heat

Record-smashing US heat wave surges from West to East

  • The phenomenon known as a heat dome has already shattered all-time temperature records in western states, including 111F (44C) in Billings, Montana, where the previous record was 108F, and 109F in Salt Lake City, where the previous one was 107F. Extreme heat and humidity persist in the west but are now expanding to the densely populated East Coast, which also faced brutal temperatures earlier in the month.
  • A record-smashing heat wave was spreading Tuesday from the West toward the East Coast, placing nearly 100 million Americans under heat alerts.
  • The phenomenon known as a heat dome has already shattered all-time temperature records in western states, including 111F (44C) in Billings, Montana, where the previous record was 108F, and 109F in Salt Lake City, where the previous one was 107F. Extreme heat and humidity persist in the west but are now expanding to the densely populated East Coast, which also faced brutal temperatures earlier in the month.
A record-smashing heat wave was spreading Tuesday from the West toward the East Coast, placing nearly 100 million Americans under heat alerts.
The phenomenon known as a heat dome has already shattered all-time temperature records in western states, including 111F (44C) in Billings, Montana, where the previous record was 108F, and 109F in Salt Lake City, where the previous one was 107F.
Extreme heat and humidity persist in the west but are now expanding to the densely populated East Coast, which also faced brutal temperatures earlier in the month.
"Above average temperatures and dangerous levels of heat are forecast to enter the Northeast on Tuesday before the most intense heat occurs on Wednesday and expands into the Mid-Atlantic," said the National Weather Service.
Cities from Richmond, Virginia, to Boston, Massachusetts, are set to see temperatures soar from the upper 90s to near 100 degrees, with daily highs under threat.
Cooler temperatures are expected to follow by the end of the week.
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group released an analysis showing the hot and humid conditions in the earlier East Coast hot spell -- which fell as America celebrated its 250th anniversary on July 4th -- would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change.
Heat domes can cause "dry thunderstorms," in which rain evaporates before hitting the ground and lightning strikes are liable to trigger wildfires, as much of the western United States is already experiencing drought conditions.
Scientists say a brewing "super" El Nino in the equatorial Pacific could also be influencing the heat dome.
Record-warm sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific are shifting where tropical storms form and release energy, which in turn is distorting the jet stream over the western US and allowing hot air to get trapped in place.
US forecasters expect El Nino to peak between October-December at potentially record-breaking levels, with the strongest spike in temperature to follow in 2027.
Compounded with human-induced climate change, the last El Nino contributed to making 2023 the second-hottest year on record and 2024 the all-time high.
ia/dw

fire

Fire ravages popular forest outside Paris

BY MADELEINE DE BLIC

  • France is sweltering in the third major heatwave in less than two months, with Paris expected to see temperatures of 35C Tuesday and a slight respite only expected later in the week.
  • Hundreds of French firefighters aided by water bombers on Tuesday battled to control wildfires ravaging a hugely popular forest outside Paris as another scorching heatwave keeps the capital in its grip.
  • France is sweltering in the third major heatwave in less than two months, with Paris expected to see temperatures of 35C Tuesday and a slight respite only expected later in the week.
Hundreds of French firefighters aided by water bombers on Tuesday battled to control wildfires ravaging a hugely popular forest outside Paris as another scorching heatwave keeps the capital in its grip.
The sprawling Fontainebleau forest, around 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of the capital, is a former royal hunting ground that now draws hikers, nature lovers and climbers who come from around the world to tackle its famous boulders.
Authorities believe the fires may have been started deliberately and six people have been arrested as part of the investigation, including a volunteer firefighter who has admitted to his actions, the regional prosecutor said.
The fires, which erupted Sunday, have scorched around 2,050 hectares (5,000 acres) -- an area roughly three times the size of Gibraltar, authorities said.
With around 850 firefighters battling the flames with the help of specialised Canadair aircraft, authorities are hoping to control the fires during the day.
The fire "is no longer spreading" and "is contained", but "must now be stabilised", Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFMTV.
"The weather has improved slightly over the last few hours," said Pierre Ory, the prefect of the Seine-et-Marne area, describing a "decisive day" following "a difficult night for firefighters".
While Monday was marked by wind gusts, the wind has "largely died down", he added.
France is sweltering in the third major heatwave in less than two months, with Paris expected to see temperatures of 35C Tuesday and a slight respite only expected later in the week.

Risky environment

Firefighters are battling two main fires, including one in the la Faisanderie area, usually thronged with visitors in summer, not far from the town of Fontainebleau.
A fire that broke out on Sunday has burned through approximately 1,600 hectares, while the second, which started on Monday afternoon, "covered a significant area overnight" and now spans 450 hectares, according to Ory.
In a landscape of outstanding natural beauty, the fire has left behind scenes of desolation, with charred trees and soot-covered ground. Small fires reignite as the wind fans the flames back to life.
France on Tuesday celebrated its Bastille Day national holiday, which is usually accompanied by evening fireworks.
With the new heatwave, various towns across the country have cancelled their firework displays, but many are usually set off illegally.
This year's celebrations coincide with a World Cup semi-final in which France take on Spain in the evening local time, which will likely see fans spilling onto the streets.
The fires have forced around 1,000 people in and around Fontainebleau to flee their homes.
"The first night was very stressful and with the fire bearing down on our homes, we were afraid they would burn," said Nicolas Tournier, a resident of the village of Le Vaudoue, who is waiting to be able to return home.

Six held

According to Fontainebleau prosectotor Diane Ngomsik, the six arrested include a local volunteer firefighter who confessed to "setting fire to twigs using a lighter and petrol" and a second suspect who admitted to "accidentally starting a fire by discarding a cigarette" at another site.
The forest sees 15 million visitors each year, making it vulnerable to fires -- quite apart from its sandy soil and vegetation which includes ferns and highly flammable conifers.
The scale of the fire led to the deployment of four Canadair water-bombing aircraft for the first time in the greater Paris region -- as well as two Dash planes and three helicopters.
A total of 187 water drops were carried out on Monday, said the commander of the rescue operations, Jean-Marc Sicard.
According to Nunez, 32,000 hectares across France have been hit by fires since the beginning of the year -- more than during the entire 2025 fire season.
As well as the warmer south, fires have also hit cooler regions such as Brittany in the west, where a fire that swept across 38 hectares of heathland on Cap Frehel has now been brought under control.
ktr-sb-alc-sjw/pdw

