Local train strike –Train travel across the Alpes-Maritimes will be disrupted tomorrow by industrial action. TER services will be hit, with just one-in-two trains operating between Les Arcs and Ventimille; and one-in-four between Nice and Tende. TGV and Intercity services will not be affected by the strike.
Child “arsonist” held – A 14-year-old boy is being held in custody, suspected of lighting a massive forest fire in Provence. Seven hundred firefighters from across the south-east finally brought the blaze under control yesterday, after it burnt a thousand hectares, destroying around 400 hectares of forest and two houses. It is believed the boy lit the fire near a camping ground at Orgon in the early hours of Sunday; he has also been linked to a number of other deliberately lit blazes in the region earlier in the summer.
Storms close beaches – Two beaches at Saint-Laurent du Var have been closed to bathers since Sunday. Saturday night’s storm and heavy rain created strong currents and stirred up a lot of mud. The outflow of the Var river now flows directly into the sea at the Cousteau and Landsberg beaches after storms last year created a new natural barrier changing the course of the river.
Elderly jump threat – There was drama in Cagnes-sur-Mer yesterday when an elderly man threatened to jump from the balcony of his fourth floor apartment. The 80-year-old refused attempts to relocate him to a nursing home. Relatives of the man were able to overpower him and return him inside the apartment, before he was taken to hospital in Antibes.
Nice lotto winners – A couple from Nice has become lotto millionaires. The lucky winners scooped 2.6-million euros in the Euromillions draw. The husband was named as a 30-year-old man with children, but no other details were released. The couple, who bought their ticket in the Saint-Sylvestre neighbourhood in Nice north, apparently plan to buy a house and take a holiday. It is the fourth major lottery win in Nice this year.
Source www.rivieraradio.mc