Fires scorch Spain and France, where flames reach beaches
PARIS — Firefighters battled wildfires raging out of control in Spain and France, including one whose flames reached two popular Atlantic beaches on Sunday, as Europe wilted under an unusually extreme heat wave.
So far, there have been no fire-related deaths in France or Spain, but authorities in Madrid have blamed soaring temperatures for hundreds of deaths. Two huge blazes, which have consumed pine forests for six days in southwestern France, have forced the evacuation of some 16,200 people.
In dramatic images posted online, a wall of black smoke could be seen rolling toward the Atlantic on a stretch of Bordeaux’s coast that is prized by surfers from around the world. Flames raced across trees abutting a broad sandy beach, as planes flew low to suck up water from the ocean.
Elsewhere, smoke blanketed the skyline above a mass of singed trees in images shared by French firefighters.
In Spain, firefighters supported by military brigades tried to stamp out over 30 fires consuming forests spread across the country. Spain’s National Defense Department said that “the majority” of its fire-fighting aircraft have been deployed to reach the blazes, many of which are in rugged, hilly terrain that is difficult for ground crews to access.
Fire season has hit parts of Europe earlier than usual this year after a dry, hot spring that the European Union has attributed to climate change. Some countries are also experiencing extended droughts, while many are sweltering in heat waves.
In Spain’s second heat wave of the summer, many areas have repeatedly seen peaks of 109 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Spain’s Carlos III Institute, which records temperature-related fatalities daily, 360 deaths were attributed to high temperatures from July 10 to 15. That was compared with 27 temperature-related deaths the previous six days.
Almost all of Spain was under alert for high temperatures for another day Sunday, while there were heat wave warnings for about half of France, where scorching temperatures were expected to climb higher on Monday.
Overall, more than 40 square miles of land have burned in the two fires.
Indiana shooting: Three people were fatally shot and two were injured Sunday evening at an Indiana mall after a man with a rifle opened fire in a food court, and an armed civilian shot and killed him, police said.
The man entered the Greenwood Park Mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court, Greenwood Police Department Chief Jim Ison said.
An armed civilian killed the man, Ison said at a news conference. In total, four people were killed and two were injured, he said.
Officers went to the mall about 6 p.m. for reports of the shooting. Authorities searched the mall for any other victims, but they believed the shooting was contained to the food court.
Police have confiscated a suspicious backpack that was in a bathroom near the food court, Ison said.
Comedy club shooting:
A man fired a gun inside a comedy club in North Carolina on Saturday night
shortly after it was evacuated and before actor and comedian Craig Robinson was set to perform, police said.
The shot was fired about 9 p.m. at The Comedy Zone in Charlotte, media outlets reported. No one was injured.
Club employees told WSOC-TV that the man, later identified by police as Omar McCombs, waved a gun around and told everyone to leave before the venue emptied. About 50 customers had been inside.
“The suspect then discharged his weapon,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a statement on Twitter. “There were no injuries, and the suspect was taken into custody.”
McCombs, 36, was sent to the Mecklenburg County Jail early Sunday, according to an inmate database.
Robinson has starred in movies such as “Hot Tub Time Machine” as well as the American version of “The Office” television
show. He said he was safe in a video posted Saturday night to his Instagram
account.
British PM race: The candidates to become the next British prime minister burnished their right-wing credentials Sunday, as they looked to remain in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.
Many of the five hopefuls highlighted issues linked to Brexit and immigration as they attempted to woo fellow Conservative lawmakers ahead of a third round of voting on Monday, when another contender will drop out.
Even though the eventual winner will automatically become prime minister, the contenders must appeal to a narrow constituency of party members, who tend to be whiter, older and more right-wing than the general public.
The candidates face a series of votes from lawmakers this week, who will narrow down the field
to two, before facing a runoff among an estimated 180,000 Conservative Party members.
Writing in Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper, the former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, who is the frontrunner among Conservative lawmakers, pledged to tear up European Union laws as Britain beds down its position outside the bloc.
Italy airport strikes: Several hundred flights were canceled in Italy on Sunday, a peak vacation travel day because of four-hour walkouts involving employees of low-cost airlines as well as air traffic controllers.
A union official, Fabrizio Cuscito, told Italian state TV that some 500 flights were scrapped.
Airline workers are seeking better pay as well as improved working conditions, including meals on long shifts, he said.
The Italian transport ministry said the strikes were called by workers for
Ryanair, easyJet and Volotea airlines.
Sock warranty: A Missouri man says in a class-action lawsuit against Bass Pro that the outdoor outfitter is refusing to honor its lifetime warranty on socks.
Kent Slaughter, of Springfield, said that after years of exchanging his “Redhead Lifetime Guarantee All-Purpose Wool Socks” every time they wore out, the Springfield, Missouri-based company changed its policy in 2021 before he tried to return four pairs of socks.
Instead of getting another pair with a lifetime warranty, Slaughter said he was given socks that only carried a 60-day warranty, according to the Springfield News-Leader.
A Bass Pro representative said the company won’t comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit said Bass Pro is misrepresenting the socks in its ads because it says they are “the last sock you’ll ever need to buy.”