PARIS –  France’s high-speed TGV rail service is expected to return to normal by Monday, the government and railway operator said, a day after sabotaged signal stations and cables caused widespread chaos hours before the Paris Olympics opened.

“The complete return to normal is expected for Monday,” Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete told journalists on Saturday. Vergriete said security on the network was strengthened, with 250 personnel and 50 surveillance drones deployed along with police helicopters.

The attacks raised security concerns as the French capital hosts the world’s largest sporting event. While an investigation is under way, the authorities have not identified the perpetrators.  “Who is responsible? Either it’s from within, or it’s been ordered from abroad, it’s too early to say,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France 2 television.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the widespread disruption. Railway company SNCF said it had made progress in partially restoring services. But there were widespread delays and cancellations.

SNCF said its agents worked through the night in adverse weather conditions to improve traffic from the north, east and west to Paris. As of Saturday morning, normal service had resumed on the eastern high-speed line.  “On the north, Brittany and southwest high-speed lines, seven out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of one to two hours,” SNCF said. (Al Jazeera) …[+]

LISBON – An easyJet co-pilot has been rushed to hospital after fainting on a flight from London to Lisbon. The incident happened today on a plane with 193 passengers on board. It was not immediately clear what airport the plane had left from, although it is thought to have been London Luton.

Local reports are saying the pilot landed the aircraft without any problems and his colleague was attended to by paramedics on the runway before being taken to Lisbon’s Santa Maria Hospital. EasyJet has been approached for a comment.

A Ryanair plane had to make an emergency landing at Faro Airport last December after the pilot fell ill. The aircraft was heading from London Stansted to Morocco. The pilot told passengers before landing that he wasn’t feeling well and the diversion triggered a ‘red alert’ at the airport.  A spokesman for Ryanair said at the time: ‘This flight from Stansted to Morocco diverted to Faro when one of the pilots became ill. ‘The aircraft landed normally, and passengers were transferred to an alternative aircraft operated by another crew before continuing to Morocco.’ Last April a packed easyJet plane heading to Agadir in Morocco from London Gatwick had to divert to Faro.

Local reports at the time said the flight diversion was the result of the pilot suffering an ‘indisposition’, and led to an identical red alert being activated before the Airbus A320 was landed safely.  EasyJet said in a comment at the time: ‘easyJet can confirm that flight EZY6469 from London Gatwick to Agadir on 21 April diverted to Faro due to the First Officer requiring medical assistance.

‘The Captain performed a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by medical services on arrival in Faro. ‘A replacement crew was arranged and passengers have since continued their journey to Agadir. We apologise for any inconvenience experienced due to the diversion and resulting delay.’ ‘The safety and well-being of its passengers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority.’ (Dailymail.co) …[+]

GAZA –  At least 30 people have been killed and over 100 injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Deir-al Balah, central Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The Israeli military it had launched the strike in order to destroy a Hamas command and control center inside the compound. Most of the victims from the school arriving to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the aftermath of the attack were women and children, according to Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, a spokesperson for the hospital. More than 4,000 displaced people were housed in the school, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.

The strike came soon after Israeli’s military issued fresh evacuation orders further south, in the city of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a fresh offensive earlier in the week which has killed dozens of Palestinians.  Residents in southern neighborhoods were told to leave after being warned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “forcefully operate” in the area.

Fighting has been ongoing on Gaza for months, and the renewed offensive shows Israel’s challenges in achieving its goal of eliminating Hamas. Israel said that about 100 militants had been killed during recent fighting.  The United Nations estimated that about 150,000 people fled Khan Younis on Monday alone, intensifying pressure on meager supplies of food and water, and places to seek shelter.

Signaling another campaign was imminent, the IDF wrote on Telegram it was “about to forcefully operate against the terrorist organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population left in the southern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi.”

The statement said the move was in retaliation to “significant terrorist activity and rocket fire” emanating from southern Khan Younis. It added that the location previously defined as a humanitarian area “will be adjusted.” Al-Mawasi has come under repeated Israeli attacks, including a strike on July 14 which reportedly killed 90 people and injured 300 more. An eyewitness in Khan Younis told CNN that she was “woken up by the screams” of people as they fled the area following the evacuation order, saying she heard explosions and saw flares in the sky. (CNN) …[+]