News
14-year-old shot dead in Marseille - A 14-year-old teenager has been shot dead and two other minors injured, including an 8-year-old child in Marseille. The shooting occurred on Wednesday evening in the 14th arrondissement of the city. According to police two individuals on a motorcycle shot at the victim before fleeing. The investigation has been handed over to the federal police.
The city of Marronniers, is one of the most deprived areas of the city. Several homicides by gunfire have taken place in recent months in France's second largest city in neighbourhoods affected by drug trafficking. According to figures from the police headquarters in mid-August eleven people have officially died since the start of the year in settlements of accounts.
Update from the Var on the wildfire – An update published this morning from the Var prefecture has declared that 6,300 hectares have been destroyed by the fire since Monday August 16th, with the flames covering an area of more than 7,000 hectares.
Two deaths are to be deplored and 7 firemen are slightly injured. The fire did not progress last night, and the weather conditions are improving. Today will be "decisive" on the fire front, announced the prefecture.
Nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated since Monday evening. About fifty houses have been affected by the flames.
Several departmental roads are still closed in the Var. 1,109 firefighters, 250 engines, two Canadairs, two water bomber helicopters and 130 reinforcements from other departments are on site.
Road conditions:
Traffic is restored in both directions on the RD98 between La Môle and Cogolin.
RD 33 (Le Luc-Les Mayons): closed to traffic
RD 75 (between RD33/RD75 junction and La Garde-Freinet): closed to traffic
RD 558 (Le Cannet-des-Maures - La Garde-Freinet): closed to traffic
RD 558 (La Garde-Freinet - Grimaud) : Reopened to traffic
RD 14 (Grimaud) : closed to traffic
RD 2048 (Grimaud) : closed to traffic
RD 27 (Rayol-Canadel - La Môle) : Reopened to traffic
RD 98 (Bormes-les-Mimosas - La Môle): Reopened to traffic
RD 98 (La Môle - Cogolin): Reopened to traffic
RD 48 (Vidauban - La Garde-Freinet): closed to traffic
RD 74 (Vidauban - La Garde-Freinet): closed to traffic
RD 75 (La Garde-Freinet) : closed to traffic
Hope returned this morning at Le Luc, among the firefighters, who have been fighting the fire since Monday. "The night was calm," says Colonel Eric Grohin, director of SDIS 83. The temperature dropped to 13 degrees.
Solidarity - Meanwhile calls for help and solidarity are flourishing on social networks, to help those who have lost everything in the fire. Namely the Ranch de la Mène, based in Grimaud in the Var, which was totally destroyed by the flames. There is almost nothing left of the structure, which was at the same time an equestrian center, an educational farm and a "western" restaurant.
Years of work went up in smoke for Anne and Giono Colanesi, who bought and developed the establishment in 2003. Fortunately, the owners had time to save their animals (horses, rabbits, bulls, goats, ducks, chickens ...) and put them in a safe place. But everything remains to be rebuilt. So they have launched an appeal for help and donations: explaining on their facebook page that they "need donations such as grain, hay, riding equipment which is no longer used, buckets, wheelbarrows etc."
In addition an appeal has also been relayed by the Decathlon stores in Fréjus and Trans-en-Provence, which are collecting donations for the Ranch de la Mène, but also for the stables of Anais Pradel located in Le Luc, whose paddocks were badly damaged by the fire.
And the city of Cogolin affected by the fire, is looking for volunteers to temporarily house victims who lost their homes or were evacuated from campsites. Finally, several Facebook groups are launching calls to find animals lost by their owners because of the fire. With the evacuations in a hurry because of the advancing flames, many are looking for their cats, dogs or other pets. A vast mutual aid between riders has also been launched to find lost horses.
France’s places Morocco and Algeria on red travel list - France has placed Morocco and Algeria on its red travel list, due to the outbreak of covid contaminations. Both countries
are now classified as "countries where the virus is circulating in an active way with worrying variants". The new measure will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic and will come into force on Saturday August 21st.
The two countries were previously placed on the orange list, and now join Tunisia, which has been on the red list since July 18th. Non-vaccinated people coming from Morocco or Algeria will not be able to enter France, unless they have a compelling reason; in which case for the non-vaccinated individuals, they will have to undergo an antigenic test upon their arrival in France as well as a mandatory and controlled isolation of 10 days.
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo takes a break in Monaco - Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has been relaxing on a yacht here in the port of Monaco. It was the footballer's girlfriend, Georgina Rodriguez, who posted a photo of the couple relaxing on the deck of a yacht moored in the port. Ronaldo has been in Monaco for the past few days. On Instagram, his partner Georgina Rodriguez posted a series of photos of her on the deck of a yacht moored, without giving any geographical indication.
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