Network operator Orange has made public the findings of its internal investigation into the recent outage of emergency service numbers. It said that the outage was caused by a software malfunction and the problem had now been fixed. Orange said the malfunction occurred following an operation to modernize the network and increase capacity started at the beginning of May to respond to an increase in traffic. It said that 11% of emergency calls, amounting to about 11,800 calls, were not routed to emergency services during the outage on 2 June.
President Macron has arrived in the UK for the G7 summit. The President and his wife flew into Newquay airport in Cornwall this morning. The summit will be held in the small seaside resort of Carbis Bay this weekend and will be the first time leaders of the G7 nations have met in person since the beginning of the pandemic. The weekend starts with a dinner at the Eden Project tonight, attended by Her Majesty Queen and other members of the Royal Family. The areas expected to be discussed during the summit include economic recovery from the pandemic, the future of the global health system in the context of future pandemics, climate change and trade.
Several French unions and associations have called for a national day of demonstrations tomorrow. They are protesting against what they claim is a lack of freedom and the proliferation of far-right ideas.
Traffic has been disrupted on the A8 motorway early this evening after a truck caught fire. Traffic was jammed on the carriageway towards Aix en Provence after St-Laurent du Var. The St Laurent du Var, Nice Airport and Nice Ouest interchanges were closed for a time but have now reopened and traffic has been restored on the motorway.
Hot weather is expected across France this weekend, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees inland in parts of the south. Meteo France said that the first days of the year to exceed 30 degrees centigrade have almost always occurred in the month of June, a phenomenon that has been constant throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. However, the number of days of the year during which temperatures have been above 30 degrees has risen during the past four decades.
Several areas of Antibes Juan-les-Pins are being pedestrianised each evening from today until the end of the summer. Rue de la Tourraque is added to the pedestrian streets of the old town. On the Juan-les-Pins side, the Baudoin / Joffre / Gallice / Leonetti / Boulevard Wilson sector is also pedestrianised each evening. The Handiplage has now also opened for the summer for people with disabilities at the Salis beach, near the nautical base. Reservations are required and can be made on 04 92 91 39 06.
BUSINESS
The International Energy Agency has forecast that world oil demand will surpass pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022. In a new report, the agency says it expects demand to grow this year and next year and is calling on oil producing nations to increase production to meet the expected demand.
UK GDP has grown by an estimated 2.3% in April, the fastest monthly growth since July 2020, as government restrictions affecting economic activity continued to ease. Data from the UK Office for National Statistics showed that the service sector grew by 3.4% in April. However, output in the production sector fell by 1.3%. The size of the economy still remains 3.7% below the pre-pandemic levels seen in February 2020.
Facebook has extended its remote working plan to all staff on a long-term basis. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told staff he plans to spend up to half of 2022 working remotely and said being out of the office had made him "happier and more productive at work".
SPORT
Euro 2020.... Euro 2020 starts tonight and will run until 11 July at venues in 11 countries. There 'll be 51 games in total, ending with the final at Wembley. Tonights opening game is between Turkey and Italy in group A and kicks off at 9.00pm. Tomorrow, Wales play their opening group A game against Switzerland and in group B Denmark play Finland and Belgium play Russia. On Sunday Austria play North Macedonia in group C and the Netherlands face Ukraine. England get their campaign underway on Sunday when they play Croatia in group D.
Motorsports... The McLaren Formula 1 team have announced that they will race in the Extreme E series in 2022. CEO Zak Brown said that they are "really excited to be joining the championship" and "sustainability and diversity is super important to McLaren.”
Cricket... It's day two of the England against New Zealand Test at Edgebaston. England were all out for 303. For New Zealand, Latham was bowled out LBW by Broad for just 6 runs. Conway was out for 80 after being caught by Crawley.
Rugby Union... There are two games in the Guinness Pro 14 Rainbow Cup tonight. Zebre play Munster and Leinster host Dragons. It’s the final day of the English Premiership tomorrow. Top of the table Bristol play London Irish while Exeter host Sale. Harlequins play Newcastle.
A new optional regional transport tax for businesses, introduced in France’s 2025 budget, aims to fund eco-friendly mobility projects. ...
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A judge has authorised a dive to inspect the wreckage of a plane in the sea off Antibes. The plane crashed into the Mediterranean on September 11 1968...
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In France, drinking water is heavily contaminated with "forever pollutants," particularly trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), as revealed by two studies from ...
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The trial of the Tunisian man accused of the murder of three people in the Nice Basilica attack is continuing in Paris. Yesterday the families of the ...
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Four cities in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region made Booking.com's 2025 list of the "most welcoming destinations in France." ...
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