One person has been seriously injured in an accident involving two cars and a motorcyclist on the A8 motorway late this morning. According to VINCI Autoroutes, the accident occurred after a lorry shed its load on the westbound carriageway just after the Antibes paytoll. A 53 year old man was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Research by Le Figaro newspaper suggests that several municipalities in the Var and the Alpes Maritimes are amongst the most indebted in France. Le Figaro includes 52 towns of over 10,000 inhabitants nationally in its list and the figures are calculated per capita. The local municipalities include Saint-Raphael, Menton, Le Cannet, Grasse, Antibes, Nice and Saint-Laurent-du-Var. However, the Mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, has hit back at the list, saying that there's been a reduction of €55 million in the communal debt since 2014 while "practicing fiscal sobriety" thanks to 6 years of spending cuts.
Pompier were called to a bakery in Antibes in the early hours of this morning to help rescue a baker. The bakery employee had got his hands caught in a machine and firefighters had to use specialist equipment normally used in road accidents to extracate him from the machine. He was taken to La Fontonne hospital but his life is not in danger.
A slight earthquake was registered near Strasbourg this afternoon. It comes a day after an earthquake in the Ardeche department. According to reports, the epicentre of the latest tremor was 6km east of Strasbourg and 2km north of the German border town of Kehl. Minor damage to a few buildings has been reported.
French riot police have today been removing Catalan pro-independence protesters who have been blocking both sides of a motorway linking Spain and France. Reports say that up to 2,000 protesters first gathered at the border yesterday using vehicles and barriers to block the road before sitting on the tarmac. The roadblocks were spread across the border and into French territory. Tear gas was used before physically clearing protesters almost 24 hours after they had arrived.
New regulations for those using electric scooters in France have been announced with a speed limit of 25km an hour and drivers must be over the age of 12. From July next year equipment will also be required such as front and rear lights, reflective clothing and a helmet. Failing to respect any of the new measures could result in fines ranging from between 35 and 1,500 euros.
BUSINESS
Profits at Japanese Nissan have fallen 70% in the July-to-September quarter. Operating profit fell to a worse-than-expected 30bn yen during the quarter from 101.2bn yen a year earlier. Nissan also cut its forecast for operating profit for the year to March.
In the UK, job vacancies have seen their biggest annual fall since late 2009, but job vacancies remain high by historical standards, according to the Office for National Statistics. For August to October 2019, there were an estimated 800,000 vacancies, which is 18,000 fewer than for the three months to July 2019 and 53,000 fewer than a year earlier.
SPORT
Motorsports...Red Bull have named Alex Albon as their second Formula 1 driver for next season. Red Bull demoted Pierre Gasly to its junior team Toro Rosso mid-season and promoted Albon for the remaining races. He has finished in the top six in every race he has contested for Red Bull, outscoring team-mate Max Verstappen by 19 points.
Meanwhile, Ferrari say that Charles Leclerc will have a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix. Leclerc needs a new engine after suffering a failure during the US Grand Prix which takes him over the permitted number of parts for a season.
WRC Rally… The final round of the World Rally Championship has been cancelled because of the bushfires in Australia. Rally Australia was due to take place this weekend in New South Wales. Organisers said they had taken the decision "considering the best interests and safety of everyone involved".
Cricket...Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley have made centuries on the first day of a tour match against a New Zealand XI. Uncapped Sibley, who opened the batting with Rory Burns, reached three figures from 161 balls before retiring, as England posted 285-3. New Zealand have yet to bat.
Speed restrictions are in place on all major roads in the Alpes-Maritimes today because of a smog alert....
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A Marseille magistrate has been sentenced on the 17th of June in Nîmes for repeatedly avoiding motorway tolls using fake license plates. ...
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A major police stop-and-search operation along France's borders is being carried out today, involving 4,000 police officers, gendarmes and customs off...
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SFR has announced automatic compensation of 100GB of free mobile data for affected customers following a major network outage on the 16th of June....
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French President Emmanuel Macron will chair a high-level Security and Defence Council meeting at the Élysée Palace today Wednesday, June 18th at 4pm, ...
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