French and Riviera News.Friday April 12th 2019

Missing girl-Police in Draguinian are appealing for information about a 16 year old girl who’s been missing since Wednesday night.

Lisa Vassiliere left her home in the town following an argument and hasn’t been seen since.

Lisa is 1 meter 60 tall and has mid-length blonde hair.She wears glasses with a black frame and was wearing black trousers and a black jumper when she left home.

Anyone with information is asked to call police in Draguinian on 04 94 39 44 00.

 

Intoxication-10 residents from a retirement home in Roquefort les Pins have been taken to hospital after complaining of feeling unwell.

Food poisoning is suspected and checks are being carried out.The director of the home stressed that the hospitalisation was a precaution and none of those who have been taken ill are suffering from life threatening conditions.

Earlier this week ,several residents from another retirement home in the region were also taken ill suffering from suspected food poisoning.

 

Fraudster arrested-Police in Frejus have arrested a 40 year old woman who’s suspected of committing more than 100 acts of fraud across the country.

Reports say that the woman, from northern France was caught in possession of stolen ID cards and cheque books when she was apprehended in La Valette.

She’s accused of using stolen cheques to pay deposits on apartments and then sub-letting them for cash and pocketing the money.

The suspect has a previous conviction for identical offences committed in the Paris region.

 

Motorbike death- A 35 year old man has died after crashing his motorbike on the A8 motorway in the early hours of the morning.

The cause of the accident is not yet clear.The man’s leg was ripped off his body as a result of the crash and emergency services were unable to revive him despite carrying out CPR.

 

Aid for Mozambique-The Monaco Red Cross has issued an appeal for aid for the victims of Cyclone Idai which has devastated parts of Mozambique.

The Cyclone hit the town of Beira with extreme violence on the 14th and 15th of March and the Monaco Red Cross says that 31 million Swiss Francs is needed to take  care of those affected by the disaster over the next two years,

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced out of their home as a result of the cyclone and access to the worst affected parts is extremely difficult.

Some of the funds raised are being used to provide a mobile hospital which will be able to handle up to 150,000 patients.

Donations can be made online at www.croix-rouge.mc –click on the “Cyclone Mozambique” tab.

 

Bye bye car train-Reports say that the SNCF is to end its car-train service because it doesn’t bring in enough money.

Autotrain was launched 60 years ago and was once a hugely popular service but it’s been in decline for several years.

Train stations where the service is still available include Nice ,Toulon . St Raphael and Frejus but hurry if you want to try it out as the service is set to cease in December of this year.

 

A letterbox ???- Authorities in Vence are fuming after a XIV century wall with a historical protection order on it was spoiled after somebody erected a communal letter box for neighbouring apartments on it.

The new letterbox on the  wall which runs along the Impasse du Grand Four appeared earlier in the week and has just been brought to the attention of authorities.

The town of Vence has ordered the letterbox to be taken down and the perpetrators to make good the damage,which is likely to be costly.

 

In National News.

 

Death and taxes-Online tax declarations can now be made on the French government website www.impots.gouv.fr

You must make a French tax declaration if you are resident in the country meaning if you spend more than 183 days here without significant absences.

Despite the introduction of PAYE tax this year ,everyone still has to fill in and return a French tax form although the Finance Ministry has hinted that the process may be scrapped in 2020.

All tax declarations must be completed online this year and the deadline for filing is the 21st of May at midnight for the Alpes-Maritimes and the 4th of June at midnight if you live in the Var.

 

Migrant crisis-French humanitarian organisations say that despite the end of the migrant crisis in Europe ,there are still just as many asylum seekers living rough on the streets of Paris and that their situation has been made worse under President Macron.

Current estimates put between 1,000 and 1,400 migrants living on the streets of the capital either in makeshift camps or under bridges.

French aid charities say that the makeshift camps are often broken up by police but they are just erected again with the only difference that they get a little further away from the centre of Paris each time.

17 charities are calling on the government to provide long-term housing solutions for asylum seekers  and to ensure that there are adequate hygiene standards installed in make shift camps while they exist.

Charities working on the ground say that they’ve had absolutely no contact with President Macron and have urged him to take a keener interest.

