TGV services across much of France are gradually improving after several arson attacks affected the network in the early hours of this morning. The SNCF said that it was "the victim of several malicious attacks" last night. It said that fires had been deliberately started which affected various installations. The saboteurs either vandalized or tried to vandalize five signal boxes and electricity installations between 01:00 and 05:30 today. The attacks were at junctions which affected the TGV network. In a social media post this afternoon, Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said that an attack targeting the south-east part of the network had been foiled. SNCF said that services in western France are the worst affected. However, the SNCF said this evening that about one service in three is being maintained on the Atlantic coast. The situation is also improving in northern and eastern areas. The SNCF said earlier today that the disruption will continue all weekend on what is traditionally one of the busiest travel weekends in France. However, local TER trains are reportedly not being affected. Some Eurostar services between Paris and London are being disrupted. The company said this afternoon that some trains are being entertained onto other lines with some services being delayed or canceled. Details are available on the Eurostar website.
The attacks on the rail network took place on the day of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. There's a huge security operation in place for the Games, with up to 5,000 police, soldiers and hired guards on patrol at any one time. The River Seine has been fenced off for the opening ceremony, leaving residents needing QR codes to access certain areas. It's the first time that the opening ceremony hasn't been held in a stadium. Some local businesses have criticized the security measures, but French authorities have said that barricades restricting access will be removed after the opening ceremony, which gets underway at 7.30 this evening.
Another person has been arrested in connection with the fire in Nice last week in which seven people lost their lives. According to the public prosecutor, the 23 year old man, who lives in the Alpes-Maritimes, was arrested at the Gare du Nord in Paris on 22 July. Investigations into the fire are continuing.
The Var Prefecture has announced a drop of almost 4% in general crime in the department for the first half of 2024. Since the beginning of the year, there have been about 1,300 fewer incidents compared to the first half of 2023. The prefect confirmed that the number of police officers and gendarmes in the department over this summer will be higher than last year.
French government roads monitor Bison Fute has warned motorists of a busy weekend on the nations roads. Today is red for the whole country in the direction of departures and red in most of the south-east for arrivals. Tomorrow is a bad day for traffic, with a top level black alert for the whole country in the direction of departures, meaning traffic conditions will be "extremely difficult", while it's a red level, which is one step lower, for the whole country in the direction of returns, except around Paris which is black. A somewhat improved situation is expected on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Banque Havilland (Monaco) SAM has announced that its parent company has entered on 25 July 2024 into exclusive negotiations with a private bank well established in Monaco, for the acquisition of its shares. It said that the purpose of this negotiation is to secure a long-term and sustainable solution to ensure the continuity and excellence of its banking services. Without disclosing the name of the counterpart, the Management of the Bank stated that the “the transaction, with an independent private bank with one of the highest solvency ratios in the industry with excellent track record in Monaco, would be perfectly in line with the Bank's development strategy. The parties will continue their collaboration with a signing expected by the end of 2024. This transaction is subject to approval by relevant regulatory authorities.
Video game actors in the United States are going on strike over the use of Artificial Intelligence. Union SAG-Aftra has called the strike. Performers are concerned about gaming studios using generative AI to reproduce their voices and physical appearance in video games without providing them with fair compensation.
The head of IT security company CrowdStrike has said that nearly all systems affected by last week's global outage are back on line. In a post on social media, George Kurtz said "over 97%" of systems running its software were back online as of 25 July. Microsoft had previously estimated that about 8.5 million machines had been disabled by a bug in CrowdStrike software.
The EU has opened a formal procedure concerning the public defaults of seven member states, including France. All the countries involved have public deficits in excess of the 3% limit set by the EU.
SPORT
Olympics... There are no sporting events today as final preparations are made for the opening ceremony, which gets underway in Paris at 7.30 this evening. The opening ceremony will feature boats carrying athletes and dignitaries down six kilometers of the River Seine, with room for 300,000 spectators.
Meanwhile, Canada's women's football manager Beverly Priest-man has been removed as Olympic head coach and suspended by the country's football federation. The move comes after a drone was flown over New Zealand's training session on Monday. Canada beat the Kiwis 2-0 yesterday.
Motorsports... It's the Belgian Grand Prix this Sunday. The first two free practice sessions are taking place today, with the third one and the qualifying session taking place tomorrow. Max Verstappen was first in first practice this afternoon but will drop 10 places for Sunday's race after receiving an engine penalty. Oscar Piastri finished in second place, with Alex Albon in third place.
Cricket.... West Indies won the toss and went in to bat first in third Test against England this morning.
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