French and Riviera News Monday 1st July 2019

Local

Toddler falls from balcony - A two-year-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after having fallen from the balcony of a 2nd floor apartment in Nice Nord on Sunday. The accident occurred shortly after 8pm on Avenue Cagnoli. A police investigation is currently underway.

Heatwave - After France beat record temperatures on Friday cooler weather has finally arrived over most of the country except in the south east. After six days of an exceptional heatwave for a month of June, much of France began to find cooler temperatures on Sunday in the northwest but still hot in the east and in the south. An orange weather alert is maintained in 32 departments including the Riviera and the Alps where highs of 40 degrees are still being recorded.

Pollution alert – Meanwhile a level 2 pollution alert remains in place today, the alert was issued last week and concerns the Var, the Vaucluse, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the Alpes-Maritimes. The alert means speed restrictions on the region’s road with authorities advising people not to practice outdoor sports activities, and to limit their movements.

Severe fire risk – Firefighters in the Var have reminded motorists not to throw cigarette ends out the window due to the “severe” risk of fire in the region. Six forest areas have been classified as a “severe” risk with access being restricted to the public.

Meanwhile a young man has been arrested and place in a psychiatric hospital in Montpellier after deliberately starting several fires in the Gard. Nearly sixty fires ravaged more than 550 hectares of land in the Gard and burnt about fifteen homes. The alleged arsonist was already known to the authorities for similar crimes.

Power cut - 3,000 households in Draguignan have been left without electricity after a power cut in the early hours of Sunday morning. Power was restored by late evening. According to France’s electricity board Enedis the incident was due to an underground power cable being affected by the high temperatures.

Environment - Sebastien Uscher has completed his challenge as part of a campaign to clean up the Mediterranean by crossing the Alpes Maritimes from east to west on a paddle board; the challenge “30,000 paddles to pick up 30,000 pieces of waste”.  The challenge has led to the creation of the association “Paddle cleaner acts” which offers tours associated with picking up waste, combining sport and the environment.

OGC Nice - According to local media British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has completed negotiations to purchase Nice’s football club “OGC Nice” following intense negotiations. According to reports the amount of the transaction would be 100 million euros, a sum unprecedented for a club of Ligue 1.

National

Right to die - France's highest court has given a final ruling that doctors can stop feeding a man who has been in a persistent vegetative state since a road accident nearly 11 years ago. The case has been at the centre of the right-to-die debate in France. Lawyers for his parents threatened on Friday to press murder charges if his life support was halted.  They have long battled to keep him alive, but the case has divided their family as well as the nation. Mr Lambert's wife, six of his siblings and a nephew have argued that the humane course was to let him die.

Business

The UK’s Network Rail has made a bid for parts of British Steel as the midnight deadline passed for offers with some 10 firms said to be involved.

British Steel collapsed into liquidation in May putting 4,500 jobs at risk.

Network rail , which manages the UK’s 20,000 miles of rail track said that it had made the bid to avoid the possibility of losing one of its most important suppliers.

The British rail system is heavily dependent on British Steel  which accounts for 97 percent of the steel used in railway tracks.

Greybull Capital-the private equity investor under which British Steel collapsed also confirmed on Sunday that it was interested in a bid for parts of the company if a buyer for the entire operation can’t be found.

The sales process is  not expected to be completed this week with discussions continuing between bidders and the UK government’s official receiver.

 

US stock futures have jumped by more than one percent after Washington and Beijing agreed to restart stalled trade talks.

President Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Osaka on Saturday and afterwards called the talks “excellent”.

The United States has offered some concessions including no new tariffs and an easing of restrictions on the Chinese tech giant Huawei in order to reduce tensions.

In return ,China has agreed to make unspecified new purchases of US farm products and return to the negotiating table.

No deadline has been set for progress and the two countries remain at odds over significant parts of an agreement.

 

And-Oil prices have jumped by a dollar a barrel in Asian trade this morning after Russia ,Saudi Arabia and Iraq backed an extension to supply cuts for another 6 to 9 months.

The development comes ahead of a meeting of Opec  at which it’s thought that an extension to supply cuts will be agreed until at least the end of the year.