 

Business.

 

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund has warned that further uncertainty over Brexit will hinder UK growth.

In an interview with the BBC , Christine Lagarde warned that businesses and investors will remain hesitant over the coming months.

She said that any prolonged uncertainty would have a negative impact  adding that she hoped a deal could be struck quickly.

The European Union granted the UK  a Brexit extension until the 31st of October following talks in Brussels on Wednesday night.

Christine Lagarde expressed sympathy for British businesses adding that they would face disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit and that they may be resigned to taking a hit to their balance sheets and possibly their market share.

 

Uber has admitted that it “may not achieve profitability” as it finally released details of its plans to float.

The ride-sharing app and delivery business says that it will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a deal which is likely to value the firm at around 100 billion dollars.

The company said that its most recent annual sales rose to 11.2 billion dollars and losses narrowed to 3 billion.

However ,Uber also says that it expects operating costs to “rise significantly”.

Uber has not revealed how it will price its shares when it starts to offer them to public investors on the stock exchange.

 

And-Disney has announced the launch of its streaming service but it won’t be available until November in North America and even longer in other markets.

Disney + will bundle together some of the firm’s major franchises including Pixar ,Marvel , National Geographic , and Star Wars for a monthly subscription of 6 dollars 99 per month or 69 dollars 99 per year.

The firm will have to claw back some of the rights to its content that have been sold to other streaming platforms before it can launch.It could take as long as four years for some of the current deals to expire and could hobble the chances of the new service to succeed in the streaming market.

 

Sport.

 

Golf-Brooks Koepka and Bryson de Chambeau share the lead after the first round of the US Masters at Augusta.

The American pair both hit 6 under par 66’s  in an entertaining first round on the famous course.

Phil Mickelson is on 5 under  with Ian Poulter  and Dustin Johnson on 3 under.

Tiger Woods is well placed on 2 under while the pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy is on 1 over.

 

Football-Arsenal and Chelsea both won their Europa League quarter final first leg ties last night.

Arsenal beat Napoli 2-0 while Chelsea were 1-0 winners at Slavia Prague.

In the other two quarter finals Benfica beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2 and Valencia were 3-1 winners at Villareal.

 

In the English Premier League this weekend,there’s one game tonight with Leicester facing Newcastle.

On Saturday Spurs play Huddersfield.Brighton face Bournemouth.Burnley play Cardiff.Fulham host Everton.Southamton play Wolves and Manchester United play West Ham.

On Sunday Crystal Palace play Manchester City and Liverpool play Chelsea.Watford play Arsenal on Sunday.

 

Formula 1-Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets in first practice for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.

The Ferrari star was marginally quicker than Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes but he was running harder tyres which should be slower.

Charles Leclerc was third quickest with Max Verstappen in the Red Bull fourth.

Second practice is at 8am with qualifying at 8am on Saturday and the race at 8.10 on Sunday.

Valtteri Bottas leads the drivers’ championship by a single point from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

 

Rugby Union-There’s one game in the Gallagher Premiership tonight.Newcastle play Leicester and in the Pro 14 Southern Kings play Ospreys.Benetton host Munster and Edinburgh play Ulster.

 

ESPRESSO MONTE CARLO ROLEX MONTE CARLO MASTERS TENNIS REPORT.

 

The world’s top tennis stars are gathering in Monaco for this year’s Rolex Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament.

11 time champion Rafael Nadal is defending his title although his recent knee troubles may cause concern.

Novak Djokovic is also in town and there are likely to be strong challenges from a number of other top players including Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem.

Qualifying rounds are taking place tomorrow with some first round matches on Sunday and the big guns join in at the start of next week.

You may need your umbrella if you’re going along with showery weather forecast over the weekend.

Ticket information is available by going to www.montecarlotennismasters.com

 

Weather.

 

Partially cloudy with some scattered showers this afternoon and light ,variable winds.

Top temperature 17 degrees Celsius.

Overnight lows of 11 degrees on the coast and 6 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

The weekend-Partially cloudy with the chance of afternoon showers.Highs of 16-18 degrees.

 

 

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