Evening Update

Moon - A spectacular blood red moon tonight is expected tonight, which will start around 9.30pm and last until just after midnight. It will be perfectly safe to look at the phenomenon, but look carefully, because the bright stars you’ll see closest to the moon, are actually the planets Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

Car - Police in Sospel believe revenge may have been behind a second incident of cars being set on fire in the area. In the first fire, a local tradesman had two vehicles and all of his tools destroyed, on Wednesday night. It’s possible, that last nights fire may have been payback. Police are investigating CCTV footage before they make a formal arrest.

Teens - Two 13 year-old teenagers from Antibes are to appear in court for shoplifting. The pair stuffed their bags with goods, before going to the cash register to purchase a bottle of water, and leave the supermarket. When detained by security, their bags were found to contain €680 worth of stolen goods.

Traffic - Major road congestion is expected for this weekend’s crossover, where July holiday-makers return north, and August holiday makers head south. Bison Futé expects the busiest times to be this afternoon up to 8pm, and most of tomorrow.

Staying with transport, although strikes have not affected travellers too much, people are warned to be aware of today’s train strike which ends at 8am tomorrow, and also for wild-cat strikes by air traffic controllers in Marseilles.

BUSINESS

Growth in the US economy accelerated in the second quarter of the year, expanding at an annualised rate of 4.1%, the fastest since 2014. Growth was boosted by consumer spending, and farmers bringing forward exports of soybeans to China, to beat the imposition of trade tariffs.

Online, while Amazon have reported record quarterly profits $2.53bn in the three months to the end of June, Twitter shares have fallen almost 20%, after they revealed a slight fall in user numbers.

The EMF have compared the financial crisis in Venezuela, to that of Germany in 1923, as inflation in the country is due to hit one million percent before the end of the year. The IMF say it is one of the largest economic disasters in world history.

SPORT

Formula 1 - Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo pipped Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in first practice at this weekends Hungarian Grand Prix. The Australian was just 0.079 seconds quicker than Vettel but was running on a harder tyre than the German. Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen was third quickest, as only 0.088 secs separated the fastest three cars.

Football - AS Monaco has just signed one of the Russian stars of the World Cup, Aleksandr Golovin, on a five year deal with the club worth nearly €30 million. The 22-year-old CSKA Moscow midfielder has played 23 matches in the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.

Tennis - British number two Cameron Norrie has beaten Frenchman and number six seed  Jeremy Chardy in three sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open. Norrie lost a tight first set but came through 5-7 6-4 6-4 in a game that almost went two hours.

Tour de France - Geraint Thomas is on the brink of becoming the first Welshman to win the race as we enter the final stages this weekend. Tomorrow we have time trials ahead of the final procession into Paris on Sunday, while today, Stage 18 is a 200km run between Lourdes and Laruns which features a number of big climbs. If Tom Dumoulin or Chris Froome want to make a bid for the Yellow Jersey then it will have to be today.  We’ll have the results for you after todays stage at 6.30, thanks to Neway Cycle Nice.