French and Riviera News Tuesday 26th November 2024

News

French prosecutors demand 20-year jail sentence - French prosecutors have demanded a 20-year jail sentence for Dominique Pelicot, who is accused of drugging his wife Gisèle for a decade and inviting 50 men recruited online to rape her. Verdicts and sentences are expected next month. On Monday morning posters reading "20 years for everyone" appeared on the walls around the Avignon courthouse where the trial is taking place.

Survey on popularity of Christian Estrosi as the mayor of Nice - In other news, according to a recent survey three quarters of the people of Nice think that “Christian Estrosi is a good mayor”. A year and a half ahead of the next local elections the survey, carried out by the Ifop institute, showed that 74% of those surveyed, say he does a "good job at defending the interests of the capital of the Côte d'Azur". 73% of those surveyed find him "competent" and another 71% of respondents believe that he has "a project for Nice". However, for 53% of respondents Estrosi’s main opponent Éric Ciotti, would also make a good mayor.

Beausoleil to get more CCTV cameras - The town council of Beausoleil has announced plans to install thirteen additional CCTV cameras which will be operational in early 2025 and will be added to the 121 that are already present. The mayor of Beausoleil has said that the “essential equipment meets his priority as mayor, which is to guarantee security and peace of mind on a daily basis”.

Train traffic - Train traffic will be interrupted on November 30th between Nice and Monaco. Due to renovation work at Nice-Ville station, trains will not be in services from Saturday, November 30th until Sunday, December 1st at 9am. Trains will run as normal between Cannes, Grasse and Nice and between Ventimiglia and Monaco, there will be one train every hour.  The SNCF indicates that no replacement buses are planned and suggests that passengers use the existing ZOU line (600).

Mareterra inauguration on December 4th stay tuned - Mareterra will be “a new area to embody the excellence and conviviality which distinguishes the Principality of Monaco. It will integrate perfectly with Monaco’s shoreline and in a few years will be seen as a natural extension”. These were the words from HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco ahead of the ambitious land project which began in 2013, and which will be inaugurated on the 4th of December by Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene. The €2 billion project has been completed six months ahead of schedule and is an exceptional achievement in engineering and urban planning, combining luxury residences, a marina, and public green spaces. From the 5th of December it will welcome the public. Stayed tune to the Full English Breakfast Show which will be attending the inauguration to hear the latest.

No Finish Line – Congratulations! to everyone who took part in this year’s No Finish Line here in Monaco. For the 25th edition participant completed more than 319,000 laps raising funds for children in need. Some 13,947 people took part. The event sees one euro donated for every kilometre completed.

Ball of Monaco continues mission to raise awareness - The renowned Ball of Monaco is taking place tomorrow November 27th. The event continues its mission to raise awareness and funds for pressing global issues. The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s flagship event is in support of climate and environmental action. This year’s edition is titled ‘The Glaciers’, with a theme and focus on protecting our planet’s glaciers. The event will be graced by the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, and guest-of-honour and Singapore foreign affairs minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and is being held in Singapore.

La Vague d’Or restaurant ranks the best in world - According to the famous "La Liste" ranking. La Vague d’Or restaurant at Le Cheval Blanc in Saint -Tropez is the best restaurant in the world. In total 11 restaurants in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes featured in the ranking which selected 1,000 restaurants for it 2025 edition. A great reward for La Vague d’Or’s chef Arnaud Donckele. Other restaurants in the Alpes Maritimes included Le Louis XV in Monaco, the Mirazur in Menton, La Chèvre d'or in Eze, Le Cap at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the Blue Bay in Monaco, Flaveur in Nice, La Villa Archange in Le Cannet and Les Ambassadeurs in Monaco. Meanwhile in the Var two restaurants were featured, La table du Castellet in Le Castellet and La Voile at La réserve Ramatuelle, in Ramatuelle. Created in 2015, La Liste aims to be the "ranking of rankings" and follows 35,000 restaurants in 200 countries.

Business

President-elect Donald Trump has said that in an effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the US, he plans to hit China, Mexico and Canada with new tariffs. The new tariffs would come into effect on day one of his presidency and if carried through would mark a major escalation in tensions with America's three biggest trading partners.

France’s Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has issued a new threat which could bring down France's coalition government in a no-confidence vote. Following talks on Mondy with Prime Minister Michel Barnier Le Pen said that the government had failed to satisfy her party's demands for budget concessions adding that nothing had changed following the discussions, and she was not optimistic that a compromise on the belt-tightening 2025 budget bill could be reached. Opposition parties in France are threatening to topple Barnier's government over the budget. The government is seeking to squeeze 60 billion euros ($62.85 billion) in savings through tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit.

And - France will launch reforms to help women who fear they have been drugged and then raped, including state-funded test kits. The kits which will be able to tell if a woman has b