The French National Assembly has held a minute's silence in memory of the 17 year old who was fatally shot by police in a suburb of Paris yesterday morning. During his visit to Marseille President Macron said that "nothing justifies the death of a young person" and that the shooting was "unexplainable" and "inexcusable". He sent his "respect" and "affection" to the teenager's family. Speaking in the senate earlier today, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said that images suggest that "the legal intevention framework has not been respected".
President Macron is on the final day of his visit to Marseille and started the day with a visit to a housing complex in the east of the city. He announced plans to improve housing conditions quickly, saying that it is necessary to do in 18 months "what we do in seven years". This afternoon the President has been in the main port of Marseille. He said that the site must be "de-carbonised", adding that it is "impossible to think of Marseille without the port".
An 18 year old has been arrested in connection with a fire in the Var. He is appearing in court today in connection with the blaze in undergrowth in Carqueiranne to the east of Toulon on Monday.
CrossMed have been involved in a medical evacuation from a ferry at sea. The child was transferred from the Mega Express ferry to a French Navy boat about 70 km southeast of Toulon.
The Monaco government has announced changes to finacial aid for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles. Financial assistance for the purchase of an ecological vehicle was originally introduced by the government in 1994. The Monegasque vehicle fleet now has almost 15% ecological vehicles, 48% of which are electric. As from today, the aid system is changing in order to support the acquisition of the least polluting vehicles, both by individuals and professionals. Full details can be found on the government's website www.gouv.mc
VINCI Autoroutes is forecasting particularly heavy traffic in the south-east of France this weekend, in the Rhône valley and around the Mediterranean. Traffic peaks are expected throughout the weekend on the A7 motorway, particularly in the Valence sector, the Mediterranean rim and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, with the A8, A9 and A61 motorways also experiencing heavy traffic, particularly around large cities. Some disruption is also expected from Monday because of the Tour de France.
BUSINESS
The UK government has said it is prepared for what it called a "range of scenarios" following reports that Thames Water could be on the brink of collapse. Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said she was "very concerned" by the situation. The company said it is working to raise funds and that regulator Ofwat is "being kept fully informed on progress of the company's turnaround [plan] and engagement with shareholders." The government has said that water will keep flowing to customers regardless of what happens to the company.
Drax Group has confirmed that the decommissioning of its coal units at Drax Power Station in northern England will continue and they will not be available to generate electricity this winter. The decision follows a recent request by National Grid to explore the possibility of extending coal generation at the power station. However, the company said it has concluded that due to a combination of technical, maintenance and staffing reasons, the extension of coal generation over this winter was not possible.
SPORT
Cricket...Protesters briefly disrupted the Ashes Test this morning. Two people entered the field attempting to spread orange powder. As the players guarded the pitch, one was picked up by Jonny Bairstow and another stopped by England captain Ben Stokes. The game resumed after a short delay.
Football.... Tottenham are reportedly close to completing a £40m deal for Leicester's James Maddison. He's undergoing a medical at Spurs today. He has made 203 appearances for Leicester since joining from Norwich in 2018.
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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