South-Carolina
'Hellishly hot' southern Europe bakes under temperatures topping 104 F
ROME — The Italian health ministry placed 12 cities under the most severe heat warning Tuesday as a wave of hot air from Africa baked southern Europe and the Balkans and sent temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with the worst still to come.
Croatia reported the highest-ever temperatures of the Adriatic Sea, with the thermometer reaching nearly 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) at the southern walled city of Dubrovnik, the country’s most popular tourism spot. In Serbia, the state power company reported record consumption Tuesday due to the use of air conditioning.
Municipal authorities in several southern European and Balkan cities took measures to look after elderly people in particular as civil protection crews fielded calls for water-dropping aircraft such as Canadairs to douse wildfires that raged in southern Italy and North Macedonia.
“It’s hellishly hot,” said Carmen Díaz, a tourist from Madrid who was trying to keep cool with a fan at lunchtime in Rome. “These fans help a little too, but it’s really hot.”
In Greece, municipalities made air conditioned spaces available to the public. Certain forms of outdoor work were banned, such as manual labor, deliveries and construction, during the hottest time of the day when temperatures reached 40 C.
Temperatures were expected to hit 42 C on Wednesday and Thursday in several countries. Spain’s national weather service said thermometers could reach 44 C (111 F) in the southern Guadalquivir river basin in the coming days.
To beat the heat, Rome’s zoo made plans to offer popsicle respite for the animals later this week when temperatures were expected to top 38 C.
For those flocking to the Eternal City’s Coldplay concerts this week, there were no such icy treats.
“It really feels like we are in an oven with a hair dryer pointed at us,” said Patrizia Valerio, who had just arrived in Rome from Varese for the band’s final performance Tuesday night.
Fellow concert-goer Mattia Rossi was more philosophical, noting that the freak storms that hit Italy earlier this summer as evidence of climate change wreaking havoc on the southern Mediterranean’s weather systems.
“These are all symptoms of a planet that is suffering in my opinion,” Rossi said.
In Albania, where temperatures were expected to hit 42 C, a 72-year-old man was found dead at his farm in Memaliaj, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital Tirana and the cause of the death is believed to be the heat, the local Panorama portal reported. There was no immediate confirmation by health authorities.
In Tirana itself, streets and cafes seemed almost empty, with the few people out and about using umbrellas to shade themselves. High temperatures and winds were fanning wildfires from the south to the north in recent weeks.
Even with temperatures a comparatively cool 34 C, the Istanbul municipality issued a heat warning on Tuesday advising residents — especially the elderly, pregnant women, children, and those with health issues — to avoid going out between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The advisory said temperatures in Istanbul were expected to remain between 3 to 6 degrees above seasonal norms until July 28 and advised residents to drink plenty of fluids and opt for light or cotton clothing.
“It’s usually windy here, like natural air conditioning, so we always come here to cool off,” said Sami Gunaydin, a 62-year-old pensioner who was swimming in the Bosporus on Tuesday. “May God help those who have no air conditioning.”
For the second time this month, North Macedonia faced a heatwave with temperatures going up to 42 C. Some 200 wildfires have been raging in the country since the beginning of the month, with one firefighter so far injured. The government has declared a monthlong state of crisis.
For Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, it’s the second week that temperatures have been hovering around 40 C, with the Bosnian town of Mostar registering that high for the sixth consecutive day. Meteorologists said the heat wave was expected to peak on Tuesday and slowly ease toward the end of the week.
Romania and neighboring Moldova have also been gripped by an intense heatwave over the past week, with temperatures in both country’s capitals, Bucharest and Chisinau respectively, exceeding 40 C this week.
In Italy, the civil protection service reported it received 18 calls for help Monday to douse wildfires that raged in several southern regions.
The health ministry placed 12 cities – from Trieste in the north to Rome in the center – under a red alert heat warning, the highest state of heat emergency. In cities under such warnings, everyone — not just the elderly or young children — is urged to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day and avoid strenuous outdoor exercise and heavy foods.
Palermo, Sicily was expected to join the list of red-bulletin cities on Wednesday, the health ministry said.
Much of Greece was also sweltering in a heat wave due to last until the end of the week, with temperatures in some areas forecast to reach 42 C. The heat wave was predicted to peak on Wednesday and Thursday, particularly affecting regions of central, western and northern Greece, where temperatures could rise to 43 C.
The brutal heat wave hitting southern Europe has so far spared Paris, which is set to host the Olympics later this month. Temperatures were a comparatively chilly 22 C on Tuesday, though they were expected to rise later in the week only to fall again after the weekend.
Copyright 2024 NPR
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Six Republican candidates vying to become South Carolina’s next governor met in downtown Charleston for a wide-ranging debate that put abortion, infrastructure and the future of data centers at the center of the race.
The forum was held at the Sottile Theatre, where Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy and Attorney General Alan Wilson took the stage.
