The Alpes-Maritimes, Var and Bouche-du- Rhône are bracing for a weekend of severe heat with temperatures potentially hitting 40c. In the Var, 98 municipalities have been placed on drought alert and three forest areas closed due to the risk of fires. It's expected Meteo France will raise the current yellow to orange on Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, rising Mediterranean sea temperatures continue to worry scientists, who say it could lead to the arrival of invasive species such as rabbitfish and scorpionfish, which could damage marine ecosystems. The sea, which absorbs 90% of excess heat generated by human activities, is continuing to overheat. At the weekend, a record water temperature of 30d was recorded off the coast of Nice, a full four degrees above normal.
Border police say there has been a sharp drop in illegal immigrants crossing the border from Italy into France. Since the start of the year 8,600 undocumented people have been stopped compared to 23,000 last year. Police say this is down to increased co-operation between the two countries.
Lionel Beffre has been named as the new Interior Minister in Monaco. He replaces Patrice Cellario who is retiring after 42 years of service in the princely government.The next government council is scheduled to meet in mid-September.
BUSINESS
Australian airline Qantas says it will slash the exit package of its former chief executive Alan Joyce after a series of scandals and legal cases which resulted from decisions made during his time in charge. His payout of AU$21 will be reduced by AU$9m. The airline also said, other current and former senior executives, will see their short-term incentives cut by a full third.
Stock markets remain volatile this morning. Asian markets have led a sell off of tech stocks overnight as indexes fell 1% to 2% in Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere.
Ruja Ignatova, also known as the ‘Queen of Crypto’ has had a global freezing order placed on her today, preventing any assets from being sold or moved. She’s accused of operating a scam called ‘OneCoin’ which defrauded investors worldwide. The FBI is offering a $5 million dollar reward for information on the whereabouts of Ms Ignatova who has not been seen since she stepped off a Ryanair flight in Athens more than six years ago.
SPORT
On the Olympics medal table, the USA, China and Australia maintain their placings in the Top 3 with France just behind in fourth and Great Britain fifth.
Yesterday, American Noah Lyles set up a chance to become the first man since Usain Bolt to complete an Olympic sprint ‘double’ after qualifying for the 200m final in Paris. On Sunday he won the 100m gold by five-thousandths of a second in a dramatic photo finish with Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. The 200m final takes place tonight at 8.30.
In Olympic golf, France's Celine Boutier is the runaway leader in the women's competition with a three-shot lead after the first round. Britain's Georgia Hall is down the leaderboard, tied 30th at two over.
Today, we have 25 gold medals up for grabs in events including taekwondo and diving, with a big program of athletics and boxing for later.
Tennis - Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the US Open saying he would not be able to give 100%. Nadal, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Olympic singles has only played at the US Open once in the last five years.
Football - Arsenal continued their pre-season preparations with an impressive 4-1 win over German champions Bayer Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium. They play at home again on Sunday when they face Lyon in the Emirates Cup.
France captain Kylian Mbappé has completed his first training session with Real Madrid yesterday. It’s expected he’ll play his first game against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup next week.
WEATHER
Another hot day with afternoon highs of 30d but it will feel hotter than that.
Tonight, not much respite from the heat, with overnight lows between 26 and 28d.
Outlook for the coming days, is that its going to get even hotter with highs of 34 forecast for the weekend.
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