Belgian firefighters push to encircle ‘largest wildfire in a century’
Firefighters were locked in a potentially decisive push Tuesday to encircle Belgium’s largest wildfire in a century, despite rainclouds hampering air support operations over the High Fens nature reserve, AFP reported.
The blaze charring the expanse of peatland, pine trees and hiking trails grew over the weekend to half the size of Manhattan – 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) – with hundreds of firefighters working night and day to wrestle it under control.
Much of the fire has now been contained but a hard-to-access front closest to the German border remains a concern, with gusty easterly winds bringing an added challenge.
“This day will likely be decisive if firefighters succeed in their strategy of encircling the fire,” said crisis cell spokesman Tony Hosmans.
“If that happens, the fire will be completely surrounded, and we can hope to stop its advance,” he said.
Key events
Closing summary
Jakub Krupa
And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today.
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Firefighters were locked in a potentially decisive push Tuesday to encircle Belgium’s largest wildfire in a century, despite rainclouds hampering air support operations over the High Fens nature reserve (16:27, 16:39, 17:01).
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But their air operations had to be suspended due to worsening weather conditions and fog, local media reported (17:29).
In other news,
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10 people were killed in overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Kyiv will “definitely respond” with its own strikes (9:38, 10:02, 10:43, 13:01).
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Overnight, Ukraine launched over 600 drones at Moscow and surrounding areas (9:38).
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Separately, Moscow has threatened the UK with “consequences” after reports that British drones have been used to strike targets on Russia’s mainland for the first time (9:43, 15:00, 15:42), prompting UK prime minister Andy Burnham to pledge his policy on supporting Ukraine will not change (13:25).
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Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prévot was rushed to a bomb shelter in Kyiv after an air alert in the Ukrainian capital, and held his talks with his Ukrainian counterpart there (15:13).
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Germany opened a new centre for drone security warning about “the shadow war of the 21st century” (11:15).
Separately,
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Several earthquakes, three of which were of magnitude 4.0 or higher, were reported in Granada, Spain, leaving three people injured and causing local damage to buildings (11:07, 11:48, 12:08, 13:51).
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The tremors come after the city was hit with a 5.0 earthquake on Saturday, prompting further concerns from local residents.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Fog complicates firefighting operations in Belgium
Belgian firefighters have suspended their air operations for today amid foggy weather conditions in the area, Belga and VRT reported.
European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves
Jon Henley in Paris, Angela Giuffrida in Rome and Stephen Burgen in Barcelona
Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.
French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes.
“The vegetable sector is facing a historic crisis,” said Prince de Bretagne, which groups together more than 1,300 vegetable producers in Brittany, calling for “urgent action” to address a “dramatic” fall in yields and in the quality of many crops.
Accelerated, human-caused global heating and a supersized El Niño have scorched fields across Europe this summer, with plant development prevented by temperatures routinely exceeding 30C and often 35C, almost no rainfall, and hot winds.
“Usually one region fares better, which helps compensate,” Eric Legras, of the 4,400-member French canned and frozen vegetable producers’ association, told Le Monde. “This year, all our main production areas have been hit, and at the same time.”
Cereal production has been equally hard hit, with the agriculture ministry estimating the maize harvest in France – Europe’s largest grains producer – will be down by 35% on 2025 levels at about 9m tonnes, a quantity last seen in 1980.
Part of the fall is due to farmers’ switching to other crops, such as sunflowers, the ministry said, but it also reflects the impact of this summer’s vicious heatwaves, which have battered the crucial crop during critical stages of its growth cycle.
That is likely to cause big problems for livestock farmers. With dairy cows typically starting to suffer from heat stress above 25C, many producers have already reported milk yields down by 10%-15%. Most are now also concerned about winter feed.
Extreme heat more dangerous for people 60 and over than previously thought
Denis Campbell
Health policy editor
People aged 60 and over face dangers to their health from exposure to heat at much lower temperatures than previously thought, research has found.
Older adults will bear the brunt of increasingly frequent sustained spells of extreme heat globally as the world continues to warm up, according to a study in The Lancet Public Health.
Heatwaves will leave huge and growing numbers of people worldwide of all ages suffering from uncompensable heat stress (UHS) – where the body loses the ability to cool itself – and thus at risk of serious damage to their health, including death.
