News
Christmas Greetings - The Prince's Palace has today Christmas Eve, unveiled the traditional greeting card photo of HSH Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, with their children, Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella.
The children of the princely couple, recently celebrated their sixth birthday on December 10th and don’t forget to tune into Riviera Radio on Christmas day at 12 noon to hear HSH Prince Albert of Monaco’s special Christmas chat, one on one with Rob Harrison of the Full English breakfast show. The Prince has a special message for Riviera Radio listeners.
Big wheel starts turning in Nice - Nice city council has given the green light for the emblematic “big wheel” in Place Massena to be put in place during the holidays. The attraction opened at 2pm on Wednesday and will remain open until March 7th. The cost of the ride remains unchanged at 8 euros and 5 euros for children up to 8 years old.
Coronavirus data for the Alpes Maritimes - The latest indicators of the coronavirus epidemic in the Alpes-Maritimes shows that the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients continues to break previous records, mortality remains at a high rate and the number of new cases detected every day is increasing. According to data from Public Health France Nice has an incidence rate that is higher than the national average for a department. The incidence rate, which is the number of cases detected per 100,000 inhabitants, stands at 250 for the Alpes Maritimes. In detail according to the data provided by the authorities Antibes, Cannes, Grasse, Menton, Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Le Cannet, Vallauris, Mandelieu and Cagnes-sur-Mer keep an incidence rate of between 150 and 250 with the capital of the Riviera Nice showing a rate above 250 since December 17th, with a thousand cases detected in one week.
However, some towns such as Villefranche, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Eze, Cap d'Ail and Roquebrune show an indicator below 150 and in Théoule the incidence rate is the lowest, standing at 10 according to the data.
Vaccination in France - France, along with the rest of Europe, is to start its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on 27th December, with the most vulnerable population in nursing homes the first to receive the jab. France’s Health Minister, Olivier Veran, said a few dozen elderly people will be vaccinated this Sunday, followed by more in the beginning of January.
France has one of the highest levels of doubt over the vaccine in the world. Polls have shown that some 40-50 percent are not certain that they will get the Covid-19 vaccine. France has ordered 200 million doses enough to vaccinate 100 million people - more than its population of nearly 70 million.
Controversial draft law suspended due to angry reaction from MPs - Meanwhile France’s government has temporarily called off a debate on a draft law which has angered opposition MPs as the law could see public transport refused to people who do not take "preventative treatment" against Covid-19.
According to the text, a negative Covid-19 test or proof of “preventative treatment, including the administration of a vaccine” could be required for “access to transport or to some locations, as well as certain activities”.
President Emmanuel Macron has promised coronavirus vaccinations would not be mandatory, a pledge reiterated this week by his cabinet.
French firefighters arrive in Dover with Covid tests - A team of French firefighters have arrived in Dover with 10,000 coronavirus tests for lorry drivers under a renewed Franco-British mission to let drivers cross the Channel by Christmas Day. France’s ambassador to the UK, said the two countries were “neighbours, partners, allies and (yes) friends” and that 26 firefighters had brought thousands of rapid-turnaround tests to the port on Christmas Eve.
There were rising tensions on Wednesday. Lorry drivers, many of whom had been stuck in Dover for more than 48 hours had limited resources. Some 3,800 lorries have been parked up in Kent after France closed its UK border on Sunday amid concern over a fast-spreading variant of the virus.
President Macron no longer showing symptoms of Covid - The Élysée has announced in a press release this morning that President Emmanuel Macron "is no longer showing symptoms of Covid-19”. The President of the Republic during his illness was still able to remain mobilized while self-isolating and will “continue to carry out his duties in the same way in the hours and days to come”.
And Finally
A clever new system of training your children to eat mindfully that's been developed by researchers from the U.S.
They found children as young as three were more likely to think about fruit and vegetables in a positive way if they did two things: first, played games with them (like the tray memory game).
Results have been encouraging. After 15 lessons in mindful eating, children liked veg more and had better self-control than a group who didn't get the lessons.
Storm Benjamin swept across France on Thursday, battering much of the country with winds exceeding 160 km/h and leaving one person dead in Corsica. By...
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The Var and the Alpes-Maritimes are on Meteo France alerts for high winds until eight o’clock this evening as Storm Benjamin passes through our region...
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France is preparing for severe weather as Storm Benjamin sweeps in from the British Isles, bringing violent winds, heavy rain and powerful coastal wav...
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Storm Benjamin is on the way. It’s expected that the Atlantic coast and parts of north-west France will be worst affected, but Meteo France have yello...
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Dozens of left-wing activists have marched through Nice, protesting plans to name a public square after former president Nicolas Sarkozy, the march oc...
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