Evening Update Monday 6 May

Twelve people have been rescued from two yachts in St Tropez.  The two yachts ran aground and collided with each other during bad weather yesterday.  Ten people were taken off one yacht, which was 30 metres in length.  Two people were taken off the other 23 metre yacht.  No injuries were reported and no pollution has been caused.

Students were evacuated from a school in Hyères when fire broke out this lunchtime. Reports say that the blaze started in the roof of a school building which is undergoing waterproofing work. About 26 firefighters and 3 appliances were in attendance and the fire was extinguished without any injuries.

A motorist was caught doing 173km/h on the A8 yesterday. The car was pulled over as part of a speed check near Junction 44 of the motorway yesterday afternoon. The driver had his SEAT Leon car confiscated and has appeared before the Criminal court in Grasse.

A fire has destroyed a seaside restaurant in Saint Raphael in the Var. Residents and nearby restaurant employees alerted firefighters shortly after 11 o’clock last night. “Le P’tit Bouchon” is located on the boulevard general De-Gaulle. The premises were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

About one hundred firefighters have been involved in fighting a fire in undergrowth on the Faron massif in Toulon.  The fire broke out yesterday evening.  A villa has been evacuated and a car was destroyed by the fire. Canadair water bombing planes were also used in the fire fighting operation. 

It’s been announced that France will ban electric scooters from pavements as of September. An estimated 15,000 scooters operated by several companies have flooded the French capital since their introduction last year, a number projected to surge to 40,000 by the end of this year. As of September anyone riding an e-scooter, monowheel, personal transporter or hoverboard on the pavement would be fined 135 euros.

BUSINESS

President Donald Trump has threatened new tariffs on China. He said on Twitter the US would more than double tariffs on $200bn of Chinese goods on Friday and would introduce new tariffs. Recent comments had been suggestin that both sides were nearing a trade deal. A Chinese delegation is preparing to travel to Washington for negotiations aimed at ending the trade war.

SPORT

Football…Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino are set to miss tomorrow’s Champions League semi-final second leg with Barcelona because of injury. Salah left the pitch on a stretcher after a collision with Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka during Saturday's match. Firmino missed the Newcastle match with a muscle injury.

Cricket…David Warner and Steve Smith have returned to the Australia team for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal. The two were given 12-month bans and fined for their roles in the ball tampering incident in March 2018. They returned in an unofficial World Cup warm-up against a New Zealand eleven today. Australia were victorious by one wicket.

Rugby Union… London Irish have signed Australia Test prop Sekope Kepu. The 33-year-old is the Wallabies most-capped prop, having made 103 appearances since his debut in 2008. He’s a former Bordeaux player, having played 14 games for the club back in 2015-16.