Lightning strike-A ten year old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by lightning while swimming in the sea in Golfe Juan on Sunday.
The boy was in the water with his father when he was hit during a brief intense storm at 9am.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and took him to the Lenval Children’s Hospital in Nice where his condition is described as very serious.
Forest fire-15 hectares of forest land has gone up in flames at Saorge above Menton.
The fire started overnight on Friday and has continued burning over the weekend with strong winds on Sunday hampering efforts to bring it under control.
20 firefighters accompanied by a water bombing helicopter are at the scene with the situation described as difficult this morning.
Meanwhile, The prefect of the Var has issued a severe forest fire warning for the Massif des Maures as the hot July weather continues.
Walking in the area was banned over the weekend as authorities said the risk was too severe.
Other areas such as the Esterel are also on high alert.
The prefect has warned that anyone lighting a fire can expect to face the severest penalties allowed under law and has urged the public to be vigilant.
One of the primary causes of forest fires is carelessly discarded cigarette ends.Motorists in particular are urged not to discard cigarette butts from car windows.
Drowning-A woman has been found dead,floating in the sea off the promenade des Anglais in Nice.
Members of the public alerted authorities at 3am on Sunday after seeing the body floating on the surface of the water off Carras Beach.
Emergency services were unable to revive her.An enquiry is underway.
Accident-Two people are in a critical condition this morning following an accident on the voie rapide in Cannes.
Police say that the accident occurred at the junction of the boulevard de Lorraine at 4.20 on Sunday morning when a Peugeot 206 was struck by a high powered Mercedes.
Reports say that the driver of the Mercedes caused the accident after failing to stop at a red light.He drove off following the accident but was later apprehended and found to be driving without a license and under the influence of alcohol.
The two occupants of the Peugeot,a 29 year old man and a 20 year old woman were rushed to hospital in Nice where they both remain critical.
World Cup-The Mayor Of Nice has said that the women’s football World Cup has brought 45 million euros in economic benefit to the city.
Christian Estrosi said that 112,000 tickets had been sold for the 6 games played at the Stade Allianz Riviera during the tournament and that hotels,restaurants and other local businesses had all benefited.
Mr Estrosi said that Nice had big plans for the Tour de France cycling race which will feature Nice next year as well as the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
He said that Nice also has plans to bid for some events at the 2024 Olympics which will be staged in Paris and in particular football matches which could be played at the Allianz Riviera.
Road checks-Gendarmes across the Alpes-Maritimes have been conducting a large road security operation over the weekend to coincide with the start of the busy summer holiday period.
More than 120,000 vehicles were reported on the region’s roads over the weekend with officers carrying out spot checks at a number of points including on the A8 Motorway at the Antibes and Monaco toll booths.
Particular attention has been paid to motorbike and scooter riders with a number of fines issued for a range of offences from not wearing the right clothing to speeding.
Motorists have been prosecuted for speeding, using a mobile phone and drink-driving.
Gendarmes warn that they intend to continue a blitz on traffic offenders throughout the summer.
The Sea-Scientists from Monaco’s Oceanographic Institute say that the Mediterranean Sea is at its warmest ever temperature for the start of July.
The sea off Monaco is currently at 27 degrees Celsius which does happen from time to time in August but has never been recorded before in July.
Experts say that the phenomenon can in part be explained by climate change with global sea temperatures rising by 1 degree over the past century but it’s also down to the recent heatwave with strong sunshine heating the water over a number of days.
The absence of any winds of any note recently has also helped temperatures to climb because the sea water hasn’t been mixed up to any great extent which would let cooler water further down come up to the surface.
The warm water could also result in a proliferation of jellyfish which will probably get to coastal areas if the right sea current develops.
Charles de Gaulle-The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has arrived back in the port of Toulon following a 4 month mission.
The flagship of the French Navy has been participating in ‘Operation Clemenceau’ along with several frigates and a nuclear submarine.
The aircraft carrier has a crew of 3000 and houses 18 Rafale fighter jets,two observation planes and 3 helicopters.
The Charles de Gaulle set off on the 4th of March on patrol missions in the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean during which military manoeuvres were carried out with allied naval forces.
In National News.
Macron-Iran has failed to heed a warning from President Macron not to go back on its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal with 6 Western powers.
Mr Macron held a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani over the weekend during which he expressed his “strong concern over the risk of weakening the nuclear agreement” and of the consequences that would follow.
The French President said that he would consult with Iranian authorities and international partners with a view to resuming talks involving all concerned to bring about the “necessary de-escalation” of the situation.
However,Iran has ignored the warning and said on Sunday that it would produce uranium at 5 percent enrichment-above the 3.67 percent cap allowed under the nuclear deal.
Last week,Iran announced its first breach of the deal saying that it had begun stockpiling low-enriched uranium beyond the 300 kilogram limit allowed.
US sanctions are having a serious effect on the Iranian economy and in particular oil exports which have fallen to some 300,000 barrels a day compared with 2.5 million in April 2018.
