Evening Update Wednesday 12 February 2020

A man has taken his own life after firing a gun at a store in Le Lavandou in the Var this afternoon. The man in his thirties fired several shots at the facade of the Ciffréo Bona DIY store on the route de Bénat at about 1.30 this afternoon. Local reports say that the man’s former girlfriend works at the store. When soldiers arrived on the scene, the man turned the weapon on himself. An investigation is underway into the circumstances of the incident.

The three wildfires which affected the Alpes Maritimes yesterday have been fully extinguished. The last fire to break out, in Saint-Auban, was extinguished yesterday evening after burning through 3 hectares of undergrowth. The fire in Saint-Vallier affected an area of 50 hectares in total, but only 10 were badly burned. 50 hectares were also affected in total near Gréolières, as the fire jumped from area to area fanned by strong winds, but only 20 hectares were completely burned. The Dragon 06 security helicopter has been surveying the areas to assist firefighters.

Police are asking for the public’s help in tracing a car involved in a serious accident in Fréjus. On the 3rd of February several cars were in collision on the route de Bagnols. If you witnessed the accident or have information about one of the cars involved, a white Citroën C3 with a black roof which may have a broken rear view mirror of signs of an impact on the front left side of the car, you are asked to contact police on 04 94 51 90 00.

One carriageway of the A8 was closed at the height of this morning’s rush hour because of a vehicle fire. The motorway was closed at junction 55 Nice l’Ariane eastbound after a truck caught fire. The incident occurred around 9am, causing severe disruption to traffic.

A new bus service is launching which will help passengers arriving at Nice airport to get to some of France’s ski resorts. The new Flixbus service will start tomorrow. There’ll be four round trips per week from the airport to Annecy in the Haute-Savoie via Grenoble. More locally, the bus will also stop in Antibes, Fréjus and Avignon.

A father and son have been arrested near Lake Aiguebelette in Savoie. Both are suspected of having looted archaeological treasures in the waters of the lake for years. After several months of investigation, the gendarmes discovered nearly 3,000 archaeological pieces in their home, some dating  from the Bronze Age, including arrows, axes, keys or statuettes, some of them estimated to be worth several tens of thousands of euros.

BUSINESS

The new head of BP has said that he wants the company to sharply reduce net carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Bernard Looney said BP needs to "reinvent" itself, a strategy that will eventually include more investment in alternative energy. He said that the company will have to fundamentally reorganise itself to help make those changes.

UK telecoms and broadcasting regulator Ofcom has been given new powers to force social media firms to act over harmful content. Until now, firms like Facebook, Tiktok, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter have largely been self-regulating.

About 300 employees have been evacuated from Singapore's biggest bank after one person fell ill with the new coronavirus. They had all bee been working on the same floor at DBS Bank and were sent home on Wednesday. Singapore had previously reported 47 cases of the new virus.

SPORT

Motorsports.... The Chinese Grand Prix has been postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has accepted a request from the organisers to postpone the race, which was due to take place in Shanghai on 19 April. The FIA said that the decision had been made to "ensure the health and safety" of drivers, staff and fans. It said that all parties would take what it called an "appropriate amount of time" to discuss potential new dates.

Football... Bournemouth have asked the Premier League to "look into" alleged comments made by referee Jonathan Moss during Sunday's match at Sheffield United. Midfielder Dan Gosling said that the referee made what he called "sarky comments" about the team's league position. Bournemouth are 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone.

Cycling... Australian BMX rider Kai Sakakibara is in a medically-induced coma after sustaining a "severe head injury" at a World Cup event in New South Wales on Saturday. He was airlifted to Canberra Hospital. In a statement, his family said he was in a "critical but stable" condition.

Cricket... England are playing South Africa in their International Twenty20 match. England won the toss and decided to field. At the end of their 20 overs South Africa were 177 for 8.

Australia have beaten India by 11 runs to win the final of the women's Twenty20 tri-series in Melbourne. The victory cemented Australia's status as favourites to win the women's T20 World Cup, which begins in Sydney on 21 February.