Evening Update Friday 28 June

The Alpes Maritimes and the Var have been put on a raised level of pollution alert for tomorrow.  A level 1 alert was in effect for the departments yesterday and today but that has been increased to level 2 for tomorrow. The 20 km per hour reduction in speed limits on the motorway and departmental roads of the Alpes Maritimes will remain in force tomorrow. 
The Var and the Alpes Maritimes remain on a Meteo France Orange weather alert for high temperatures.  Four other departments in the south of France, the Vaucluse, Bouches de Rhone, Herault and Gard, remain on Red alert. 

A new record high temperature for France as a whole was set today. 45.1 degrees was recorded at Villevieille in the Gard department. Meanwhile,  new record was also set today in the Var with the hottest day ever recorded in the department, at 43.1 degrees in Vinon-sur-Verdon. Many municipalities in our region have seen new overnight temperature records set during the heatwave so far.  For example minimum temperatures of 29 degrees in Menton, 26.9 in Nice and 24.6 in Eze have been recorded. In Nice, daytime temperatures have exceeded 31 degrees for three days in a row, for the first time in the month of June.

Meanwhile France’s train network the SNCF has allowed passengers to cancel or postpone their travel plans free of charge until Sunday evening, because of the heat wave. And Nice City council has announced that from this morning and during the weekend tramlines 1 and 2 in Nice will be free for all passengers.

A 53 year old municipal worker is recovering in hospital after being electrocuted in Grasse yesterday. He was working on electrical cables carrying 380 volts and suffered burns to his face and arms.  Several other people were treated for the effects of seeing the bright electrical flash at the time of the accident.

Line 2 of the Nice tramway has made it’s inaugural city centre trip this afternoon.  Local dignitaries, including mayor Christian Estrosi, were present at the Garibaldi stop for the first journey of the tramline from the city centre to the airport.

Authorities are warning local residents to be alert for fake police officers attempting to gain access to their homes.  Two people, claiming to be plain clothes police officers, attempted to gain entry to the home of two elderly sisters in Frejus recently.  Police are advising residents to call 17 if they are in doubt about the identity of officers.

The French National Police are seeking the public’s help in locating a missing person. 29 year old Samuel Correira Da Silva is likely to be in Cannes or to have taken the train to unknown destinations. He’s been missing since the 21st of June and is described as being 1 metre 90 tall, of heavy build with short brown hair and a red beard.

A year after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa demolition experts are preparing to blow up its remains. Thousands of people are being evacuated ahead of explosions to bring down two large towers consisting of about 4,500 tonnes of concrete and steel. Forty-three people were killed when part of the bridge, and cars travelling along it, fell 45m last August. The Morandi bridge was a critical structure in Genoa, serving the busy A10 motorway network that serves the Italian Riviera and links northern Italy to France.


BUSINESS

Merlin Entertainments which owns Legoland, the London Eye, Alton Towers, Chessington Adventures and Madame Tussauds is being acquired by the Danish billionaire family that controls the Lego toy firm along with other investors.  They are paying £4.8bn for Merlin. .Kirkbi Invest, the Lego family investment company, says it has the money and experience to "realise the company's potential to grow".

New data released today shows that inflation in the eurozone was 1.2% in June.  That’s unchanged on the previous month.

In the UK, Boots says 200 stores across the UK are to be closed. Managing Director Sebastian James said that they were principally local pharmacy stores where they had a large number of other stores within close proximity. Boots is owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance.


SPORT


Cricket…South Africa have beaten Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the World Cup match at Chester-le-Street. Sri Lanka were 203 all out. South Africa were 206-1

Motorsports…. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the pace in a dramatic second practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix as Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen crashed. Bottas and Verstappen both went off heavily and the practice session had to be stopped each time for their badly damaged cars to be recovered. Leclerc ended up ahead of Bottas, Red Bull's Pierre Gasly and championship leader Lewis Hamilton. In first practice earlier today, Lewis Hamilton was in first place, ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

 

 

 

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