Washington has also been building up its military presence in the Middle East,sending an aircraft carrier ,thousands of troops and B52 bombers to the region as tensions increase following attacks on oil tankers in the strait of Hormuz and the shooting down of a US military drone.
Drownings -The French Sports Minister has said that at least 30 people are known to have drowned around the country during the recent heatwave.
The Minister said that the majority of the accidents had involved young children and occurred at private residential swimming pools.
The Minister said that it was essential that adults got the message that children must be watched over at all times when in or near water.
Last year ,more than 400 people in France died in drowning accidents during the summer season.
Business.
Deutsche Bank has confirmed that it will shed 18,000 jobs over three years as part of radical reorganistion.
The Bank made the announcement as it reported a second quarter loss of 2.8 billion euros which includes a cut back to its investment banking business.
Many of the job cuts will come in London and Frankfurt as the Bank activates plans to completely exit activities related to the buying and selling of shares.
Deutsche Bank has been suffering from falling revenues in recent times following huge fines from US regulators for manipulation of the mortgage and currency markets.
Boeing has suffered a big cancellation of orders suffer after the Saudi Arabian budget carrier Flyadeal scrapped plans to buy 30 737 Max aircraft.
The decision comes following the crashes of 2 Max jets over the past 9 months which resulted in the deaths of 346 people.
The Max has been grounded since the last accident in Ethiopia last March.
Boeing has been working on a fix for the jet that will satisfy regulators and said that the Flyadeal development was due to “scheduling problems”.
And-UK inheritance tax should be simplified according to a new report.
The Office of Tax Simplification says that fewer people should have to pay tax on gifts given just before death and that penalties should be much easier to understand.
The OTS Recommends that the deadline for 40 percent tax on gifts including money,property or possessions should be reduced from 7 to 5 years and that the entire system needs an overhaul.
Inheritance tax is not a big earner for the UK treasury with only 25,000 estates liable annually.
Sport.
AEROPORT DE NICE –QATAR AIRWAYS FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP REPORT.
The USA have beaten the Netherlands 2-0 to win the women’s World Cup for a fourth time and for the second consecutive tournament.
Both goals came in the second half at the Stade de Lyon with Megan Rupinoe opening the scoring from the penalty spot and Rose Lavelle adding the second.
The Netherlands had given a battling performance to deny the American’s in the first half with goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal producing a number of fine saves but the pressure came to bear in the second half and the USA were not to be denied.
Rapinoe also won the golden boot award for scoring 6 goals during the tournament and she also took the golden ball award for the best player.
Meanwhile,some women’s Super League matches in England next season will be double headers with men’s games.
The Football Association’s director of women’s football says that she wants to build on the momentum of the World Cup and that efforts would continue to try and build an audience.
A full list of fixtures for next season will be published on Wednesday.
Cycling-The defending champion Geraint Thomas has gained time on his rivals for the overall Tour de France lead after finishing second on Stage 2’s team time trial with Team Ineos on Sunday.
The UK based team finished the 27.9 kilometer course around Brussels in 29 minutes 18 seconds.
Jumbo-Visma won the Stage which meant that surprise Stage 1 winner Mike Teunissen extended his overall race lead.
He’s 10 seconds ahead of team-mate Wout van Aert with Thomas currently 30 seconds off the pace down in overall 8th place.
Today’s 3rd stage is 211 kilometers between Binche and Epernay and features some short and punchy climbs towards the end as the riders cross into France.
Boxing-Tyson Fury’s rematch with Deontay Wilder has been fixed for the 22nd of February next year.
Fury made the announcement on Sunday and said that this time he would “knock Wilder out”.
He’s likely to have one more fight before he meets Wilder again while Wilder himself is set to meet Luiz Ortez before the end of the year.
Tennis-The second week of Wimbledon gets underway today with some enticing matches in prospect as the business end of the 3rd Grand Slam of the year approaches.
All eyes will be on 15 year old Coco Gauff as she faces Simona Halep in the biggest match of her young career while the British number one Johanna Konta is also in action against Petra Kvitova.
The big three in the men’s event are also in action today.Top seed Novak Djkovic plays Ugo Humbert of France while Roger Federer faces Matteo Berrettini of Italy and Rafael Nadal plays Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Cricket-The World Cup semi-finals will be played this week as the tournament reaches its climax.
India will play New Zealand at Old Trafford tomorrow while England play Australia at Edgebaston on Thursday.
The final will be at Lords on Sunday.
Weather.
Mainly fine in coastal areas,some showers possible inland this afternoon.
Moderate westerly winds across the Var and highs of 29-33 degrees Celsius.
Overnight lows of 25 degrees on the coast and 22 degrees inland with partially cloudy skies.
Tuesday and Wednesday-Showers and thundery outbreaks across the region tomorrow,extending into Wednesday morning.Highs of 28-32 degrees.
The Riviera's ski resorts are celebrating a record winter season.
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Food safety inspectors plan to carry out 100,000 checks on French restaurant and bakeries this year, almost twice as many as last year, to coincide wi...
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