World
Wildfire forces Tour de France to ban fans from stage finale as parts of Europe sizzle again
MADRID (AP) — A large wildfire in the south of France prompted Tour de France organizers to ban fans on Monday from attending the finale of the third stage of the cycling showpiece race.
After a couple of days in Spain, the race entered France with a stage to the Pyrenees town of Les Angles, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from a fire that has burned almost 1,821 hectares (4,500 acres) of land.
Tour de France organizers said the large wildfire currently in the Pyrénées-Orientales required a large mobilization of wildfire-fighting resources, internal security forces, and other government agencies.
“The top priority remains the protection of people, property, and natural areas, as well as bringing the fire under control,” authorities said.
As a result, organizers decided that once the peloton reaches France for the last 40 kilometers (25 miles), the publicity caravan — a 10-kilometer (6-mile) procession of sponsor vehicles that precedes the race — would not be able to operate.
Only riders and vehicles essential to the race would be allowed on the route, and spectators were asked not to gather on the roadside or at the finish area.
Stage 3 started from the Spanish town of Granollers, where temperatures reached around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), race organizers said, quoting the Spanish Meteorological Agency.
Nearly 700 firefighters were battling the blaze, which led authorities on Sunday night to order the evacuation of more than two dozen villages.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Globally, 2025 was the third-hottest year on record, bringing severe heatwaves across Europe.
Scores of wildfires break out in Greece
In Greece, 96 wildfires had broken out over the past 48 hours, the country’s government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said Monday. The vast majority were quickly brought under control before they could spread, he said.
Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, especially in southeastern Europe, making the region more vulnerable to health impacts and wildfires.
The most significant fire broke out Sunday afternoon in the Mandra area west of the capital, Athens. Authorities deployed 29 aircraft and more than 200 firefighters in a race to tame the blaze before nightfall, when firefighting planes can no longer operate. By Monday, the fire had abated, although it had not been fully extinguished.
Several parts of the country were listed as being at a high or very high risk of wildfires on Monday due to strong winds. One wildfire that broke out in the southern island of Crete triggered evacuation orders for a village near the town of Ierapetra. The blaze, which was burning through mainly agricultural land, was being fanned by strong winds, the fire department said.
Another heatwave in Spain and Portugal
In the Iberian Peninsula, another surge in heat spread across Spain and Portugal, where hundreds of firefighters were also working to contain wildfires.
Spain’s weather agency AEMET warned that a heatwave that began Sunday would endure at least until Thursday, bringing elevated daytime and nighttime temperatures. Across much of Spain, including the capital Madrid, daytime highs were expected to range between 37 C and 42 C (99 F and 108 F) on Monday and Tuesday.
Overnight conditions were also forecast to be uncomfortably hot, with temperatures easily exceeding 20 C (68 F) — which scientists refer to as ‘tropical nights’. This means people might not be recovering properly from daytime heat in the overnight hours.
In Portugal, inland locations saw temperatures soar Monday, while coastal Lisbon also baked under temperatures reaching 33 C (91 F). Temperatures were expected to drop later in the week.
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Associated Press writers John Leicester in Paris and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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