French Villa Holiday News.

French News, Fri 15 May 2009: Train Strikes


The trains are on strike in our region. Controllers walked off the job at 6 pm last night in a snap strike. Only one in four services will be operating today between Les Arcs and Ventimille, while buses will replace trains on some lines. The walkout was prompted by security concerns after an SNCF employee was assaulted. Services are expected to return to normal tomorrow morning.

A Nice football fan was killed by a police officer on Wednesday night, after the match against Marseille. 46-year-old Christophe Abadie from Frejus was apparently heading for home after an altercation in a bar, during which he allegedly shot one man and injured another. He was stopped by three police personnel, but when he accelerated towards one of the officers they opened fire. Abadie was hit in the throat and killed.

There is still no sign of two patients who escaped from a Nice psychiatric hospital 10 days ago. 37-year-old Charhan BEN-MAY-MOON and 19-year-old Ismael DIABY escaped from the Sainte-Marie facility. Police are scouring hundreds of hours of CCTV footage in an attempt to trace the whereabouts of the pair.

Between 150 and 300 hospital workers handed out leaflets and protested yesterday in the streets of Nice and Grasse over reforms of their sector, dubbed the Bachelot Law. Nationwide as many as 8 500 (police
estimate) and 25-thousand people (according to unions) marched in 40 cities, with by-far the biggest turnout in Paris.



SPORT

Formula 1-The sports teams are to meet the President of the F.I.A Max Mosley today in an attempt to resolve the escalating dispute over budget caps.
Ferarri,Toyota,Red Bull and Renault have threatened to quit Formula 1 if plans for an optional 40 million pound budget cap from next season are not shelved.
The meeting in London will also be attended by the Formula 1 rights holder Bernie Ecclestone.

Lewis Hamilton says he hasn’t given up on retaining the drivers championship this season.
McLaren are having a wretched season so far and Hamilton is only 7th in the standings trailing Championship leader Jenson Button by 32 points.
He says McLaren still have the ambition to win but if the team has still not scored many points by mid season then it will be time to knock the challenge on the head.

Cricket-England are in a commanding position going into the second day of the second test against West Indies in Chester le Street.
England closed day one on 302 for 2 having won the toss and deciding to bat on a sluggish wicket.
Both Ravi Bopara and Alistair Cook made centuries.Bopara was eventually out for 108 but Cook is still there on 126 not out.

Football-There’s been heartache for Leeds United fans as the former Premier League giants were consigned to yet another season in the third tier of English football last night.
Leeds lost their league 1 semi final play off against Millwall 2-1 on aggregate after only managing a one all draw at Elland Road last night.

So in the Premier League tomorrow.Everton face West Ham.Manchester United play Arsenal.Middlesboro face Aston Villa.Newcastle are at home to Fulham.Stoke play Wigan and Tottenham face Manchester City.
On Sunday Chelsea play Blackburn and West Brom face Liverpool.
Portsmouth play Sunderland on Monday.

Rugby Union-The Guinness Premiership final between Leicester and London Irish takes place at Twickenham tomorrow.
Leicester who finished top of the table at the end of the regular season are the favourites.

Tennis-Andy Murray is through to the last 8 of the Madrid Masters following a comfortable straight sets win over Tommy Robredo of Spain.
Rafael Nadal is also through and didn’t even need to play as his opponent in the 3rd round Phillip Kolschreiber was unable to make it out on court owing to a leg injury.
World number 2 Roger Federer is also through.He beat James Blake.

And in Cycling-Michele Scarponi has won the 6th stage of the Giro d’Italia.
The Italian won the grueling 258 kilometer stage with race leader Danillo di Luca finishing 36 seconds behind.He retains the leaders jersey.

Yourcotedazur now publishes the French regional news for people interested in Holiday Home Rental in France and
French Villa Holidays.