In Nice, Line One of the tramway is running again after services were suspended for most of the morning. A truck damaged an overhead power supply for the tramway at about 6.00 this morning while passing under a bridge. A replacement bus services operated along the route of the tramway while services were out of action.
The regional health authority has confirmed the existence of four new cases of Dengue fever in St Laurent-du-Var, bringing the total number of cases in the area to five. All five cases of the so-called “tropical flu”, which is spread by the tiger mosquito, are apparently indigenous – in other words the disease has been acquired without a visit to tropical areas. The authorities say the outbreak appears to be localised and have carried out mosquito eradication measures in the vicinity of the outbreak and have stepped up the distribution of information regarding the disease in the affected localities.
The French Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, has officially opened the new prison in Draguignan today. The facility, which has a capacity of 744 prisoners, has been operational since January. The minister also said that discussions were taking place with local authorities in Nice regarding the possibility of opening a new prison there in 2022.
A helicopter has been used to ferry supplies to the residents of an area of Sospel who have been cut off by a landslide. The landslide, which happened six months ago, cut off the 45 inhabitants of the hamlet of Béroulf. Since then, the villagers have had to rely on supplies airlifted to them by helicopter. The helicopter operation which took place yesterday was the third, and hopefully final, airlift. Work on a new road to the hamlet is expected to begin in January.
Seven sheep have died after a wolf attack in the Haut Alpes. The attack happened in the municipality of Valdoule west of Gap. A local councillor has spoken of the increasing exasperation of the local community at the wolf attacks. Earlier this year, the French government announced plans which would allow the wolf population to rise to 500 nationally, a plan which has been opposed by farmers.
BUSINESS
Shares in retailer Carrefour have surged today after it reported accelerating sales in the third quarter. Like-for-like sales in France were up 1.6% and in Brazil were up 5.1%.
The US has announced plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty, which the White House says lets China deliver goods at unfairly low prices. Under the treaty, a UN body sets lower international rates for packages from certain countries, which was originally designed to support poorer nations. But the US says the discounts put American businesses at a disadvantage.
UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is the latest business figure to pull out of attending an investment conference in Saudi Arabia next week. It comes amid allegations the country was behind the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia denies involvement in the journalist’s disappearance. The Dutch and French finance ministers have also said they are pulling out of the event.
Low cost airline Cobalt has indefinitely suspended operations. The airline flew to 23 destinations from Cyprus. The Cypriot Transport Minister said the government would pay for tickets to help travellers get back to where they flew from, but stressed it would only cover return tickets.
SPORT
Rugby Union…Ben Morgan has been included in the England squad for the autumn internationals, but Gloucester team-mate Danny Cipriani has been left out. Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell, who led the team this summer, are named as co-captains.
Tennis…World number one Simona Halep has withdrawn from next week's WTA Finals because of a lower back injury. Halep sustained the injury - a herniated disc - during a training session before last month's Wuhan Open. The 27-year-old said that she hadn’t practised for the last four weeks because of the injury.
Cricket.. Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has reportedly admitted that he spot-fixed, after six years of denial. He also apologised to former Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield, who was sent to jail after he encouraged him to spot-fix. Leg spinner Kaneria, said that he "cannot live a life with lies".
Speed restrictions are in place on all major roads in the Alpes-Maritimes today because of a smog alert....
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A Marseille magistrate has been sentenced on the 17th of June in Nîmes for repeatedly avoiding motorway tolls using fake license plates. ...
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A major police stop-and-search operation along France's borders is being carried out today, involving 4,000 police officers, gendarmes and customs off...
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SFR has announced automatic compensation of 100GB of free mobile data for affected customers following a major network outage on the 16th of June....
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French President Emmanuel Macron will chair a high-level Security and Defence Council meeting at the Élysée Palace today Wednesday, June 18th at 4pm, ...
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