French and Riviera News Friday 6th May 2022

News

French President vows nearly 2 billion euros for Ukraine - French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to plough nearly 2 billion euros into supporting Ukraine in its fight with Russian armed forces. Macron said on Thursday that France would give the sum to Volodymyr Zelensky's administration. Last year France sent 1.6 billion euros worth of aid to Ukraine. But since 24 February when the Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his country's military into Ukraine, France has sent in medical equipment as well as military supplies to the country.

Report shows France has already used all of its natural resources for the year - According to calculations by the Global Footprint Network published on Thursday, during the first four months of 2022, France used all of its natural resources for the year. Each year, the Global Footprint Network research organisation calculates “Earth overshoot day” by comparing the human impact on the environment with the “biocapacity” of the earth to regenerate and absorb waste produced by humans – in particular CO2 emissions. The goal is to highlight the impact of human consumption of Earth’s limited resources. For individual countries, their overshoot day shows what the world would look like if everyone lived like them. According to the group, if everyone in the world lived like the French do today, Earth overshoot day would be 5 May. Earth overshoot day in 2021 was 29 July.

Recall - The RappelConso website has recalled bikes and e-bikes which are equipped with the Radius brand brakes due to a malfunction. Customers are invited to return the bike to the point or sale more information on the models concerned go to the government website RappelConso.

Four arrests related to a drug network - As part of an ongoing police investigation into a drug dealing network, four people have been arrested and placed in police custody in Nice on Thursday. The arrests took place on the route de Turin a notorious district for drug dealing which is constantly under surveillance by police.

The yacht of a well-known Russian oligarch from the French Riviera seized at the request of the United States - Authorities in Fiji have seized, at the request of the United States, a superyacht suspected of belonging to a Russian oligarch from the Riviera targeted by sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine. The vessel estimated at 300 million dollars, belongs, according to Washington, to the businessman and deputy Suleiman Kerimov, targeted by European and American sanctions. It has been moored in Fiji since mid-April. Washington announced in March the creation of a cell dedicated to the prosecution of "corrupt Russian oligarchs" and all those who violate the sanctions adopted by Washington against Moscow. Since then, the Americans have "sanctioned and blocked ships and planes worth more than a billion, as well as freezing hundreds of millions of dollars of assets of Russian elites in American accounts”.

Vence announces sanction for illegal dumping - The town hall in Vence has announced sanctions for illegal dumping of waste in public spaces. Faced with an increase in unauthorised dumping in the town, the council has announced the introduction of 135 euros fines. In addition to services already in place the municipality has announced the presence of a “dumping vehicle” for household waste which will be positioned at the corner of Alsace Lorraine and Saint-Julien Street from Monday to Saturday from 1:30 to 2pm.

Calls for new speed camera on the Promenade des Anglais - Gaël Nofri, assistant to the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi and in charge of Parking and Traffic for the city, has relaunched an appeal to the State for the installation of a new speed camera on the Promenade des Anglais. Speaking to French media on Thursday, Nofri expressed concerns on the “significant speeding on the promenade” adding that while checks have been reinforced, he would like to see the installation of an additional speed camera near the Negresco, which was already validated by the Alpes Maritimes prefecture last year but which has not yet been installed. There is already a speed camera on the Promenade, near Nice Côte d'Azur airport. As well as a radar at the corner of Boulevard Gambetta. Nofri also said he was in favour of registering electric scooters, calling for a legislation concerning this new mode of transport.

Benzema sues far right candidate - French footballer and star of Real Madrid Karim Benzema has sued a candidate of Eric Zemmour’s far right party in the Alpes Maritimes. The footballer criticizes Damien Rieu, candidate for Menton in the parliamentary elections in June, for several insulting tweets dating back to 2020. Rieu will be summoned to court in Lyon on May 23rd.

Valberg wishes to hold mountain bike World Cup - Valberg in the hinterland of the Alpes Maritimes has submitted an application to organize a mountain bike World Cup in 2024. After hosting the French Cup in 2019 the Riviera resort wishes to take it a step further. The application submitted to the UCI is expected to receive an answer at the beginning of next year.