“Our results suggest accounting for age stratified vulnerability, intolerable heat will be experienced at much larger scales and for longer durations, affecting far more people than previously thought,” according to the study, which was led by health academics from Stanford University in California.
Older adults are known to be more in danger because of the effects of very high temperatures. They sweat less, their hearts work harder in the heat and their blood vessels are less able to widen, limiting their capacity to stay cool.
However, previous studies did not properly set out the different risks faced by younger people aged 15-39, middle-aged adults (40-59) and older adults (aged 60 or over). That is because they applied thresholds at which people cannot maintain their heat balance – which were accurate for younger people – to all age groups, and so overlooking older people’s greater risk of, for example, heart attacks.
A combination of rising global temperatures and the projected doubling in the world’s population of those aged 60 and over to 2.1bn by 2050 means more people in that age bracket will suffer heat-related health problems, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as India and Pakistan.
Belgian firefighters tackle historic blaze in the High Fens region – in pictures
Some 500 emergency workers are still active in the High Fens region as part of the effort to control the blaze in Belgium, local media reported.
Some 40 German firefighters also joined across the border to assist, VRT reported.
Belgian firefighters push to encircle ‘largest wildfire in a century’
Firefighters were locked in a potentially decisive push Tuesday to encircle Belgium’s largest wildfire in a century, despite rainclouds hampering air support operations over the High Fens nature reserve, AFP reported.
The blaze charring the expanse of peatland, pine trees and hiking trails grew over the weekend to half the size of Manhattan – 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) – with hundreds of firefighters working night and day to wrestle it under control.
Much of the fire has now been contained but a hard-to-access front closest to the German border remains a concern, with gusty easterly winds bringing an added challenge.
“This day will likely be decisive if firefighters succeed in their strategy of encircling the fire,” said crisis cell spokesman Tony Hosmans.
“If that happens, the fire will be completely surrounded, and we can hope to stop its advance,” he said.
Hungarian courts order detention of Polish bus driver after fatal crash
A Hungarian court on Tuesday ordered the continued detention of a Polish bus driver suspected of falling asleep at the wheel, resulting in a crash that killed 12 people and injured dozens in eastern Hungary early on Sunday, Reuters reported.
A Polish bus carrying 57 pilgrims ran into a ditch and tipped over at around 1am on Sunday in eastern Hungary. Twelve people died at the scene or after being taken to hospital, three sustained life-threatening injuries and 20 others were seriously hurt, prosecutors said.
Police took the driver into custody and questioned him on suspicion of negligently causing a road accident resulting in mass fatalities. He did not make a statement, they said.
Palio di Siena horse race expected to go ahead after rain delays
The famous Palio dell’ Assunta horse race will take place this afternoon in Siena, Italy after being delayed twice due to tricky weather conditions.
Siena’s local authorities confirmed this afternoon that the three-lap race around a course built in the Piazza del Campo will go ahead after it had to be postponed twice due to heavy rain.
The race is held twice a year, and the previous run in July also faced rain delays.
Up to 15,000 people are expected to take seats in the stands, with many more following the race, a source of local pride and a popular highlight of the tourist season which once even featured in a James Bond movie, across the city.
Ten horses representing 10 of the 17 districts – or contradas – will take to the course around 7pm local time, and the winner will take the prestigious Drappellone trophy.
Enhanced security measures have been adopted for this year’s race, including special anti-drone system.
Sophie Adenot becomes first French, second European female astronaut to go for a spacewalk
Sophie Adenot became the first French female astronaut to venture outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk on Tuesday, accompanied by American astronaut Anil Menon, AFP reported.
During the six-and-a-half hour mission, the two astronauts were to replace an antenna that allows the ISS to communicate with mission control in Houston, according to Nasa.
“I’m out,” Adenot, 44, said after exiting the ISS, some 400 kilometers above the Earth.
Adenot became the second European woman to conduct a spacewalk after Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s 2022 mission.
French president Emmanuel Macron congratulated her on her achievement.
“By becoming the first Frenchwoman to venture into space, Sophie Adenot embodies French pride as much as a horizon for little girls who dream of infinity. The face of all possibilities,” he said on X.
