Four departments in south central France have been placed on a rare top-level Meteo France red alert for high temperatures from midday tomorrow. The departments are the Drome, Ardeche, Rhone and Haut-Loire. The Alpes-Maritimes and the Var are still on a Meteo France Orange level alert until at least midnight tomorrow. An orange alert is the third highest level of out of the four levels used by Meteo France.
The Monaco government has said that, according to air quality data, the "information threshold" for Ozone pollution is likely to be reached today. It has issued several recommendations including advising vulnerable or sensitive people to limit intense physical and sporting activities in the open air, to limit outings in the hottest hours, and to seek advice from a pharmacist or doctor in the event of respiratory or cardiac discomfort such as shortness of breath, wheezing or palpitations. Meanwhile, the prefectures of the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes have declared a level 1 pollution alert. Measures include the reduction of speed limits on motorways.
In this period of high heat, the CCAS social services personnel in Nice have put measures in place to help senior citizens. All Ville de Nice and CCAS facilities have been opened to offer cool shelter to all those who need it.
There are major disruptions on the A8 motorway between Cannes and Nice in the direction of Italy this evening after three separate accidents. According to motorway operator VINCI Autoroutes, a first accident involving 2 cars and a van occurred at around 3 p.m. near Antibes. At 4:10 p.m., a second accident involving 6 vehicles occurred between the Mougins and Antibes interchanges. At 4:30 p.m., a third accident involving 3 cars happened between the interchanges of Antibes and Villeneuve Loubet Plage. Traffic in the direction of Aix-en-Provence is also heavy.
Over one hundred hectares have been destroyed by fire in the Hautes-Alpes. The fire started yesterday in an open area of natural park. About 250 firefighters and water bombing aircraft have been engaged in fighting the blaze which was still burning early this afternoon. No dwellings have been affected.
Nice mayor and President of the Nice Cote d'Azur Metropolis Christian Estrosi has been visiting Isola2000 to inspect the progress of the snow front restructuring site. 2.8 million euros are being invested to modernize and develop the ski area.
An exercise in preparation for the Olympic Games has taken place in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Maralpine rescuers were involved in the rehearsal with the main objective being improving the care of those falling ill in the stands. The exercise took place in the Sauvaigo stadium in Cagnes.
The national and municipal police in Nice have carried out an anti-narcotics operation at two properties on the route de Turin. Controls of individuals, searching of building halls, removal of the furniture of dealers and exchanges with the inhabitants took place.
A French soldier has died in Iraq. The Elysees said that Warrant Officer Nicolas Latourte of the 6th Engineer Regiment died yesterday in Iraq during an operational exercise. He was deployed in an operation as part of a partnership training mission with the Iraqi armed forces. It said that President Macron "expresses his heartfelt condolences" to his family and loved ones.
BUSINESS
A problem has caused the deletion of all photos on Twitter posted before December 2014 to be deleted. After the glitch on the platform, now known as "X", owner Elon Musk said "the sad truth is that there are no great “social networks” right now. We may fail...but we will try our best to make there be at least one".
In Germany, more housing construction businesses are reporting that they are in financial difficulties. A survey by the Ifo Institute found that about 10.5% of construction firms said they were in financial difficulties in the past month, which is about double the number of a year ago.
The John Lewis Partnership has said that Waitrose and John Lewis stores in the UK will offer free hot drinks to on-duty police officers in a bid to deter shoplifters. The organization has written to the Police Federation to give details of the scheme. The Partnership's head of security said that even just having a police car parked outside may deter would-be thieves.
SPORT
Rugby Union...Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake have been named as co-captains of Wales for the World Cup. Wales start their matches in Pool C against the hosts, France, in Bordeaux on 10 September. They then have further group games against Portugal, Australia and Georgia.
Football... Manchester City player John Stones has been ruled out of action until after the international break, according to City's manager Pep Guardiola. He suffered a muscle injury before the season began. The next international break is between 4 and 12 September.
TGV services across much of France are gradually improving after several arson attacks affected the network in the early hours of this morning....
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Paris is getting ready to shut down it’s city centre and its airspace as well as mobilise 45,000 police and several army units in what has been billed...
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Lucie Castets, the left-wing candidate for Prime Minister, reiterated her desire to lead the government during a media appearance on July 25. A poll s...
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French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to welcome world leaders to the Olympic games opening ceremony tomorrow night and has been visiting key ...
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France will host the 2030 Winter Olympics in the Alpes, conditional on state and regional financial guarantees. President Macron confirmed his full su...
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