French and Riviera News Wednesday 24th November 2021

News 

Cap d'Antibes closed to the public due to bad weather - Antibes city council has closed the coastal area of Cap d'Antibes until Friday November 26th, due to bad weather. Authorities announced the closure due to strong winds which are expected along the coast between now and Friday.

Two complaints lodged for sexual assault through the "balance ton bar" movement - At least two complaints have been lodged for sexual assault against an employee of a bar in Villeneuve-Loubet. On Friday morning, the Instagram page "Balance ton bar Nice" published a testimony of a sexual assault by an employee. Two complaints were filed this Monday, November 22.

Both incidents date back to 2017. Two young girls in their twenties who claim to not have been drinking excessively while spending the evening at the What's up bar in Villeneuve-Loubet, Marina Baie-des-Anges, say they "blacked out" and "woke up in an unknown place" in the presence of someone they identify as the boss's son, employed at the bar.

Main suspect of the murder of businessman Jean-Marc Sandré charged - The main suspect in the murder of businessman Jean-Marc Sandré in the Var has been charged. The alleged assassin of Jean-Marc Sandré, killed in June 2019 in Cavalaire, was extradited from Madagascar ten months after his arrest. Jean-Marc Sandré had disappeared on June 3rd, 2019, while on his way to work at the Marine Plaisance shipyard, founded in 1977. Surprised not to see him at the shipyard, his business partner and then his family had launched the alert the same day.

Safety exercise on tramline in Nice - A safety exercise is being carried out on line 2 of the Tramway in Nice. The stations of Port Lympia, Garibaldi le Chateau and Durandy will be closed to the public from 11pm this evening Wednesday 24th November. The prefecture has asked the public to "avoid the area" during the exercise. Replacement lines will be set up to maintain continuity of the service.

Parking wardens end strike action - After eighteen days of strike action, the agents of the company Moovia, of the subsidiary Transdev, who are in charge of parking metres in Nice have ended the strike, without having won their case. Since the 4th November, fourteen employees have been denouncing their working conditions and remuneration. Their management had offered them a bonus of 175 euros gross but the "employees are demanding an increase in wages" citing its importance in being able to ask for a mortgage or loan to rent an apartment. The bonus also depends on the agent's efficiency as according to local reports "651 daily vehicle checks need to be carried out".

Fight against loneliness - In the fight against loneliness the platform Bip Pop is connecting volunteers and isolated people and the Alpes Maritimes is one of ten departments in France to have recently joined the platform under "monvoisin06aducoeur". The platform covers 1,000 towns in France and 6,000 people have already signed up.

The Blevins Franks Charitable Foundation gets ready for the Nice-Cannes Marathon - The team of Blevins Franks is getting ready to participate in the Nice-Cannes Marathon 2021 which is taking place this weekend. Staff, family members, friends and clients will run through the French Riviera to raise much needed funds for some very worthy causes. The goal is to raise money for "The Blevins Franks Charitable Foundation" established in November 2016. Only days to go and it isn't too late to join. Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated. Visit the Blevins Franks donation page Virgin Money Giving | Blevins Franks Foundation

Three members of the same family die from covid in north-eastern France - Three members of the same family and living under the same roof have died of covid in the space of six days in Courcelles-sous-Châtenois, a small town in the Vosges with barely 78 inhabitants. Reported in the local media, 89-year-old Robert, 82-year-old Odile and 48-year-old Dominique Py were not vaccinated against covid.

The couple had three other children in addition to Dominique, to which were added over the years eight grandchildren and even a great-granddaughter. The daughter-in-law of Robert and Odile Py and sister-in-law of Dominique, faced with this terrible loss, has since launched a call for vaccination on French media.

France's Health Minister raises the alarm on 5th wave of covid – Meanwhile France's health Minister Olivier Veran has raised the alarm on the fifth wave of Covid during Tuesday's traditional questioning session to the government at the National Assembly. Véran, announced that "30,000 cases" of Covid-19 have been identified "in the last 24 hours". A figure which had not been reached since the summer, when 30,920 cases had been identified on August 11th, according to official data from Public Health France.

The minister went on to say that "It is a very significant increase in contaminations which confirms that France unfortunately, is in a fifth epidemic wave" emphasising the importance of vaccination to try to stop the progression of the virus and avoid serious cases. "Six million French people who can be vaccinated have not yet been vaccinated, that's too many," said Olivier Véran in front of MPs. "We have to stop saying 'I'm waiting, we don't have enough hindsight', we have the hindsight, and we know that it works. We also have the sufficient hindsight to know that we are twelve times more likely to make a severe form of Covid when you are not vaccinated".

