Greek firefighters battle wildfire on Chios for third day as authorities probe arson
Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday, when fires broke out near the island's main town.
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Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Several killed as flash floods sweep away dozens of people in Pakistan
Flash floods have killed at least nine people in northern Pakistan after pre-monsoon rains swept away dozens of individuals. District administrator Shehzad Mahboob said on Friday that the nine people who were killed were from one extended family of 16 who were visiting the area and having a picnic breakfast by the Swat River, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Mahboob explained that children from the family were in the water taking photos when the flood occurred, relatives rushed in to save them, but were trapped in the deluge, which was exacerbated by the monsoon rains. Nine bodies had been recovered, with four members of the family still missing, while another four were rescued, Mahboob said. Earlier on Friday, Shah Fahad, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency service, said nearly 100 rescuers in various groups rescued 58 people and were looking for the tourists who had been swept away. Fahad called on the public to strictly adhere to earlier government warnings about a possible flash flood in the Swat River, a popular destination for tourists in the summer and Minister Shehbaz Sharif 'expressed his grief over the tourists' deaths', a statement from his office said. Sharif added that he had called on authorities to strengthen safety measures near rivers and streams. Meanwhile, according to rescue officials, at least 10 people were killed in rain-related incidents in eastern Punjab and southern Sindh provinces over the past 24 hours. Since the beginning of the week, heavy rains have battered parts of Pakistan, including blocking highways and damaging homes. According to weather forecasters, rains are expected to continue this week as the country's annual monsoon season, which runs from July through September, begins. However, weather forecasters are predicting less rain to fall in Pakistan during the monsoon season this year compared with 2022, when the intense rainfall flooded rivers, killing 1,739 people.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Heatwave across the Med sparks health and fire warnings
Southern European countries braced Friday for a punishing weekend heatwave, with temperatures predicted to hit up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and beyond, prompting health warnings and fears of wildfires. The searing heat spreading across the Mediterranean from the Iberian peninsula to the Balkans and Greece comes as climate scientists warn that galloping human-induced climate change is causing more extreme weather, including longer and more intense heatwaves. Tens of millions of people have already been sweltering in what the National Weather Service called an "extremely dangerous" heatwave across the eastern United States, including in New York and Washington, straining the power grid as people cranked up air conditioning. Across the Atlantic in Spain, emergency medical staff readied to deal with an expected surge in heatstroke cases, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses. In neighbouring Portugal, the national meteorological agency IPMA said the heatwave would hit from Saturday, with temperatures passing 40C in the south as well as in the central Tagus and northern Douro valleys. Sunday will be even hotter, the agency added, and two-thirds of the country has already been put on orange alert. Temperatures are expected to hit 42C in the capital Lisbon. - Red alert in Italy - The risk of fire is at its highest inland in the northern half of Portugal, as well as on the Algarve coast popular with holidaymakers in the south. France has been gripped by its 50th national heatwave since 1947 for more than a week now, and four regions in southern France were placed under an orange alert on Friday -- the second-highest warning. Temperatures were expected to reach 35C to 38C locally, and up to 39C inland. The Meteo France weather agency said surface sea temperatures from the Mediterranean were an "aggravating factor" that could make nights "more stifling". Additional French regions are expected to be placed on orange alert on Saturday as the heatwave spreads north, and the soaring temperatures are expected to last until Tuesday, said the agency. In Italy, the health ministry issued its top red alert for 21 cities this weekend, including the capital Rome, the economic powerhouse Milan and Venice, where the rich and famous were celebrating the wedding of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos. People were advised not to go outdoors between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm, and to seek shelter in air-conditioned public places. In Venice, the temperature was set to hit 32C on Saturday, when Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are expected to be throwing a dance party starring Lady Gaga -- but it will feel like around 36C due to humidity. In Florence, which was already on red alert on Friday, the temperature is forecast to reach 37C on Saturday, while it will go up to 36C on Sunday in Rome, Milan and Naples. - Albania battles fires - Across the Adriatic, the authorities in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia also issued health warnings, while in Albania, firefighters battled Thursday to bring at least eight blazes under control after flames destroyed dozens of homes in the south of the country last weekend. Further south, weather agencies in Greece forecast a heatwave in the coming days with temperatures of more than 40C, including in the capital Athens. The country has become particularly vulnerable to summer fires in recent years fuelled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change. Firefighters said Friday a forest blaze that had forced evacuations around Athens was under control, but warned that scorching temperatures were keeping fire risk at a high level around the capital and on northern Aegean islands. Fields, olive groves and some houses were ravaged by the blaze around Athens, which came after another on Greece's fifth-largest island Chios that destroyed more than 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land in four days. burs-jj/jhb
Washington Post
11 hours ago
- Washington Post
A springtime day intrudes on summer's scorch
Summer in Washington is far from over. But on Friday, in a reversal of the week's scorching trend, in a halt to the recent heat wave, in a seeming refutation of cherished meteorological convictions, the afternoon's high temperature here reached only 72. However temporary the thermal respite, however short-lived might be the deviation from seasonal orthodoxy, Friday seemed a welcome interruption in the searing doomsday scenarios many Washington residents might have been gloomily concocting.
