French and Riviera News Monday 18th October 2021

News

70-year-old killed on electric bicycle - Police have appealed for any witnesses to come forward after a 70-year-old man was knocked off his electric bicycle and died in Villeneuve Loubet on the Avenue des Plans on Sunday morning. The fatal accident occurred shortly after 9am when the victim hit a vehicle. The driver fled the scene. Police have asked for anyone with any information to contact them by calling 17. 

SMS alert system - An SMS alert system has been set up in Nice in the event of a major emergency in health the environment and security, such as flooding, fires, earthquakes and security attacks. Residents of the Nice Côte d’Azur region can now be warned by SMS in case of an emergency in the region. To begin with the system will only work in the Nice area with plans for it to be extended to other areas.

Anti-health pass demonstrations - Police in Nice have prevented protestors from gaining access to Avenue Jean Médecin. Anti-health pass demonstrators gathered on Saturday 16th October, hoping to march through the city centre. However, the area had been banned to demonstrators following a decree issued by the prefecture. 

Animal rights activists demonstrate in front of Burger King - Meanwhile members of the L214 association which defends animal rights, have demonstrated in front of the Burger King in Antibes, accusing it of being the "king of cruelty". On Sunday protestors called for the company to make a commitment to change its practices regarding the raising and slaughter of its chickens. The association plans further action on October 24th this time at the Burger King in Nice.

French police warn motorist of scam on France’s motorways - Police have warned motorist to watch out for what they have called an "Irish-style" scam on motorway rest areas in France, especially during the holiday period. The scam reportedly involves several English-speaking individuals, well dressed and pretending to be returning tourists who claim to have been victims of theft themselves and therefore need cash to get home. They give their future victims an address, a phone number and offer an immediate bank transfer. The proposal will obviously prove to be fraudulent and by the time the victims realize, it’s too late. The scam was discovered a week ago in the Yvonne region after police on the A6 motorway arrested two individuals who had stolen 600 euros from a couple at a motorway rest area. Police have called for motorists to remain vigilant.

Relocation of vaccination centre in Cannes - Cannes Town Hall has relocated the city’s vaccination centre from the Palais des Festivals to the Gare Maritime on the Esplanade de la Pantiero as from this morning Monday, 18 October. Appointment times are unchanged, and no appointments are being cancelled or unscheduled because of the change of venue. The town hall in Cannes has reminded people that a vaccination appointment can easily be made by completing the pre-registration form available on the municipal website www.cannes.com

Increase in cases of bronchiolitis - There has been an increase in the number of cases of bronchiolitis in the PACA region reaching a pre-epidemic phase. This year cases have been detected earlier compared to other years. In the Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur, the epidemic period of bronchiolitis in 2018-2019 lasted 11 weeks and in total, 1,705 children under one year of age were hospitalized, representing 37% of hospitalizations. Bronchiolitis is a childhood illness that particularly affects young children. Each winter, it affects around 500,000 children and infants. It is spread through saliva, hands, and coughing and is characterized by a strong cough, which can go as far as difficulty in breathing (rapid wheezing, runny nose).

Wearing a mask in schools in the Var will no longer be an obligation from today - The obligation to wear a mask in schools in the Var region is to be lifted. From today Monday, October 18th, a total of 79 departments whose incidence rate has remained below 50 for at least five consecutive days will no longer be required to wear a mask in school. The measure only concerns students, not their teachers.

Consequences of the health crisis on the most disadvantaged - As Sunday 17th October marked “World Poverty Refusal day” a report published has shown the consequences of the health crisis for the most disadvantaged in France. According to the Alerte PACA association, 24,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the private sector and 15,000 in the public sector. The report goes on to show that at a national level, the number of beneficiaries of the income support the RSA, increased by 7.5% from December 2019 to January 2020, compared to 11.8% in PACA region.

People gather in Marseille to mark the commemoration of the massacre of October 17th, 1961 - 200 people have gathered in Marseille for the commemoration of the massacre of October 17th, 1961. Sixty years after the massacre of Algerians on October 17, 1961, by Parisian peacekeepers, dozens of people were mobilized on Sunday in the Old Port of Marseille. They denounce a state crime, still not recognized by France.

UK wants to prevent European Court of Human Rights “giving it orders” – The United Kingdom wants to prevent European Court of Human Rights from "giving it orders". British law currently stipulates that judges must take into account the decisions of the ECHR. A situation that the British government intends to change. Speaking on Sunday October 17th,  British Justice Minister Dominic Raab said that he wanted to prevent the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from "giving him orders" adding that he "didn’t think it was the job of the European Court in Strasbourg to give the UK orders on things like the NHS, welfare or the UK's police force”.  The reform is expected to be presented to lawmakers in the spring.

