Speed limits cut due to air pollution - Speed restrictions are in place on all major roads in the Alpes-Maritimes today because of a smog alert. The speed limit has been reduced by 20km/h on all roads where the normal speed limit is 70km/h or more. For example, on parts of the A8 motorway where the speed limit is 110km/h, drivers must today not exceed 90km/h. Because of recent intense heat on the Riviera, the Alpes-Maritimes has been placed on alert for poor air quality. The Alpes-Maritimes préfecture also recommends using public transport or car-pooling where possible.
Heatwave warning for most of France - Large parts of western and central France have been placed on a yellow weather alert by Météo France. About half of the country is affected, from the Brittany coast in the north-west down as far as the Savoie. In some parts of the west of France, temperatures could reach as high as 37°C later today. While the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var are not alert, temperatures are still forecast to remain high on the Riviera - and overnight temperatures will stay above 20°C.
New rules for working in a heatwave - Meanwhile, a new governmental decree that comes into force on 1st July will require employers to make necessary adjustments to protect staff during a heatwave. The measures apply whenever Météo France has placed a department on a yellow, orange or red heatwave alert. Construction firms will be able to claim compensation in return for stopping work on building sites. Other firms are required to allow more flexible working arrangements, including starting the working day earlier when it is cooler, and suspending the most physically demanding tasks during the hottest hours. Access to drinking water must be guaranteed - and employers must pay particular attention to vulnerable workers such as pregnant women.
Road deaths up in Alpes-Maritimes - In other local news, the Alpes-Maritimes préfecture has announced a series of road safety awareness campaigns to mark the start of the summer season. It comes after new stats show May was a particularly deadly month on the Riviera's roads. Five people were killed in road accidents in the Alpes-Maritimes and 33 were seriously injured. That's an increase on the same figures from last year. Motorcyclists were the most vulnerable group. Meanwhile, the Var has seen a slight decline in road fatalities in the first five months of the year.
Judge found guilty of number-plate fraud - A judge at Marseille judicial court has been found guilty of fraud, for using fake vehicle licence plates to avoid paying driving fines and motorway tolls. The man admitted to about a dozen offences and was sentenced to a 14-month suspended prison sentence and his driving licence was revoked, with a ban on retaking the test for at least four months. He was also ordered to pay back €16,000. The trial was held in Nîmes, away from the area where he works, to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
Breil-sur-Roya still has no insurance - Authorities in Breil-sur-Roya are still struggling to find anyone who's willing to be the town's insurance firm The town's previous insurer, which covered all of Breil-sur-Roya's public buildings, pulled out after the substantial costs caused by Storm Alex in 2020. Since the beginning of this year, the town hasn't been covered against theft, fire and water damage.
Record results for Monaco hospitality sector - Newly released figures show 2024 was a record year for Monaco's hotel and restaurant industry, which made more than €1 billion in revenue for only the second time ever. Monaco has 306 hotels and restaurants. Turnover grew by 6% last year compared with 2023. The Monte-Carlo SBM was a big contributor to the record figures, accounting for 40% of all hotel and restaurant income in the principality. Employment in the sector is also at record levels, at almost 9,000.
BUSINESS
An escalation in the Middle East conflict could have a “huge impact on global trade”, the boss of the oil company Shell has warned. Shell, one of the biggest traders of oil and natural gas in the world, said it had contingency plans in case the conflict disrupted flows from the region. There is a risk that a blockage could shock the energy market. About a quarter of the world’s oil trade passes through the strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Oil prices have risen over the last week as the conflict has escalated.
The US Federal Reserve has decided to leave its key interest rate unchanged, even as officials' expectations for the economy worsened. The decision marked the fourth in a row without action, keeping the bank's influential lending rate hovering around 4.3%, where it has stood since December. It comes despite forecasts from policymakers suggesting they expect slower growth, higher unemployment and faster inflation than they did just a few months ago.
Meanwhile, TikTok will live on for at least another three months in the United States, as President Donald Trump is poised to extend a sale or ban deadline for the third time since taking office this year. The popular video sharing app was supposed to be banned in the US after its Chinese owner, ByteDance, refused to sell it to a US buyer by a January deadline. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the 90-day extension would "ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure."
SPORT
Basketball - A majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise is being sold in what will mark the most expensive sale of a US sports team in history. The Buss family has owned the team - one of the most iconic in sports globally - since 1979 and now has made a deal with Chelsea co-owner Mark Walter. The sale is reportedly worth an estimated $10 billion. Walter also has a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Dodgers, the professional US baseball team that won the World Series last year.
Meanwhile, tensions in British basketball have intensified with the British Basketball Federation attempting to block four of the country’s leading clubs from competing in Europe next season. According to reports, the BBF is refusing to endorse applications for European places made by Manchester Basketball, London Lions, Newcastle Eagles and Bristol Flyers, which has put their participation at risk.
Football - Defender Willy Boly has signed a new one-year contract with Nottingham Forest that keeps him at the club until the summer of 2026. The 34-year-old Ivory Coast international first joined the Premier League club in 2022 and has gone on to make 45 appearances and has scored three goals. He made seven appearances for the club last season when they finished seventh in the Premier League.
In other transfer news, Premier League holders Liverpool are prepared to break the British transfer record to sign Newcastle's Alexander Isak this summer. The Sweden striker, 25, has been a star for Newcastle since he joined in 2022 and was instrumental to the Magpies winning the EFL Cup last season. The current British transfer record is £107m, which Chelsea paid for Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandes in the winter transfer window in 2023.
WEATHER
It should start fine and sunny today, with light winds, clouding over on the Alpes-Maritimes coast later this afternoon with the risk of some thundery showers inland in the Alpes-Maritimes and western parts of the Var. Temperatures this afternoon getting up to 30 degrees Celsius on the coast and 34 inland in the Var. There'll be clear skies tonight, staying warm overnight with temperatures not going below 25 on the Alpes-Maritimes coast and 20 inland. The outlook for the weekend... more of the same, generally fine and sunny on the coast on Saturday with just some occasional light cloud. Still the chance of thundery showers inland. The same again on Sunday, fine and sunny except in some inland parts of the Var and Alpes-Maritimes where there's a risk of some more thunderstorms. Temperatures on both Saturday and Sunday around 28 degrees Celsius on the coast and 31 inland in the Var.
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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