French and Riviera News Monday 30th September 2019

Local

Man drowns on the promenade des anglais in Nice - A 30-year-old man has drowned on the Promenade des anglais in Nice. The incident occurred after the swimmer got into difficulty on Sunday afternoon shortly after 3pm. Rescue services intervened but failed to revive the man who had suffered a cardiac arrest. Emergency services intervened a few meters from Carras beach in front of beach goers who were enjoying the sunshine. 

Former Miss France killed in road accident - A former Miss France Gaelle Voiry and another cyclist have been killed in a road accident at Chen sur Léman in the Haut Savoie. The accident happened on Saturday afternoon when the two cyclists were hit by a car. The driver, a 44-year-old from Douvaine was placed in police custody. Voiry was elected Miss France in 1990.The mother of three  had been living in the village of Combloux.

11-year-old boy seriously injured - An 11-year-old boy has been seriously injured after playing with ammunition that he had found in the garden. The accident happened on Sunday late morning at the family home near Troyes north eastern France. According to his sisters aged 14 and 16 and his parents who were present at the time, the boy reportedly dropped the ammunition which he was playing with causing it to explode. According to the prefecture, it was difficult at this stage to date the ammunition, because it was "totally destroyed" in the explosion. An investigation has been opened.

Cruise ship passengers stranded in Monaco - 800 cruise passengers have spent the night at the football stadium here in Monaco. The Stade Louis II was used on Saturday night to accommodate the passengers who could not return to their boat because of rough seas. The weekend marked the end of the Monaco Yacht Show, with hotels in the Principality sold out. The incident meant that sports events, at the stadium had to be canceled on Sunday morning.

Paragliding accident - A 49-year-old man has been airlifted to hospital after a paragliding accident in Signes, in the Var. The victim was taken to hospital in Toulon shortly after 5pm on Sunday suffering from back injuries.

Restaurant destroyed by fire in Toulon - 19 people have been evacuated from their homes after a fire broke out on Saturday night in a restaurant in the centre of Toulon. Police are investigating the cause of the blaze which destroyed the “Bistro des Artistes”.

Anti-hunters protest in Nice - Wildlife Collective 06 has protested against hunting, with several other associations joining the movement on Sunday. Campaigners gathered at Place Masséna in Nice calling for an end to hunting and proposing a number of reforms to protect animals.

Hunter shoots himself in the foot – Meanwhile a 24-year-old man has shot himself in the foot while out hunting on Saturday afternoon in the Drôme. The man reportedly inadvertently shot his foot while out walking with other hunters. Severely injured the young man was taken to Montélimar hospital.

National

National day of mourning - A tribute for former President Jacques Chirac has been held at Les Invalides in Paris. The tribute was held on Sunday ahead of today’s national day of mourning which will see a minute’s silence observed in all public institutions and schools. The coffin of Chirac will at 9am leave the Invalides, under a military escort through the streets of Paris, before arriving at the Saint-Sulpice church for a final memorial service attended by President Emmanuel Macron. The Elysée said some 30 heads of state and government are expected to be present. Chirac's successors Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande will also attend. Absent will be French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose father Jean-Marie Le Pen -- her predecessor as leader of what was then known as the Front National -- once described Chirac as an "enemy". She pulled out after reservations expressed by the Chirac family. In the final act, Chirac will be buried at the Montparnasse cemetery in southern Paris, next to his daughter Laurence who died in 2016 aged 58 following a battle with anorexia.

According to a poll published at the weekend Jacques Chirac, who died on Thursday at the age of 86, is considered by the French as the best president of the Fifth Republic along with Charles de Gaulle.

Government faces criticism following fire in Rouen - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has declared that there will a “total transparency from the government” after receiving backlash from the public into the explanations given by authorities following the fire at a chemical factory in Rouen. Since the disaster which occurred on Thursday 26th September authorities have been largely critisied for their “lack of presumed transparency” and a “willingness to want to reassure residents in the area rather than raise grounds for concern”. Speaking on Sunday Philippe added that all tests into the risk of pollution following the blaze will be made public.

French Spiderman arrested - An urban climber known as the “French Spiderman” has been detained by German police after scaling a high-rise building in Frankfurt. Alain Robert took 20 minutes to climb the 153-metre (502ft) Skyper building in the heart of Germany’s financial capital early on Saturday. After descending from the glass structure, 57-year-old Robert, was escorted away by police.

Business

The US retailer CVS has become the latest outlet to suspend sales of the heartburn drug Zantac  which is being investigated over a possible link to cancer.

Canada and France have already ordered Zantac recalls  and the EU and the United States are both investigating.

Health authorities say that there is no immediate risks but anyone who’s been taking Zantac  should consult their doctor who can prescribe alternatives that do not contain the active ingredient ranitidine.

Earlier this month ,both the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency published their decisions to review the presence of NDMA in products containing ranitidine.

NDMA is classed as a probable carcinogen  on the basis of animal studies.

The chemical is found in water and foods but is not thought to cause harm when ingested in very low levels.

 

The Nasdaq is to crack down on IPOs of small Chinese companies by tightening restrictions and slowing down their approval.

Regulatory filings  show that the Nasdaq  is attempting to limit stock market flotations where its shown that money raised comes from Chinese sources rather than US investors.

