The prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine et Gironde has announced that the fire in Landiras is now over after 12 days. The fire in La Teste de Buch has been over since Saturday. Fabienne Buccio said that all the inhabitants who were evacuated will therefore be able to return to their homes. The Director of the SDIS in Gironde, Marc Vermeulen reminded the local population not to approach the embers of the fires. The prefect said that the crisis is not yet completely over and everyone must remain extremely vigilant. He added that the fires are "fixed but not extinguished" and "we will watch the massif day and night". The Prefect said that the actions of the firefighters and everyone mobilized made it possible to preserve human lives with no victims, to limit the material damage and to avoid the extension of the fires to all of the forest massif of the Landes. He said that faced with the scale of the crisis, they were "forced to show imagination” with 131 km of civil engineering works such as firewalls and support lines being created. A total of 20,800 hecatres were burned by the fires and 36,750 inhabitants evacuated. Up to 3,000 firefighters were simultaneously engaged
A man has died in a fire in Nice. Local reports say that the body of a person was found in a mobile home on the avenue Simone Veil yesterday evening.
Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has been in Scotland. He met the Mayor of Edinburgh Robert Aldridge to commemorate the 65th anniversary of Nice's twinning with Edinburgh, during which they renewed the union between the two cities. Christian Estrosi said that it was opportunity to deepen various cultural, heritage, sports and sustainable development partnerships.
Thirteen departments in south-east France, including the Var and Alpes-Maritimes, are still on a Meteo France orange level alert for high temperatures. The warning for the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes is until 6am tomorrow, after which it reduces to a yellow warning until 4pm.
Covid-19 testing is now available without an appointment in Monaco. Monegasques and residents can now go the Rainier III Auditorium Screening Centre without an appointment from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Employees and non-resident children attending school in the Principality can do the same provided they present a medical prescription. Health authorities in the Principality are strongly encouraging people over 60 and people at high risk of developing a serious form of Covid-19, to have a second booster shot of vaccine. More information about vaccination and testing can be found on the website www.covid19.mc
French maritime rescue service CROSSMED has said that it's carried out 225 operations in total over the past week. There were 47 rescue operations and 80 cases of assistance to property. The maritime prefect advises those going to sea to take a careful look at the weather forecast before setting off, to check the equipment on board and to observe safety instructions.
BUSINESS
Budget airline Ryanair has said that traffic has recovered strongly post-covid but at lower fares. In it's first quarter results released today the company reported profits after tax of €170m for the three months to the end of June before exceptional items, compared to a prior year Q1 loss of €273m, but well below the €243m profit reported in Q1 of it's 2020 financial year pre-covid. It said that Q1 traffic recovered strongly to 45.5m but Easter bookings and fares were "badly damaged" by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
High energy prices and fears of gas shortages have hit business sentiment in Germany. The Ifo research institute business climate index fell to its lowest level since June 2020 when the country was in a Covid lockdown. The institute said that Germany is on the brink of a recession.
A union representing staff at airline Lufthansa has called for a day of industrial action. If it goes ahead, the strike involving ground staff would start in the early hours of this coming Wednesday and finish early on Thursday morning.
SPORT
Cycling... Dutch rider Marianne Vos has won the second stage of the inaugural women's Tour de France. She also holds the yellow jersey. The Tour de France Femmes is taking place over a total of eight stages covering over 1,000 kilometres and will end next Sunday.
Rugby League... New Zealand international Kevin Proctor has been sacked by Gold Coast Titans after posting a video of himself vaping in a toilet cubicle during their match against Canterbury on Sunday. Proctor was not playing in the match but was part of the squad. The club said in a statement that his actions were in breach of both NRL and Stadium regulations.
A new optional regional transport tax for businesses, introduced in France’s 2025 budget, aims to fund eco-friendly mobility projects. ...
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A judge has authorised a dive to inspect the wreckage of a plane in the sea off Antibes. The plane crashed into the Mediterranean on September 11 1968...
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In France, drinking water is heavily contaminated with "forever pollutants," particularly trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), as revealed by two studies from ...
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The trial of the Tunisian man accused of the murder of three people in the Nice Basilica attack is continuing in Paris. Yesterday the families of the ...
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Four cities in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region made Booking.com's 2025 list of the "most welcoming destinations in France." ...
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