construction

Dua Lipa backs Albanian protests against Trump-linked resort

  • "I find it so inspiring to see how much people really care," referring to the daily demonstrations.
  • British singer Dua Lipa said in a podcast published Tuesday that the protest movement in Albania was "inspiring", as demonstrations against a resort linked to US President Donald Trump's family rattle the Tirana government.
  • "I find it so inspiring to see how much people really care," referring to the daily demonstrations.
British singer Dua Lipa said in a podcast published Tuesday that the protest movement in Albania was "inspiring", as demonstrations against a resort linked to US President Donald Trump's family rattle the Tirana government.
Since late May, protests have been held against the planned construction of a luxury hotel linked to Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner in a nature reserve on the country's coast.
Lipa, speaking on her Service95 Book Club podcast with Albanian author Lea Ypi, said she shared the protesters' concerns about the government's transparency in approving the development.
"What I actually find concerning is the principle that the government could just change the law to remove the environmental protection without any kind of public consultation," said the 30-year-old, who has Kosovan-Albanian parents.
"I find it so inspiring to see how much people really care," referring to the daily demonstrations.
The singer also said it was clear that the problem was structural and there was a need to rebuild "in a way that supports the people".
The planned resort was first unveiled in 2024, but the latest wave of protests began after barbed-wire fencing and bulldozers appeared on beaches in late May.
Opposition to the project has become a flashpoint for frustrations over perceived corruption, with demands now including the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The musician's comments were welcomed by local environmental activist Besjana Gurri, who told AFP it was a "powerful message" to the Albanian government.
"I am confident that her voice will help bring greater international attention to this fight and amplify the concerns of the people protesting in Tirana."
bme-al/pdw

environment

Dangote's mega oil project threatens fragile Kenyan ecosystem: Greenpeace

  • Greenpeace Africa called for the $17-billion project to be suspended pending an independent environmental assessment before any approvals are granted.
  • Climate rights group Greenpeace Africa called on Tuesday for a halt to a proposed mega oil refinery project by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, in Kenya's coastal region, warning of environmental risks.
  • Greenpeace Africa called for the $17-billion project to be suspended pending an independent environmental assessment before any approvals are granted.
Climate rights group Greenpeace Africa called on Tuesday for a halt to a proposed mega oil refinery project by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, in Kenya's coastal region, warning of environmental risks.
The east African oil refinery, with a planned capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, was confirmed earlier this month to be located at Kenya's Lamu port, ending months of speculation that Tanzania could host the project.
"This project threatens to damage one of East Africa's most fragile coastal ecosystems while locking Kenya into a risky fossil fuel future," Sherelee Odayar, Greenpeace Africa Oil and Gas campaigner, said in a statement.
The group said the oil refinery, which is expected to take about 30 months to build, will lead to "habitat destruction, marine degradation, oil spill risk and dangerous air pollution".
"Lamu's mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds are not expendable. They support fisheries, livelihoods and coastal protection," the NGO said.
Greenpeace Africa called for the $17-billion project to be suspended pending an independent environmental assessment before any approvals are granted.
"No approvals should move forward without a full, independent environmental and social impact assessment, genuine public participation and transparent scrutiny of the long-term economic, health and ecological risks," Odayar said.
Kenyan President William Ruto has praised the project, arguing it will create jobs.
About 800,000 Kenyans join the labour market each year, according to the World Bank.
But Greenpeace said the project will only "create temporary jobs while undermining existing livelihoods in fishing, tourism and small-scale local economies".
"This refinery also risks becoming a stranded asset as the world moves toward cleaner energy. 
"It would also lock Kenya into decades of carbon-intensive development, worsening climate change and its impacts," it said.
There are still many questions around the project in Kenya, not least where it will source the oil to refine and how it will be financed. 
mnk/gil

fire

Wildfires advance in forest south of Paris

BY DEBORAH CLAUDE WITH KEVIN TRUBLET IN PARIS

  • France is on Tuesday celebrating July 14 national day, which is usually accompanied by evening fireworks. 
  • Wildfires raging in a forest south of Paris have devoured more land overnight, firefighters said on Tuesday, ahead of France's national day celebrations.
  • France is on Tuesday celebrating July 14 national day, which is usually accompanied by evening fireworks. 
Wildfires raging in a forest south of Paris have devoured more land overnight, firefighters said on Tuesday, ahead of France's national day celebrations.
The fire erupted Sunday in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest some 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of the capital, former royal hunting grounds that today are dotted with quiet villages and are popular with hikers and climbers.
A second, smaller fire erupted a day later and the blazes have now scorched more than 1,900 hectares (4,700 acres) -- an area roughly three times the size of Gibraltar, firefighters said on Tuesday.
With some 850 firefighters battling the flames with the help of specialised aircraft, authorities are hoping to gain the upper hand on the flames during the day, said Paul-Edouard Laurain, spokesman for the regional firefighters.
France is on Tuesday celebrating July 14 national day, which is usually accompanied by evening fireworks. 
With the region sweltering through its third heatwave in as many months, many towns throughout France have cancelled their annual firework displays, but many are usually set off illegally.
This year's celebrations coincide with a World Cup semifinal match in which France is taking on Spain in the evening local time and which, win or lose, will likely see fans spilling outside to either celebrate or mourn once the final whistle blows.
The fires have forced some 1,000 people in and around Fontainebleau to flee their homes.
Authorities are probing whether the fires were started deliberately and two people have been arrested on suspicion of arson. 
The scale of the fire led to the deployment of four Canadair aircraft -- an unprecedented move in the greater Paris region -- as well as two Dash planes and three water-bombing helicopters. 
A total of 187 water drops were carried out by Monday evening, said the commander of the rescue operations, Jean-Marc Sicard. 
burs/yad/st

climate

Wildlife rescuers help birds survive Pakistan's hotter summers

BY GLENDA KWEK AND MUHAMMAD DAUD

  • The birds themselves also get burned a little," says Ahmed.
  • Cradling an Asian koel in his hands, wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed gently stretched its wings as part of a health checkup to rehabilitate birds hit with dehydration or heatstroke in Pakistan's capital.
  • The birds themselves also get burned a little," says Ahmed.
Cradling an Asian koel in his hands, wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed gently stretched its wings as part of a health checkup to rehabilitate birds hit with dehydration or heatstroke in Pakistan's capital.
Pakistan -- one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change -- experienced its second-warmest year since 1960 in 2025, according to government data.
Temperatures in Islamabad this summer have pushed past 40C.
"In the past, because of kite flying, the string used to damage their wings," said Sakhawat Ali, director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board which oversees the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Centre in Islamabad.
"But for the last one or two years, most of the cases we have been receiving involve birds that are dehydrated and suffering from heat stress."
The wildlife rescue centre, located at the foot of the Margalla Hills, was once the site of the notorious Islamabad Zoo where neglected elephants and underfed lions were kept in cages.
The zoo was shuttered in 2020.
On the overgrown grounds where large dinosaur sculptures still stand, wild animals have been brought in for rehabilitation from across Pakistan, including bears and monkeys abused by their private owners.
Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change.
Ahmed said the centre can receive up to 30 calls a day in summer from locals about distressed wildlife, including birds, adding that their top priorities are to provide medical attention, food and water.
The feathered creatures are kept in quarantine, sometimes for several weeks, until they are fit to be released.
Birds face the heightened threat of forest fires, which can overlap with their breeding seasons, Ahmed said.
"Birds' nests also get burned. The birds themselves also get burned a little," says Ahmed. "So their entire habitat is being destroyed."
Ali encouraged residents to put out bowls of water for their friendly fowls to drink, bathe and keep cool.
The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, a government agency, is looking into whether climate change is disrupting birds' breeding seasons and food sources, which could diminish their populations.
grk/je/hol/cms

