News
Health Minister to visit Nice tomorrow - France's Minister of Health Olivier Véran is to visit Nice tomorrow Thursday 17th February. During his visit the minister is to visit the L'Archet hospital and speech about the current health situation. Veran’s visit comes as this morning, he mentioned the possible end of wearing a mask indoors including in work, school or public transport in mid-March, should the health situation allow.
Nice Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the heart of three investigations - The Nice Chamber of Commerce and Industry is currently at the heart of three investigations following a report by the French Anti-Corruption Agency. According to reports, a report published in July by Mediapart showed "numerous malfunctions and the lack of respect for procedures and management" of the Nice Côte d'Azur Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The public prosecutor of Nice Xavier Bonhomme, has indicated that three different investigations were opened on November 30th for possible facts of “illegal taking of interests”, “favouritism” and “embezzlement”. The justice system is in particular, questioning the granting of a public road contract for the port of Nice, managed by the CCI, to two companies belonging to Philippe Renaudi, at the time elected to the CCI. He is also president of the Union for Enterprise (UPE) 06, hence a suspicion of favoritism regarding the allocation of subsidies by the organization to this employers' organization. Another investigation targets the management of the CCI, chaired by Jean-Pierre Savarino, and the use of a bank card to pay for personal expenses, such as the payment of a speeding fine. The ICC "contests the unfounded allegations of Anticor and remains calm about the outcome of the criminal proceedings", specifying that it has "always expressed to the prosecutor its availability to provide all the elements relating to the investigation which is being carrying out".
Supermarket introduces “silent hour” for customers with autism - The Carrefour Lingostière hypermarket in Nice has announced on its Facebook page, that the store is to introduce a "silent hour" every day from 4pm to 5pm. The move aims to facilitate access to the supermarket for people with autism. During the dedicated hour lighting and noise will be reduced to accommodate customers with autism who prefer calmer surroundings.
New app to find lost items in Antibes - A new application called “Troov” can help find lost items in Antibes. The app which is associated with the city council will increase the chances of finding lost objects in the city. The service is free and available via an application or simply via the website troov.com.
Operation Carlo - The Prince's Government has expressed its delight with the success of "Operation Carlo". As part of the various measures to support the economy, the Prince's Government notably repeated the Carlo operation at the end of 2021. This involved paying an exceptional bonus, directly converted into purchase vouchers, on the Carlo application, to around 10,000 civil servants, State and Municipal employees, retired civil servants and non-medical staff at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre. This amount, varying from 350 to 650 euros per person, can only be spent exclusively in shops in the Principality before March 31st. For each transaction carried out, the customer receives a cash back of 5% of the amount that he can spend again in the network of shops affiliated with Carlo. The objective is both to support the purchasing power of employees while boosting local consumption in order to support the Monegasque economy. Out of a total amount of 6.5 million euros for the state bonus paid last December, to date, an amount of 4.3 million has already been spent in the 395 partner businesses of the Carlo application. This is direct support injected into the local economy as the month of January was marked by an epidemic rebound. The Prince's Government is also delighted with the new participation of 14 private economic players or organizations who have also decided to grant a bonus to their staff in the form of Carlo shopping vouchers. Since the launch of the operation on December 1st, the number of daily transactions has doubled compared to last year. The application has accumulated a record number of 96,000 transactions, which represents a total of 9 million euros injected directly into the local economy and generated 630,000 euros in cash back, which will in turn be spent with partnered businesses. These results confirm the success of the economic recovery strategy via local consumption.
100th anniversary of the Rainier III Academy - To mark the 100th anniversary of the Rainier III Academy a commemorative stamp will be issued on March 25th to celebrate. The stamp will bear the image of the artistic establishment. Created in 1922 under the direction of the Monegasque composer and concert performer Louis Abbiate, today it is a recognized artistic teaching establishment which welcomes more than 800 students each year, divided into three departments in the Music section (Classical, Early Music, and Jazz and Current Music) and a Theatre department, benefiting from high quality courses taught by certified teachers. The commemorative stamp will be printed in 40,000 copies in a limited edition and will be available for sale at the Office des Timbres, the Museum of Stamps and Coin and in post offices. For more information on events organised as part of the 100th anniversary of the Academy a press conference will be organized by the Town Hall of Monaco in April.
Access to the town hall in Monaco - Due to work being carried out on the main entrance to the Monaco Town Hall from February 21st, the access to the building will be modified and the public are invited to use the access ramp located to the right of the main entrance or via the stairs in the main courtyard of the Town Hall. The work is expected to be completed by February 25th.
Made in Normandy - In anticipation of the forthcoming ban on heated terraces, deemed too energy-intensive, the managers of a Normandy brewery have designed a system of heated benches which they hope to market. Electric heaters and other gas heaters must disappear from the terraces of cafes and restaurants in France by April 1st. The measure, which is part of the "Climate and Resilience" bill, should have been introduced earlier but, due to the Covid crisis the government granted additional time to already very vulnerable businesses. According to the GNI (National Group of Independents), "terraces represent 30% of turnover in the hotel and restaurant sector of and the 30%, part is achieved thanks to heating and the comfort provided to customers". In view of the problem Philippe Debray and his son Guillaume have come up with a solution finding an ecological and economical alternative which is inspired from heated car seats and is in the development of benches which are installed with low temperature resistance. According to Debray “the energy consumption is much lower than with current heaters, as a two-meter bench takes fifteen minutes to heat up and consumes 700 watts" compared to 2000 to 3500 per day for a heater”. If the bench imagined by the Debray family is not 100% ecological, it does nonetheless consume less electricity and in addition, it is local! Created from recycled aluminium, the bench panels are manufactured by a boilermaker in the region and then assembled with resistance and insulation in the premises of the company Hotbench, created last April.
Historic result for Monaco at the Winter Olympics - It was a historic result for the Monegasque bobsleigh team at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday as Rudy Rinaldi and Boris put on a fine performance in the last two rounds of the competition finishing in 6th place. Monaco’s best ranking in the at the Winter and Summer Olympics.
And Finally
A man from California who set aside 360 dollars for his girlfriend’s Valentine’s day gift last year has revealed that he deducted one dollar every day that she yelled at him, leaving just 40 dollars for her present. That’s a shocking total of 320 times in just 364 days.
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