Brent Crude futures were up  by 1 dollar 12 a little earlier to 65 dollars 86 while West Texas Intermediate  rose by 1 dollar 10 to 59 dollars 57.

Opec ,Russia  and other producers are meeting today and tomorrow.The group which is known as Opec+ has been reducing output since 2017to prevent prices from sliding amid a weakening global economy and soaring US output.

Sport

AEROPORT DE NICE –QATAR AIRWAYS FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP REPORT.

The England coach Phil Neville has said that it would be considered “a failure” if his side don’t beat the USA tomorrow and reach the World Cup Final.

England ,who are ranked 3rd in the world have never gone beyond a World Cup semi-final and Neville says that it’s “ all about winning”.

The three time World Cup champions the USA have only lost once in their last 5 internationals against England  and won their only World Cup encounter 3-0 in the 2007 quarter finals.

The match in Lyon kicks off at 9pm tomorrow night.

The other semi-final between the Netherlands and Sweden is being played on Wednesday night.

The third placed play-off final will be played in Nice on Saturday afternoon with the final in Lyon on Sunday.

Formula 1-Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix in the Red Bull on Sunday but only after a three hour stewards enquiry had ruled that he didn’t push Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari off the track in the closing stages.

Leclerc had led for most of the race but his hard compound tyres were losing traction towards the end which allowed Verstappen whose tyres were fresher to close the gap and pass.

Some thought that Verstappen had not acted correctly and forced Leclerc off but the stewards eventually ruled that it has been a racing incident and the result was allowed to stand.

Valtteri Bottas finished third in an overall disappointing weekend for Mercedes with championship  leader Lewis Hamilton only managing 5th place.

Hamilton leads the drivers’ championship by 31 points from Bottas with Verstappen in third place.

The next race is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on the 14th of July.

Tennis-Wimbledon starts today with the weather set fair for at least the first part of the week.

Novak Djokovic starts the defence of his title on centre court with his first round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany  and the defending women’s champion Angelique Kerber will open tomorrow in what’s expected to be a wide open tournament.

The old guard of Djokovic ,Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are still dominating the men’s game and one of them will be favourite to go all the way again.

Cricket-England’s hopes of making the World Cup semi-finals are back on track after they beat India by 31 runs at Edgebaston on Sunday.

England batted first and made 337-7 from their 50 overs including 111 from Jonny Bairstow.

In reply ,India fell short and could only manage 306-5 from their 50 overs.

The hosts will definitely make the last 4 if they beat New Zealand on Wednesday.

There’s one match today.Sri Lanka play West Indies at Chester-le-Street.Play starts at 11.30.

Weather 

ORANGE HEATWAVE ALERT IN FORCE FOR THE ALPES MARITIMES

CLEAR SKIES WITH SOME SHOWERS INLAND.

LIGHT TO MODERATE EASTERLY OR VARIABLE WINDS AND HIGHS OF 30-35 DEGREES.

OVERNIGHT LOWS OF 24 DEGREES ON THE COAST AND 21 DEGREES INLAND WITH CLEAR SKIES

TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY-FINE IN COASTAL AREAS ,SHOWERS INLAND.HIGHS OF 28-33 DEGREES.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last local news

Evening Update Thursday 28th March 2024

Seven people have been questioned by police in a fraud investigation relating to the loss of almost half a million euros by Nice university hospital.... Evening Update Thursday 28th March 2024 Read More

28/03/2024

French and Riviera News Thursday 28th March 2024

France's prime minister Gabriel Attal has announced that a teenage girl who falsely accused her headteacher of striking her in a heated exchange over... French and Riviera News Thursday 28th March 2024 Read More

28/03/2024

Evening Update Wednesday 27th March 2024

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has asked for national police reinforcements to help bring the Les Moulins housing estate under control.... Evening Update Wednesday 27th March 2024 Read More

27/03/2024

French and Riviera News Wednesday 27th March 2024

The headmaster of a high school in Paris has resigned after receiving death threats on social media following an altercation with a student, which dat... French and Riviera News Wednesday 27th March 2024 Read More

27/03/2024

Evening Update Tuesday 26th March 2024

More than 20 secondary schools on the Riviera have been targeted by bomb alerts today, forcing some of them to stay closed all day.... Evening Update Tuesday 26th March 2024 Read More

26/03/2024