politics

Trump slashes two Utah protected areas by more than 90%

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • - Legal challenge certain - The fossil-rich Grand Staircase-Escalante, which covers 1.9 million acres, was established as a monument in 1996 under then-president Bill Clinton.
  • President Donald Trump on Monday signed executive orders slashing two national monuments in Utah to roughly a tenth of their current size, throwing open millions of acres of protected land to fossil fuel extraction and mining.
  • - Legal challenge certain - The fossil-rich Grand Staircase-Escalante, which covers 1.9 million acres, was established as a monument in 1996 under then-president Bill Clinton.
President Donald Trump on Monday signed executive orders slashing two national monuments in Utah to roughly a tenth of their current size, throwing open millions of acres of protected land to fossil fuel extraction and mining.
Trump signed the proclamations at a White House gathering flanked by Republican officials including Utah's governor and two senators, who framed the move as an overdue correction of federal overreach.
"We're doing something very dramatic and very important for the people of Utah and the people of our country," said Trump.
"These monument designations are supposed to be the 'smallest area' possible to protect the antiquities, and these multi-million acre monuments that are bigger than the state of Delaware certainly do not fit that designation," added Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
"We definitely care about protecting these antiquities and will continue to do so," he added.
The move reopens a fight that has raged for a decade. 
Trump initially targeted the two monuments during his first term in 2017, before his successor, Joe Biden, restored them to their original boundaries in 2021. 
That earlier rollback cut Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 45 percent. This time the cuts go further still, at 91 percent and 90 percent respectively.
The new executive orders listed an array of critical minerals and energy reserves it said were vital to the United States' resource independence and national security.
They are the latest in a broader pattern of stripping protections for public lands and wildlife to benefit extractive industries. Last week, the administration finalized a rule redefining the word "harm" under the Endangered Species Act to exclude habitat destruction.

Legal challenge certain

The fossil-rich Grand Staircase-Escalante, which covers 1.9 million acres, was established as a monument in 1996 under then-president Bill Clinton. Bears Ears, which covers 1.35 million acres, was proclaimed in 2016 under president Barack Obama on the basis of its cultural sites sacred to Indigenous tribes.
Opponents contend Trump's moves are illegal under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
"It's crystal clear: The language of the act provides the president power to create national monuments," Thomas Delehanty, a lawyer for Earthjustice, told AFP. "It does not include a corresponding power to diminish or eliminate national monuments. Instead, only Congress can do that, with the passage of a new law."
But the Department of Justice last year issued an opinion stating that presidents can not only shrink monuments but abolish them altogether.
Earthjustice sued the first Trump administration over the issue on behalf of conservation groups, and Delehanty said they were prepared to reactivate that litigation or file a new case.
Republican-controlled Utah, meanwhile, has an ongoing case challenging Biden's restoration of the monuments. 
Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, told AFP that public lands are "part of the fabric of the United States," drawing tourism and fueling economic growth in remote regions, becoming a "renewable economic resource."
ia/mjf

fire

Wildfires ravage over 1,300 hectares of historic forest near Paris

BY DEBORAH CLAUDE WITH KEVIN TRUBLET IN PARIS

  • - Farmers help - Nunez said on an evening television news show that 59 people had been arrested across France and two in connection with the Fontainebleau fire for "deliberate or accidental arson". 
  • France on Monday battled two fires that scorched over 1,300 hectares in a forest south of Paris on Monday, as police arrested two people suspected of arson.  
  • - Farmers help - Nunez said on an evening television news show that 59 people had been arrested across France and two in connection with the Fontainebleau fire for "deliberate or accidental arson". 
France on Monday battled two fires that scorched over 1,300 hectares in a forest south of Paris on Monday, as police arrested two people suspected of arson.  
The fire erupted Sunday in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest, a former royal hunting estate that today is dotted with quiet villages, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of the capital.
As the region sweltered through its latest heatwave, the wildfire -- rare in the north of the country -- quickly spread across the UNESCO biosphere reserve, disrupting rail and road traffic during a busy holiday travel long weekend.
Throughout the day, aircraft in the skies and firefighters on the ground were trying to douse the flames.
By Monday afternoon, it had raced across almost 1,200 hectares (nearly 3,000 acres), Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
He said a second fire broke out on Monday afternoon and had ravaged about 100 hectares. Around 1,000 people in and around Fontainebleau had been evacuated.
One of the two suspects arrested is an 18-year-old man without a criminal record. His hands were covered in soot and he had a lighter when he was detained, according to a source close to the case.
Clement Boher, a 37-year-old resident, said he and his family had been on alert since he saw plumes of smoke rise about the forest on Sunday night.
"Like everyone else, we're on standby, vehicles ready and a backpack packed. All we can do is wait," he said.
The scale of the fire led to the deployment of four Canadair aircraft -- an unprecedented move in the greater Paris region -- as well as two Dash planes and three water-bombing helicopters. 
A total of 187 water drops were carried out, said the commander of the rescue operations, Jean-Marc Sicard, on site on Monday evening. 
At nightfall, around 600 firefighters remained mobilised and would be taking turns to fight the flames on the ground, he said.
"The fire is still spreading" because the weather conditions were "not very favourable" on Monday evening, despite "a brief lull," he said.

Farmers help

Nunez said on an evening television news show that 59 people had been arrested across France and two in connection with the Fontainebleau fire for "deliberate or accidental arson". 
President Emmanuel Macron said on X that all available resources had been deployed to fight what he described as "an exceptionally large wildfire".
Nunez said authorities were investigating wheterh the fire was started intentionally.
"There were about 10 fire ignition points within a perimeter of 1,000 metres, which suggests that it could have been deliberately set," he said.
France is weathering a third heatwave in less than three months, with fires raging in several parts of the country over the past week.
It is the latest such deadly episode of extreme weather, the increasing frequency of which in recent decades scientists have linked to man-made climate change.
On Sunday night, residents chipped in to help.
Farmers in tractors tugged water cisterns and aimed hoses at the blaze.
Cindy Fuyard, a 45-year-old nurse, fled her home in the village of Le Vaudoue then returned to give firefighters access to the water in her swimming pool.
"With global warming, it was to be expected," she said, referring to the forest fire so far north.

Trains resume

The fire shut the A6 motorway that leads out of Paris to the southeast and parts of the highway remained closed Monday, according to Google Maps.
But the national railway service said it had repaired cables burnt by the fire on Sunday, allowing it to resume normal services for fast trains connecting the capital to the southeastern city of Lyon.
The country recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, and 300 during the high temperatures in late May, according to official figures. 
Since the start of the year, wildfires have scorched some 25,000 hectares of land in France -- an area nearly as big as Edinburgh and twice as much as during the same period last year, director general of civil security Julien Marion said on Friday.
Temperatures were expected to remain high through France's Bastille Day national holiday on Tuesday, according to the Meteo-France weather service.
burs/ach/

