Local
Mayor of Nice – The mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has released a statement requesting that the French justice system “toughen its stance towards the organisers of illegal demonstrations”.
In a letter addressed to the public prosecutor of Nice and France’s interior Minister, Christophe Castaner, Estrosi claims the alarming expense for local businesses through the damage caused by demonstrators is “unacceptable”. Adding that “it is not up to local taxpayers” to pay for “yellow vest” protestors and suggesting that those organizing illegal demonstrations be punished with a six month prison sentence and a 7,500 euro fine.
Tribute to soldiers - French President Emmanuel Macron will today pay tribute to the two soldiers who died in an operation to rescue hostages in Burkina Faso. The special service to be held later today, has come under criticism from the mayor of Toulon, Hubert Falco who has voiced his disapproval of the formal presidential welcome for the two French hostages as they landed on French soil at the weekend, calling the freed hostages as “reckless tourists”. Cédric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello lost their lives during the rescue operation were from the military base near Toulon. Speaking on arrival in France, one of the rescued hostages recognised that he and his travelling companion had disregarded official warnings against visiting areas considered unsafe for tourists.
Man collapses and dies in busy street in Grasse - A sixty year old man has died in a busy street in Grasse. The victim collapsed on Monday afternoon in front of passersby who immediately called emergency services. Despite rapid medical intervention the victim could not be resuscitated.
Fire at shipping equipment store in the Var - A fire has broken out at a shipping equipment store in Six Fours near Toulon. Thick black smoke was visible for miles around shortly after 7pm on Monday evening as firefighters intervened. No injuries were reported and an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the blaze.
European elections sparks row over electoral panels in Marseille - With the European elections fast approaching a row has broken out over the distribution and size of electoral panels between the left wing political party “France Insoumise” and the city council of Marseille. The political party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon blames the city for having halved the space provided for posters. There are 34 lists this year in the European elections and in a large number of cities in France, there are not enough signs which has resulted in panels being halved and official posters no longer being the correct size.
Cannes Film Festival - As the 72nd annual film festival opens today in Cannes organizers are defending their record on female filmmakers and the choice to present French screen legend Alain Delon with an honorary Palme d’Or despite controversial comments he has made in the past. Cannes Film Festival on Monday defended its record on female filmmakers and for the first time divulged data on its selection process. Addressing reporters Thierry Fremaux spoke at length, about the festival’s strides in gender equality at what he described as Cannes’ being held to an impossible standard. Issues of gender equality have resonated particularly in Cannes, where only one female filmmaker Jane Campion, in 1993 for “The Piano”, has ever won the festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or, and where women directors have never numbered more than four in the main slate of approximately 20 films and not wearing high heels has even, as recently as four years ago, been a reason for denying entry to a premiere.
Karaoke Cannes - Meanwhile if karaoke is your thing, there’s good news from Cannes. It’s been announced that there will be two nights of karaoke on the Macé beach, on the Croisette, to coincide with the beginning and end of the Film Festival. A range of films will also be shown on the beach during the festival, starting at 9.30 in the evening. Meanwhile, over 4,000 residents of Cannes entered a draw for free tickets to the festival. The 1,500 winners of the draw were selected at the town hall today in the presence of the Mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard.
National
Mayor and deputy mayor go on trial - The mayor and deputy mayor of a town west of Paris have gone on trial on suspicion of hiding more than 13 million euros of dubious assets from the French state, including two luxury villas. A Paris court will spend six weeks investigating companies in Panama and the Seychelles as well as bank accounts in Lichtenstein and Singapore. The investigation into Patrick and Isabelle Balkany has already revealed that the couple spent significant sums of cash, including 87,000 euros paid to a travel agency. The couple is accused jointly of fiscal fraud and money laundering.
Club tuna vegan sandwiches recalled - A batch of club tuna vegan sandwiches have been removed from sale following reports on Monday that they are likely to contain pieces of "hard white plastic". Details of the product from Leader Price distributed in Franprix supermarkets, including the barcode and helpline number are available on Riviera Radio’s website.
Barcode 3222475401640 with a DLC on 22/05/2019. The barcode is 3 263859 494315 with a DLC also to May 22.
call 0 800 13 30 16. Or 09 70 17 10 00
Tony Parker buys ski station - French basketball player Tony Parker has brought a ski station in Villard-de-Lans near Lyon. On Monday Parker signed the acquisition of SEVLC, an equipment company which manages the 22 ski lifts in the area. Speaking to reporters the basketball player admitted he has never skied due to work commitments but his wife and children "love" it.
Business
The US-China trade war has escalated sharply after Beijing said it would raise tariffs on 60 billion dollars worth of American goods ,defying warnings from President Trump and sparking a large sell off in global markets.
China says that it’s increasing levies on goods ranging from liquefied natural gas to toothpaste in what it said was retaliation for “US unilateralism and trade protectionism”.
Later on Monday ,the Trump administration announced plans to hit a further 300 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods with 25 percent import tariffs although the new levies won’t be imposed until the end of a consultation period at the end of June.
Global stock markets reacted negatively to the news with Wall Street registering heavy falls and the rout continuing in Asia this morning.
Experts said that the chance of a swift trade deal between the two economic superpowers is receding fast although further talks are planned.
The escalating trade war between the United States and China could push up the price of Apple’s iPhone and drive down the firm’s share price.
A report by Morgan Stanley says that the new imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods could add some 160 dollars to the cost of a Chinese-made Apple iPhone XS which currently has a retail starting price of 999 dollars.
Apple shares fell by 6 percent on Monday ,the sharpest decline in its share price since 2013.
Apple stock is now down by 11 percent since the start of May ,placing it in what analysts define as “correction territory”.
Shipments of iPhones to North America,Apple’s largest market fell by 19 percent in the first quarter.The new tariffs could also affect sales in China where Apple has a 7.4 percent market share.
And-A coalition of major City investors are emerging as key players in putting pressure on BP to be more transparent about how it fights climate change.
Investors who hold around a tenth of all BP shares have put their names to a shareholder resolution which will be voted on at the firm’s AGM next week.
Under the Climate Action 100+ resolution ,BP will have to provide a detailed strategy on how it will comply with the Paris agreement ,the global climate deal struck in 2015 that aims to limit global warming to only 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Seven of the top 20 BP shareholders have signed the resolution including the UK’s largest asset manager Legal and General Investment Management.
Sport
Football-Brighton have sacked manager Chris Hughton despite the club maintaining its English Premier League status for next season.
Brighton finished in 17th place in the table –two points above the relegation zone but they won just 3 of their last 23 games and none of the final nine.
Hughton took over at Brighton in December 2014 and led the club into the Premier League in 2017.
Formula 1-There have been media suggestions that Mercedes could go the entire season without being beaten after the team secured another 1-2 in the Spanish Grand Prix for the 5th consecutive time this year.
Ferrari are off the pace and Red Bull can’t seem to make up the ground.
The season has been dominated by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas who’ve won all five races between them.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has played down the suggestions and says that it’s a very long season.
Cricket-The third one day international between England and Pakistan is being played today in Bristol.
Play is due to start at 2pm French time with the weather set fair.
England lead the series 1-0.
Weather
Clear skies with light to moderate south westerly winds.
Top temperatures 20-23 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 13 degrees on the coast and 11 degrees inland with scattered showers developing.
Wednesday and Thursday-Showers tomorrow morning ,fine after that with highs of 16-20 degrees.
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