Shares of most small Chinese firms trade thinly following a US listing as most of them stay in the hands of a few insiders.The low liquidity makes them unattractive to many large institutional investors to whom the Nasdaq is seeking to cater for.

US listed shares of Chinese companies fell sharply on Friday following reports that the White House is considering delisting Chinese firms from US stock exchanges.

 

And-The boss of Thomas Cook has said that he’s “deeply sorry” over the firm’s liquidation.

Peter Fankhauser also said that saying goodbye to staff had been “heartbreaking”.

The 178 year old travel firm collapsed last week putting more than 20,000 people out of work and leaving hundreds of thousands of customers stuck overseas.

Mr Fankhauser defended the 8.3 million pounds that he’s been paid  over the past 5 years and denied that he’s a “fat cat”.

He said that more than half of his pay had come in share payments which are now worthless as he didn’t cash them in before Thomas Cook went into liquidation on the 23rd.

Mr Fankhauser made his comments in an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Sport

MA NOLANS RUGBY WORLD CUP REPORT.

There were 2 games at the World Cup on Sunday with Georgia scooping a bonus point in pool D after beating Uruguay 33-7 and Wales putting themselves into pole position to finish top of the Pool thanks to a scintillating 29-25 victory over Australia.

There’s one game today with Scotland needing a victory over Samoa in Pool A to keep their hopes of making the quarter finals alive.Kick off is at 12.15 French time.

Meanwhile ,the Australia coach Michael Cheika says that he was “embarrassed” by some of the decisions made by officials during his side’s defeat by Wales.

Cheika said that the sport’s authorities are “spooking” referees  and that he’d been particularly angry at the decision to penalise Samu Kerevi when he was carrying the ball.

Referee Romain Poite went to the TMO who ruled that Kerevi had led with his forearm into Rhys Patchell’s chest and then throat.

And-England’s Piers Francis has been cleared to play after a disciplinary panel decided not to uphold his citing for a red card following a high tackle.

Francis was cited following an early tackle on Will Hooley of the United States but the panel ruled that it should have resulted in a yellow card on field but did not merit a red.

Formula 1-Ferrari blew their chances of making it four Grand Prix wins in a row at Sochi on Sunday allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the chequered flag and extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship.

Sebastian Vettel got the jump on both pole sitter Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race but then ignored team orders to let his team-mate pass.

A virtual safety car prompted by Vettel’s breakdown then played into the hands of Mercedes who were able to pit Hamilton allowing him to lose less race time and get into the lead which he didn’t relinquish.Valtteri Bottas finished second with Leclerc third but the result has caused a huge row within Ferrari as to who is the top driver at the team.

Hamilton’s lead at the top of the drivers’ championship now looks to be all but unassailable.He has a 73 point lead over Vettel with Leclerc in third place more than 100 points adrift and with only 125 points left to play for in the season.

The next race is in Japan on the 13th of October.

Football-There was one game in the English Premier League on Sunday.Leicester thrashed Newcastle 5-0

There’s one game tonight.Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford.

In the English Championship on Sunday Brentford were 3-1 winners at Barnsley and in the FA Women’s Super League Arsenal beat Brighton 4-0.Manchester City were 1-0 winners at Everton.Spurs won 2-0 at West Ham and Chelsea were 4-0 winners at Bristol City.The match between Birmingham and Reading was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

Athletics-Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won gold in the women’s 100 meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Doha on Sunday with Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain taking silver and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast getting the bronze.

Fraser-Pryce powered to victory in a time of 10.71 seconds to claim her 8th world title while Asher-Smith set a new British record to take the silver.

Also on Sunday ,the USA won the 4x400 meters mixed relay to top the medals table with 4 golds while China and Jamaica have two each.

Six gold medals are on offer today including in the women’s high jump ,men’s 5000 meters ,women’s 800 meters and the men’s 400 meters hurdles.

Golf-Victor Perez of France has won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The rookie posted a final round of 70 to end on 22 under par-one shot clear of Matthew Southgate of England.It’s the 27 year old Frenchman’s first European Tour title.

Weather

Mainly fine with a moderate to strong westerly wind across the Var and moderate easterlies in the Alpes-Maritimes.

Top temperatures 25-28 degrees.

Overnight lows of 19 degrees on the coast and 16 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies and some mist and fog forming inland in the Var.

Tuesday and Wednesday-Partially cloudy tomorrow with some rain towards nightfall.Fine on Wednesday. Highs of 23-25 degrees.

Finally 

Calling all Nigels! - A pub landlord reckons he has set a record for the largest gathering of Nigels — with 432.

Nigel Smith organised the get-together as the once-popular name is dying out. The 56-year-old said: “One travelled over from Texas. There wasn’t space in the pub, so we gathered in a marquee outside.

“Two Nigels played songs by or about Nigels and there was a comic called Nigel. We had four specially-brewed ales — Nigel, NigAle, Mad Nigel and Nigel’s Best. It was a great evening."

Dad-of-two Nigel, who runs the Fleece Inn at Bretforton, explained: "It started as a laugh to get Nigels together. We are going becoming extinct.

“There were no Nigels registered in 2016 so I thought I’d get us all together.

"In the year I was born, 1963, there were over 5,000 Nigels born. It was peak Nigel.

Attendees brought photo ID and signed the "the book of Nigel" to make a list for Guinness to verify their new reord. 

“We raised money for the British Heart Foundation — because us Nigels are getting to a certain age.”

 

 

 

 

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