French and Riviera News Wednesday 7th September 2022

News

Heavy rain fall - The Gard region in southern France has in the early hours of this morning been placed on a red weather alert by Météo France due to the risk of flooding. Inhabitants have been called upon to stay at home, to move away from rivers and not to take their cars. It’s the second time in less than 24 hours that the region was placed on a red alert, already being hit by heavy rain fall at the end of the afternoon on Tuesday. More than 100mm of rain fell in less than an hour and a half in Nîmes and firefighters carried out fifty interventions. Météo France warns that the episode of heavy rain accompanied by strong gusts of wind will shift to the east into the Vaucluse and the Hérault, which have been placed on an orange alert but, also the Var and the Alpes Maritimes. A return to calm is expected by Thursday.

Mayor of Nice and former President to testify at Nice trial - It’s been announced today that the Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi and the former president of France François Hollande will both testify at the Nice trial in Paris next month. Eight suspects are standing trial in Paris accused of being aware of the attackers' intentions, providing logistical support or supplying weapons. It’s expected that up to 2,000 civil parties, connected to victims who died in the July 14th attack in Nice, will take part in the trial which will last until Christmas.

50-year-old man drowns in Nice - A 50-year-old man has drowned in Nice. The man was found in the water near the Ruhl beach on the Promenade des Anglais shortly after 9.30 on Tuesday morning. According to the private establishment, the man came from the public beach and was a regular. An investigation has been opened.

Diving accident - Meanwhile a man in his sixties has been the victim of a diving accident in Fréjus in the Var. The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon. Emergency services intervened and the individual was taken to Sainte-Anne hospital in Toulon, where his condition is said to be stable.

Man arrested wearing boxer shorts in front of primary school - A man has been arrested outside a primary school in Menton wearing just his boxer shorts. The 39-year-old was arrested on Monday morning in front of the establishment after police were alerted by members of the public. After police intervened the man was placed in police custody and a psychological examination was carried out confirming severe mental disorders. The individual has since been taken care of by the Sainte-Marie hospital in Nice.

Supermarket security guard caught red-handed - A night-time supermarket security guard has been caught red handed by store management filling a shopping trolley with goods such as a laptop computer, alcohol, food and even children's toys. The security guard who ensured the security of the Cannes store during the night, turned out to be a regular thief and confessed to having stolen goods especially food on a regular basis for nearly a month.

‘Oui Pub’ - The town of Antibes is to run an experiment where advertisers will only be allowed place leaflets in mailboxes which display a sticker saying ‘Oui Pub’, signifying a willingness to accept advertising material. The "Oui Pub" sticker only concerns unaddressed advertising material, and not community information flyers or printed advertising which is addressed by name.

Private jets - According to a survey carried out by Le Monde, Nice-Paris is the most frequent trip made by private jet in France with Cannes-Paris also in the top 5. Since the beginning of 2022, 425 jet flights have been made between Nice-Paris. In second place came Geneva-Paris (423 flights) and Bordeaux-Paris (375 flights). Cannes-Paris is the 4th most frequent private jet trip in France with 250 flights since the beginning of the year. This equates to one flight per day, to date. The data compiled also lists flights of less than 30 minutes made by private jets. And here again, the Côte d'Azur is on the list. According to Le Monde, 24 planes made 29 flights between Nice and Toulon, for a journey of 21 minutes, compared to an hour and fifty minutes by car. Nine aircraft also made 15 flights between Nice and Saint-Tropez (a 19-minute journey) and no less than 14 flights were recorded between Cannes and Saint-Tropez. Travel time: 16 minutes! Making it the shortest route taken the most times in France.

The most beautiful train station in France - Today Wednesday 7th September, the social networks of Facebook and Instagram will open the votes for the most beautiful train station in France competition. From today you can choose whether Nice, Toulon or Avignon will represent the region at a national level. Organized on social networks by SNCF Gares and Connexions, the competition for the most beautiful station in France 2022 sees some forty municipalities compete. The regional winner will be announced on October 5th.

Business

The Biden administration has said that US tech companies which receive federal funding will be barred from building "advanced technology" facilities in China for 10 years. The guidelines were unveiled as part of a $50bn (£43bn) plan aimed at building up the local semiconductor industry. It comes as business groups have pushed for more government support in an effort to reduce reliance on China. They are faced with a global microchip shortage which has slowed production.

Holiday Inn owner, Intercontinental Hotels Group, has confirmed the company has been hit by a cyber-attack. IHG, which has some of the world's largest hotel chains, issued a statement saying it was investigating "unauthorised access" to a number of its technology systems. The UK-based company said its "booking channels and other applications" had been disrupted since Monday.

The lawyer of Elon Musk has told a judge that the trial over Musk’s bid to end his $44bn deal for Twitter should be delayed by several weeks to allow him to investigate a whistle-blower’s claims about security on the social media platform. Last month, whistle-blower allegations became public that provided Musk, the world’s richest person, fresh ammunition to bolster what legal experts said was a long-shot attempt to walk away from the deal without paying a $1bn termination fee.

And - United Airlines has said that it plans to end service in October to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) if the Federal Aviation Administration does not grant the air carrier additional flights.

Sport

Tennis - Casper Ruud has reached a first US Open semi-final following his victory over Matteo Berrettini. Fifth seed Ruud won 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-4) against Italian 13th seed Berrettini. Victory lifts the 23-year-old Norwegian to number two in the world rankings.

Football - Chelsea suffered a shock defeat to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb on the opening night of their Champions League campaign last night losing 1-0. Meanwhile Manchester City kicked off their Champions League campaign in style with a 4-0 win over Sevilla.

Rugby Union - Former Scotland international Kenny Logan has revealed his "huge shock" at being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Logan, who won 70 caps for his country, was given the news in February. After choosing to have his prostate removed, the 50-year-old says he is "95% back to normal" three months after the operation. Logan’s club career took him to Glasgow, London Wasps and London Scottish, making his international debut in 1992 against Australia at the age of 20. The winger went on to score 13 tries for Scotland over an 11-year period before retiring after the 2003 World Cup.

Weather

Cloudy with sunny spells along the coast. Highs of 28 degrees in Monaco, Nice and Antibes. 30 degrees in Saint Tropez. Rain is forecast inland by this afternoon in the Alpes Maritimes. Thunderstorms are expected in both the Var and the Alpes Maritimes by late evening and through into the early hours of Thursday morning. Going down to 21 degrees.

Outlook for Thursday, clear skies and highs of 33 degrees. Friday, cloudy patches to begin with clearing by the afternoon temperatures remaining much the same.

Sunrise     07.00hr                       Sunset      19.55hr

Sea temperature     26              UV level   6

 

 

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