French and Riviera News Wednesday 2nd November 2022

News

Dramatic situation for paediatric care in France - France’s Health Minister has announced that since the beginning of October “thirty-one children have been transported out of the Ile-de-France" due to the saturation of paediatric services in hospitals in Paris. According to the regional health agency the Ile-de-France region has been in hit by an epidemic of bronchiolitis since October 3rd which has just made the situation worse.

A meeting is scheduled today Wednesday 2nd November, between the health minister François Braun and paediatric professionals. It was last week that more than 4,000 caregivers signed an open letter to the President of the Republic to denounce the saturation of hospital paediatric services. The letter denounced above all structural difficulties, due to "irresponsible political inaction". Warning that “hospitalization services are overflowing”.  

Covid incidence rate falling in Monaco - The Covid-19 incidence rate has decreased in Monaco. In its weekly update on Covid numbers the government said that the incidence rate per 100,000 people in the week to last Sunday was 161, down from 222 the previous week. In the week to Sunday, 63 new positive cases of Covid-19 were detected. As of Sunday evening, 11 people, including 4 residents, were hospitalized at the Princesse Grace Hospital. Two people, both of them non-residents, were being treated in intensive care. 36 people were being followed by the Home Monitoring Centre.

Power cuts - More than 2,600 homes in Beausoleil and La Turbie have been without electricity following an incident on the network in Beausoleil. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning affecting 2,600 customers in Beausoleil, as well as in La Turbie. According to the operator Enedis, technicians were quick to intervene, and everything was back to normal by the afternoon. Meanwhile on Facebook, the city of La Turbie attributed the incident "to lightning which had hit the Beausoleil transformer following the bad weather on Tuesday morning".

Train traffic disrupted - Meanwhile, another power cut caused by bad weather on Tuesday saw train traffic interrupted between Nice and Ventimiglia. Major repair work has since been carried out however, only two out of three trains will be maintained this morning, Wednesday November 2. To know which trains will be running passengers are advised to check on the SNCF TER SUD website.

Storm Claudio – On Tuesday Storm Claudio caused disruption on the region’s roads with parts of both the Promenade des Anglais and the A8 motorway flooding and a woman was rescued after being swept away by floodwaters. Local reports say that the woman was carried about two kilometres after falling into the Paillon River near the Palais des Expositions and finally being rescued by firefighters near the beach.

More bad weather forecast for tomorrow - Meteo France has warned of further heavy rain and bad weather tomorrow Thursday 3rd November, as Storm Denise approaches France via the Vendée crossing two thirds of the country including the Var and the Alpes Maritimes bringing strong winds and heavy showers by Thursday evening.

Waste prevention - The town of Plan-de-la-Tour in the Var has launched a series of measures to prevent waste and cigarette butts from ending up in the Mediterranean and after installing two waste sensor nets at the exit of the network outlet, they are now involving members of the public. Inhabitants have been invited to take part in a “slogan competition”. The idea is that the winning slogan will be placed near sewer outlets to make passers-by aware of respecting the environment.

October was the warmest month - October was the warmest month on record in France, beating the previous record set in 2001. Meteo France said that the average temperature was 17.2 degrees, which is 3.5 degrees above normal. It said that October was the ninth consecutive month in which temperatures were above normal.

Business

Elon Musk has said Twitter will charge $8 (£7) monthly to Twitter users who want a blue tick by their name indicating a verified account. As part of changes after a $44bn (£38bn) takeover of the social media site, Mr Musk said it was "essential to defeat spam/scam". A blue tick mark next to a username - normally for high-profile figures - is currently free. However, critics say that the move could make it harder to identify reliable sources.

Online furniture retailer Made.com has moved a step closer towards administration after the company's shares were suspended on Tuesday. The firm has stopped taking new orders and is running out of cash. Talks to find a buyer have so far failed. It is dramatic change in fortunes for the brand, which boomed in the pandemic and was valued last year at £775m. The retailer aims to fulfil orders it has already received but is not offering refunds at this stage. Made.com was set up in 2011 to offer affordable yet "high-end" furniture online and once said it wanted to be the "new Ikea".

In the UK Royal Mail workers have announced two 48-hour strikes to coincide with the busiest online shopping days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Communication Workers Union (CWU) at Royal Mail are to strike on 24th, 25th and 30th November and 1st December.

Sport

Football - Tottenham went through to the Champions League last 16 as Group D winners after scoring in stoppage time to beat Marseille 2-1 on a dramatic, frantic evening.

And - Liverpool ended Napoli's flawless Champions League record with a 2-0 victory at Anfield but still had to settle for second place in Group A.

Cricket - England's victory over New Zealand on Tuesday should reassert Jos Buttler's side as one of the favourites for the Men's T20 World Cup again.

Tennis - Novak Djokovic got his Paris Masters title defence under way with a straight-set victory against American Maxime Cressy. The former world number one, who got a bye into the second round, beat Cressy 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 as he started his bid for a record-extending seventh title. It is a 17th straight win for Serbia's 21-time Grand Slam champion, 35. Earlier, Britain's Dan Evans and Jack Draper claimed wins to reach the last 32 in Paris-Bercy.

Rugby Union - Johnny Sexton says Ireland cannot be considered the world's best team until they have won the Rugby World Cup. Ireland reached the summit of the world ranking following a historic series win against New Zealand in the summer. But the Ireland captain, 37, feels his side must match Saturday's opponents South Africa and lift the Webb Ellis Cup to truly earn the number one tag.

Weather

Sunny intervals moderate breeze. Highs of 20 degrees in Monaco, Nice and Cannes. 23 degrees and sunny in Toulon and the Var. This evening going down to 12 degrees with clear skies.

The outlook for tomorrow and Friday. Heavy rain and showers are forecast for tomorrow highs of 14. Sunshine returning on Friday with highs of 19 degrees.

Sunrise                                           Sunset

07.07hr                                           17.19hr

And Finally

Recent research has suggested that you may be going to the gym at the wrong time. Researchers say that going to the gym in the afternoon or the evening could be better for losing weight than morning workouts.

Exercising between noon and midnight was found to cut insulin resistance, which can lead to weight gain, by up to a quarter. Experts say working out at the optimum time could therefore help people control their weight and reduce their chances of getting type 2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance is when cells in the muscles, fat and liver struggle to respond to insulin and cannot easily take up glucose from the blood, leading to more sugar in the bloodstream.

 

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