Bullfighting in Fréjus
Claire Starozinski, the president of the anti-corrida alliance, the anti bullfighting league, says that the association has got wind of a proposed event in Fréjus’ arena on the 22nd of August, and there’s no smoke without fire according to her. She has asked Mayor David Racheline for assurances about the so-called Novillada event, a bullfight without weapons or any animal deaths.
The anti camp say that while animals may not be killed in view of the public, that may be put to death behind the scenes. The previous mayor of fréjus banned all bullfighting in 2006. The new mayor said he would not take a decision on such a sensitive issue without consulting the people of Fréjus.
Russian embargo
In the northern reaches of South East France, the fruit and veg growers of the Rhone valley are being badly affected by the Russian embargo placed on EU produce. Here in the PACA though, the effects are negligible due to wine being exempt from the bans imposed. Russia is also not a big market for our regions wines which mostly sell domestically and in the US. The olive trade is similarly untouched as most Russian oils come from Spain.
Train traffic halted
Train lines were shut in both directions yesterday afternoon on the Toulon – Nice line after a TGV from Paris hit a person in the La Garde area. Trains were halted in both directions until mid- afternoon following the incident.
Football violence
Five Bastia fans were in court yesterday following the violence on the first day of the season when Bastia hosted Olympique Marseille. They received suspended sentences and community service orders for the offences committed during which football fans and police were injured on the 9th of August in Bastia.
Rugby vegetables
Rugby has alot of cauliflower ears, but tomatoes ? Beausset was in the news yesterday as the first place to start the vendange of 2014, but it also has a rugby crazy tomato farmer, Bruno Fournier, who is such a massive Toulon fan, he’s created a new strain of tomato especially for his beloved European champions. The new tomato is of course red and black, the colours of RC Toulon.
National News-
A growing debate is underway after a conservative MEP posted a photo of a veiled woman on a French beach ,accompanied by a post about sex equality. Pro-Sarkozy Nadine Morano, published the photo on her twitter and facebook accounts.
It shows a woman wearing a muslim headscarf, viewed from the back, sitting on the sand, contrasted by a photo of French film star Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s, lying on a beach in a bikini.
French police will soon be routinely equipped with body-mounted video cameras following a year-long experiment that has been judged a success by officers and police unions. An initial order of 4,500 of the cameras has been made for the police service, France’s interior ministry has confirmed.
Business-
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has said he is stepping down from the board with immediate effect.
In a public letter, Mr Ballmer said he had become “very busy” since he quit the top job and that it would be “impractical to continue”.
His decision to leave follows his recent purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.
“I see a combination of the Clippers, civic contribution, teaching and study taking a lot of my time,” he wrote.
He said his departure would be immediate due to a “hectic” autumn including both the start of the NBA basketball season and his teaching of a new class.
Mr Ballmer left the chief executive role in February after more than 14 years at the helm, and has been involved in the company for more than three decades.
He still holds more Microsoft shares than any other individual, and on Tuesday he pledged to hold onto them for the “foreseeable future”.
Standard Chartered has agreed to pay $300m to New York’s banking regulators for failing to improve its money laundering controls.
The British bank has also been banned from accepting new dollar clearing accounts without the state’s approval.
The penalty comes after the bank failed to fix problems identified in 2012.
“If a bank fails to live up to its commitments, there should be consequences,” the New York State Department’s regulator said.
Standard Chartered said it “accepted” the findings. “We are continuing the remediation of our anti-money laundering control issues with the utmost urgency, in addition to improving our compliance programmes generally,” it added.
It said a “small proportion” of its clients would be affected by the suspension of dollar clearing for high risk retail clients at its Hong Kong unit, and the banning of high-risk client relationships in the United Arab Emirates.
Sport-
F1- Sixteen-year-old Max Verstappen insists it is more dangerous to bike through a big city than race in an F1 car after being signed up to drive for Toro Rosso.
The Dutchman will become the youngest F1 driver in history when he competes in next year’s championship.
Verstappen, who turns 17 next month, currently races in Formula Three added; I’m a relaxed guy. I will handle it.
Pool- Britain’s swimmers claimed three gold medals and set a new world record on day two of the European Championships in Berlin.
Chris Walker-Hebborn won gold in the 100m backstroke, before Adam Peaty beat compatriot Ross Murdoch to take the 100m breaststroke title.
Peaty, Walker-Hebborn, Fran Halsall and Jemma Lowe then combined to win the first European 4x100m mixed medley title in a world-record time.
Rugby Union- Wales and British and Irish Lions prop Adam Jones has signed for Cardiff Blues on a one-year deal.
He left Ospreys at the end of last season and had been in limbo because of the ongoing dispute between the Welsh Rugby Union and the four Welsh regions.
If and when a new deal over the funding of the domestic game is resolved he had been expected to rejoin Ospreys.
But the 33-year-old, who has won 95 Wales caps, has instead joined the side from the Welsh capital.
Football- Luis Suarez says that after working a psychologist , he won’t be biting any more opponents; very considerate for a professional sportsman.
Tennis- Britain’s Andy Murray is seeded eighth for the 2014 US Open, which starts at Flushing Meadows on 25 August.
The 27-year-old, who won the tournament in 2012, has not won an ATP ranking event since Wimbledon in 2013.
Weather-
A great day ahead with all day sunshine in the whole of our region and maximum temperatures in the high twenties again.
Overnight will be dry and starlit with minimums of 21 celsius on the coast and 17 up in the hills.
Tomorrow, more sun, same temperatures.
Finally-
When a snake climbs a tree, it squeezes the trunk up to five times harder than necessary, according to a new study.
For the first time, biologists have measured the force exerted by climbing snakes, using pressure sensors on a vertical pipe, wrapped in tennis grip.
All ten of the snakes in the study held onto the pipe much tighter than was necessary to support their own weight.
The research suggests that the animals place safety ahead of efficiency, making a fall as unlikely as possible.