Firefighters have been dealing with two fires in undergrowth in the Var this afternoon. One was in the municipality of Flasans near the DN 7 at the level of the expressway, the other was in the municipality of La Cadiere d'Azur.
The French General Directorate of Civil Security said that it recommends great caution today due to a very high danger of fires in the Mediterranean area. It said that this very high l danger of fire is linked to the fairly strong to strong winds, with conditions remaining very hot and dry on increasingly sensitive vegetation.
The Var Prefecture called for residents and visitors to be vigilant, to never throw cigarette butts on the ground or out of the window of a vehicle and to respect the prohibitions of the forest massifs.
Two forest fires broke out in the Herault department this afternoon. Several hundred firefighters supported by water bombing aircraft have been deployed to two areas near Montpellier. Over 500 hectares have been destroyed by the fires so far.
The French parliament has adopted a health bill which repeals several exceptional measures which were in force during the pandemic. These include the obligation to wear a mask, the need to show a health pass, confinement and the imposition of curfews. However, it continues to authorize the government to request proof of vaccination from people entering France from abroad.
The French Directorate General of Health has announced that new categories of professionals will be eligible to receive a second Covid-19 booster dose. It will be open to all healthcare professionals, regardless of their age or state of health, to all employees in the health and medico-social sector, to home helpers working with vulnerable people, to medical transport professionals, as well as to firefighters. The Directorate General said that this second booster is to be administered from 6 months after the first booster, respecting a period of 3 months after the infection in the event of infection occurring after the first booster.
The Monaco government has issued its weekly update on Covid-19 numbers. There has been an improvement in the indicators with the incidence rate falling to 460 per 100,000 people compared with 733 in the previous week. In the week from 18 to 24 July, 180 new positive cases of Covid-19 were recorded. As at yesterday evening, 29 people, including 22 residents, were hospitalized at the Princess Grace Hospital. No patient was being treated in intensive care. 85 people were being monitored by the Home Monitoring Centre.
BUSINESS
Heathrow airport has reported a £263m pre-tax profit for the first half of the year. However, on an adjusted basis, which strips out the impact of changes in interest rates, it posted a loss before tax of £321m for the period.
EasyJet flew said that it flew 22m passengers in the first quarter, which it said is 87% of its 2019 financial year capacity. Load factors continued to build over the quarter, reaching highs of 92% in June. It said that what it called the unprecedented ramp up across the aviation industry, coupled with a tight labour market, has resulted in “widespread operational challenges culminating in higher levels of cancellations than normal”. EasyJet said that despite this, it operated 95% of its planned schedule in the third quarter.
Consumer goods company Unilever has said that it raised prices by 11.2% in the three months to the end of June compared to the same period last year. Like many businesses, Unilever has faced challenges of high inflation and slower global growth. It said that underlying sales growth of 8.1% was driven by strong pricing to mitigate input cost inflation, which had some impact on volume.
SPORT
Football... England's women’s team are taking on Sweden this evening in the semi-finals of the European Championship at Bramall Lane in Sheffield. Kick off is at 9pm French time. Sweden won the competition in 1984. England have not yet won the trophy but have put in a strong performance so far, defeating Norway 8-0 in the group stage and reaching the last four after coming from behind to defeat Spain in extra time.
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