Two Princes
French and Riviera News Tuesday 15th June 2021
French Riviera local news
Vaccination opens today for 12 to 17-year olds – The vaccination against covid is open from today Tuesday 15th June, for 12-17-year old's and is on a voluntary basis, with the consent of both parents and the minor concerned. Appointments can be made via the usual online booking platforms, as for an adult. The vaccination of adolescents must be done in a vaccination center, and not in pharmacies as is now possible for adults.
Number of people getting vaccinated drops sharply - Meanwhile figures published have shown that the uptake for vaccination in France has dropped sharply, with some centres remaining desperately empty. In mid-June, 45.5% of French people received at least a first dose of the vaccine. A figure insufficient to achieve collective immunity.
France's first match of Euro 2020 – And France will enter the Euro 2020 competition tonight against Germany. With the 11pm curfew in place France's Minister of the Interior has asked prefects to show "particular leniency" with regard to people returning home after the match.
Beaches in Corsica closed due to oil slick - At least five beaches in southern Corsica have been affected by an oil slick. The beaches have been closed to the public with a ban on swimming in place. The marine oil pollution was spotted on Friday, June 11th. An investigation has been opened and handed over to the Maritime Gendarmerie to find out more about the circumstances of the pollution.
Residency permit for British nationals - The Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes has reminded British nationals and their families settled in France before January 1st, 2021, that they have until July 1st, 2021 to complete their formalities to obtain a "withdrawal agreement" residence permit. Details can be found on the French Interior Ministry's website.
"Bac Blanquer" - Nearly 21,000 high school students from the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, will be preparing to sit their philosophy baccalaureate this Thursday June 17th with the oral on June 21st. For this first edition of the "Bac Blanquer", disrupted by the health crisis, the continuous assessment will represent at least 82% of the final mark of the exam, the written philosophy test and that of the oral corresponding to the remaining 18%. The specialty tests, which were to be held for the first time in March, have been cancelled in favor of continuous assessment.
Kitesurfing - A kitesurf instructor from Cannes, in the Alpes-Maritimes, has set up training to carry out rescue operations. Kitesurfing is a popular but dangerous sport with rescue operations regularly taking place. These interventions require a good knowledge of the equipment and in particular the inflatable sail. To help surfers in distress swimmers from the SNSM (National Society for Rescue at Sea) from Cannes-Golfe Juan, in the Alpes-Maritimes, are being trained by a kitesurf instructor. Last year, the SNSM of Cannes and Golfe Juan rescued 6 kitesurfers in distress.
Take care in the sun - As temperatures rise across France doctors have called for extra care to be taken when exposing yourself to the sun. Recent figures have shown that with more than 1,300 new cases of skin cancer each year, Brittany is the region the worst affected with three times more cases than the rest of France.
Bouturothèque opens in Valbonne - A "bouturothèque" has opened at the media library in Valbonne, in the Alpes-Maritimes, making it possible to exchange plants in the middle of books. Each visitor can drop of their plant cuttings and leave with another. The objective: is to bring a little greenery amongst the bookshelves and create an exchange amongst all ages of the public.
The United States and Europe are heading towards a pact to end a 17-year old dispute over aircraft subsidies. Reports say that a deal to either end or pause the world's largest corporate trade dispute will give relief to dozens of other industries affected by tit for tat tariffs that were suspended in March. If there is no progress, a renewed trade war could start within weeks. United States and European trade negotiators held a meeting in Brussels on Monday ahead of today's US-EU summit. The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy and the United States are keen to find a solution to the dispute by the 11th of July when the current suspension of transatlantic tariffs comes to an end. Barring a detailed accord, the two sides could opt for a standstill agreement pushing the resumption of tariffs back by years. President Biden has vowed to reset relations with Europe after four years of recrimination under former President Donald Trump.
Reports say that the broad terms of a trade deal between the UK and Australia have been agreed with a formal announcement expected later today. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison are said to have agreed the deal over dinner at Downing Street last night. It will be the first trade deal to be negotiated from scratch since the UK left the EU. The terms of the deal are expected to give UK and Australian food producers and other businesses easier access to each other's markets. However, there are great concerns in the UK about possible compromises on food standards as well as tensions in government between the Environment Secretary George Eustice and the Trade Secretary Liz Truss. UK farmers have also expressed concerns that there will be no meaningful safeguards in place to stop producers being undercut by cheap Australian imports.
Hospitality, wedding and night time entertainment businesses have given a negative reaction to the delay of England's full reopening until the 19th of July. Wedding planners say the continuation of some restrictions means that couples are likely to defer their weddings again while nightclub owners say they will have to cancel a series of events which they had planned over the next few weeks. Representatives of pub owners say that the fresh delay has created a desperate situation for many licensees as Covid restrictions are massively hindering pubs from trading profitably. Pubs are reported to be losing thousands of pounds monthly as they are having to hire extra staff members to cope with restrictions like table service and social distancing. The British Beer and Pub Association has warned that four additional weeks of restrictions will cost pubs 400 million pounds and has called on the government to allow them to reopen "properly" on June the 19th.
Euro 2020 – Scotland got their campaign off to a disappointing start on Monday as they lost 2–0 at Hampden Park to the Czech Republic. Scotland had a hat full of chances and 19 attempts on goal during the match but couldn't convert piling the pressure on ahead of their next game against England at Wembley on Friday. In the two group E games on Monday, Slovakia beat Poland 2–1 and Spain and Sweden drew 0–0. There are two games today. The tournament favourites France play Germany in group F at 9 pm while Hungary play Portugal at 6 pm.
Tennis – Capacity crowds will be allowed at the Wimbledon men's and women's finals with ground capacity starting at 50% at the tournament. Capacity will rise throughout the two weeks at SW19 before the two finals on the 15,000 capacity Centre Court.
Cycling – Chris Froome will not lead his Israel Start-Up Nation team at this month's Tour de France. The team has announced that Michael Woods of Canada will instead try to win the grand tour event. It's not yet clear whether Froome will be part of the eight man squad for the race which starts on June 26th. He's been trying to regain form since suffering multiple fractures in a crash at the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019.
Mainly fine in coastal areas, some showers inland later. Light to moderate south easterly winds and highs of 25-28 degrees in coastal areas and 30-31 degrees inland. Overnight lows of 21-22 degrees with clear skies.
Wednesday and Thursday - Partially cloudy in coastal areas, showers inland and highs of 26-28 degrees on the coast and 30-32 degrees inland in the Var.
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