An armed man has barricaded himself in an apartment in Frejus this afternoon. Officers from the RAID unit of the National Police, which is an elite tactical unit of the force, are in attandance. Reports say that the man is in possession of a knife and that his parents have been evacuated from the building by police.
A body, belived to be that of a missing tourist, has been found this morning in Ramatuelle. 54 year old Olivier Tetart had been missing from a local campsite for about a month. The body was found in a vineyard about one kilometer from the campsite. The prosecutor has been informed and DNA tests will now be carried out to confirm the man's identity.
A gas leak is thought to be the cause of an explosion in a building in the centre of Nice this morning. About 50 firefighters attended the incident on rue Cronstadt at just after 9.00 this morning. A fire broke out in the four storey building after the explosion. Two people were injured, suffering from burns and breathing problems and were taken to hospital.
A young child has been hospitalized after almost drowning at the Gravette beach in Antibes this morning. Reports say that the girl was with her parents when she began to drown and became unconscious. Lifeguards intervened and firefighters took her to the Lenval Hospital in Nice. Her life isn't thought to be in danger.
One person has been injured in a jet ski accident off Ramatuelle in the Var this morning. Reports say that two jet skis collided at about 11am off the Plage de l'Escalet. A woman who was on one of the jet skis suffered a dislocated shoulder.
A motorcyclist has been taken to hospital after an accident in Saint-Laurent-du-Var this morning. His mototbike and a car collided on the Georges Pompidou roundabout. Police who were nearby at the time notified firefighters and the man was taken to the Pasteur Hospital in Nice.
Investigations are underway after an accident involving an ambulance in Cannes late last night. The vehicle ended up on its side after a collision with a car on the avenue du Docteur Raymond-Picaud. Three people were injured and taken to a nearby hospital but their lives are not thought to be in danger.
About a dozen departments in northern France are on a rare Meteo France red alert for high temperatures. Paris is included in the alert and temparatures today have reached around 35 to 37 degrees in the cpaital, with minimum temperatures of 24 or 25 expected overnight tonight. Most of the rest of France is under an orange alert, with the west coast being under a lower yellow level alert. On the Meditteranean coast, the only alert is a yellow level for storms and heat in the Alpes Maritimes.
Authorities are warning of a scam involving an e-mail which purports to have been sent by Finances Publiques. The fraudulent e-mail says that the recipient is entitled to a tax refund and invites them to click on a link to enter their personal details, including their bank card number. Finance Publiques say that they never ask anyone to fill out a form by e-mail in order to receive a refund.
BUSINESS
The French central bank, the Banque de France, has said that the French economy contracted by 13.8% in the second quarter of this year. It also said that the economy in July was 7% below the level that had been expected if there had been no pandemic, which is a slight improvement from the 9% recorded in June.
A leading Hong Kong business figure has been arrested. Jimmy Lai, who owns the Apple Daily newspaper was placed under arrest and his offices raided by police earlier today. Mr Lai has been a prominent pro-democracy supporter in Hong Kong. He faces allegations of "collusion with foreign forces" and conspiracy to commit fraud. His case is the most high-profile arrest so far under the controversial security law imposed by China in June.
Meanwhile, China has today imposed sanctions on several members of the US Senate and one member of Congress as well as two people involved with US human rights organizations. The sanctions are seen as a retaliatory measure against the US government which last week imposed sanctions on eleven Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
A new survey suggests that about one third of employers in the UK expect to make redundancies in the third quarter of this year. The UK government's coronavirus job retention scheme is set to finish at the end of October. Employers have had to start contributing to employee's wages under the scheme as from this month.
SPORT
Football... Atletico Madrid have said that training is being resumed after two players tested positive for the coronavirus yesterday. The club said that all the other players involved in the match against RB Leipzig in Lisbon on Thursday had tested negative. The two positive players are currently asymptomatic and are isolating at home.
Cricket..... England player James Anderson has said that speculation over his future following the first Test against Pakistan is unfair. Anderson returned figures of 1-77 against his long-term average of 26.97 since his test debut back in 2003. He's taken 590 wickets for England in that time. The second Test of the three-match series starts on Thursday.
At English County level, matches in the Bob Willis Trophy are underway today. 18 counties are split into three regional groups of six. Each side will play five games and the two teams with the most points will take part in the final over five days.
The City of Nice is requesting a natural disaster declaration following recent floods and storms, including the events of the 18th of October....
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The French government has announced plans to tighten the tax rules on furnished rentals such as Airbnb. ...
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Flights from Toulon-Hyères airport in the Var and Nice International airport in the Alpes Maritimes, are expected to increase in price. The price hike...
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After the torrential rains that hit the Côte d'Azur and the red alert issued last Thursday, a new fairly intense Mediterranean episode is expected thi...
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MIPCOM 2024 is taking place this week in Cannes and this year’s international trade event for the television industry the first participation of the Q...
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