French and Riviera News Monday 19th September 2022

News

French President pays his respects to Queen Elizabeth II ahead of her state funeral in a few hours - French President Emmanuel Macron accompanied by his wife Brigitte have paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth II. Shortly after being greeted by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Sunday evening the head of state and his wife gathered in front of the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall.  In a few hours Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest. Some 2,000 guests, including world leaders such as US President Joe Biden will attend. The state funeral is expected to bring London to a standstill and be watched by billions of viewers worldwide. On Sunday evening at 8pm the country held a minute’s silence to reflect on the "life and legacy" of the queen ahead of her funeral. Today’s state funeral, the first in Britain since the death of her first prime minister Winston Churchill in 1965, will take place at Westminster Abbey at 11.00 am and can be followed on Riviera Radio at midday French time. Reflecting on the queen's wishes for the hour-long ceremony, the former archbishop of York, John Sentamu, said the Queen "did not want what you call long, boring services". After the funeral, the queen's coffin will be driven to Windsor Castle, west of London, for a private burial when she will be laid to rest alongside her late husband Prince Philip, her parents and her sister.

In other news

White March in Nice - A white march for Zied, who was killed following a refusal to comply with police has taken place in Nice. Family, friends, associations and residents gathered on Sunday morning on the Boulevard de la Madeleine to pay tribute and demand justice. At 1pm the procession arrived at the Place du Palais de Justice where a minute’s silence was held followed by the release of white balloons.  It was on September 7th that 24-year-old Zied was killed by police fire following a refusal to comply. At the wheel of a car declared stolen, Zied, whose criminal record contains several convictions would have tried to flee a police check.  At the weekend local MP for the Alpes-Maritimes Christelle D'Intorni, denounced on her Twitter account that she had been the victim of "hate messages and death threats" after asking for the cancellation of the march on BFM Nice Côte d'Azur.

Fatal shooting in Marseille - A 40-year-old man has died from his injuries after being targeted by a burst of gunfire in front of a bakery where he worked, in the Canet district of Marseille on Sunday afternoon. The shooting occurred shortly after 1.30pm in the 14th arrondissement. The victim was reportedly hit by 11 bullets in the head and in the abdomen. Several individuals fled in a vehicle, which was shortly afterwards found destroyed by flames a few hundred meters from the scene of the crime. The man killed was known to the police for drug trafficking.

It's the second shooting in less than 24 hours in Marseille. On Saturday evening an individual who seriously injured after being shot at in Castellas in the 15th arrondissement.

Since the start of the year, 23 people have been shot dead in the Bouches-du-Rhône, and mainly in Marseille, most often connecting to drug trafficking.

Fire - Firefighters have intervened after a fire broke out in the garage of a house in La Seyne-sur-Mer in the Var on Sunday morning. The blaze which spread to the main part of the house caused considerable damage however no casualties were reported. Police are investigating to determine the cause.

Road accident on the A50 in the Var - A motorcyclist has been seriously injured after hitting the central reservation of the A50 motorway in the Var. The incident occurred at around 4pm on Sunday at La Cadière eastbound between Marseille-Toulon. Police have opened an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

Yellow vests gather in Cannes - "Yellow vests" demonstrators have gathered in Cannes at the weekend.  About one hundred individuals from Cannes, Nice, Antibes, Grasse and Fréjus met on Saturday on the Saint-Jean Cassien roundabout in Cannes to remobilise the movement and continue rallying on roundabouts across France. Several speeches on vaccination, the war in Ukraine and the European Union took place throughout the day. Speaking to local reporters one participant stressed the “importance of such symbolic meetings on roundabouts” adding that the local movement had “over the past three years distributed 600,000 information leaflets”.  

Urban Trail Cannes - 1,233 people participated in the Urban Trail in Cannes on Sunday and amongst them was the mayor of the city David Lisnard. Florian Debette came first with a time of 1:49:33, w