News
80th anniversary of landing in Provence – The French President Emmanuel Macron has honoured six veterans, five French and one foreign, with the Legion of Honour during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied landing in Provence in Saint-Rephael on Thursday. Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 spectators have attended the "reenactment" of the very first operation of the Provence Landing on the beach of Canadel in the Var. Earlier in the evening a ceremony took place in front of the old Rayol-Canadel train station, transformed into a chapel in 1962. Martin Rey-Chirac paid a vibrant tribute to his grandfather and former French President Jacques Chirac, who spent his childhood in Rayol-Canadel during the German occupation. The ceremony ended with a fireworks display on Canadel beach.
Weather alert lifted – In other news , the orange weather alert for thunderstorms has been lifted in both the Var and Alpes-Maritimes. Météo_France lowered the storm warning from orange to yellow on Thursday evening for the departments of Var, Alpes-Maritimes and Corsica, where no major damage occurred on Thursday, even if transport was severely disrupted. Météo-France recorded gusts of wind of up to 90 to 110 km/h near the coast of the Alpes-Maritimes and up to 30 millimetres of water fell in one hour near Fréjus and 15 millimetres in six minutes in Corsica.
Travel disrupted - The stormy episode affecting the South-East of France began on Wednesday evening, mainly off the coast of Toulon. Gusts of wind were recorded at 140 km/h on the island of Levant. Despite a lull in the morning and at midday, part of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the landing in Provence, planned for early afternoon in Toulon, were cancelled. As a precautionary measure, the SNCF announced on the night of Wednesday to Thursday an interruption of train traffic between Marseille and Nice from 5:00 a.m. At Nice airport, the bad weather also caused many flight delays and several lightning strikes seriously disrupted tram traffic.
Damage no casualties - The Var and Alpes-Maritimes firefighters reported fires caused by lightning, all of which were quickly brought under control. At the same time, three homes in Var were damaged by lightning and a tree fell on a house. However, no casualties were reported. In Nice, Mayor Christian Estrosi had activated a vigilance unit and closed the city's parks and gardens as well as access to the beaches and the coastal path.
Drought Alert - The Vaucluse prefecture has placed two areas on drought alert as of August 14, 2024, triggering the first water restrictions of the summer in Calavon-médian and in the Luberon. The restrictions include bans on domestic water withdrawals, filling pools (except for maintenance), and daytime watering of sports fields. Water use for agriculture and vehicle washing is also limited.
Drone Shot Down - A man has shot down an Enedis drone with a hunting rifle, believing it was spying on him while he was in his pool in Robion (Vaucluse). The drone, which was destroyed, was actually used by Enedis for inspecting power lines. The man was questioned by police and may face losing his hunting license and firearm. Authorities urge people to contact them if they have concerns about drones.
British school of Monaco to open secondary classes – Finally, two years after its opening, the British School of Monaco is to open its secondary classes at the start of the school year. Given the success by the British School of Monaco, the establishment has received government approval to open secondary classes marking a new milestone for the school nearly two years after its creation in November 2022. For the time being, only students in years 7 and 8 [the equivalent of 6th and 5th grade in the French education system are concerned and can already register for the start of the school year in September. In total, five to six teachers will be dedicated to the two classes of year 7 and year 8 which will open in a few weeks. By 2028, the school wants to offer a "sixth form" cycle, corresponding to the last two years of secondary education, generally between the ages of 16 and 18.
Business
TikTok has told a federal appeals court that the U.S. Department of Justice has misstated the social media app's ties to China. The social media platform urged the court on Thursday to overturn a law requiring China based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US assets or face a ban. The department's lawyers said last month that the app poses a national security risk by allowing the Chinese government to collect the data of Americans and openly manipulate what content they see.
Official figures have shown that the UK economy grew 0.6% over three months. But there was no growth at all in June, as businesses delayed purchases until after the general election. The June gross domestic product (GDP) number fell from a month earlier when the economy expanded 0.4%. GDP expanded from April to June. That growth rate was the second highest among the G7 group of industrialised nations, with only the United States performing better at 0.7%. Two G7 countries, however, have yet to publish their GDP data for the period - Japan and Germany.
And - Singer Ed Sheeran has bought a 1.4% stake in Ipswich Town football club. Sheeran who has sponsored the team's shirts since 2021 - has signed on as a "passive" investor and will not become a board member. However, as part of the deal, Sheeran will receive perks such as the long-term use of his own personalised executive box at the team's Portman Road stadium. The news comes just before the Tractor Boys' return to the Premier League this weekend after a 22-year absence.
Sport
Football - The Premier League begins this weekend, with Manchester City bidding to continue lead in English football and Ipswich making their top-flight return. This evening Manchester United host Fulham kick off is at 9pm French time. Ipswich host Liverpool on Saturday before Manchester City travel to Chelsea on Sunday in the two most eye-catching games of the opening weekend.
Cycling - British cyclist Pfeiffer Georgi has abandoned the Women’s Tour de France after getting caught up in a late crash on stage five, which also caused leader Demi Vollering to slip down the standings. The 23-year-old competed for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing fifth in the women's road race. She had been 45th in the general classification going into stage five.
Cricket - The Indian cricket board has said that they will not step in to host October's Women's T20 World Cup if it must be moved from Bangladesh. The International Cricket Council (ICC) says it is “closely monitoring developments” in the country, which is set to host the tournament from 3-20 October.
Weather
Cloudy to start, clearing by this afternoon with a gentle breeze. Highs of 31 degrees in Nice, Monaco and Cannes. 30 degrees in Saint-Tropez and Toulon. Thundery showers forecast by this afternoon for inland in the Var and around the Marseille area. This evening going down to 24 degrees along the coast and 20 degrees inland.
The outlook for the weekend. A fine and sunny start to Saturday, clouding over by early evening with scattered showers inland. Sunday, sunny intervals in Nice and the Alpes Maritimes with showers expected by late afternoon. Remaining dry and sunny in the Var region with strong winds and highs of 29-32 degrees across both the Alpes Maritimes and the Var.
Sunrise 06.36am
Sunset 08.31pm
Beach weather
Sea temperature Saint-Tropez 27°
UV level 7
Air temperature 27°
Weather elsewhere
Paris 26° light cloud.
Munich 28° thundery showers.
Glasgow 17° sunny intervals.
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