French and Riviera News Tuesday 7th June 2022

News

3-year-old drowns in private pool - A 3-year-old boy has drowned in a private pool in Carnoules in the Var. The little boy who escaped the supervision of his parents was found dead in the swimming pool on Sunday evening. Emergency services were unable to revive him. An investigation has been launched to determine the exact circumstances.

Woman injured in private pool in Nice - A woman in her thirties has been seriously injured after diving into a private swimming pool in Nice. The accident happened on Monday afternoon at around 5pm in a private property in the Vinaigrier district of Nice. The woman, a professional tennis player, reportedly suffered a blow to her head when hitting the bottom of the pool. She was taken to the Pasteur hospital in a critical condition.

30-year-old man stabbed in Cannes - A 30-year-old man has been stabbed during a fight in Cannes. The incident occurred on Monday evening shortly before 8pm on the Avenue Isola Bella. The victim was taken to hospital by the emergency services. Police have launched an investigation to determine the exact circumstances.

Assets of Russian oligarchs could represent nearly a billion euros - Recent local reports have claimed that the assets of Russian oligarchs frozen on the Côte d'Azur could bring in nearly a billion euros. Europe announced that it has blocked nearly 196 billion euros in financial transactions and frozen nearly 10 billion euros in assets belonging to oligarchs. Yachts moored in Italian, French or Spanish ports, bank accounts in Luxembourg or Switzerland and of course villas on the Côte d'Azur. The legal measure could concern 33 exceptional properties in the Alpes Maritimes and the Var and six helicopters are now grounded in Monaco, Nice, Cannes and Grimaud.

French President strongly criticised for calls to “not humiliate Russia” - Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron's call to 'not humiliate Russia' has caused a stir. During an interview the French head of state once again said "we must not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels". His comments were met with disbelief by Ukraine's Foreign minister who replied that “calls to avoid humiliating Russia can only humiliate France, before adding that “we would all be better off focusing on how to put Russia in its place". France currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU until July 1st and Macron is under pressure from Ukraine to visit the country. His last visit was at the start of the Russian offensive on February 24th.

Strike action by hospital staff today - Strike action by hospital staff has been announced today Tuesday 7th June, in at least fifty cities of France. With staff fearing "a particularly difficult month of July and a horrible month of August", unions and hospital collectives are calling for mobilization to demand salary and staff increases. Due to a lack of caregivers at least 120 A&E services across France have been forced to limit their activity.

European horse meat trafficking - The trial in the European horse meat trafficking case opens today in Marseille. A total of 18 defendants will be tried in the criminal court. They risk up to 10 years in prison. The 18 defendants will be heard on several counts, including "organized fraud". The European-wide affair broke out in 2017 after the dismantling of the network and involved false certificates that allowed horses to cross the border to reach slaughterhouses in the south of France.

Ticks are back in the Alpes Maritimes and Var - With the rise in temperatures, ticks have returned to the Alpes Maritimes and the Var and contrary to popular belief they don’t just live in forests and fields. According to a study by the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment they are even present in our homes. The research showed that a quarter of tick bites take place in private gardens and 4% inside homes. A recent map of France illustrating the presence of ticks on the territory has just been published and shows that the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var regions are concerned. While a tick bite is almost painless there is a risk that they can transmit several diseases including Lyme disease. 

Credit Agricole calls for projects acting for climate and energy transition - Following the good results of 2021 the bank Credit Agricole has announced plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in its own footprint. The green bank launched back in April an appeal for the energy transition and is inviting any actor from the economic world, associations, and individuals to propose an innovative project. Based around the four themes of soft mobility, eco-housing, the sea and its protection as well as responsible tourism, applicants have until July 31st to apply. The 16 winners who present the most responsible and innovative projects will share the sum of 100,000 euros.

George Clooney and his wife Amal visit South of France - American actor George Clooney and his wife Amal were spotted touching down in the south of France aboard their private jet. The couple headed to the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat in a waiting car. The visit comes following reports that George and Amal were reportedly set to splash out £6.8million (€7.9million) on a 425-acre estate in the south of France, which is just a stone's throw from a property owned by fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt.

Business

Billionaire Elon Musk believes that Twitter does not share enough information, especially on fake accounts. While signing a $44 billion deal to buy the social network, the richest man on the planet believes Twitter isn't being transparent enough to prove its worth. Based on Twitter's behaviour to date, and the company's latest correspondence in particular, Mr. Musk believes the company is actively resisting his rights to information. Twitter action was down 6% before the announcement of this letter, at 37 dollars a share, far from the 54.2 dollars offered by the boss of Tesla.

One of the world’s most important commodity trading hubs, the London Metal Exchange (LME), is being sued by a US hedge fund for $456m (£363m). The lawsuit, filed by Elliot Management at the High Court in London last week, alleges that the LME acted “unreasonably and irrationally” when it decided to cancel trading on a chaotic day that saw the price of nickel double in mere hours to more than $100,000 per tonne. The LME, which said it would “vigorously” contest the legal action, is currently under investigation by the financial industry regulator and the Bank of England into the suspension and cancelled trades.

Irish airline Ryanair has been criticised by South Africans for making them take a test in the Afrikaans language on UK flights, calling it discriminatory. The country has 11 official languages, and many say they cannot understand Afrikaans - a language which was imposed during white-minority rule. The quiz contains questions on South African general knowledge. Ryanair defended the test, saying it weeds out those travelling on fraudulent South African passports.

Pascal Soriot the head of the drugs giant behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine says the jab managed to save a million lives despite facing "setbacks". Soriot also addressed studies linking the vaccine to rare but dangerous blood clots. Many countries in Europe and Asia have placed age restrictions on the vaccine and the US has yet to approve it. Soriot received a knighthood in the Queen's Jubilee birthday honours last week for his contributions to science. He was honoured for services to the UK in "life sciences and leadership in the global response to the Covid pandemic".

Sport

Football - Defending champions France have one point from two Nations League games after being held to a 1-1 draw by Croatia. France now face an uphill battle to reach next year's Nations League finals after throwing away two leads in five days. This evening Germany play England and Italy face Hungary.

Golf - Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson will play at this week's opening event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series after a four-month break from the game. The American has not played since controversial comments about the Saudi-funded breakaway series were published by his biographer in February.

Cricket – Pace bowler Stuart Broad has said that England's win over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's was "one of the most fun weeks" the team has had”. The five-wicket victory ended England's run of nine Tests without a win. England lead the three-match series 1-0 heading into the second Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Weather

Mostly clear skies with light winds. Highs of 26 degrees in Nice and along the coast. 32 degrees in Saint Tropez and 33 degrees inland in the Var with gusty winds. This evening going down to 19 degrees with clear skies.

The outlook for Wednesday and Thursday – Sunny with highs of 28-29 degrees.

Sea temperature:    21 degrees       UV level: 9

Sunrise:             05.49                            Sunset:   21.09

And Finally

A recent study has suggested that taking the Pill may not leave women prone to suffering mental health problems. Researchers in Finland found women on hormonal contraceptives were actually a third less likely to attempt suicide. The 'striking' results, based on nearly 600,000 women, dispel widespread concerns about the Pill's effect on mental health.

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