Education minister confirms closure of 6,000 classes in France – France's Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer has announced, that 6,000 classes are currently closed in France (or 2,000 additional closures since Friday). These are classes "in primary school in particular, where saliva tests are deployed," said the minister. " The number of classes closed because of the Covid-19 epidemic rose sharply last week, reaching its highest point since the start of the September school year. Friday, November 19, it stood at 4,048 classes, or 0.8% of the country's classes. Under the current health protocol, a case of Covid in a primary school class leads to a closure. In the event of contamination in middle or high school, only unvaccinated contact cases students must isolate themselves for one week.

Restaurant auctions "free meal a day for an entire lifetime" - An Italian restaurant on the Côte d'Azur is giving away a meal a day for an entire lifetime. The restaurant in Cagnes sur mer has put the offer up for auction in the form of an NFT, a virtual object of undeniable authenticity and it's a first!

Those wishing to take part can bid on the Open Sea platform under the NFT "Mangiare gratis" until the 30th November 2021. The only difference with a traditional auction is that you can only bid in crypto money. The highest bidder will walk away with a free daily meal of their choice from the menu. It will be possible to eat in or take away. Beverages are not included, and you cannot accumulate the meals.

Business

Electronics giant Samsung has chosen a site close to the city of Taylor in Texas for its new $17bn (£12.7bn) computer chip plant, amid a global shortage of semiconductors. It is the company's biggest-ever US investment. The plant is expected to create 2,000 technology industry jobs, with construction starting early next year.

Chief Executive Elon Musk has sold another 934,091 shares of the electric vehicle maker worth $1.05 billion after exercising options to buy 2.15 million shares according to U.S. securities filings on Tuesday.

In the US, in order to allow its employees to enjoy the holiday, the supermarket chain Target has announced that its stores will be closed during Thanksgiving. While Target will open its doors for Black Friday, the largest U.S. trade operation, it will be closed the day before, which is Thanksgiving Thursday. Even if this holiday is a holiday in the United States, most stores remain open. The closure of shops on Thanksgiving Day has for years been the subject of demands by unions of employees in the sector.

Italy's competition watchdog has fined Amazon and Apple more than €200m (£168m) for allegedly flouting competition regulations. The fine relates to Beats headphones, a brand bought by Apple in 2014. A 2018 agreement between the tech giants meant only selected resellers could sell the products on Amazon's Italian website. Both Apple and Amazon said they plan to appeal against the fines.

In France according to the price index of the Notaires-Insee, the value of housing has increased more in the provinces than in the French capital in the 3rd quarter of 2021. The clear increase in prices revealed by the notaries-INSEE index in the third quarter of 2021 suggests that the provinces have become "the new El dorado for home buyers". The price of old housing in the provinces jumped by 8.8% in one year and the price of apartments also rose very sharply by (+7%).

Sport 

Football - Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick has dedicated last night's 2-0 victory over Villarreal to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United booked their place in the Champions League last 16. Meanwhile Manchester United have contacted former Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde about the role of interim manager. Valverde is one of a handful of potential candidates to take charge until the end of the season before United hire a permanent manager.

Cricket – Cricket Tasmania has said that the treatment of Tim Paine has been the "worst of an Australia Test captain in 50 years". Tasmanian Paine stepped down over an investigation into sexually explicit texts he sent to a female Cricket Tasmania colleague in 2017. The 36-year-old had been captain of the Australia Test team since 2018. The messages came to light as part of a misconduct investigation after the female colleague made allegations against Paine in 2018. A Cricket Tasmania HR investigation also found there had been no breach of CA's code of conduct. Cricket Australia chief executive Richard Freudenstein said that the governing body should have handled the investigation differently.

Formula One - FIA race director Michael Masi has insisted that the rules have been 'clear' all season in response to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen's who have recently debated a number of key decisions. Formula One's governing body has come under the spotlight over the past two races, with their decision not to punish the Red Bull star for forcing Hamilton off track in Brazil.

Weather

Cloudy in Saint Tropez and the Var, sunny intervals in Nice and the Alpes Maritimes. Rain is forecast for late afternoon with a moderate breeze. Highs of 17 degrees in Monaco, Nice, Cannes and Antibes. This evening going down to 9 degrees and rain.

Outlook for Thursday - Heavy rain and strong winds. Highs of 13-15 degrees. Friday, sunny intervals, highs of 14 with a moderate breeze.