National News
French President under increasing pressure to address the French public - French President Emmanuel Macron is under increasing pressure to address the French public amid concerns that a political deadlock will make the nation ungovernable. Macron is yet to comment publicly after withstanding the much-anticipated far-right surge in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, although there was no overall winner. His silence comes despite fears a hung parliament with barely any ideological overlap will see uncertainty reign. The Left-wing New Popular Front unexpectedly won 188 seats, 27 ahead of Mr Macron’s centrists, with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally further behind in third. Macron’s only intervention since the vote has been to refuse the resignation of his prime minister. Gabriel Attal, offered to stand down on Monday barely six months after his appointment, but the Elysee said France’s youngest ever premier will stay in post ‘for the time being’.
Airport workers to strike ahead of games - Meanwhile, in other news nationally French airport workers are planning strike action next week, just nine days before the Olympic Games begin in Paris. Unions are demanding that all staff receive a bonus because the Games take place during the summer holidays.
Local News
Elderly person dies after being hit by a train - An elderly person has died after being hit by a train in the Var. The tragic incident occurred at the Solliès-pont train station on Monday morning. Emergency services were quick to in intervene but were unable to save the victim. Train Traffic was disrupted in both directions. An investigation is underway.
Drug network dismantled - A major drug network between the Var and the Alpes Maritime has been dismantled by police. Two vehicles and a boat were seized seven weapons, and a large amount of cannabis and cocaine were found. Five people aged between 24 and 34 were placed in police custody, in connection with the ongoing investigation.
Prefect of the Vaucluse declares state of natural disaster - Following the summer 2023 drought; the prefect of Vaucluse has declared 43 communes in the department as being in a state of natural disaster due to drought. Affected residents have until August 1st to report their damages to their insurance companies. The official decree was published on July 2, 2024. For the full list of communes concerned go to rivieraradio.mc news Monday 8th July.
Rugby summer camp - Does your child want to improve their rugby skills? This summer, the RCT is organizing a full-board summer rugby camp. The Toulon club offers two full board stays with the aim of improving rugby skill in children aged 9 and over. The first will take place between July 22nd and 26th and the second will take place from July 29th to August 2nd.
Sir Elton John shopping in Nice - Sir Elton John paid a visit on Monday to trainer shop “Sugarkikz” in Nice, which specializes in limited editions. However, the young Lebanese owner 22-year-old Ryan Sukkar, was completely unaware of who he was and mistook the singer for an Australian tourist even asking him “what he did for a living”. Apparently the singer accompanied by his two young sons, who had attended Saturday night’s Travis Scott concert in Nice, was buying trainers for them. Described by the shop owner as “approachable and friendly” Sir Elton explained to Ryan that he indeed spent summers here in Mont Boron and when asked what he did? told him “I'm Elton John” to which Ryan immediately took his phone to Google his name, and only then did he realise the international star who had been in his store.
Be careful what you take home from the beach - Finally, holidaymakers have been reminded to pay particular attention when collecting certain items from the beach, as certain laws in France regulate what you can and cannot take home. For example, the environmental code in France states that taking sand and pebbles from a coastline can cost you up to 1,500 euros and the same applies for empty shells. It would however appear that there are no official regulations concerning the collection of driftwood, albeit in moderation. And the regulations do not just apply to France. It was just last summer that a French tourist was arrested on the Italian island of Sardinia by customs officers who found 41 kg of stones and pebbles in the boot of his vehicle before boarding a ferry for Nice. Leaving him with a hefty fine and a few years earlier, it was a couple who were arrested and fined after sand was found in the boot of their car.
Business
According to Barclays credit card spending in the UK has fallen for the first time in more than three years. Last month’s data showed that it's the first time there's been a drop in card spending values since February 2021. Barclays attribute it to consumer cutbacks in addition to sharp falls in food inflation. Most shoppers (65%) said they're cutting weekly grocery spend and more than half are looking for loyalty scheme discounts and other shop deals.
Rival to Tesla and China's biggest electric car maker BYD has agreed a $1bn (£780m) deal to build a manufacturing plant in Turkey. The new plant will be capable of making up to 150,000 vehicles a year and the facility is expected to start production by the end of 2026 and create around 5,000 jobs. The announcement comes as Chinese EV makers face increasing pressure in the European Union and the US.
The Federal Aviation Administration in the US has said that it is requiring inspections of 2,600 Boeing 737 airplanes because passenger oxygen masks could fail during an emergency due to a retention strap. The FAA said it was requiring the inspections of 737 MAX and Next Generation airplanes after multiple reports of passenger service unit oxygen generators shifting out of position.
And – Carlsberg has bought soft drink giant Britvic for £3.3 billion in a move partly driven by Gen-Z turning their backs on alcohol. Britvic produces popular beverages including J2O, Robinsons squash and Tango. According to Carlsberg the trend in younger people drinking habits had influenced its decision.
Sport
Tennis - Novak Djokovic has accused some of the spectators on Centre Court of booing him during his straight-sets win on Monday evening. The seven-time champion turned his on-court interview into a rant, but it seemed the crowd were simply cheering 'Ruuuuuuune' for his opponent but Djokovic, as he often does, saw things differently. Djokovic is attempting to win a joint record eighth Wimbledon men's title and is a nine-time finalist at the tournament. But his relationship with the crowd has not always been as easy one.
Football - This evening in the Euro 2024 France will play Spain in the semi-final. Kick-off is at 9pm French time. Ahead of the match France’s Didier Deschamps has said that people who are bored with his team's style of play can watch something else instead of this evening’s semi-final. Les Bleus have been criticised by some for a lack of entertainment in their matches, with BBC pundit and former Premier League striker Chris Sutton last week saying he would "close the curtains" if they were playing in his back garden. It comes after France have reached the last four of the Euros with none of their players scoring a goal from open play. Their three goals have been two own goals and a penalty scored by Kylian Mbappe in the 1-1 draw with Poland in the group stage.
Cricket – It’s been announced that pace bowler Gus Atkinson will make his Test debut in England's series opener against West Indies at Lord's on Wednesday.
Golf - Keegan Bradley will captain the United States in the 2025 Ryder Cup against Europe. The 38-year-old was not the PGA of America's first choice for the role but has accepted it after 15-time major champion Tiger Woods turned it down.
Weather
Sunny with lights winds. 27 degrees in Nice. 28 degrees in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Monaco. 34 degrees in Saint-Tropez and Draguignan. 30 degrees in Cannes. This evening going down to 19 degrees with clear skies.
The outlook for Wednesday and Thursday, remaining fine with a peak in temperatures tomorrow reaching 37 degrees along the coast in the Var and 30 degrees in Nice. Thursday highs of 29 degrees.
Sunrise 5.57am
Sunset 9.13pm
Sea temperature
Monaco
UV level 9
Weather elsewhere
Liverpool 22° thundery showers.
Palma 29° sunny.
Berlin 31° sunny.
The Alpes-Maritimes department is tackling "ghost fishing nets," abandoned plastic nets that harm marine ecosystems. ...
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The French government has claimed that Benjamin Netanyahu has immunity from arrest warrants which have been issued by the international criminal court...
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A criminal network that cloned payment cards to steal "hundreds of thousands of euros" from trucking companies across France, including the Côte d’Azu...
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The CGT has released a map detailing nearly 200,000 jobs threatened across France due to layoffs and industrial restructuring since September 2023, wi...
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The A8 motorway was temporarily closed at the La Barque toll plaza toward Nice due to a vehicle driving the wrong way near Aix-en-Provence....
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