French and Riviera News Tuesday 2nd July 2019

Local

Man drowns in Menton - A 60-year-old man has drowned off the Sablettes beach in Menton. The incident occurred on Monday shortly after 6pm when for some unexplained reason, the swimmer found himself in difficulty in the 200-meter band. Despite lifeguards present at the time lifting him out of the water and performing a cardiac massage the victim died on the spot.

It was only last week that French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called on the “greatest vigilance” by the public due to the current heatwave, and the number of drownings. A study carried out by the French Public Health Agency and published on June 11th showed an increase of 30% in the number of accidental drownings in 2018 compared to the previous survey, which dated from 2015. Public Health France recommends to cool off and wet the body "several times a day" during heat waves, and to not jump head first into cold water.

Meanwhile a swimming ban has been put in place on the beaches of Larvotto in Monaco after sewage poured into a water butt following a “human manipulation error” on Monday afternoon. Test are currently being carried out and the ban will be lifted pending on results expected later today.

Weather - While thirteen departments in France remain on an orange alert due to the heat wave, including the Alpes Matimitimes, the Haute Savoie has experienced thunderstorms and strong winds with gust of up to 120km/hr. 27,000 households were deprived of electricity on Monday evening. In Annecy the roof of the village hall partially collapsed during a concert, without any injuries despite nearly 300 people being present at the time and, a man was seriously injured by a falling tree at a camp-site.

Tiger Mosquito - Health authorities in Monaco have called for “vigilance” concerning the tiger mosquito which arrived in Menton in 2004 and has since colonized the Alpes Maritime and the Principality. Measuring less than one centimeter it is easily recognizable by its black and white stripes and carries diseases such as Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika which can only be transmitted from person to person example should the mosquito bite an infected person. Health authorities therefore advise that anyone who has travelled in areas hit by the disease undergo a blood test as a precaution.

HIV - Free testing for HIV has been made available in Paris and the Alpes Maritimes. As part of a campaign launched on Monday all laboratories in both regions will offer free screening. According to France’s health agency the new measure plans to “eliminate any new cases by 2030 with tests becoming freely accessible to all”.

National

EU summit - French President Emmanuel Macron has blasted his EU partners for failing to reach a consensus on who should get the 28-bloc's top jobs. Despite an 18-hour summit session that dragged on well into Sunday night and Monday morning, European leaders meeting in Brussels remained divided over how to proceed. Macron told reporters  "We have ended today in failure, it's a very bad image for both the Council and for Europe,"  Leaders are arguing mainly over a successor to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. They had hoped to reach a deal on Sunday night. However national interests, according to Macron, are getting in the way.

Conforama - CGT unions have announced that the Conforama group plans to remove 1,900 jobs in France by 2020 closing about to forty stores across France. According to the CGT a restructuring plan is to be presented later today.

Business

World stock markets have risen amid signs of progress in trade talks between the US and China.

Wall Street had a good day with a record high for the S&P 500 while shares in Europe also rose with both London and Frankfurt gaining one percent.

Gold ,which is seen as a safe haven asset in times of trouble fell back by 2 percent to 1,382 dollars per ounce-its biggest drop since June 2018.

Negotiations between China and the US-or their breakdown ,have been dominating market movements for month.

The latest developments follow a pledge to restart talks made by President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at last weekend’s G20 Summit in Japan.

 

The insurance giant Chubb is cutting its exposure to the coal industry as a result of growing concerns about climate change.

Chubb says that it will no longer underwrite the building or operation of new coal-fired power stations or new risks for firms that generate more than 30 percent of their revenues from coal mining.

Chubb is the latest in a growing number of insurance firms who are refusing to get involved in the coal industry.

The firm said that making the transition to a low carbon economy involved planning and action by policymakers ,investors ,businesses and citizens alike.

Chubb  does most of its business in the United States where President Trump has vowed to revive the coal sector.

 

And-The flagship fund of one of the City’s most celebrated fund managers is to remain locked to investors.

Investors in Neil Woodford’s Equity Income Fund have not been able to withdraw their money for the past 28 days and an extension announced on Monday will mean that no access will be allowed for another month.

Withdrawals were frozen at the start of June after rising numbers of investors started asking for their money back.

The next update on the fund must be given before the 29th of July but its already being suggested that the freeze will continue into August and possibly beyond.

Mr Woodford made a video statement on the situation on Monday and said that while he understood  that people wanted to access their money ,the fund was using the time to make sure that it got the right outcome for investors.

Sport

AEROPORT DE NICE –QATAR AIRWAYS FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP REPORT.

The first of the semi finals in the women’s World Cup is being played in Lyon tonight with the defending champions the United States up against Phil Neville’s England side.

The USA will be favourites to win the match and are three time World Cup winners but England have been rapidly improving under Neville and are currently ranked as the third best side in the world.

Neville said on Monday that he’s been planning for “this moment” since he took the job.

If England do win tonight ,they’ll become the first senior team from the country to reach a major global final since 1966.

The second semi-final between the Netherlands and Sweden is being played tomorrow night with the third placed final in  Nice on Saturday and the World Cup Final in Lyon on Sunday.

Football-Marcus Rashford has signed a new contract which will keep him at Manchester United until 2023 with the option of an extension for another year.

The 21 year old striker joined United as a seven year old and rose through the youth ranks before making his first team debut in February 2016.

The new contract will put him on wages of 200,000 pounds a week.

Tennis-There were several shocks on the first day of Wimbledon with the biggest coming as 15 year old American qualifier Cori Gauff beat the former champion Venus Williams in the first round.

The world number 313 beat Williams in straight sets 6-4 6-4  and will now play Magdalena Rybarikova.

Earlier ,the world number two Naomi Osaka was dumped out by Yulia Putintseva 7-6 6-2 and in the men’s event the 6th seed Alexander Svrev was beaten in 4 sets by the Czech qualifier Jim Vezely and the 7th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 5 sets to Thomas Fabbiano of Italy.

Cricket-Sri Lanka have beaten West Indies by 23 runs in the World Cup although neither side was in with a chance of making the semi finals.

Today,Bangladesh play India at Edgebaston.Play is due to start at 11.30.

A win for India will guarantee them a place in the last 4.

Weather

Clear skies in coastal areas-showers and possible thunderstorms inland later.

Light variable winds and highs of 28-30 degrees in coastal areas-up to 30-33 degrees inland.

Overnight lows of 24 degrees on the coast and 19 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

Wednesday and Thursday-Fine in coastal areas ,possible showers and thunderstorms inland.Highs of 28-32 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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