fire

Five Britons among foreign Spanish wildfire victims

BY JORGE GUERRERO

  • A technical body responsible for the identification work announced the nationalities of nine of those victims on Monday, including a Spanish man and his British wife.
  • Five Britons, three Belgians and one national each from France and Spain are among the 13 victims of one of the deadliest Spanish wildfires in recent times, authorities said on Monday.
  • A technical body responsible for the identification work announced the nationalities of nine of those victims on Monday, including a Spanish man and his British wife.
Five Britons, three Belgians and one national each from France and Spain are among the 13 victims of one of the deadliest Spanish wildfires in recent times, authorities said on Monday.
The blaze that broke out on Thursday has transformed picturesque rural settlements into ghost towns and left a trail of destruction in the southeastern province of Almeria, home to many foreign residents near the Mediterranean coast.
The emergency services initially recovered 12 bodies that were so badly disfigured by the flames that genetic samples were needed to identify them.
A technical body responsible for the identification work announced the nationalities of nine of those victims on Monday, including a Spanish man and his British wife.
The other victims included three Britons, three Belgians and a French woman, the experts said in a statement after three more victims were identified. Three victims remain unidentified.
The number of confirmed UK victims now stands at five, after Andalusian regional authorities said on Sunday that a 93-year-old British woman injured in the fire had died in hospital.
British, Belgian and French consular staff were helping to provide genetic profiles from relatives, "therefore the identification of all the victims may be obtained in a short period of time", the experts said.
The authorities have cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of bodies are completed. 
Firefighters continue to work to extinguish the fire, which has scorched about 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of forest and scrubland.
Calmer winds and cooler temperatures allowed them to tame the blaze over the weekend, allowing some 1,500 evacuated residents to return home.
The leader of Andalusia's regional government, Juanma Moreno, said the wildfire was now under control, with firefighters working to completely put it out.
"Everyone is checking on the condition of their homes. Most of the houses have been saved, and I have to say that this was thanks to the enormous efforts of all the emergency crews," he added.

'Climate chaos'

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged Spain to strengthen its prevention measures during a visit to the disaster zone on Monday.
"We must not only react when these fires happen, we must prevent" as climate change makes civil protection emergencies "increasingly frequent", Sanchez said in the municipality of Turre.
He cited better protection of municipalities and training courses for young people on how to react.
Moreno, added that citizens could respond more quickly to the sighting of smoke, the "suspicious attitudes" of possible arsonists and official warnings.
The inferno spread at up to 100 metres (330 feet) per minute at its peak last week, trapping victims in their vehicles or on foot as they tried to flee.
The authorities have spoken of the possibility that some victims did not heed warnings in time.
The authorities suspect the wildfire began when a power line broke, setting fire to vegetation that had been parched after hot weather that pushed temperatures above 40C.
Scientists say climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves, which contribute to wildfires, more likely and more intense.
"Here climate change is having a very big impact, and we are in a state of climate chaos with situations that are practically unheard of, exceptional and increasingly explosive," said Moreno.
Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares of land in Spain last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.
bur-imm-ds/pdw/phz

politics

Trump expected to shrink protected lands in Utah: reports

  • The executive orders are the latest in a broader pattern of stripping protections for public lands and wildlife to benefit extractive industries.
  • President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Monday drastically shrinking two national monuments in Utah, paving the way for fossil fuel extraction and mining.
  • The executive orders are the latest in a broader pattern of stripping protections for public lands and wildlife to benefit extractive industries.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Monday drastically shrinking two national monuments in Utah, paving the way for fossil fuel extraction and mining.
Sources told Utah-based news outlets Deseret News and ABC4 the signing was expected at 4:30 pm, though the White House has not confirmed it.
The issue has become something of a political football. Previously, the Republican president had targeted the two monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, during his first term in 2017, before his Democratic successor, Joe Biden, restored them to their original boundaries in 2021.
The executive orders are the latest in a broader pattern of stripping protections for public lands and wildlife to benefit extractive industries. Last week, the administration finalized a rule redefining the word "harm" under the Endangered Species Act to exclude habitat destruction.
The fossil-rich Grand Staircase-Escalante, which covers 1.9 million acres, was established as a monument in 1996 under then-president Bill Clinton. Bears Ears, which covers 1.35 million acres, was proclaimed in 2016 under then-president Barack Obama on the basis of its cultural sites sacred to Indigenous tribes.
Opponents contend Trump's moves are illegal under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
"It's crystal clear: The language of the act provides the president power to create national monuments," Thomas Delehanty, a lawyer for Earthjustice, told AFP. "It does not include a corresponding power to diminish or eliminate national monuments. Instead, only Congress can do that, with the passage of a new law."
But the Department of Justice last year issued an opinion stating that presidents can not only shrink monuments but abolish them altogether.
Earthjustice sued the first Trump administration over the issue on behalf of conservation groups, and Delehanty said they were prepared to reactivate that litigation, which is being heard in a Washington court, or file a new case.
Republican-controlled Utah, meanwhile, has an ongoing case challenging Biden's restoration of the monuments. In court documents, the state has cited the presence of rare earth minerals, including uranium, as well as untapped energy resources, as assets that could be exploited.
Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, told AFP that public lands are "part of the fabric of the United States," drawing tourism and fueling economic growth in remote regions, becoming a "renewable economic resource."
ia/mjf

environment

‘Almost like gold’: water debate rages on Italy’s Aeolian Islands

BY JULIETTE RABAT

  • An existing desalination plant with large white silos on Vulcano, one of the archipelago's eight islands, has made it autonomous for drinking water.
  • Without natural drinking water, residents of Italy's Aeolian Islands are mulling whether to build more desalination plants that will also cater to the large number of tourists, or continue bringing in water by ship.
  • An existing desalination plant with large white silos on Vulcano, one of the archipelago's eight islands, has made it autonomous for drinking water.
Without natural drinking water, residents of Italy's Aeolian Islands are mulling whether to build more desalination plants that will also cater to the large number of tourists, or continue bringing in water by ship.
An existing desalination plant with large white silos on Vulcano, one of the archipelago's eight islands, has made it autonomous for drinking water.
But another island, Stromboli, still depends on ships with water cisterns. When they can’t dock in bad weather, "We’re left without water," restaurant owner Angelo Mirabito, 66, told AFP.
In the summer, the influx of visitors is a challenge for the Aeolian Islands. which have only around 15,000 year-round residents. 
In 2024, the last year for which official data is available, the number of tourist arrivals on the islands lying to the north of Sicily was 146,000 people.
"For 10 years, we have been producing a constant 300,000 cubic metres per year" of drinking water, said Fabio Pupillo, an engineer for Sopes, the company that manages the desalination plant in Vulcano.
The cost of the drinking water produced by desalination plants on the Aeolian Islands is around two euros per cubic metre. 
Water brought by ship is around 14 euros per cubic metre -– a cost covered by the defence ministry which organises the supply route.

