French and Riviera News Monday 5th September 2022

News

Trial of Nice attack - Seven men and a woman are to appear in court today in Paris in connection with the Nice attack which killed 86 people and injured more than 450 on July 14th 2016. Three of the individuals are on trial for criminal association with terrorism. The trial is expected to last up to three months. At least five weeks of that time will be spent hearing evidence from 80 civil parties, including victims and families of those who died.

Three people seriously injured after being hit by a motorist in Toulouse - Three people have been seriously injured in Toulouse after being hit be a motorist who was fleeing from the police at the time. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning on Avenue de Fronton. The driver of a light vehicle committed multiple traffic violations, then refused to comply with authorities. The driver has been placed in police custody as an investigation is opened to determine the circumstances of the accident.

Shooting in Marseille - A young man has been shot dead in Marseille. The 21-year-who was known to be part of a drug trafficking network was shot several times on Saturday evening while leaving a petrol station in the 15th arrondissement a district plagued by drug trafficking. So far this year 20 deaths related to drug trafficking have been recorded in the Bouches-du-Rhône, mostly in Marseille.

Two people dead after getting into difficulty swimming in the sea - An 81-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman have died after getting into difficulty while swimming in the sea on Sunday afternoon in Saint-Aygulf in the Var. Two other people, a 45-year-old woman and a 75-year-old man were slightly injured while trying to rescue them. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at around 4.40pm. The two victims were later declared dead by emergency services.

Strike action - Nearly half of all the school canteens in Nice will be closed today Monday 5th September, due to strike action. On the third day of the new school year a national strike movement was announced. For those establishments affected parents have been asked to collect their children at 11.15am and to take them back at 1pm.

Nice will not charge motorcycles for parking - The city of Nice says it will not be following Paris and charging motorcycles and scooters for parking on the city's streets.
In the French capital, anyone who parks a motorbike, moped or scooter has to pay, with prices ranging from €0.75 per day for residents to €3 per hour for visitors. Nice has no plans to do the same. The city council says it wants to support the use of two-wheeled vehicles by creating up to 1,000 extra parking places for them.

Sunniest summer on record on the French Riviera – This summer was the sunniest on record on the French Riviera, new figures from Météo France have revealed. 2022 has broken a previous record from 1991 for the most hours of summer sunshine. The sun shone for 1,065 hours and 51 minutes - beating the previous record from 31 years ago, of 1,047 hours. The sunniest place in France this summer was Montpellier, which clocked up 1,070 hours of sunshine.

Business

Russia has scrapped plans to reopen a major pipeline that sends natural gas to Europe. The decision by Gazprom, a state-controlled firm, will make it more difficult for Europe to secure fuel ahead of the winter. Meanwhile as Europe struggles with scarce supplies of energy after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany has announced a €65bn (£56.2bn) package of measures to ease the threat of rising costs. The package, much bigger than two previous ones, will include one-off payments to the most vulnerable and tax breaks to energy-intensive businesses. Energy prices have soared since the February invasion, and Europe is trying to wean itself off Russian energy. Ukraine has urged Europe to stand firm.

Boris Johnson's successor as UK prime minister will be revealed later today. The winner of the leadership contest will be announced at 12:30 BST, before then taking office on Tuesday after formal appointment by the Queen. The new PM will inherit a flagging economy, with inflation at a 40-year high. They are also under pressure to cushion the blow of soaring energy costs. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, tipped by pollsters to win, has promised to announce further help to shield consumers within a week of taking over.

It was at a Conservative leadership campaign event last week, that Liz Truss refused to say if French leader Emmanuel Macron was "friend or foe". "If I become prime minister, I would judge him on deeds not words. The jury's out," she said to applause from Tory grassroots members. Playing down the "misplaced" comments from Truss, French President Emmanuel Macron called Britain an ally no matter who is in charge adding "the