naturel San Peyre in Mandelieu, where 26 firefighters quickly brought the blaze, which destroyed 200 square metres, under control. Meanwhile, another team of firefighters have been attending a boat which caught fire at Antibes this lunchtime. While nobody was hurt, and the boat remains afloat, it’s expected it will be taken to Port Vauban for destruction.

The Train des Pignes service from Nice is likely to be disrupted again this weekend due to strike action by the CGT.  They are protesting the scheduling of the ‘steam train’ tourist attraction on Sundays. They say the planning has been badly implemented and they intend to continue strike action until better plans are put in place.

A parliamentary report has criticized high taxation on residence permits for foreigners residing in France. The report says the taxes vary but often represents 269 euros per residence permit. In 2017, the proceeds from these taxes amounted to nearly €200 million.

It’s been announced this afternoon, that American singer Aloe Black, who had an international hit with ‘The Man’, will appear at the Fete de la Musique concert on Place Massena in Nice tomorrow. 27,000 people are expected for the free concert, featuring many of the top names in French music including; No.1 selling adult contemporary artist Patrick Bruel, hiphop superstars BigFlo and Oli, local hero dance act The Avener and another of our Riviera Radio favourites, Mika. Entrance is free and no tickets are required. The concert runs from 6pm to midnight and will also being broadcast nationally on France 2 television.

BUSINESS

French Businessman Bernard Arnault has joined Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates as one of the world’s richest men. His wealth, which exceeds 100 billion dollars, put him on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after shares in his luxury group LVMH reached a record level of €368 on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Messaging app Slack is the latest tech firm to float on Wall Street, choosing to go with a direct listing, where the shares become immediately tradable. This is the same route followed recently by Spotify.  The company is expected to be valued at about $15bn. Slack is a corporate application which replaces emails by grouping messages around subjects, projects and teams, significantly cutting down the amount of irrelevant mail.

SPORT

Formula 1 - Officials meet tomorrow to hear Ferrari's attempt to overturn the penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. Vettel was judged to have re-joined the track unsafely and forced Hamilton's Mercedes off the circuit. Even though Vettel won the race, the five second penalty put him behind Hamilton.

WORLD CUP

The last of the group games are tonight with Cameroon playing New Zealand, and the Netherlands against Canada in Group E, while Sweden play the USA and Thailand play Chile in Group F.

Last night, there was joy at Stade Allianz Riviera when England beat Japan 2-0 to finish a flawless first in Group D.

However there was heartbreak for Scotland as Shelley Kerr’s side were leading 3-0 against Argentina, when the South Americans fought back to end the game 3-All which knocks the Scots out of the competition.

The UK Premier League say the will not use Video Assistant Referees next season to rule on goalkeepers moving off their line to save a penalty. The decision comes after three penalties have been re-taken at the Women's World Cup after VAR ruled keepers did not keep at least “part of one foot” on the goal-line.

Summer bushfires are beginning to break out across the South of France this week. A second fire occurred today at Le Park Naturel San Peyre in Mandelieu, where 26 firefighters quickly brought the blaze, which destroyed 200 square metres, under control. Meanwhile, another team of firefighters have been attending a boat which caught fire at Antibes this lunchtime. While nobody was hurt, and the boat remains afloat, it’s expected it will be taken to Port Vauban for destruction.

The Train des Pignes service from Nice is likely to be disrupted again this weekend due to strike action by the CGT.  They are protesting the scheduling of the ‘steam train’ tourist attraction on Sundays. They say the planning has been badly implemented and they intend to continue strike action until better plans are put in place.

A parliamentary report has criticized high taxation on residence permits for foreigners residing in France. The report says the taxes vary but often represents 269 euros per residence permit. In 2017, the proceeds from these taxes amounted to nearly €200 million.

It’s been announced this afternoon, that American singer Aloe Black, who had an international hit with ‘The Man’, will appear at the Fete de la Musique concert on Place Massena in Nice tomorrow. 27,000 people are expected for the free concert, featuring many of the top names in French music including; No.1 selling adult contemporary artist Patrick Bruel, hiphop superstars BigFlo and Oli, local hero dance act The Avener and another of our Riviera Radio favourites, Mika. Entrance is free and no tickets are required. The concert runs from 6pm to midnight and will also being broadcast nationally on France 2 television.

BUSINESS

French Businessman Bernard Arnault has joined Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates as one of the world’s richest men. His wealth, which exceeds 100 billion dollars, put him on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after shares in his luxury group LVMH reached a record level of €368 on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Messaging app Slack is the latest tech firm to float on Wall Street, choosing to go with a direct listing, where the shares become immediately tradable. This is the same route followed recently by Spotify.  The company is expected to be valued at about $15bn. Slack is a corporate application which replaces emails by grouping messages around subjects, projects and teams, significantly cutting down the amount of irrelevant mail.

SPORT

Formula 1 - Officials meet tomorrow to hear Ferrari's attempt to overturn the penalty that cost Sebastian Vettel victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. Vettel was judged to have re-joined the track unsafely and forced Hamilton's Mercedes off the circuit. Even though Vettel won the race, the five second penalty put him behind Hamilton.

WORLD CUP

The last of the group games are tonight with Cameroon playing New Zealand, and the Netherlands against Canada in Group E, while Sweden play the USA and Thailand play Chile in Group F.

Last night, there was joy at Stade Allianz Riviera when England beat Japan 2-0 to finish a flawless first in Group D.

However there was heartbreak for Scotland as Shelley Kerr’s side were leading 3-0 against Argentina, when the South Americans fought back to end the game 3-All which knocks the Scots out of the competition.

The UK Premier League say the will not use Video Assistant Referees next season to rule on goalkeepers moving off their line to save a penalty. The decision comes after three penalties have been re-taken at the Women's World Cup after VAR ruled keepers did not keep at least “part of one foot” on the goal-line.