A woman has been critically injured after being hit by a stray bullet whilst inside her apartment in Marseille. The woman was hit in the head by a bullet from a Kalashnikov while in her apartment in the 10th arrondissement. Reports say that the incident occurred when a nearby drugs dealing point was being sprayed with gunfire.
Several French charitable organisations have launched appeals to help people affected by the major earthquake in Morocco. The Fondation de France said earlier today that it has already collected over one million euros. The Secours Populaire, the French Red Cross and Unicef are amongst other organisations raising funds. Locally, the Alpes-Maritmes department has provided premises for the Maison du Maroc 06 association. The building on Boulevard de Madeleine in Nice will be used to store donations of goods.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi has visited the Lycee Paul Augier where a chef from Scotland was giving a cookery demonstration to students today. Gary Maclean is a multi-award winning chef and the first National Chef of Scotland. In a post on social media the mayor said that "it was a great way to celebrate the rich ties between France and Scotland".
Several departments in south-west France are under Meteo France orange warnings for storms this evening. Strong thunderstorms accompanied by heavy hailstorms are expected as well as strong gusts of wind close to 90 km/h. Meanwhile, many departments in the north-west continue to be under a yellow warning for heat as well as thunderstorms. Meteo France said that minimum temperatures didn't fall below 20 degrees in Paris this morning.
BUSINESS
BMW have announced that it is converting a plant in the UK to build electric Minis. BMW will spend £600m on updating its plant in Cowley Oxfordshire. It will change the production lines, extend its body shop and build a new area for installing batteries as well as constructing extra logistics facilities. It also plans to build additional logistics facilities at its factory in Swindon which makes body panels for new vehicles.
The European Commission has said that it expects the German economy to contract by 0.4% this year. Previously it had been forecasting growth of 0.2%. In its Summer Forecast released today, the Commission said that the EU economy continues to grow, albeit with reduced momentum. The forecast revises growth in the EU down to 0.8% in 2023, from 1% projected in the Spring Forecast.
The GMB union in the UK has said that all 400 Wilko stores across the UK will close by early October. It means that 12,500 staff may face redundancy. Administrators are expected to announce the details of redundancies and store closures soon. However, reports say that administrators are still in discussions with parties who may wish to acquire some of the stores.
SPORT
Cricket… Kane Williamson has been included in New Zealand's squad for the World Cup. He hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury in March. Williamson's inclusion in the squad means there is no place for Finn Allen.
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