French and Riviera News Monday 2nd October 2023

News

Covid Vaccination campaign - France’s covid vaccination campaign starts today for those most at risk. Faced with the resumption of the Covid-19 epidemic, the government has decided to bring forward, like other European countries, its new vaccination campaign. The updated vaccines should make it possible to better target today’s variants. Alongside vaccination, health authorities in France continue to recommend barrier gestures, primarily in the event of infection.

Bedbugs - France’s transport minister, Clément Beaune, is to convene with public transport operators this week “to inform them about countermeasures and how to do more for the protection of travellers” against bedbugs. France’s growing bedbug crisis has sparked a political row as Paris city hall said the invasion of bloodsucking insects must be tackled before next year’s Olympic Games and the transport minister summoned train and bus operators to prevent the bugs multiplying on seats. The minister posted on X, formerly Twitter, that his aim was to “reassure and protect”. Representatives from Paris city hall wrote to the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, last week with a plea for a dedicated national taskforce to deal with the problem.

SNCF - The SNCF have said that train tickets for Christmas journeys will go on sale this Wednesday, 4th October. Tickets will be available for services over the Christmas and New Year period starting with journeys from 10th December.

Road closure in Monaco – Locally, the Boulevard du Jardin Exotique here in Monaco, will be closed at night from this evening October 2nd through until October 5th.  The closure is due to the removal of the crane from the nearby construction site. The boulevard will be closed to traffic from 9:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Vehicles coming into the Principality from the Moyenne Corniche will be diverted towards the Albert II tunnel, while outgoing vehicles will have to take Avenue Hector Otto and Rue Honoré Labande or the roads located in Beausoleil to reach the Moyenne Corniche. Heavy goods vehicles will be diverted towards the Rainier-III tunnel.

Fraudulent email - Authorities in Monaco have warned residents to beware of a fraudulent email pretending to be sent from one of the Prince’s carabinieri. The email asks recipients to open an attachment and answer the mail. Anyone receiving such an email is advised to not open it and forward it immediately to cyber@gouv.mc,

High temperatures - Autumn heat records have been broken in France, with a peak in high temperatures expected today Monday 2nd October. On Sunday 32 degrees was recorded in Bordeaux, 33 degrees in Toulouse and 31 degrees in Aix-en-Provence. After historically high temperatures in September, France recorded unprecedented temperatures for the month of October on Sunday October 1st, before a peak today with over 30 degrees forecast over a large part of the country, particularly in the south-west of France.

Business

The security pact between the US, UK and Australia is moving ahead as Britain’s biggest defence firm, BAE Systems, has announced a £3.95bn contract to build a new generation of submarines. It was back in March that the three countries announced details of a pact to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines by the late 2030s. The pact aims to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing has strongly criticised the three countries over the deal.

Demonstrations have taken place in Paris demanding a better housing police for French people who are struggling along with a reduction in rent prices. Several hundred demonstrators gathered at Place du Châtelet describing the housing crisis as a “time bomb” for the working classes.

A ban on single-use plastic plates and cutlery and certain types of polystyrene cups and containers came into force in England on Sunday. The ban follows a similar move which was made by Scotland last year, while a ban in Wales comes in later this month.

Sport

Rugby World Cup - Australia have managed to keep a slim hope of reaching the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals alive with a 34-14 win in St Etienne over Portugal in their final pool match. Australia now go to second in Pool C. Portugal had taken an early lead but Eddie Jones' side ran in five tries to secure a bonus-point win.

Other matches at the weekend saw South Africa beat Tonga 49-18, in Pool B Scotland beat Romania 84-0, in Pool C Fiji beat Georgia 17-12 and in Pool D Argentina beat Chile 59-5.

Football - Liverpool say "sporting integrity has been undermined" by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) error in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League loss to Tottenham. In a statement on Sunday, the club said they will "explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution."

In the Premier League this evening Fulham are at home to Chelsea. Kick off is at 9pm French time.

American Football - The Jacksonville Jaguars kicked off this year's NFL international series with a comfortable win against the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley.

Golf - Europe regained the Ryder Cup in dramatic fashion in Rome. Tommy Fleetwood won the 11th game to pass the 14½ required. It stretches Europe's unbeaten home record beyond 30 years and also means the past five Ryder Cups have been won by the home side.

Weather

Fine and sunny with a gentle breeze. Highs of 26 degrees in Monaco, Nice and Toulon. 27 degrees in Cannes with light winds. 24 degrees in Saint-Tropez. 25 degrees in Mougins. This evening going down to 17 degrees along the coast with clear skies.

The outlook for tomorrow and Wednesday – remaining fine with highs of 25 degrees. Wednesday sunny intervals and a gentle breeze.

Sunrise       07.28am

Sunset        07.10pm

And Finally

A recent study has suggested that eating together as a family isn't just good for bonding but that it could also help with discipline. Researchers spent time with more than 1,400 married couples with two-year-old children, calculating how many dinners a week the child ate with their mother and father. The study found that children who had eaten dinner with their father less often as toddlers grew up to be more poorly behaved.

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