 ‘Extremely precious’

Italy is second to Spain in the EU for desalination capacity, accounting for around 7.6 percent of daily EU production, according to data from the think tank The European House -- Ambrosetti.
The country currently produces a little more than 657,000 cubic metres per day of desalinated water thanks to 341 plants.
On the Aeolian islands of Alicudi, Filicudi, Panarea and Stromboli, a plan for four new desalination plants proposed by the local municipality is proving divisive.
Some associations and local residents say there is not enough data on the environmental impact in an area with fragile ecosystems. 
Giuseppe Amato, a campaigner on water issues in Sicily for environmental NGO Legambiente, said that using desalination plants on small islands was "an appropriate response, particularly taking into account the various hydrological crises brought about by the global climate crisis". 
But, those plants need to be planned well and used wisely, he said.
Amato questioned whether the desalination plant proposed for Filicudi should be built for the 250 permanent residents or for the "maximum number of tourists that Filicudi can have during the peak of the season".
In a letter last month to the municipality of Lipari and the Sicily region, the environmental foundation Marevivo called the authorisation procedure for the desalination plants to be suspended.
The foundation believes that alternative and complementary solutions should be taken into account -- like recycling water, collecting rain water and "better management of tourist demand".
Eugenio Vodini, who organises boat trips for holidaymakers, said that "unlike tourists", local residents "know how to manage" their drinking water.
"It is an extremely precious thing, almost like gold, because what can you do without water?" he said.
jra/dt/ams/pdw

fire

Huge fire rages in Fontainebleau forest near Paris

  • Eric Brocardi, of France's national federation of firemen, said it was the first time fire bomber planes had been sent up from the normally drier and hotter south of the country to extinguish fires in the Paris region.
  • French officials rushed two firefighting planes to the Paris region Sunday, after a fire erupted south of the French capital, disrupting traffic during a busy summer travel weekend and piling more misery on a region sweltering through its latest heatwave.
  • Eric Brocardi, of France's national federation of firemen, said it was the first time fire bomber planes had been sent up from the normally drier and hotter south of the country to extinguish fires in the Paris region.
French officials rushed two firefighting planes to the Paris region Sunday, after a fire erupted south of the French capital, disrupting traffic during a busy summer travel weekend and piling more misery on a region sweltering through its latest heatwave.
The fire, which officials described as "very virulent" and of "exceptional scale", began late afternoon in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest about 60 kilometres (40 miles) south-east of the capital, a onetime royal hunting preserve that today is dotted with quiet villages.
It had raced across 800 hectares and was still spreading, officials said early Monday, causing the partial closure of the A6 highway, the country's main north-south artery.
And with nightfall, firefighting aircraft had been forced to suspend their operations.
Around 15 homes had been evacuated in the nearby village of Vaudoue and firefighters were defending several other towns in the area, said the local Seine-et-Marne fire service.
Residents anxiously gathered in the village, watching emergency vehicles race past and making calls to try to find out if their homes were still at risk.  
Evacuated residents Valerie and her husband Daniel described the moment authorities and firefighters told them to leave their home. 
"We could see the ash falling," Valerie told AFP, sitting outside near the war memorial in Vaudoue, unsure where they would sleep. 
"We put the cats and dogs in the car... we could see the fire on both sides," she said.
Without the firefighting planes, other villages would already have been evacuated, said Olivier Compta, who is overseeing the firefighting operation.
Around 400 firefighters worked to contain the flames, which erupted just ahead of the July 14 national holiday and on the first major weekend for departures for the summer holiday season.
Traffic was disrupted along highways in the area, as well as along the high-speed rail line leading to the south-east of the country.
Eric Brocardi, of France's national federation of firemen, said it was the first time fire bomber planes had been sent up from the normally drier and hotter south of the country to extinguish fires in the Paris region.
Two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft were also helping to fight the blaze, he added.
"The aim is to save lives and property," he said later, as the fire advanced.
Earlier, firefighters dealt with a fire that had blocked a highway running east from Paris and disrupted a high-speed train line to the south of France.
- Third heatwave - 
French rail company SNCF said on Sunday evening there were delays of up to six hours for trains arriving at or leaving from Paris's Gare de Lyon.
At the station, 34-year-old physiotherapist Kelly took the delay in stride.
"It's global warming," she said. "It's the disruption of the seasons...there are political decisions to be taken."
The Paris region -- and large parts of the rest of France -- is currently experiencing the third heatwave since May, increasing the risk of fires.
The three heatwaves have seen temperature records broken in several countries across Europe and  have caused thousands of excess deaths, according to estimates in Belgium, Britain, France and Spain.
The June heatwaves would have been "virtually impossible" without climate change, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.
Several other European countries have faced record-breaking average temperatures.
In France, the heatwave has also led officials to shut down three of the country's nuclear power stations.
And organisers of the Tour de France cycling race shortened Sunday's stage by 30 kilometres (19 miles) as temperatures on the route approached 40C.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, whose office announced he would visit Fontainebleau on Monday, said that forest fires had already consumed 17,000 hectares this year.
Once the figures had all been tallied, that would come to 25,000 hectares -- "twice as much as the same period" in 2025, he added.
dec-ng-ceg/abs

fire

Evacuees allowed to return home after deadly wildfire in Spain stabilises

BY NICOLAS KIRILOWITZ

  • Some 600 people evacuated from the fire zone in Spain's Almeria province returned home late on Saturday, while the remaining 1,000 evacuees will now be able to do the same in stages, Moreno said.
  • A wildfire that killed at least 13 people in southern Spain has been stabilised, allowing hundreds of evacuees to return home, officials said Sunday.
  • Some 600 people evacuated from the fire zone in Spain's Almeria province returned home late on Saturday, while the remaining 1,000 evacuees will now be able to do the same in stages, Moreno said.
A wildfire that killed at least 13 people in southern Spain has been stabilised, allowing hundreds of evacuees to return home, officials said Sunday.
Firefighters were aided by better weather in tackling the deadly fire, which has burned an area of around 7,000 hectares since it erupted on Thursday in an area of deep ravines and scattered houses in Almeria province.
"The fire has been contained within its perimeter and brought under control, with no danger of flames spreading," the head of the regional government of Andalusia, Juan Manuel Moreno, told reporters.
He called it "the beginning of the end of a terrifying wildfire that has set records for how quickly it spread".
Regional authorities in Andalusia said on Sunday that a 93-year-old British woman injured in the fire had died in hospital, bringing the death toll to 13.
Some 600 people evacuated from the fire zone in Spain's Almeria province returned home late on Saturday, while the remaining 1,000 evacuees will now be able to do the same in stages, Moreno said.
Burned-out vehicles still line some roads where people were trapped as the fast-moving fire swept through the area at speeds of up to 100 metres (330 feet) per minute.
"It's just devastation, totally devastated," James Shellingford, a 60-year-old Briton who lives in the small whitewashed village of Bedar where the victims were found, told AFP.
"There have been fires in the past but nothing as bad as we experienced now."
Lore Van Moll, 33, a Belgian woman visiting her parents in nearby Alfaix, said she felt fortunate that she was unharmed and that her family’s home had been spared.
"You realise how fortunate you are to be safe," she told AFP, calling it "a really big relief".

'Ball of fire'

Officials said the 13 people who died in the fast-moving fire had been trapped in vehicles or tried to flee on foot. Most were foreigners.
"I said to my wife 'Get out quick, leave everything. Get out.' And the time it took to say that I was engulfed in a ball of fire," a tearful Jerome Navarro told French television on Saturday.
He and his French wife had just arrived at their holiday home when the flames closed in.
Navarro escaped by throwing himself into a ditch and crawling away, but hasn't seen his wife, who remains missing.
Authorities have cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of recovered bodies are completed. 
The Civil Guard police planned another search of the affected area Sunday to ensure no victims remain unaccounted for.
Calmer winds and higher air humidity levels allowed firefighters on Saturday to directly attack the flames for the first time, officials said.

