Thousands of households and businesses have been affected by a major electricity outage in Nice. The loss of power began at about 11.45 this morning and at the height of the incident about 38,000 customers of Enedis were affected, mostly in the city centre, the old town and some eastern parts of Nice. The outage was due to the failure of a power transformer in the city centre. Another smaller, separate, power outage also occurred in the centre of Nice today, caused by damage to an electricity cable. Supplies have now been restored.
A cyclist is in a serious condition after being hit by a lorry in Cogolin this morning. The woman was riding her bicycle on the RD98 when she was apparently hit by a reversing garbage truck. A helicopter was sent to airlift her to hospital.
As the hot weather continues, the Prefecture in the Var has announced that reduced speed limits will continue to be in effect in the department tomorrow. Speed limits on Motorways are reduced by 20km per hour, but without falling below 70 km per hour.
In order to ensure a smooth summer, Nice city council has presented plans for the town’s beaches with new measures in safety, cleanliness, accessibility, and bathing monitoring. Since 2009 the city has recorded more than 18,600 sea rescues with more than 2,100 for last summer alone. The measures will remain in effect until September 8th.
A total of 18 people have now been placed in custody in an investigation into the leaking of mathematics exam papers. Six baccalaureate candidates were placed in custody last night and this morning. Candidates have been detained in Paris and Marseille. The public prosecutor of Paris has opened an inquiry into examination fraud, breach of trust and concealment of offences. Meanwhile, the French Minister of National Education Jean Michel Blanquer has announced this morning, that due to strike action by examination markers there may be a delay in some students getting their baccalaureat results on Friday. He said that only a small minority of teachers, about 2.5%, have threatened not to give the copies back on time.
BUSINESS
In the UK, Sainsbury’s has announced like-for-like sales down by 1.6% in the first quarter.
Grocery sales fell by 0.5% and general merchandise fell by 3.1%. Clothing sales were down 4.5%. The company said that it had “made good progress in a challenging market."
French police have raided Renault's headquarters as they investigate a lavish wedding party thrown by the company's former CEO Carlos Ghosn, according to reports. Mr Ghosn is the former chief of both Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan and is awaiting trial in Japan on charges of financial misconduct, charges which he denies.
Lee Iacocca, the car industry legend who created the iconic Ford Mustang and saved Chrysler from bankruptcy, has died at the age of 94.He died at his home in Los Angeles from complications from Parkinson's disease.
SPORT
Cricket... England are playing New Zealand in the World Cup today. England batted first and were 305 - for 8 after their 50 overs.
Tennis... ... British number two Heather Watson is out of Wimbledon after being beaten by 20th seed Anett Kontaveit today. She lost 7-5 6-1.
Elina Svitolina is through to the next round after Margarita Gasparyan retired injured. American Reilly Opelka has beaten three-time Grand Slam winner Stanislas Wawrinka in an epic 5 set match this afternoon to reach the third round.
Andy Murray has confirmed he will play mixed doubles with Serena Williams at Wimbledon. Murray will compete in both the men's and mixed doubles less than a month after returning following hip surgery.
Football...Manchester City are set to sign Spain midfielder Rodri from Atletico Madrid for a club record £62.6m.
The body of Swiss footballer Florijana Ismaili has been found, days after vanishing following a swimming accident at Lake Como in Italy. The 24-year-old was declared missing on Saturday after jumping into the lake from a boat and failing to resurface.
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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