Evening Update Thursday 17 August 2023

The forthcoming heatwave promises to be the hottest of this summer according to Meteo France. It said that the heatwave will intensify over the next few days and gradually widen. Temperatures of 40 degrees or more are expected in inland areas of the Var on Sunday. Nineteen departments, mostly in central and eastern areas of the country, are on a Meteo France Orange alert for high temperatures tomorrow. Peak intensity of the heatwave is forecast for Monday or Tuesday.

A busy weekend is expected on French roads. Government roads monitor Bison-Fute has a red level alert denoting "very difficult" traffic condition in the direction of returns for much of south-east France for tomorrow. The whole of France is at a red level for returns on Saturday.

There was disruption to traffic on the A8 in our region this morning because of accidents and sheer volume of traffic. At one stage there was a jam of about 12km after an accident near Villenuve-Loubet.

A teenager has died and two people are in a critical condition after a road accident in Nice in the early hours of this morning. The 14 year old was a passenger on a motorbike which was in collision with a scooter in the Ariane district. The driver of the motorbike and the scooter were both taken to hospital.

Extra CRS riot police will be deployed in Marseille to carry out targeted operations against drugs trafficking over the next few days. The deployment was ordered by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. The forces, from the CRS 8 unit, specialise in dealing with urban violence. The move comes after a recent increase in deaths linked to drugs trafficking in the city.

The annual ceremony to commemorate the liberation of Bormes-les-Mimosas is taking place in the village this evening. It's expected that President Macron will attend the event as usual, at the beginning of his summer holiday at nearby Fort Bregancon.

 

BUSINESS

UK military equipment producer BAE Aerospace has agreed to acquire US company Ball Aerospace for 5.6 billion dollars. The business is a subsidiary of Ball Corporation and is involved in areas including satellite technology, sensors and technology instruments.

The Norwegian central bank has raised interest rates to 4%. It indicated that another rise could be expected in September if the economy evolves as expected.

 

SPORT

Rugby Union... World Rugby have said that they will appeal against the decision to overturn the red card given to England captain Owen Farrell in the match against Wales. Farrell's yellow card was upgraded to red by the new 'bunker' review system. A disciplinary panel overturned the red card yesterday. In a statement World Rugby said that "player welfare is the number one priority".

Football... Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise has signed a new four-year deal with the club. He joined from Reading in 2021.

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