DNA testing

The authorities suspect the wildfire -- one of the deadliest in Spain's recent history -- began when a power line broke during an extreme heatwave that has pushed temperatures above 40C in recent weeks.
Winter and spring rains spurred abundant vegetation that later dried out in successive heat waves, leaving ample fuel for wildfires, officials said.
Around 500 firefighters -- supported by water-dropping aircraft -- were still battling the blaze, which erupted Thursday in the Gallardos area, home to many foreign residents.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to visit the devastated area on Monday.
The identification of the victims has been delayed by difficulties collecting DNA samples from relatives, some of whom are travelling from abroad.
Scientists agree that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves more likely and more intense.
Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares (one million acres) of land in Spain last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.
bur-ds/yad/jj

heat

South Korea issues first emergency heatwave warning under new rating system

BY KANG JIN-KYU

  • The new warning system was introduced to better deal with a rising number of heatwaves in South Korea, which have become longer and more intense, officials said.
  • South Korea issued its first-ever emergency heatwave alert on Sunday under a new warning system launched this year, advising people to halt outdoor activities and keep cool.
  • The new warning system was introduced to better deal with a rising number of heatwaves in South Korea, which have become longer and more intense, officials said.
South Korea issued its first-ever emergency heatwave alert on Sunday under a new warning system launched this year, advising people to halt outdoor activities and keep cool.
The new warning system was introduced to better deal with a rising number of heatwaves in South Korea, which have become longer and more intense, officials said.
An emergency alert is issued when areas experiencing a heatwave are forecast to hit perceived temperatures of 38C or an actual temperature of 39C for one day.
"The Korea Meteorological Administration issued an Emergency Heatwave Warning at 10 am today (GMT 0100) for two cities in southern North Gyeongsang Province -- Gyeongsan and Pohang," said agency chief Lee Mi-seon at a press briefing.
"This marks the first time it has been issued since the system took effect," she added.
The affected areas saw temperatures reach the emergency criteria over the weekend.
"An emergency heatwave warning does not simply mean the weather is extremely hot," Lee said.
"It indicates conditions in which even healthy people face a significantly elevated risk of serious harm, including heat-related illness and death."
People engaged in outdoor activities should stop immediately and move to a cool place, and no one, including children or pets, should be left inside a vehicle, she added.
Much of the country -- including parts of Seoul -- remained under heatwave warnings, which are issued when the perceived temperature is expected to stay at 35C or higher for two consecutive days. 
Such warnings take both temperature and humidity into account, according to the KMA.

Longer heatwaves

Children tried to cool off from the heat on Sunday by running through the water jets at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, an AFP reporter saw.
People also sought refuge in air-conditioned shopping malls.
KMA data show the average annual number of heatwave days in the country has more than doubled to 19 over the past five years, from eight in the 1970s.
The average annual number of tropical nights has also jumped from four to 14 over the same period.
A heatwave day is defined as one with a maximum temperature of at least 33C, while a tropical night is one when the overnight low remains 25C or above.
The new system comes as Europe endures a scorching summer, after a June heatwave shattered temperature records across the continent.
Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change.
France recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, and 300 during the high temperatures in late May, according to official figures.
The Eiffel Tower and other Paris landmarks closed early over the weekend, and cycling's Tour de France shortened a stage for the first time in its history.
All-time temperature records have been broken in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as for the month of June in the UK and Switzerland.
Oceans have experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead, the European Union's Copernicus Marine Service said this month.
Adding to the mix is the return this year of El Nino, a natural climate phenomenon that warms Pacific Ocean surface temperatures and typically occurs every two to seven years.
kjk/hol/lga

Taiwan

Typhoon makes landfall in China, downgraded to severe tropical storm

  • Bavi had been downgraded to a typhoon as it moved across the Pacific Ocean after hitting Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday as a super typhoon.
  • Typhoon Bavi was downgraded to a severe tropical storm on Sunday after making landfall in eastern China, where authorities had evacuated nearly two million people in its path.
  • Bavi had been downgraded to a typhoon as it moved across the Pacific Ocean after hitting Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday as a super typhoon.
Typhoon Bavi was downgraded to a severe tropical storm on Sunday after making landfall in eastern China, where authorities had evacuated nearly two million people in its path.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Before reaching China, the storm lashed northern Taiwan and Japan's remote southwestern islands, toppling trees and leaving tens of thousands without power.
Extreme weather already wreaked havoc on southern and central China in the past week, with storms leaving at least 39 dead and causing dozens of rivers to overflow and a reservoir to burst.
Bavi first made landfall at around 11:20 pm on Saturday (1520 GMT) in Zhejiang province with winds of 144 kilometres (90 miles) an hour, state news agency Xinhua said, quoting the provincial meteorological observatory.
"The core impact zone experienced fierce winds and heavy rain, with rapid runoff forming on the ground and roadside trees being uprooted," national TV station CCTV reported as Bavi struck the city of Yuhuan.
It then hit Yueqing city, where CCTV said firefighters, rescue workers and municipal employees were clearing "more than 1,300 trees" that had fallen or been uprooted.
The eye of the storm had moved near the Zhejiang provincial capital Hangzhou at around 10 am (0200 GMT) on Sunday with force 10 winds of around 108 kmh, the China Weather Administration said.
Zhejiang provincial officials forecast torrential rain in coastal regions and the possibility of flash floods, Xinhua said, warning of transport disruptions, rivers overflowing and farmland being inundated.
Around 1.72 million people had been evacuated to safe places by Saturday, Xinhua said.

'Sparing no effort'

Classes, work, transport and outdoor activities were suspended ahead of the storm's arrival, and more than 300 flights were cancelled in Zhejiang province.
Another 684 flights and 1,620 train services have been cancelled in Shanghai, media outlet The Paper said.
Images shared online on Sunday showed streets in Zhejiang's Wenzhou city, a metropolis of nearly 10 million people, submerged in floodwaters.
The Wenzhou government said in a statement it was "sparing no effort or cost... to guard against the (worst-case) scenario".
Residents used planks to reinforce metal shutters protecting shops and taped windows, CCTV footage showed.
Torrential rain further north prompted the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from their homes in Beijing, the government said.
More than 130,000 people have fled their homes in Fujian province and around 34,000 people from Shanghai's coastal areas and high-risk areas, state media reported.
Bavi had been downgraded to a typhoon as it moved across the Pacific Ocean after hitting Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday as a super typhoon.
The storm is now forecast to move northeast while "gradually weakening", before reaching the Yellow Sea on Tuesday and transforming into an extratropical cyclone, the Chinese weather service said.
The provinces in its path across China's east are likely to experience heavy downpours until Monday, it said.
- Warmer oceans - 
In the Philippines, at least 18 people were killed in landslides and other incidents triggered by heavy rains driven by Bavi, most on the southern island of Mindanao.
Nearly 11,000 people across the archipelago fled their homes, and dozens of ports remain closed.
In northern Taiwan, more than 14,000 people were evacuated from their homes and hundreds of flights were cancelled. More than 170,000 households across the island were hit by power outages.
In Japan, thousands of households and facilities across Okinawa also lost power.
Oceans have experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead, the European Union's Copernicus Marine Service said last week.
Warmer oceans intensify tropical storms and add more moisture, which can fall as heavy rain.
Adding to the mix is the return this year of El Nino, a natural climate phenomenon that warms Pacific Ocean surface temperatures and typically occurs every two to seven years.
burs-jug/ami/pbt

