French and Riviera News Monday 22nd May 2023

News

Shooting Marseille - Three young people in their twenties have died after their vehicle was targeted by Kalashnikov fire in Marseille at the weekend. The shooting occurred in the 11th arrondissement, in the early hours of Sunday morning. Three people were killed, and two others were injured. The car was targeted on the corner of Boulevard de la Pomme and Avenue Bernard Lecache, 500 meters from the nightclub Le Miami. All three victims were known to police. An investigation has been opened by police. The 11th arrondissement of Marseille is not particularly known for this kind of drama. Since January 1st, 2023, 21 people have died due to a settling of accounts related to drug trafficking in Marseille.

25-year-old woman dies after clinging to train carriage - A 25-year-old woman has been killed after clinging to the carriage of a train at Saint-Raphael train station on Saturday evening. The woman who had got off the train, while it stopped for a moment at the station, saw it leave without her and clung onto one of the carriages, travelling several kilometres before falling onto the track at Le Trayas in the east of the Var.  According to reports, the victim was traveling from the Paris region towards the Côte d'Azur aboard the TGV.  An investigation is currently being carried out.

Busiest day of the year on French roads - France’s motorway organisation Bison Futé had warned of the busiest day of the year on the country’s roads and Sunday certainly proved to be with 900km of cumulative traffic jams recorded national at midday. The most significant difficulties were recorded on the A75 (Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers), with more than 130 km traffic jams, the A13 (Normandy motorway), with approximately 70 km; the A9 (Perpignan to Orange), with 60 km as well as the A7 (Marseille to Lyon).

Monaco Grand Prix – Meanwhile, Monaco is gearing up for this year’s 80th Formula One Grand Prix which takes place from this Thursday 25th May until Sunday 28th May. Several diversions are in place for motorists. Bus routes will also be diverted. The best way to travel to and from the Principality during the event is by train.

Race in Old Nice - 50 waiters and waitresses braved the bad weather in Old Nice on Saturday to take part in the waiter’s race of old Nice. The race attracted an enthusiastic crowd at Place St-François watching participants run while balancing a tray of drinks. The winner was awarded his or her weight in beer.

Cannes Film Festival - There was plenty of red-carpet glamour on Sunday as actress Alicia Vikander celebrate the launch of Firebrand at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. The actress was joined on the famous Croisette by fellow models Irina Shayk, Gigi Hadid and Naomi Campbell ahead of the film's first official screening. Former first lady of France Carla Bruni who is married to former president Nicolas Sarkozy was also present.

Sport

Formula One - Formula 1 says it will donate 1m euros (£867,000) to a relief fund for the Emilia-Romagna flooding disaster. This weekend's grand prix in north-eastern Italy was cancelled after heavy rain caused fatalities and displaced thousands from their homes. The money will be used by the Emilia-Romagna region's Agency for Territorial Safety and Civil Protection. F1 has also arranged for food that would have been used in hospitality to be distributed to those in need. It has been donated to a group organising food banks and distribution for those affected by the floods.

Tennis - Daniil Medvedev claimed the first clay-court title of his career as he beat Holger Rune in the Italian Open final. The Russian third seed, who said he used to "hate" playing on clay, won 7-5 7-5 in Rome on Sunday. It is Medvedev's fifth title of 2023 and victory lifts him above Novak Djokovic to second in the world rankings. He will also be the second seed at the French Open, which starts at Roland Garros on 28 May.

Football - In Sunday’s Premier League action West Ham beat Leeds 3-1, Brighton won at home against Southampton 3-1 and Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0. In the Premier League this evening Newcastle are at home to Leicester. Kick off is at 9pm French time.

Business

China has banned major US memory chip Micron from key infrastructure projects. China says that products made by the chip giant are a risk to national security. The news came following an announcement by the country’s cyberspace regulator on Sunday claiming that America’s biggest maker of memory chips posed a “serious network security risk”.  It means the firm's products will be banned from key infrastructure projects in the world's second largest economy. It is China's first major move against a US chip maker, as tensions increase between Beijing and Washington.

According to reports, Facebook’s owner Meta is expected to face a record fine over transfer of European date to US servers. Two anonymous sources have said that the penalty from EU regulators will be higher than the previous record fine of £647m for handed to Amazon over its flouting of EU privacy standards.

Dubbed as the “French Primark”, “Naumy” the low-cost brand which currently operates in nearly 40 points across France is planning to open in the French capital. Aiming to reach the symbolic milestone of 100 stores in France, the brand founded in 2014 with its first store in Essonne promises the “trendiest items at the best price”.

And - A wooden 2CV, built by an enthusiast and authorized to drive on the road, will be auctioned on June 4th. The auctioneers estimate that it could go for more than 176,000 euros. It's the only wooden car in the world and is in perfect working order both a unique car and a work of art.  Michel Robillard, who notably made wooden models for Ferrari, began building his 2CV in 2011. Robillard told reporters "I’ve spent five years of my life, 5,000 hours of work, passion, day and night resulting in the unique wooden model leaving his workshop in September 2017”. His next project – a DS21 Cabriolet coupé Chapron to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the DS.

Weather

Sunny Intervals. Highs of 23 in Monaco, 25 in Nice and Cannes. 26 degrees in Saint Tropez. Inland highs of 24 in Puget Theniers and 22 in Tende. Gentle breeze along the coast. Inland, showers are expected by this afternoon. This evening going down to 17 degrees in the Alpes Maritimes. 13 degrees along the Var coastline and 11 degrees inland.

The outlook for tomorrow Tuesday, sunny in the morning clouding over by the afternoon. Highs of 24 in Nice and 25 degrees in Cannes and Toulon. 26 degrees inland. Wednesday similar to Tuesday with highs of 23 degrees.

Sunrise                05.58am

Sunset                 08.55pm

Beach weather

Nice – Sea temperature 18 degrees. Air temperature 23 degrees. UV level 8

Marseille – Sea temperature 16 degrees. Air temperature 23 with showers forecast. UV level 8.

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