French and Riviera News Monday 15th May 2023

News

President Zelensky meets with Emmanuel Macron - The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stopped in Paris on Sunday evening, where he was welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée. The visit was part of a mini-European tour which had also taken him to Italy and Germany over the weekend. In a joint statement from both Zelensky and Macron it was confirmed that "new deliveries are being prepared to permanently take into account the most urgent and immediate needs of Ukraine, with France planning to "train and equip" Ukrainian soldiers "with dozens of armoured vehicles and light tanks”.  The military support provided by France since the start of the war to enable Ukraine to defend itself is continuing and new deliveries are being prepared to take into account the most urgent and immediate needs of Ukraine at all times. France is also focusing its "efforts on supporting Ukraine's air defence capabilities". French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also called for increased pressure on Russia through "new sanctions".  

Murder - The ex-wife of a serial killer has been formally charged over the death of Joanna Parrish in France. Ms Parrish, was on a gap year as a teaching assistant in Auxerre when she was killed by Michel Fourniret. Fourniret confessed to the murder in 2018 but died in 2021 before he could stand trial. Last week, his ex-wife Monique Olivier was charged for complicity in the kidnap, rape and murder of Ms Parrish. The body of 20-year-old Ms Parrish was found in the River Yonne near Auxerre in 1990 and Fourniret had been the main suspect for many years before he confessed.

Prefect bans demonstrations in Cannes - The prefect of the Alpes Maritimes has issued an order prohibiting any demonstrations near the Palais des Festival in Cannes during the Film Festival.  Demonstrations and gatherings are banned throughout the duration of the international film festival which runs from tomorrow Tuesday May 16th until Sunday May 28th. The CGT hand planned several gatherings to coincide with the festival, including a gathering of hotel employees on the forecourt of the Carlton Hotel on Friday May 19th and a major demonstration on Sunday at the Grande Bretagne roundabout.

Investigation opened after gunfire heard in Juan-les-Pins - Police have opened an investigation after gunfire was heard in the middle of the night in Juan-Les-Pins. The incident occurred on Saturday night near the train station, upon arrival police noted 15 shots had been fired at the front of a barber’s shop on Rue du Docteur Fabre.

No Finish Line - This year’s No Finish Line has broken records for the number of participants and the number of kilometres covered. The event in Nice started on Wednesday on the Quai des Etats Unis in Nice and ended on Sunday at 4pm with more than 96,000km covered in five days. 5,298 participants were recorded for this year’s fifth edition. Money raised will go to help underprivileged children as well as those suffering disabilities and illness and living on the Côte d’Azur.

Business

According to reports leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations are planning to tighten sanctions on Russia at a summit in Japan this week. Meetings will target sanctions evasion involving third countries and seek to undermine Russia's future energy production and curb trade that supports Russia's military.  Separately, U.S. officials also expect G7 members will agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items. The Biden administration has previously pushed G7 allies to reverse the group's sanctions approach, which today allows all goods to be sold to Russia unless they are explicitly blacklisted.

There are signs of recovery in Canada's housing market after a year-long slump. Analysts have said that just as higher borrowing costs are expected to slow much of the rest of the economy, this could raise inflation and delay a shift by the central bank to interest rate cuts. The housing market's upturn comes after the Bank of Canada paused its interest rate hiking campaign last month, leaving the benchmark rate at a 15-year high of 4.50% since January.

And - On a second consecutive day of cancellations, striking rail workers have said they will continue until the UK government "unblocks" their pay dispute. 14 rail operators were affected by strike action on Saturday causing widespread cancellations. The action shows no signs of stopping after unions rejected a 9% pay increase.

Sport

Football - In the Premier League on Sunday, Brentford beat West Ham 2-0, Everton lost at home to Manchester City 3-0 and Brighton were away winners at Arsenal beating them 3-0. This evening Leicester play Liverpool. Kick-off is at 9pm French time.

Cricket - Pace bowler James Anderson has sustained a "mild strain to his right groin”.  Anderson, 40, left the field on day one of Lancashire's match against Somerset on Thursday and took no further part as the game ended in a draw on Sunday. The ECB said Anderson's fitness will be assessed nearer the time of the Test against Ireland, starting on 1 June. Anderson had a scan on the injury on Saturday. England will name their squad for the match against Ireland at Lord's this week. The five-Test Ashes series against Australia starts on 16 June.

Tennis - British number one Cameron Norrie beat Marton Fucsovics to set up an Italian Open last-16 meeting with world number one Novak Djokovic. Norrie came through 6-2 7-6 (7-4) in a match that had been held over following Saturday's rain interruptions in Rome.

Cycling - Race leader Remco Evenepoel is out of the Giro d'Italia after testing positive for Covid-19. Belgian Evenepoel, 23, had retaken the leader's pink jersey with victory in the stage nine individual time trial, beating Geraint Thomas by one second.

Weather

Sunny with across the region. Highs of 25 in Marseille and Gonfaron. 24 degrees in Toulon 23 in Saint Tropez and 20 in Nice and Monaco. Storms forecast for inland by the afternoon possibility of showers along the coast. This evening going down to 13 degrees in the Alpes Maritimes and 10 degrees in the Var.

The outlook for tomorrow is sunny intervals in the morning - showers by the afternoon highs of 24 degrees. Wednesday similar to Tuesday with sunny intervals and showers later on in the day highs of 20-21 degrees.

Sunrise                          06.05am

Sunset                           08.48pm

Sea Temperature         17.1 degrees

UV level                        7

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