fire

Hundreds return home as deadly Spain wildfire nears control

  • Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz said late Saturday that about 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province had been allowed to return after firefighters made significant progress containing the blaze.
  • A wildfire that has killed at least 12 people in southern Spain was close to being brought under control Sunday, allowing hundreds of evacuated residents to return home as firefighters worked to fully stabilise the blaze, offficials said.
  • Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz said late Saturday that about 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province had been allowed to return after firefighters made significant progress containing the blaze.
A wildfire that has killed at least 12 people in southern Spain was close to being brought under control Sunday, allowing hundreds of evacuated residents to return home as firefighters worked to fully stabilise the blaze, offficials said.
Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz said late Saturday that about 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province had been allowed to return after firefighters made significant progress containing the blaze.
"The attack carried out today and the stabilization of much of the perimeter have made it possible to adopt these measures and continue moving, always with the utmost caution, toward a return to normality," Sanz said in a statement issued by the regional government of Andalusia.
The improved outlook followed a day of better weather conditions with calmer winds and higher air humidity that allowed firefighters to mount a direct assault on the fire.
Justice Minister Felix Bolanos, said Saturday that crews had taken advantage of favourable wind and humidity conditions to move closer to bringing the wildfire under control.
The burned area remained at about 6,600 hectares (16,300 acres) after the fire made no further advances Saturday, he said.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to visit the devastated area on Monday. 
Burned-out vehicles still line some roads where people were trapped as the fast-moving fire swept through the area at speeds of up to 100 metres (330 feet) per minute.
Authorities have kept the death toll at 12 and cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of recovered bodies are completed. 
Officials have said many of the victims could be foreign nationals.
The identification process has been slowed because collecting DNA samples from relatives has proved difficult, with family members traveling from other countries.
Despite the improving conditions, the Civil Guard police planned another search of the affected area Sunday to ensure no victims remain unaccounted for.
"The Civil Guard has entered more than 250 homes to verify that no one was inside, and it will now carry out one final sweep of the area to make a complete check that no one else remains," Virginia Barcones, secretary-general for Civil Protection, told Spain's public broadcaster Sunday.
bur-ds/pdw

weather

New heat wave blasts US, could break records

  • On Sunday, the hottest day, the mercury was expected to reach between 100F and 110F in several northern states including Montana and North Dakota.
  • Some 44 million Americans were under a heat wave warning on Saturday as temperatures in the Rocky Mountains and northern plains of the United States were expected to hit 110F (43C) over the weekend.
  • On Sunday, the hottest day, the mercury was expected to reach between 100F and 110F in several northern states including Montana and North Dakota.
Some 44 million Americans were under a heat wave warning on Saturday as temperatures in the Rocky Mountains and northern plains of the United States were expected to hit 110F (43C) over the weekend.
The temperatures, well above seasonal averages, could break records, the National Weather Service warned. Salt Lake City, in particular, was expected to experience unprecedented heat.
"Dangerous heat is expected to unfold through the weekend with triple digit highs and potential for daily maximum temperature records both days," the service's Weather Prediction Center said Saturday.
On Sunday, the hottest day, the mercury was expected to reach between 100F and 110F in several northern states including Montana and North Dakota.
The blistering heat also has hindered efforts to fight massive wildfires raging in Colorado and Utah.
The weather was also broiling the southeastern United States, including Miami, which was hosting Saturday's England-Norway World Cup quarterfinal match.
Just a week ago, the eastern United States was gripped by another heat wave that pushed temperatures to around 104F in New York and Philadelphia.
Around the world, heat waves are becoming more common and intense due to climate change, primarily caused by the burning of coal, oil and gas and emission of greenhouse gases.
Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record. The heat wave left more than 1,300 people dead across the region, according to the World Health Organization.
In France this weekend, the Eiffel Tower and other Paris landmarks announced early closures as a quarter of the country was sweltering under the third heat wave to hit the country since May.
cha/mjf/acb

fire

Firefighters gain upper hand on deadly Spain wildfire

BY ALFONS LUNA

  • Around 500 firefighters backed by over 20 water-dropping aircraft were battling the blaze which erupted Thursday in the Gallardos area of the southern region of Andalusia, home to many foreign residents.
  • Firefighters battling a wildfire in southern Spain that killed 12 people started to contain the blaze on Saturday as the hardest-hit village remained deserted, with charred vegetation and blackened homes a grim reminder of the inferno that sent terrified people fleeing from their homes.
  • Around 500 firefighters backed by over 20 water-dropping aircraft were battling the blaze which erupted Thursday in the Gallardos area of the southern region of Andalusia, home to many foreign residents.
Firefighters battling a wildfire in southern Spain that killed 12 people started to contain the blaze on Saturday as the hardest-hit village remained deserted, with charred vegetation and blackened homes a grim reminder of the inferno that sent terrified people fleeing from their homes.
Around 500 firefighters backed by over 20 water-dropping aircraft were battling the blaze which erupted Thursday in the Gallardos area of the southern region of Andalusia, home to many foreign residents.
Calmer winds and higher air humidity levels allowed firefighters to directly attack the flames for the first time, officials said.
"The fire has not spread at all today," Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said at the end of the day after travelling to the area, adding that the burned area remained unchanged at 6,600 hectares.
"We have taken advantage of a window of opportunity, with favourable weather conditions in terms of wind and humidity today, to intensify our efforts," he said, expressing hope the blaze could be brought under control in the coming hours.
Officials said the 12 people who died in the fast-moving fire had been trapped in vehicles and as they tried to flee on foot. 
The majority were foreigners although their identities have not yet been released.
"We were absolutely terrified. We could see the flames. It was horrific," Manoli Ramos, 72, a councillor in the small whitewashed village of Bedar where the victims were found told AFP, adding "it was like hell".
Bedar was virtually a ghost town Saturday afternoon, with nearly all of its residents evacuated, according to an AFP reporter. Police kept the main road into town closed.
"I said to my wife 'Get out quick, leave everything. Get out.' And the time it took to say that I was engulfed in a ball of fire," a tearful Jerome Navarro told French television on Saturday.
He and his French wife had just arrived at their holiday home when the flames closed in.
Navarro escaped by throwing himself into a ditch and crawling away, but hasn't seen his wife, who remains missing.
 
 

'Get out'

 
Austin Crilly, an 87-year-old Briton who was evacuated from the affected area, said he was watching television when he "saw a huge black cloud -- well I thought it was a cloud".
Shortly after came the warning from police: "'Take your money, take your cards and get out'," he told AFP.
Officials said some of those who died had not followed orders to evacuate or to shelter in place once the flames got too close.
The wildfire -- one of the deadliest in Spain's recent history -- forced some 1,500 people to evacuate.
Eight people remain in hospital, with four being treated in a burns unit.
"I'd never seen anything like it. You see things like that in films, but never in real life," said Martin Smith, 63, a British tourist who was evacuated with his wife, Elizabeth, 65, from the campsite where they were on holiday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to visit the fire-ravaged area on Monday.
The authorities suspect the wildfire began when a power line broke as Spain sweltered in extreme heat, exceeding 40C in recent weeks.
Winter and spring rains spurred abundant vegetation that later dried out in successive heat waves, leaving ample fuel for wildfires, officials said.
 

