Most of the southern half of France, including the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, is under Meteo France warnings for high temperatures today. It said that very high temperatures are expected until Thursday morning in the south of the country, temporarily extending to the north during the week. Yesterday afternoon temperatures were recorded of 31 to 35°C in the southwest, 33 to 39°C from the Gard to the Var, 30 to 36 degrees in Corsica, and 28 to 33°C in the rest of the south of the country. Meteo France said that the heatwave is the result of “a very hot air mass from Spain”.
Over a thousand people have attended a tribute to the seven people who lost their lives in a fire in Nice recently. The gathering was held at the Palais Nikaia on Saturday and included addresses by Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi and members of the families of the victims.
Two people have drowned in separate incidents yesterday along the coast. A woman in her seventies drowned at Martigues in the Bouches-du-Rhone yesterday afternoon. The other incident was at La Ciotat where a woman in her sixties drowned. Meanwhile, a man in his twenties was found in the water unconscious in Marseille yesterday. He had jumped about 15 metres into the sea. Authorities said that he was in cardiac arrest and he’s in a serious condition in La Timone hospital.
The French Council of State has confirmed the right of authorities in Nice to impose a curfew on under 13 year olds. The curfew prevents under 13’s from being on public roads without an adult from 11pm to 6am until the end of the summer in certain districts. It had been challenged by a human rights organization.
Olympic Games organisers have said they are sorry that some scenes in Friday's opening ceremony caused offence. A banquet sequence featuring drag artists in particular came in for criticism from Christian groups, who felt it parodied Leonardo da Vinci's painting 'The Last Supper'. The Catholic Church in France said that the ceremony featured "scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity". However, the ceremony's artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said there was no intention to "mock or denigrate anyone" and said that the scene in question was designed to reference pagan gods.
One person has died in a fire in an apartment block in Paris. According to local reports, the person jumped from the sixth floor of the building in the 18th arrondissement in an attempt to escape the blaze. Several others were treated for smoke inhalation.
BUSINESS
Port operators in the UK are reportedly intending to seek compensation from the government if trade barriers with the EU are lowered. According to the Financial Times, the British Ports Association has written to the UK government to say that its members need to be compensated if checks on animal and plant products are removed, after spending large sums on constructing check point facilities under the previous government. The new Labour government has said that it will seek to limit what it calls unnecessary border checks to keep down the cost of imports.
Meanwhile, the UK’s trade with Germany is continuing to improve, according to figures from Germany’s Federal Statistics Agency quoted by the FT. Germany was the UK’s ninth largest trading partner over most of the first half of the year. Two way trade between the two nations totalled 49.5 billion euros between January and May, up from 48.2 billion in the same period last year.
SPORT
Olympics... In the tennis at the Olympics, Andy Murray and Dan Evans won their doubles opener in dramatic fashion, having saved five match points. Dan Evans had previously battled injury in the singles to eventually defeat Tunisia's Moez Echargui, 6-2 4-6 6-2. Earlier in the day yesterday, Cameron Norrie withdrew from the men’s singles because of injury. Coco Gauff and Rafael Nadal were also victorious in their matches.
Adam Peaty won a silver in the 100m breaststroke, missing gold by just 0.02 seconds last night.
There was equestrian controversy, as Great Britain's huge lead in the team eventing standings was reduced by a jumping penalty against Ros Canter. Team GB are looking to defend their Olympic title for the first time since 1972.
Kimberley Woods earned Team GB's third medal of the Games in spectacular style. She won canoe slalom bronze. There were mixed fortunes for some other Team GB athletes with judoka Chelsie Giles suffering a surprise exit after a golden score defeat by Brazil's Larissa Pim-enta.
There was also disappointment for Rosie Eccles in the boxing as she fell at the first hurdle, after losing to Poland's Aneta Ry-giel-ska.
The French volleyball team started their campaign with a win and France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won gold in mountain biking.
Motorsports...Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday in unusual circumstances. George Russell was first over the finish line but was disqualified later. His car was found to be 1.5kg underweight, with his team admitting to "a genuine error". That saw Hamilton promoted to first place. It also meant that Oscar Piastri moved up to second, with Charles Leclerc third and Max Verstappen fourth.
Cricket...England have beaten the West Indies in the Third Test with Mark Wood taking five wickets. England wrapped up the series 3-0 with an emphatic 10-wicket win.
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The trial of the Tunisian man accused of the murder of three people in the Nice Basilica attack is continuing in Paris. Yesterday the families of the ...
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