French and Riviera News Friday 11th November 2022

News

Missing person – Police in the Vaucluse have launched an appeal following the worrying disappearance of Véronique a woman in her forties, mother of two and singer in the group Arteteca from Avignon who has not been seen since November 7th. According to police she is believed to have left her home without a phone, in her vehicle, a black/dark grey Citroën C4 registered CS 578 CC, in the Courthézon Caderousse sector in Vaucluse. Police in the Vaucluse have asked for anyone with any information to contact them.

Humanitarian ship to dock in port of Toulon today - The Ocean Viking humanitarian ship will dock in Toulon today Friday 11th November. Speaking to French media France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, has indicated that those on board the ship will be checked by the DGSI before disembarking on European soil. The humanitarian ship, which has 234 people on board including several dozen children, will be able to dock at the military port of Toulon, in the Var. The minister went on to say that all measures will be taken to "provide the necessary health and medical assistance to the passengers of the ship" and "to ensure adequate security checks by the specialized services". Darmanin also confirmed that passengers eligible for asylum will be welcomed in France, but a large proportion will go to other European countries. Germany must welcome "more than 80 people", and Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Luxembourg and Ireland will also welcome migrants in the name of "European solidarity. “Finally, "those who do not receive asylum will be removed directly from the waiting area to their countries of origin" explained the Minister.

Call for private jets to be banned - As part of an international campaign called "Make Them Pay" scientists have gathered in front of the Dassault Aviation headquarters in Paris calling for private jets to be banned. The "Make them pay" movement carries three demands: "ban private jets, tax big thieves, and make the ultra-rich polluters pay". They denounce the environmental consequences of private jets. On Thursday thirty scientists protested in Paris as part of a coordinated action in ten other countries. Faced with the climate emergency, many scientists decided to engage in actions of civil disobedience to protest against the lack of action.

French President launches campaign to fight against exposure to violence and pornography on the internet - French President Emmanuel Macron has launched an international campaign to fight against the exposure to violence and pornography on the internet. On the occasion of the new edition of the annual Paris Forum on Peace, Macron invited non-governmental organizations to the Elysée Palace on Thursday, as well as representatives of major digital platforms and search engines such as Meta, Microsoft, Google and TikTok for the launch of the "Children Online Protection Lab". The objective is to counter the growing exposure of minors to Internet pornography, cyberbullying, or violence. The French head of state went on to challenge the new owner of Twitter Elon Musk to ask him to join the initiative asking, "will the bird protect our children?".

Cyberattack - The Alpes Maritimes IT infrastructure has been the target of a cyberattack on Thursday, November 10. The departmental services based at the administrative centre of the Department which notably hosts the Departmental Council and many administrative services confirmed the attack to local media. The CADAM communication services have indicated that "the overall diagnosis of the attack is in progress and that action taken had made it possible to protect data and that no community data had been hacked and that all business applications were protected". They also indicated that "all public services of the region remain operational despite the closure of the networks."

Jacques Chirac statue vandalised for a second time - The statue of Jacques Chirac in Nice has once again been vandalised. Back in February of 2020, two fingers of the statue had already been cut off. The statue has recently suffered a similar fate and in addition the base has been tagged with graffiti. The statue created by Nice artist Patrick Frega had been erected following the death of the former head of State on September 26 2019. In order to repair the damage, the services of the City of Nice have asked the sculptor "to intervene as soon as possible".

Life expectancy - According to an INSEE study published on Thursday babies born in 2022 can statistically expect to live 93 years for girls and 90 years for boys. The figures correspond to a "central scenario" being the assumption that mortality risks will continue to decline in the future at the same rate as during the decade 2010-2019. In other words, "women and men born in 2022 could live on average 37 years and 42 years longer than the generations born in 1900".

Mild weather for long weekend - Temperatures are expected to again remain high for this time of year, during the long bank holiday weekend. Meteo France forecasts mostly dry and sunny conditions before rain returns on Monday morning. Temperatures will once again be very high for the season, with highs of 20°C in the South and 15°C at the tip of Brittany. Saturday will indeed be the hottest day of the long weekend. The mildness promises to be remarkable for the season with 18°C in Brittany, 15°C in Lille and more than 21°C on the Mediterranean coasts.

Business

Share prices have jumped as investors welcomed official figures that show the cost of living in the US increased at a slower than expected pace last month. The US consumer price index rose by 7.7% in October from a year earlier. That is the smallest annual increase since the start of the year and down from 8.2% the previous month. It means the US central bank may ease its aggressive approach to raising interest rates to tackle inflation.

A US regulator says it is watching events at Twitter with "deep concern" after the platform's top privacy and compliance officers reportedly quit. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said new chief executive Elon Musk was "not above the law". Separately, Mr Musk reportedly told employees that bankruptcy is not out of the question for Twitter. The company has been in disarray since Mr Musk started firing thousands of employees last week.

Amazon is ramping up the use of robots as sales growth slows and it faces pressure to cut costs. Already about three quarters of the packages delivered by the e-commerce giant have been touched by some kind of robotic system. But that is likely to hit 100%, or just about, in the next five years. The firm has declined to say how much the investments help reduce costs. Staff were also quick to deflect questions about how quickly the machines are likely to replace their human counterparts, noting that 700 new types of roles have been created as the technology advances.

Sport

Cricket - England did not just win the T20 World Cup semi-final they produced one of their greatest performances, sweeping aside their opponents in a glorious frenzy that left their supporters in a heady state of delirium. England now head to Melbourne, where Pakistan stands in the way of a second T20 world title.

Formula 1 - Formula 1 drivers are pushing for a change in the penalty points system to prevent drivers being banned from races for frivolous offences. Governing body the FIA's approach to various administrative matters has come under the spotlight this season and Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, said it had told the drivers that it was going to hold a review over the winter.

Rugby Union – Third place play off in the Women’s Rugby World Cup will see Canada play France and the final New Zealand face England.

In the Internationals on Saturday Ireland face Fiji, Italy play Australia, England play Japan, Wales play Argentina and France play South Africa. On Sunday Scotland play New Zealand.

Tennis - Great Britain pulled off a huge upset to reach the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals for the first time in 41 years. Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls, who only made debuts in the competition on Tuesday, won the doubles match that sealed a 3-0 win over Spain in Glasgow. Singles victories for Harriet Dart and Heather Watson against much higher ranked opponents had set up a tense finale with GB needing a clean sweep. Great Britain will face Australia in the last four on Saturday.

Football – In the Premier League this weekend. Tomorrow, it kicks off with Manchester City at home to Brentford at 1.30pm. With a 4pm kick off Bournemouth face Everton, Liverpool are at home to Southampton, Nottingham Forest play Crystal Palace, Tottenham are at home to Leeds, West Ham play Leicester City. With a 6.30pm kick off Newcastle are at home to Chelsea and the last match at 8.45pm Wolverhampton play Arsenal.

On Sunday Brighton are at home to Aston Villa 3pm kick off and Fulham play Manchester United 5.30pm kick off.

Weather

Sunny with a moderate breeze. Highs of 20 degrees in Nice, Monaco, Antibes and Saint Paul de Vence. 21 degrees in Cannes, Saint Raphael and Toulon. This evening going down to between 11-12 degrees with clear skies.

The outlook for the weekend – Fine and sunny tomorrow with highs of 21 degrees. Sunday – sunny intervals and highs of 20 degrees with a moderate breeze.

Sunrise                                  Sunset

07.19hr                                 17.09hr

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