'Never seen before'

 
Bolanos said the blaze had at times spread at a rate of 100 metres a minute, "a level of intensity and severity we have never seen before".
"It is clearly a consequence of the climate emergency the world is facing," he said.
Scientists agree that human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves more likely and more intense.
Antonio Sanz, the Andalusian regional government's emergency chief, said police had searched the affected areas without finding any further victims, although he cautioned that the search was continuing.
"That does not mean it cannot happen, but after the Civil Guard swept the area, including locations that were still hotspots, it gives us hope," he said.
Sanz said references to 23 missing people were misleading, explaining that the figure referred to people whose relatives had been unable to contact them and who could have reached evacuation centres or other safe locations.
He said seven formal missing persons reports had been filed.
Officials said they could not establish a definitive toll until the bodies recovered from the fire had been formally identified.
bur-jj/yad
 

heatwave

Paris landmarks shutter early as France bakes in latest heatwave

  • And the organisers of the Tour de France cycling race said Sunday's 185.5-kilometre stage would be shortened by 30 kilometres, cutting out a hilly loop, because of the intense heat -- the first time in its history it has taken such a decision.
  • The Eiffel Tower and other Paris landmarks closed early over the weekend and cycling's Tour de France shortened a stage for the first time in its history, as France sweated through its third heatwave since May.
  • And the organisers of the Tour de France cycling race said Sunday's 185.5-kilometre stage would be shortened by 30 kilometres, cutting out a hilly loop, because of the intense heat -- the first time in its history it has taken such a decision.
The Eiffel Tower and other Paris landmarks closed early over the weekend and cycling's Tour de France shortened a stage for the first time in its history, as France sweated through its third heatwave since May.
As of Saturday, a quarter of mainland France was sweltering under the country's highest heat alert level, including the Paris region.
The operator of the Eiffel Tower said the latticed-steel monument would "exceptionally close" early on Saturday and Sunday at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), "due to the high temperatures forecast". 
The 324-metre (1,063-foot) tower, which attracts seven million tourists a year, usually stays open past midnight during the high season.
Two of the French capital's most famous museums, the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay, have taken similar measures.  
The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, said on Thursday it would close at 4:00 pm from Friday through to Monday. 
The Musee D'Orsay announced it would also close early, "due to the extreme heat" at 5:00 pm from Saturday to Wednesday.
And the organisers of the Tour de France cycling race said Sunday's 185.5-kilometre stage would be shortened by 30 kilometres, cutting out a hilly loop, because of the intense heat -- the first time in its history it has taken such a decision.
Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier, winner of Saturday's stage, welcomed the news.
"We are now one week of racing, it was always above 35C degrees," he said. "It's definitely a fight to have water, ice and drinks between the (support) cars."
 

Call for vigilance

 
Twenty-four departments, home to 22.2 million people according to an AFP calculation, were under the maximum alert level issued by the national weather service Meteo-France on Saturday. 
Another 59 departments of 96 in mainland France were under an orange heat warning, a step below the highest, as people flooded trains and highways at the start of a holiday weekend ahead of France's national public holiday on July 14.
Across France, many towns have called off their firework displays for Bastille Day due to increased risk of fires amid the dry conditions.  
Wildfires have scorched twice as much land in France so far this year as in the same period last year, an official said on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for vigilance on Saturday, warning nine out of 10 fires are due to human activity. 
"A single second of inattention can put families at risk, endanger those who protect us and destroy our countryside," he wrote on X. 
The European nation is facing its third heatwave since May, with a heatwave in June shattering records. 
The country recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, and 300 during the high temperatures in late May, according to official figures.
The government has faced a barrage of criticism, accused of being "unprepared" for the extreme weather, the increasing frequency of which scientists have linked to man-made climate change.
High temperatures are expected to continue until Bastille Day, according to Meteo-France. 
burs-jj/yad

fire

'Ring the bells': residents recall escape from deadly Spanish wildfire

BY ALFONS LUNA

  • Officials said some of those who died had not followed orders to evacuate or to shelter in place once the flames got too close.
  • As flames raced toward the Spanish village of Bedar, Manoli Ramos received a desperate order from the mayor: run to the church and ring the bells to warn residents of the danger closing in.
  • Officials said some of those who died had not followed orders to evacuate or to shelter in place once the flames got too close.
As flames raced toward the Spanish village of Bedar, Manoli Ramos received a desperate order from the mayor: run to the church and ring the bells to warn residents of the danger closing in.
"We rang the bells many times so people would know," the 72-year-old Bedar town councillor told AFP in the nearby town of Los Gallardos, where she has sought refuge since the blaze broke out on Thursday.
Twelve people died after getting trapped in vehicles and as they tried to flee on foot -- most of them foreigners, according to officials.
The blaze has torn through over 6,000 hectares of land and devastated an area that had become a peaceful refuge for foreign residents, particularly Britons who came to retire or spend holidays among the green hills near Spain's Mediterranean coast.
Many lived in isolated homes outside the village, seeking privacy and tranquillity but potentially making it more difficult to receive warnings or escape as the flames spread.
"Foreigners live scattered outside Bedar," Ramos said. "They have beautiful homes and their belongings. They like living a little away from the centre."
The authorities suspect the wildfire began when a power line broke as Spain sweltered in extreme heat, creating tinderbox conditions.

'Everyone was afraid'

For Hassan Oulghazzi, the fire first appeared as a dark cloud hanging over his home.
The 52-year-old Moroccan resident, who has lived in Bedar for 16 years, never saw the flames but watched as thick black smoke began to cover the area before police officers pounded on his door.
"How could you not be afraid?" he said. "When someone knocks on your door and tells you: 'Get up, come on, leave here. This is real, you have to go.'"
Oulghazzi fled with his wife and daughter without being able to take their belongings. He later went to a municipal sports hall in the coastal town of Garrucha, where evacuees were receiving help from the Red Cross.
But he said his fear was nothing compared with the suffering of those who died.
"Everyone was afraid, but I am really touched by the dead and those who were burned. I really am," he said. "There are some people I know."
Officials said some of those who died had not followed orders to evacuate or to shelter in place once the flames got too close.

Like a movie

Austin Crilly, an 87-year-old Briton who was evacuated from the affected area, said he has lived through plenty and has learned to accept whatever comes.
"I'm old school. What happens, happens," he said.
But Thursday was different.
He said he was watching television when he "saw a huge black cloud -- well I thought it was a cloud".
Shortly after came the warning from police: "'Take your money, take your cards and get out'," he said.
Crilly has since been living at the sports hall, waiting for news about the fire and when he could return home.
Nearby, British couple Martin and Elizabeth Smith were leaving the hall with their belongings.
The couple, from Dorset, had been staying at a campsite in the area. 
Martin, 63, had to return to Britain, while Elizabeth, 65, hoped to finish her holiday.
"It wasn't good. Not good at all. I'd never seen anything like it. You see things like that in films, but never in real life," said Martin.
Despite the trauma, he said the fire had not changed his affection for the country.
"It hasn't put us off coming to Spain," he said.
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