Taking your pet to work with you - Several studies have recently shown that employees who take their dogs to the office are less stressed and that they are more satisfied with their work and have a more positive perception of their employer. At present in France the law only prohibits in certain cases the presence of a pet in the office. But coming to the office with your dog or cat is not so easy, you have to make sure to respect certain formalities.

Unsurprisingly, employees of healthcare establishments cannot take their four-legged companions to work, with the exception of therapy dogs which must be authorized by the HAS (Haute Autorité de la Santé). Likewise, animals are prohibited in food businesses and public administrations. The ban applies to both staff and customers' animals.

Apart from these particular cases, the law therefore does not prohibit taking your animal with you. But in practice, coming to work with your dog or cat is not that easy. The first step is to check the internal rules of your company to see if they are against it and it is advisable to check that none of your colleagues are allergic or afraid of animals.

Bringing your pet to the office is a trend straight from the United States. The US even celebrates it with the National Take Your Dog to Work Day which started back in June 1999.

Business

France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire has told the UK media that leaving the single market after Brexit has made the supply chain crisis worse for the UK. Le Maire added that while “France is facing the same situation, the fact that it is a member of a very important single market helps us in facing these bottlenecks." UK retailers have warned of potential shortages in the run-up to Christmas due to a logjam at UK ports and a lack of lorry drivers.

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has said that Russia is not withholding gas supplies to Europe for political reasons. Gas prices globally have soared as economies start to recover from the Covid pandemic. The US has expressed concern that Russia may be using gas as a political weapon as household bills rise. Russia only provides about 5% of the UK's gas usage, but it accounts for about half of the EU's natural gas imports, with most of the rest coming from Norway and Algeria.

The European Central Bank wants to assess the links that euro-zone banks can forge with foreign cloud giants. In response to a public consultation by the European Commission, the European Central Bank recently recognized the need for it to understand and assess the links that euro area banks are now able to establish relationships with non-European providers of technical cloud services and infrastructure. The concern of the ECB is that platforms through which big techs offer their own technological means to companies to develop modular services ranging from information storage to complex applications will thus acquire a know-how allowing them to compete directly with banks, without being subject to the same regulatory obligations as them.

Sport 

Tennis - Cameron Norrie has become the first Briton to win the Indian Wells title. Norrie’s exploits in California have propelled him to British number one and he is in the running to reach the elite season-ending ATP Finals. Norrie will rise to a career-high 16th in the world, having started the year ranked 74th, after a stunning season where he has reached six finals.

Football – The manager of Newcastle United Steve Bruce has said he will "carry on as best he can" after the club's new era under its Saudi Arabian owners got off to a losing start at home to Tottenham losing 2-3 in this weekend’s Premier League.

In other results in this weekend's Premier League on Saturday, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah became the joint top-scoring African in Premier League history. Liverpool thrashed Watford 5-0 but one goal against Watford was enough to equal the record of Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba, who accumulated 104 goals over two spells with the London club before his eventual departure, for a second time, in 2015. There is one match tonight in the Premier League. Arsenal are at home to Crystal Palace kick off is at 9pm.

Golf - Rory McIlroy has bounced back from Ryder Cup disappointment as he carded a final-round six-under-par 66 to win the CJ Cup and his 20th PGA Tour title. The 32-year-old trailed by nine shots after 36 holes but hit a superb 62 on Saturday. The Northern Irishman began Sunday's round two behind leader Rickie Fowler, but made five birdies and an eagle to claim his second win of 2021.

Weather 

Clear skies highs of 21 degrees in Nice and Vence, 22 degrees in Cannes with a gentle breeze. This evening going down to 11 degrees along the coast in the Alpes Maritimes and 5 degrees inland. In Saint Raphael and Grimaud highs of 23 degrees with clear skies and a gentle breeze. This evening going down to 9 degrees in the Var region with clear skies.

The outlook for Tuesday and Wednesday - Remaining fine across the region with highs of 22-23 degrees.

And Finally 

Yorkshire has been crowned the top spot in the UK for spotting UFOs. Some 200-plus have been “spotted” there in two decades, more than anywhere else in the UK. UFO-watchers claim they may be drawn to the region's open spaces and mountainous terrain. Scores more were reported in the summer, including three in four days.

Sightings have included a “black triangle” hurtling above Leeds, with “no noise or lights visible”. City residents also noted two thin, black curved crafts flying at speed before stopping and heading off to north-west. In Bingley, a dark circular object followed by four smaller shapes span as they moved from south to north and a silver sausage-shaped object around 600ft long reportedly turned black then disappeared over Barnsley.