Evening Update Friday 16 August

The tunnel from the A8 towards Monaco was closed in both directions this afternoon due to what Vinci Autoroutes described as “a large release of smoke”. Firefighters and emergency services were on the scene and removed a car from the tunnel area. Authorities checked the security of the tunnel and reopened it to traffic just before 5.00. Traffic has also been disrupted on the A8 motorway this afternoon at the beginning of what’s expected to be a busy weekend on the region’s roads. A vehicle caught fire near the La Turbie Toll booths leading to jams in the direction of Italy. Meanwhile a collision between two vehicles also caused jams near Villeneuve-Loubet. Traffic in the western part of Nice was disrupted this morning when a truck became stuck under the railway bridge next to the Saint-Augustin train station. It’s the second time in the last few weeks that a truck has become jammed under the same bridge.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of having committed several robberies in Nice earlier this week. Three people had gold necklaces snatched from them while on the street in the Riquier district. Police used video from surveillance cameras to identify the suspect. 

A hiker has been airlifted to hospital after falling near Digne-les-Bains. The 47 year old man is suffering from an injury to his leg but his life isn’t in danger.

The Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has announced plans to name the new terminus of tram line 2 on the port of Nice after Napoleon Bonaparte to celebrate the emperor’s 250th anniversary. 

A French climber known as "Spiderman" has scaled a Hong Kong skyscraper and put up a banner urging peace in the city rocked by political unrest.   57-year-old Alain Robert, known for climbing tall buildings worldwide without a rope or harness, said his stunt was an "urgent appeal for peace".

BUSINESS

The chief executive of Cathay Pacific has resigned after the airline was embroiled in the controversy stemming from protests in Hong Kong. Rupert Hogg said he was taking responsibility as these had been "challenging weeks" for the airline.
Some of its employees took part in the protest, but China ordered the airline to suspend staff who did so.

Turkey's military pension fund has reached a tentative deal to buy British Steel out of insolvency. The Turkish Armed Forces Assistance Fund  has announced that it plans to buy British Steel by the end of the year. British Steel employs 3,000 people at its Scunthorpe steel works and employs another 800 on Teesside. The company was put into compulsory liquidation in May and transferred to the Official Receiver after rescue talks with the UK government broke down.

Trading in some of the shares listed on the London Stock Exchange was delayed for more than an hour this morning, in the longest outage in more than eight years. Shares in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices were affected. Trading resumed at 09:40 - the longest closure since February 2011. The LSE said trading was delayed while it investigated a "potential trading services issue".

SPORT

Cricket...Rain has stopped play this afternoon on day 3 of the second Ashes test at Lord’s. Australia were 80-4 when play stopped, in reply to England's 258.

Football...This weekend in the Premier League on Saturday the first match kicks off at 1.30pm French time with Arsenal against Burnley at 4pm French time Aston Villa play Bournemouth, Brighton face West Ham, Everton play Watford, Norwich play Newcastle and Southampton face Liverpool with the last match of the day being Man City against Tottenham. Kick off is at 6.30 French time.

On Sunday Sheffield United play Crystal Palace kick off at 3pm and at 5.30pm Chelsea play Leicester. There’s one match on Monday evening Wolverhampton play Manchester United. Kick off 9pm French time.
Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian could miss the game against Southampton after a collision with a pitch invader. Manager Jurgen Klopp says the keeper was injured during post-match celebrations following Liverpool's win over Chelsea on Wednesday.

Tennis...Andy Murray has announced that he won’t be playing either singles or doubles in this month's US Open. Instead, he’ll play singles at next week's ATP event in Winston-Salem, before considering entering a tournament on the Challenger Tour during the US Open.