French and Riviera News Tuesday 6 August 2024

A 65 year-old woman has died after a fire broke out at her home north of Nice in the early hours of this morning. 19 fire-engines were on the scene to tackle the blaze but were unable to save the woman. An investigation is taking place.

Numerous investigations have been opened after the dramatic theft of a watch which left one man dead, two arrested and a couple being hunted by police. 
It happened in Marseilles when a man who had his watch snatched, gave chase to a scooter. Police say the car intentionally hit the scooter in a violent manner, after which the driver got out and searched the bodies of the two thieves. When he recovered his watch he fled the scene.  The adult driver of the scooter died at the scene while the passenger, a minor, is in intensive care fighting for their life. Later that evening, police arrested two teenagers near a burnt out car north of Marseille, which turned out to be the one involved with the scooter. The teenagers admit they were asked to set the car on fire but deny any other involvement. Meanwhile, police are hunting for a man and a woman who were driving the car.

Monaco motorists are reminded that French speed limits and penalties apply as much to them, as any French driver. It comes after a Monegasque registered car was caught speeding at 200km/h near Bordeaux. The driver has had their licence revoked the car impounded.
 

Emergency doctors have gone on indefinite strike at Hospital Centre in Aix-en-Provence. They say for the population of over half a million, there should be 29 doctors, yet they are only 12. They’re demanding more staff, more beds and better time management.

Latest statistics from INSEE show the job market in France slowing slightly. The second quarter of the year saw 61,000 new jobs created, which is about 0.3% of the overall market. That’s down from 0.4% in the first quarter of the year.

The Government in Monaco has announced results of its drive against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and corruption. They say 38 companies in the principality were sanctioned for breaches of the law with fines totalling €1.5m.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned citizens living in Lebanon to leave the country as fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East grow. They said citizens should arrange travel urgently due to the highly volatile security situation in the Middle East. The US, UK and Ireland have issued similar calls to its citizens. 

The City Hall in Cannes has warned local merchants about a scam involving fake municipal police officers demanding money for ads in a specialized magazine. City Hall confirmed these individuals are not affiliated with them in any way, and merchants should report any incidents to police. 

BUSINESS

Asian markets, and Japanese shares in particular, are rebounding this morning, after plunging yesterday in a rout which sent shockwaves through the global financial markets. The Nikkei 225 stock index is back up 10%. US Markets are down 3% overall, with Apple the most notable casualty, when Warren Buffets Berkshire sold half its stake in company. Addressing fears of a recession in the States, the US Federal Bank said it does not believe the economy is in freefall and predicted it would be lowering interest rates in September.

Trouble for Google today as an American judge ruled it acted illegally to maintain its 90% share of the market. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” the judge said. The case was brought by the US government who its believed are seeking a break-up of the company, which would change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years. Google say they will appeal.

SPORT

France have won Gold at the Olympics in Tahiti. The games surfing finals are being held on the French Polynesian island, almost 10,000 miles from Paris. The winner Kauli Vaast of France was born on the island and scored a near perfect 9.5.  The womens final was won by Caroline Marks for the United States.

The USA have taken the lead in the medals table with 79 overall, followed by China in France in third place with 48 medals, 13 of which are Gold. Great Britan and Italy continue to do well at 5th and 8th place respectively.

Yesterday, Simone Biles lost out on an expected Gold in the floor exercise final. Famed for her unusually difficult routines, she landed with two feet out of bounds on two of her four tumbling passes, which cost her the points. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade took the Gold instead.  

Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson dominated the Olympic 800m final to win Gold yesterday, ending her wait for a global title. This is Great Britain's first Olympic track title since Mo Farah won the 5,000m and 10,000m double at Rio in 2016.

In basketball, the Netherlands beat France to take Gold in the men's 3x3 final. The final score was devastatingly close at 18-17.

However, in football, France beat a 10-man Egypt
3-1 after extra time, to reach the final of the men's Olympic football competition. Thierry Henry's side are guaranteed their first medal in 40 years when they play against Spain at Parc des Princes on Friday.

Today, there are 15 gold medals up for grabs, many at athletics with resumes at Stade de France thismorning. Key finals today include the Mens 1500m, Womens 3000m steeplechase and the Womens 200m final.

In other sports news, the 82,000-seater home of English rugby at Twickenham is to be renamed the Allianz Stadium from September. It comes after the UK Rugby Football Union signed a long-term deal with the insurance company which they describe at “transformative" for the game.

In football, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid have agreed a deal for Julian Alvarez worth up to €95m. Alvarez has made 103 appearances for City since arriving at the Etihad Stadium two and a half years ago, scoring 36 goals.

WEATHER

A mainly sunny day, with a little hazy cloud in places, and afternoon highs of 29d.

Tonight, there is no end to the nighttime canniule, with overnight lows of 25d.

The outlook is much the same for the rest of the week, sunny days with highs of 30 and warm nights with lows of 24.