French and Riviera News Wednesday 10th June 2020

 

Two workmen killed after wall collapses - Two workmen have been killed in the Alpes de Haute Provence. The men aged 56 and 35 were at the time renovating an old house in Revest-du-Bion when an outside wall collapsed. The incident occurred at 6pm on Tuesday evening. Both were declared dead at the scene by emergency services.

Fly tipping - 11 people have been placed in police custody as police investigate a ring of fly tipping on the Côte d’Azur. Six public companies were approached by investigators on Tuesday following months of investigation.

The investigation revealed an organised system which had been in operation for several years with hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of earth, concrete, scrap metal and tar being dumped on sites between Fréjus, Le Luc and Trans-en-Provence, in the Var, and as far as Sospel in the Alpes-Maritimes. 

Coronavirus lowest figures for the Alpes Maritimes since March 27th - The latest figures published for the number of coronavirus cases in the Alpes Maritimes have shown that 99 patients remain hospitalised, the lowest figure since March 27th. Four are in intensive care and for the sixth consecutive day no patients have died from Covid-19 in the Alpes Maritimes.

Covid-19 has claimed 248 lives in the Alpes Maritimes since the start of the epidemic and 663 patients have returned home.

Health emergency – Meanwhile the French government has said that the “health emergency” declared in France, in March to fight the epidemic of coronavirus will not be extended beyond July 10th.

While some restrictions will remain, the Prime Minister insists that ending the state of health emergency must be organised rigorously and gradually.

Today the government will therefore present to the Council of Ministers a bill which will, for four months, regulate access if necessary, to transport and limit or prohibit certain gatherings.

The number of serious cases of Covid-19 requiring hospitalization in intensive care has dropped below 1000, with 955 patients, against more than 7000 at its peak in early April. France has recorded 87 additional Covid-19 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths since the start of the epidemic to 29,296.

300 lightning strikes - Following the storm alert issued on Tuesday in the Alpes Maritimes 300 lightning strikes were recorded between 9am and 2pm, mainly around Grasse and Vence.

While the weather remained unsettled along the coast it was inland which experienced the worst of the weather with violent storms.

Louis XV restaurant to reopen on June 19th - The team of French star chef Alain Ducasse has confirmed that the Louis XV restaurant in the Principality will reopen from June 19th.

The three-star restaurant located in the heart of the Hotel de Paris will be open for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays.

The management specifies, that staff are trained and prepared to implement the necessary social distancing measures as are the producers and suppliers.

Reservations are already possible by phone on +377 98 06 88 64 or on www.montecarlosbm.com

Eiffel Tower to reopen - Meanwhile the Eiffel Tower is set to reopen to the public from June 25th after an exceptional closure of more than three months. Only the 2nd floor with be open and masks will be mandatory.

The number of visitors will be limited on the forecourt and on the upper floors.

During lockdown, the most famous monument in Paris, paid tribute to those mobilized in the face of the coronavirus. The Eiffel Tower, built in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel, welcomes nearly seven million visitors a year, including many foreign tourists.

Ironman - A new date has been announced for one of the Riviera's top athletics events. The Ironman triathlon competition was originally due to take place on 14 June but organizers today announced a new date of 11 October. The new date has been arranged in coordination with the city of Nice.

Made in France - France’s government has announced plans to work with the textile industry to reduce the widespread use of disposable imported face masks and promote French-made, washable masks as better environmental and economic options.  

The goal is to convince major buyers to shift from disposable masks to washable and reusable textile masks.

Missing cat named Scoundrel, found in Saint Tropez - A cat named “Fripouille” or scoundrel in English has lived up to its name after disappearing from its owners home in Toulouse, only to be found sunning it up in Saint Tropez four year’s later.

A kitten at the time of her disappearance, “Fripouille” managed to travel 550km from her hometown of Toulouse to the sandy coastline of Saint Tropez, how remains a mystery.

 

Business

Stock market momentum appears to have slowed over the past 24 hours with US and European shares falling on Tuesday and markets in Asia edgy as investors wait to see what the US Federal Reserve will have to offer in its latest economic guidance report.

There are some concerns about the strength of the economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic with many firms going to the wall and others laying off staff as they struggle for cash.

Analysts are not expecting any radical moves from the US central bank but any hint that the Fed is taking its foot off the gas in supporting the economy is likely to see equities hammered.

The Fed will publish its first quarterly economic projections since the pandemic took hold in February this evening.

The report is expected to say that the central bank sees near-zero interest rates for the next few years and that output will collapse this year.

There will also be projections about the speed of the recovery and any long-term damage to the world’s largest economy.

 

The International Air Transport Association has said that the plunge in travel caused by the coronavirus crisis will result in airline losses in excess of 84 billion dollars this year.

The IATA ,which has 290 member airlines said that revenues would drop to 419 billion dollars-down 50 percent from last year.

The losses are steeper than forecast and come despite signs that passengers are returning.

The IATA said that this year will go down as “the worst on record” and the damage would continue into next year but not as bad as in 2020.

Airlines have responded to the coronavirus crisis by grounding fleets ,scaling back service and cutting thousands of jobs.

Prices are set to be lowered over the coming months to tempt passengers back resulting in more financial pain for many airlines.

And-Honda has said that its global operations have been hit in a cyber-attack.

The Japanese carmaker said that the problem was affecting its ability to access its computer servers ,use email and make use of its internal systems.

The firm said that there had also been an impact on its production systems outside Japan.

Honda said that work was being carried out to minimise the impact and restore full functionality of production ,sales and development activities.

Some cyber-security experts say that it looks like the firm has been hit with a ransomware attack which means that hackers may have encrypted data or locked Honda out of some of its IT systems.

Sport

Football-The England manager Gareth Southgate has said that he’s “tremendously proud” of how his players have spoken out on racism and campaigned for charity.

Raheem Sterling and Tyrone Mings have both spoken out on racism on recent days while Jordan Henderson led a players initiative to raise money for the NHS and Marcus Rashford has been working with a charity that feeds underprivileged children.

Southgate said that he had a group of players who understand that they have an opportunity to make a difference and that their voices are being heard.

 

Cricket-West Indies have arrived in England for their tour which will be played behind closed doors.

All 39 members of the touring party including 25 players tested negative for Covid-19 before taking a charter flight from Antigua to Manchester on Tuesday.

They’re being tested again at Old Trafford where they will quarantine before the three match Test series starts on the 8th of July.

The first Test will be the first international cricket played since March.

 

Rugby Union-The England international Ellis Genge has said that the pulling down of a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol was “warranted”.

Genge grew up in Bristol and said that a “big statue of a slave trader in the city centre was not wanted”.

He said that there had been efforts to have the statue removed for 10 years and its removal was appropriate.

Genge grew up on a Bristol housing estate and said that he had experienced racial abuse “throughout his life” and that it was still rife today.

Weather

Partially cloudy this morning-thundery showers this afternoon and light to moderate  westerly winds.

Top temperatures 21 degrees.

Overnight lows of 16 degrees on the coast and 11 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.

Thursday and Friday-Sunshine and afternoon showers tomorrow.Mainly fine on Friday.Highs of 21-24 degrees.

 

 

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