Evening Update Monday 12 August

Two people have been rescued by pompier from a van in Cagnes this lunchtime.  A Chronopost delivery van became lodged under an entrance barrier at a parking garage.  About 20 firefighters were involved in cutting two people free from the vehicle – a man and a woman in their 20’s who were only slightly injured.

An apartment was totally destroyed by fire in a residence hotelier in Juan-les-Pins late last night. Reports say that the fire broke out at about 10.30pm on the sixth floor of the building on the Avenue Maréchal-Joffre. Residents were evacuated from the premises but were able to return about 3 hours later after the blaze had been fully extinguished.

The beaches at Saint-Laurent-du-Var were closed over the weekend because of a high concentration of  phytoplankton which caused the sea to turn green. The results of latoratory analyses of the water should be known today.

Two accidents have seriously disrupted traffic on the A8 motorway today. The first happened during this morning’s ruch hour near exit 37 for Puget-sur-Argens, which closed two out of the three lanes on the westbound carriageway. There was also incident invloving two cars at lunchtime near junction 44, Antibes, in the direction of Italy.

The first stage of works have been completed to secure a limestone cliff in Nice. Work has been taking place for the past six months to make the cliff in the Bon Voyage district safe. Twice in the past few years, rocks from the cliff had come loose and fallen into the car park of buildings below. A second phase of works is planned to keep the railway line and several other buildings safe.

If you plan to go for a swim on the beach at Menton, you’ll now be able to leave your belongings in a secure locker on the beach. The yellow lockers, which are available from 6am to 9pm, are free to use – a 50 cent coin is needed to use a locker, which is then refunded when the locker is opened.

BUSINESS

In the UK, a new survey shows that the number of empty shops in town centres is at its highest for four years. The vacancy rate was 10.3% in July, its highest level since January 2015. The survey also showed that footfall declined by 2.7% in July in UK high streets, and by 3.1% in shopping centres, but rose by 1.2% in retail parks.

Shares in advertising company M&C Saatchi have fallen sharply after it announced a one-off accounting charge of £6.4m following an internal review of its accounting policies in several of its UK subsidiaries. The review was set up after its auditor raised concerns about the accounting controls, which the company said reinforced similar concerns raised by is audit committee in May.

Travel company Thomas Cook has said it’s in talks with creditors over the injection of an extra £150m, in addition to the £750m already announced. The firm says it has made "significant progress" in finalising the key terms of a cash injection from its largest shareholder, China's Fosun, and creditors, which it announced last month.

SPORT

Rugby Union… England coach Eddie Jones has announced the 31-man group who’ll be travelling to Japan for the World Cup. Northampton flanker Lewis Ludlam and uncapped Bath wing Ruaridh McConnochie have earned unexpected call-ups but Ben Te'o has been left out. Another test newcomer Gloucester scrum-half Willi Heinz has been included. Piers Francis is also included. The World Cup in Japan runs from 20 September to 2 November.

Motorsports...Red Bull have announced that driver  Alexander Albon will replace Pierre Gasly for the rest of the season. Albon has been promoted from the team's sister team, Toro Rosso, with Gasly going the other way. Gasly is sixth in the championship with 63 points. Team-mate Max Verstappen is third with 181 points.

Tennis...Andy Murray will return to singles competition for the first time since January when he faces Richard Gasquet at the Cincinnati Masters later today. Murray has played in doubles matches since he underwent hip resurfacing surgery but this will be his first singles match. He’s expected on court against Gasquet at around 8pm our time.

Football...Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams has signed a new nine-year contract with the Spanish club. The 25 year old has signed until 2028 and his new deal includes a 135m Euro release clause. The contract is one of the longest ever given to a player.