Tribute to Mino Raiola - Famous faces of football including Ibrahimovic and Verratti, have joined family members of Mino Raiola in a final tribute to the Italian football agent in Monaco. Raiola died on April 30th in Milan following a long illness. He had become as famous as the players he managed after having built an impressive number of football champions in thirty years of career. The funeral ceremony was held at the Saint Charles church here in the Principality on Thursday. The date, time and place of the ceremony remained confidential until the last minute with the deployment of a large security service.

French Cup final - Supporters of OGC Nice are heading to the French capital this weekend to see their team play in the French Cup final against Nantes on Saturday May 7th. Kick-off is at 9pm and nearly 23,000 Riviera supporters are expected to attend.

Business

There has been a negative turnaround concerning the Federal Reserve as stock markets in Asia and America have tumbled after the US central bank this week announced the biggest interest rate rise in 22 years. Some say that following a rather optimistic approach on Wednesday statistics for productivity in the US published on Thursday, led to the turnaround. Major share indexes in Hong Kong and mainland China dropped on Friday morning in Asia. That came after shares in New York fell sharply, led by technology stocks.

Energy giant Shell has reported its highest ever quarterly profits as oil and gas prices surge around the world. Shell made $9.13bn (£7.3bn) in the first three months of the year, nearly triple its $3.2bn profit it announced for the same period last year. But the firm said pulling out of Russian oil and gas due to the Ukraine conflict had cost it $3.9bn (£3.1bn).

Billionaire Elon Musk has lined up 19 new investors to help with his $44bn (£35.5bn) purchase of Twitter. The commitments, totalling $7.1bn, will allow Mr Musk to reduce his own risk in the deal which has been approved by Twitter's board but not completed. There is still some uncertainty that Mr Musk - also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX - will pull off his planned buyout.

Swiss police say they have seized 500kg of cocaine from a shipment of coffee that was sent to a Nespresso factory. Workers at the plant alerted the authorities after finding white powder in sacks of coffee beans. Police later found more of the drug in five shipping containers. An initial investigation suggested the shipment had come from Brazil. A Nespresso statement said production of coffee capsules at the plant had not been contaminated by the drug. The seized cocaine was 80% pure and had an estimated street value of nearly €50m.

Sport

Football - West Ham's European dream is over as they were beaten 1-0 by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-final. Frankfurt will meet Rangers in the final.

Meanwhile Jose Mourinho bursts into tears after guiding Roma to their first European final for 31 years by beating Leicester in Europa Conference League semi, before dedicating win to fans.

In the Premier League this weekend on Saturday; Brentford play Southampton, Burnley face Aston Villa. Chelsea are at home to Wolves, Crystal Palace play Watford, Brighton play Manchester United and Liverpool play Tottenham. On Sunday Arsenal play Leeds, Leicester play Everton, Norwich are at home to West Ham and Manchester City play Newcastle.

Tennis - Andy Murray has pulled out of his match against Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open due to illness. Murray was scheduled to play in the third round of the event on Thursday.

Golf - Rory McIlroy said he would expect a "couple of mistakes" in his game after a three-week lay-off as he kept himself in early contention to defend his title at the Wells Fargo Championship. The Northern Irishman birdied five of his first six holes of his opening round for a three-under-par 67.

Weather

Unsettled to start with, cloudy and overcast. Light winds with bright spells this afternoon. Highs of 19 degrees in Nice and Saint Tropez. This evening going down to 14 degrees with clear skies.

The outlook for the weekend scattered showers with sunny intervals. Highs of 19-20 degrees in the Alpes Maritimes and 20-21 degrees in the Var.

And Finally

While for some flirting comes naturally others struggle when it comes to chatting up someone they fancy. A new study found that the best tactics differ depending on your gender, with women wanting men to be funny and generous. However, males prefer the opposite sex to appear sexually available and to laugh at their jokes, according to researchers in Norway.

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