Month: December 2016

A Russian shopper said she was in too much of a hurry to pay for a tank top after she was apprehended on suspicion of shoplifting in the Louis Vuitton Pavilion in Monte-Carlo.

The woman, in her forties, was not present in court to hear that on the day in question, August 10 this year, staff became suspicious when she offered to pay for a sweater but not the tank top, which she was wearing underneath.

She had money enough in her purse to pay for the item, and in her defence she said she was in a hurry to leave because she was due to collect new boots in the nearby Christian Louboutin store, which she feared might close.

The public prosecutor was not convinced by the defendant’s excuse, and asked for a fine of €5,000. The court took into account the lack of any criminal record and the restitution of the tank top, and cut the penalty in half.

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The seasonal influenza epidemic has caused eight deaths in France since the start of November, compared to just four in the same period of 2015. According to the health authorities, this year’s outbreak arrived particularly early, posing problems for the elderly, especially those who had not been vaccinated.

In the local French region, PACA, two deaths have been attributed to “flu”. Over Christmas week, 2.6 percent of visits to accident and emergency services of local hospitals were “flu-related”. Of the total of 761 visits, 169 resulted in hospital admissions.

One of several types of distinct viruses, H3N2, is particularly dangerous for the over 65s, according to one local health official.

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Such is the problem of air pollution generated by vehicles that the city of Paris is introducing air quality certificates, mandatory from January 16. On Wednesday, December 28, the Ministry of the Environment registered 950,000 applications, 700,000 from private individuals and from 250,000 companies.

These so-called “Crit’Air” certificates will be displayed as vignettes, signifying by colour the level of pollution generated by each vehicle, according to six categories. The cities of Grenoble and Lyon have already introduced the system, which enable the authorities to limit the use of certain vehicles when CO2 emissions are deemed to be too high.

Although pollution from vehicles is recognised as a problem on the Côte d’Azur, there are as yet no plans to introduce the vignettes locally.

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The full extent to which the Berlin attacker Anis Amri crossed several European borders in his flight from Germany has now become apparent.

Having fled from Berlin, where he had killed 12 people at a Christmas Market on December 19, the 24-year-old jihadist was able to board an overnight bus to the city of Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, before taking another coach to Lyon, in central France.

From Lyon, he took a train to Chambery, in the French Alps, before travelling on to the outskirts of Milan. His luck ran out only when he was stopped in the early hours of the morning at a suburban train station in the Italian city.

His flight across three European borders has called into question the Schengen Agreement, which was signed on June 14, 1985, and the efficiency of European intelligence services. But Mr Amri’s escapade is particularly galling for the French authorities, which only recently extended the country’s state of emergency.

For the 2017 elections, right-of-centre political parties, particularly in the Netherlands (March 15), and France (April 30 and May 7) and Germany (October 22), are expected to capitalise on the successive security failures.

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A charity event may help keep the children amused on Thursday, December 29, with a workshop day at U mazaghìn (18, rue Grimaldi) organised by Terres méditerranéennes (Mediterranean Lands), a Monaco-based association created in August 2004 with the ambition to showcase contemporary creation in the fields of Mediterranean art and crafts through exhibitions, markets and ateliers.

At 11 am, a Christmas tale for young and old will be offered by Fabrice Allia, while from 10:30 am to 7 pm, members of Terres méditerranéennes will welcome visitors for a sale of a wide range of local and international crafts, all for the benefit of two important Monaco charities.

A number of regional traditional products have been made thanks to the involvement of the students of the UNESCO Club “I garibai” (the skilled) from Collège Charles III, in favour of the Monegasque charities Namaste and Mission Enfance.

The aim of the Namaste association is to improve the living conditions of Nepalese, particularly in education and health, while Mission Enfance’s calling is to help children in distress throughout the world.

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With its head office in Sweden, Trelleborg AB’s engineered products operation played a key role in a project aimed at keeping the world’s longest floating dock up and running in Port Hercule.

Founded in 1905, Trelleborg is a world leader in engineered polymer solutions that seal, damp and protect critical applications in demanding environments. According to the industry website rubbernews.com, the company produced and was heavily involved in the installation of the firm’s high performance inflatable gaskets for the maintenance of the vital ball joint of the floating dock.

Part of the Trelleborg Offshore & Construction business, the engineered products unit worked closely with Strukton Immersion Projects B.V. from construction design through the installation of the gaskets, said Oscar Kosler, acquisition director for Strukton Immersion.

He said Trelleborg “was able to provide a one-stop shop for the design and manufacture of the inflatable gaskets and (provided) assistance during installation on the steel structure.”

The gaskets successfully sealed off a watertight workspace for the maintenance of the floating dock’s ball joint, which connects the 160,000-ton and 350-meter-long construction to the port and ensures that the structure moves with the tide, waves and current, Trelleborg said. (Feature image: Facebook Trelleborg Group. Source: rubbernews.com)

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