Train services on the Riviera are expected to be disrupted from this evening because of industrial action. SNCF have said that services will begin running down from about 7pm this evening and will only get back to normal at about 8am on Friday. Timetables will be available online, on the SNCF app and at railway stations each day from 5pm. Various local TER trains and some TGV services throughout France are expected to be disrupted. Tram and bus services will also be affected, as will some schools. The strikes are part of a national day of industrial action in France tomorrow. Demonstrations are planned throughout the country, including on the Promenades des Anglais in Nice.
French customs officers have seized 19kg of herbal cannabis. The haul was allegedly found in a vehicle being driven by a Spanish national when it was stopped at a toll booth near Saulce in the Hautes-Alpes. The local prosecutor said that a man accused of the possession and transportation of narcotics would be appearing before a court in Gap today.
The body of a man has been found in the boot of a car in Aix-en-Provence. The corpse was discovered early this morning near the centre of the city. Tests are being made to establish the man's identity and an investigation is being carried out by departmental security services in Marseille.
Investigations have been opened after a man was shot by police in Marseille. Local reports say that the man walked into a police station in the 15th arrondissement and threatened to stab himself before running towards a market. Police then confronted him and shot him in the abdomen. The man is now in hospital but his life is not in danger.
Nice mayor Christian Estrosi has held a meeting with Her Excellency Denise Campbell Bauer, Ambassador of the United States of America in France. In a post on social media the mayor said that "no other country better embodies an ideal shared beyond its borders than the United States: freedom".
BUSINESS
The Bank of England has said it will step in to calm markets after the government's tax-cutting plans sparked a fall in the pound and caused borrowing costs to surge. It warned that if the market volatility continued there would be a "material risk to UK financial stability". The Bank said that it will start buying government bonds at what it called an "urgent pace" to help restore "orderly market conditions". The Bank said that is monitoring developments in financial markets very closely in light of the significant repricing of UK and global financial assets. It said that "this repricing has become more significant in the past day" and is particularly affecting long-dated UK government debt. It added if this "dysfunction in this market"