Questions included whether they would support a state hate crime law, how they would address concerns about growth and infrastructure, how to navigate collaboration, abortion and the future of data centers in the state.
One issue that drew near-unanimous opposition was state Senate Bill 1095, a proposed total abortion ban that passed out of committee earlier in the day. All of the candidates opposed the bill, but they differed on what they would do if it reached the governor’s desk.
READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum
Norman said he would sign it.
“You know, this is an emotional issue, but I will tell you if this bill came to my desk as governor. If it passed the House and the Senate, I would sign it,” Norman said.
All of the other candidates on stage said they would veto the bill if it came across their desk as governor, with Reddy arguing the question should be decided by voters.
“The Supreme Court did not say the loudest voice in the ruling class prevails. It said it’s up to the people in the state, so let’s put it to a referendum,” Reddy said.
On infrastructure, candidates discussed reforming the South Carolina Department of Transportation and allowing private-sector involvement to help pay for improvements.
Wilson outlined ideas that included leasing interstate easements and expanding private express lanes.
“We privatized that grass between the interstates. We turn it into private express lanes that can be told we leased the easements on the sides of interstates to telecommunication companies and energy companies, and charge them for natural gas line and fiber optic fiber optic cables,” Wilson said.
Evette also pointed to public-private partnerships and the possibility of fast-pass lanes.
READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum
“We want to make sure that we’re innovative public private partnerships coming in and creating fast pass lanes to allow people that are in a hurry to be able to utilize that,” Evette said.
The final question focused on data centers, with candidates agreeing corporations should “pay their way.”
“They should pay for their water. They should pay for their infrastructure, any roads around it, and we should look at what Governor Ron DeSantis has done in Florida with the large data centers that are coming to Florida. That should be the model in South Carolina and everywhere,” Mace said.
Kimbrell said the state should set limits to protect natural resources and guard against higher power costs for residents.
“Put parameters around data centers to ensure that the water consumption does not impact places like the ACE Basin,” Kimbrell said. “Ensuring that the Public Service Commission makes absolutely sure nobody’s power rate goes up and we try to get behind the meter energy grids in place so they can be self-sufficient.”
Two more debates are planned ahead of the primaries on June 9.
A bill that could make it a felony for doctors to perform an abortion is moving to the full South Carolina Senate with just a few weeks left in the legislative session.
The South Carolina Senate medical affairs committee continued a debate of Senate Bill 1095 on April 21 in Columbia. The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, builds on a restrictive abortion bill that failed to progress in the fall.
The committee passed the measure in an 8-4 vote, moving it to the full Senate for consideration. Lawmakers have until May 14, the last day of the 2026 legislative session, to pass the bill for it to become law.
Senate Bill 1095, also called the “Unborn Child Protection Act,” bans performing an abortion or supplying abortion drugs. It makes it illegal for a woman to get an abortion, with the only exception being to save a pregnant woman’s life.
It also makes mifepristone and misoprostol Schedule IV controlled substances. Alprazolam (Xanax) and zolpidem (Ambien) are two other examples of Schedule IV substances.
Pro-Life Greenville, an anti-abortion organization based in Greenville, responded to the bill’s progress with “full endorsement” of the legislation.
“Unborn children, like all human beings, deserve to have their lives protected under law here in the Palmetto State,” Pro-Life Greenville stated. “Today’s vote by the SC Senate Medical Affairs Committee brings that urgent need one step closer to reality.”
Under the bill, a woman who has an abortion could face misdemeanor charges. The maximum sentence would be two years in jail with a $1,000 fine.
Those found guilty of performing an abortion or providing a pregnant woman with abortion-inducing drugs could face felony charges, a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail, and a possible $100,000 fine.
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT), a firm opponent of the bill, decried the Senate committee passage. PPSAT Director of Public Affairs Vicki Ringer said in a statement that the bill will cost people their lives, and it will make it more difficult for women to get reproductive and pregnancy healthcare.
“Abortion bans have and will continue to cost people their lives,” Ringer stated. “As this ban inches closer to the governor’s desk, it is becoming increasingly clear just how many of our lives anti-abortion lawmakers are willing to endanger in service to their agenda.”
Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com
BARNWELL, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – An officer was injured, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has issued a Blue Alert for an “armed and dangerous” woman.
According to the Blue Alert, Cushman is wanted in connection with an officer being injured.
The location of the assault was Gardenia Road in Blackville, S.C.
On Monday night around 10:35 p.m., officials said they were looking for Lacey Cushman, 37, a white woman who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 210 pounds.
According to SLED, she has brown eyes and an unknown hair color. Her hairstyle and clothing are unknown.
She was last seen driving a 2011 white Chevrolet Traverse with an S.C. tag, 706IRU, in Barnwell County.
Her last known direction of travel was toward Bamberg County.
If you see her or have information, call 911 immediately.
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