A man has set fire to himself on the steps of a police station in Toulon this morning. The man, in his thirties, apparently soaked his clothing in flammable liquid and ignited the liquid. Police came to his aid and he was taken to Ste. Anne Hospital in Toulon.
There’s been disruption to traffic in the west of Nice this afternoon after two lorries got stuck under a bridge. The vehicles became lodged under the bridge under the A8 motorway on the boulevard du Mercantour, which had to be closed in the direction towards the sea. Diversions were put in place via the Boulevard René-Cassin.
Police have moved in to dismantle an illegal travellers’ camp in Nice early this morning. The camp, in the grounds of an apartment block on the avenue de Pessicart, was the subject of a court order made in February.
A woman is in hospital after throwing herself off a first floor balcony this morning. The incident happened on Avenue Georges Clemenceau in Vallauris. Police were already present at the scene after reportedly being called earlier by the woman who was in an agitated state. Her life is not in danger.
A level 2 pollution alert is in force once again in the Var tomorrow. That means the continuation of the 20km per hour reduction in speed limits, without falling below 70km per hour.
Nice city council has confirmed that objects which were found on the Promenade des Anglais following the terror attack in Nice on July 14th, 2016 are to be returned to the families of the victims. For three years, the personal belongings had been kept by the city "in a suitable and secure place". At the request of the families, the city of Nice intervened with State authorities in order to allow the objects to be returned to the families. The attack in Nice left 86 dead and nearly 300 wounded.
BUSINESS
In the UK, William Hill has announced plans to close about 700 betting shops which could lead to 4,500 job losses. The UK government decided in April to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2. The company said that it had seen "a significant fall" in gaming machine revenues since then. William Hill currently has 2,300 shops and 12,500 employees.
Sales of low emission cars in the UK have fallen for the first time in more than two years, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The decline comes as overall sales of new cars continued to fall, dropping 4.9% in June from the year before. The trade body said sales of plug-in hybrid cars had halved since a year ago, while hybrid electric vehicle sales were down 4.7%.
Passenger flights from Carlisle airport in North West England have started today for the first time since 1993. Flights are available from Carlisle to three destinations - London Southend, Dublin and Belfast.
SPORT
Cricket…It’s Afghanistan against the West Indies. West Indies were 311 for 6 after their 50 overs.
Tennis...It’s day four of Wimbledon today. British player Harriet Dart is through to the third round after defeating Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 3-6 6-1. She’ll be playing world number one Ashleigh Barty in the next round. Dan Evans is through to the next round but British number two Cameron Norrie lost 6-4 6-4 6-0 to Kei Nishikori.
Australian player Bernard Tomic has been fined his full Wimbledon prize money of £45,000 for not meeting the "required professional standard" during his first-round defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tomic lost in the shortest men's match at Wimbledon since 2004. The match lasted only 58 minutes.
Football… Chelsea have appointed Frank Lampard as their manager on a three-year deal. Lampard spent 13 years as a player at Chelsea. He succeeds Maurizio Sarri, who left last month to take charge of Italian champions Juventus.
In other football news, Leicester City have signed striker Ayoze Perez from Newcastle United for £30m on a four-year deal. Perez was Newcastle’s top scorer last season with 12 goals. Manchester City have completed their £62.8m signing of Rodri from Atletico Madrid. And former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has completed an emotional return to former club Juventus. Buffon, who’s 41 years old, spent 17 years with Juventus before joining Paris St-Germain last summer.
The Regional Health Agency (ARS) reports 124 chikungunya cases in southern France as of Monday, with major clusters in the Var. ...
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France is set for one of its biggest strike days in years as around 800,000 people are expected to protest nationwide today, Thursday 18th September, ...
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A 19-year-old woman has been jailed for complicity in attempted murder after last week’s knife attack at a horticultural high school in Antibes, Alpes...
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A suspected arsonist has been arrested after six fires broke out within an hour in the village of Châteauneuf-Villevieille, near Nice, on Tuesday even...
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A water leak has led police to discover a squat filled with drugs, weapons, and cash in Nice.
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