The Var is on a Meteo France Yellow warning for high temperatures until at least 4pm tomorrow. A Yellow warning is also in force in the Alpes-Maritmes from midday until at least 4pm tomorrow. Nationally, sixteen departments, mostly in the south-west and south-east, are on Orange alerts. Meteo France has said that the peak of the heatwave is expected on Monday, with highs in excess of 40 degrees forecast in areas in the west of France. During a visit to the call centre handling the government's heatwave information number this morning, French Health Minister Francois Braun said that we will have to get used to living with heatwaves as "there will undoubtedly be others".
The Var and the Bouches-du-Rhône are on alert for ozone pollution. The Var Prefecture has said that the episode of pollution should end tomorrow. In the Bouches-du-Rhône, particle concentrations are also increasing due to the transport of fire plumes. Health recommendations and more information can be found on https://atmosud.org/episodes-de-pollution
The two major forest fires which have been burning in the Gironde department since Tuesday are still continuing this evening. In an update early this afternoon the Prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine et Gironde said that more than 7,650 hectares had been consumed by the fires. The Prefect said that more than 1,000 firefighters and 4 firefighting planes had been mobilised. More than 11,300 people have been evacuated from premises and five emergency accommodation centres have been opened. Meanwhile, a fire which had burned through 300 hectares on the border of the Bouches-du-Rhone and the Vaucluse departments has now been extinguished. Earlier today President Macron visited the Ministry of the Interior's crisis management unit which has been overseeing the operation against the fires.
French roads monitor Bison Fute are predicting a busy weekend on the nation's roads. Much of south-east France, including the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var are claases as red in the direction of departures today. The whole of France is red for departures for tomorrow and red in the direction of returns on Sunday.
David Lisnard, President of the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration and Mayor of Cannes, has opened a reception area for Travellers at Chemin de la Plaine de Laval in Cannes-La Bocca. The facility can accommodate up to twenty-five double-axle caravans for a maximum period of one month. In order to comply with the Flood Risk Prevention Plan, reception can only take place over two defined periods from March 1 to May 31 inclusive and from July 1 to September 15 inclusive.
BUSINESS
China's economy contracted by 2.6% in the three months to the end of June from the previous quarter, according to government figures. Major cities across China were put into full or partial lockdowns during the period as the country continued to pursue its "zero-Covid" policy. On a year-on-year basis, the Chinese economy expanded by 0.4% in the April-June quarter, which was below expectations.
Amazon has announced that it's creating 4,000 new jobs in the UK. The company said that the new permanent positions will bring it's total UK workforce to 75,000 by the end of this year. In addition to Amazon’s direct employment, the company’s operations are estimated to support more than 410,000 additional jobs.
Car registrations continued their downward trend in the EU in June as supply chain issues continue to limit vehicle output. Trade body the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said that sales fell by 15.4% in June making it the lowest month of June on record in terms of volume since 1996.
SPORT
Football.... Nottingham Forest have signed Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey on a two-year contract. The 35-year-old joins the club from Burnley.
Cricket...Ben Stokes will miss next month's Hundred in order to manage his workload and fitness. He’ll also miss England's Twenty20 series with South Africa, but will play in the one-day international series which starts next week.
West Indies player Kemar Roach is returning to Surrey for the rest of the season. He's played twice for the club this summer before suffering a hamstring injury.
The porn sites YouPorn, Pornhub, and RedTube have been reactivated in France by their owner, Aylo, after a French court suspended a law requiring age ...
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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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