Photos of the Week: Alligator Dip, Steeplechase Stumble, Friendship Day
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Overcrowded French prison swelters in 'unbearable' heat
Inmates at a prison in southwestern France are struggling to cope as a heatwave grips the region, with high temperatures set to persist through the weekend. Fans hummed in every corner, and sheets hung from windows at an overcrowded prison near the city of Toulouse, where inmates tried to cool down as temperatures pushed past 36 degrees Celsius, an AFP journalist observed on Thursday. Southern France is in the grip of a heatwave, and for inmates at the Seysses detention centre, that heat is "unbearable", one detainee said. But like many prisons in France, Seysses is overcrowded — in June, it held on average more than twice its capacity. "Having two people per cell has become the exception," said one guard, whose name like all the detainees interviewed cannot be published. With detention centres across the country at over capacity and facilities ill-suited to ever more frequent heatwaves, guards and inmates alike worry about the impact of the heat. Heat can create security risks, with fights becoming "more frequent" as temperatures rise, the guard said. "The slightest annoyance can spark a fight." Temperatures this weekend are expected to hit 40C in some areas and Monday forecast to be the "hottest day nationwide," according to national weather service Meteo France. At the prison, "you can really feel the 38 degrees. The walls absorb the heat. There's condensation," the detainee said, speaking from the 9-square-metre cell he shares with two other people. "We're not going to ask for air conditioning, that's not going to happen, but we would like more ventilation or a larger cell," he said. -'No choice'- As the planet warms as a result of humanity's emissions of greenhouse gases, experts say heatwaves are likely to become more frequent across Europe. For detainees at Seysses, a two-hour break in an asphalt courtyard with no trees offers little reprieve, with mist sprayers not due to be installed until next summer. An inmate in the women's section of the prison said she and her fellow prisoners just stayed in their cells because it was too hot to go outside. For the inmates who did venture into the recreation yard, most stayed in the shade, though a few did some push-ups or pull-ups even in the blistering heat. Prison staff distributed free water and provided fans and hats to the most vulnerable individuals, including those over 75 years old or those with health issues. But the prison's facilities, including a poorly ventilated library and a gym, with tiny windows and a single fan, offer little escape from the heat. "It's hot in there, but when there are a lot of them, it gets very, very hot very quickly," said a guard, describing the workout room. Even sleep brings little relief, said one recent arrival in the women's section of the prison, which is built for 40 people but holding 80. The inmate, who shares her cell with two other detainees, said she has no alternative but to sleep on a mattress on the floor. Sleeping is "difficult, because it's concrete and during the summer, it's quite hot," she said. "But we have no choice." vgr-ekf/gv
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Firefighters battle blaze near Athens for second day
Hundreds of firefighters battled a deadly wildfire near Athens for a second day Saturday, with strong winds raising fears it could spread. A fire department spokesman said more than 260 firefighters with nearly 80 fire engines and 12 aircraft were deployed near Keratea, a rural area some 43 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of Athens. "The fire has weakened but there are still active pockets," the spokesman told AFP. A new fire broke out close to the nearby town of Kouvaras on Saturday but was quickly brought under control. Dimitris Loukas, mayor of the nearest city of Lavrio, said the Keratea fire that broke out Friday had devastated nearly 10,000 acres of brush and forest. "Many homes were destroyed, in addition to other properties, agricultural and forest land," he told state news agency ANA. The National Observatory in Athens on Saturday said the high winds will persist until at least Monday. Firefighters and police evacuated dozens of people late Friday from homes and an elderly care centre as the flames neared the coastal resort of Palaia Fokaia. Firefighters later found the remains of an elderly man in a hut near Keratea. He died in his bed, Loukas said. Gale-force winds on Friday also caused the deaths of two Vietnamese tourists who fell into the sea at Sarakiniko beach on the Cycladic island of Milos. The 61-year-old woman and 65-year-old man were on a cruise ship group visiting the lunar-like, volcanic rock beach, the coastguard said. A coastguard spokeswoman told AFP the woman had fallen into the water, and the man had tried to help her. Greece's national weather service EMY said winds of up to 74 kilometres (46 miles) an hour were forecast for Saturday. The weather on Friday disrupted ferry travel for tens of thousands of summer holidaymakers. A sailing ban on Athens ports was lifted Saturday. Two dead as Greece battles growing wildfire front 'We knew it was dangerous' In the municipality of Palaia Fokaia, an hour's drive south of Athens, a typical bucolic Greek landscape of olive groves and hamlets was also transformed by a raging Friday wildfire into a dystopia of blackened land and incinerated homes. Observing them from his unscathed house was a relieved Kostas Triadis. Despite the damage dealt to the landscape, he hailed the work of firemen and volunteers, "otherwise it would be very bad." "It is regenerated by itself, I hope it will be the natural future," the 75-year-old added, referring to the devastated vegetation. "It is a very good, small forest, we always knew it was dangerous." His wife Eleni, 71, added that "everybody did their utmost to save the area, but the real tragedy is that the forest is lost. It was very old." But she pointed to the many trees that were relatively unharmed because the fire burned itself out quickly in the short grass that residents had cut in June. "It's a tragedy, it's the first time the fire has come here," she said of the area, where the couple spend the summer months away from their Athens residence. A short distance away on the coast, the contrast could not be starker: beachgoers ambled on the sand and swam in the shimmering Mediterranean on a seemingly normal balmy summer morning. But the signs of the emergency were unmistakeable as beachside diners were greeted with the spectacle of water bombers skimming the water to refill and return to the raging fires. (AFP)
Atlantic
3 days ago
- Atlantic
Photos of the Week: Alligator Dip, Steeplechase Stumble, Friendship Day
A Pride canal parade in Amsterdam, the Jubilee of Youth prayer vigil in Rome, the World Dog Surfing Championships in California, a rally race through a Finnish forest, wildfires in France, and much more Roman Pilipey / AFP / Getty Ukrainian service members of the 59th brigade's mobile-air-defense unit fire a Soviet-made ZU-23 anti-aircraft twin-barrel auto-cannon toward a Russian drone, during an air attack near Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk region, on July 19, 2025, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In this photo released by the Geological Agency of Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, lightning strikes as Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews volcanic material during an eruption in East Flores, Indonesia, on August 1, 2025. Carlos Gil Andreu / Getty Flames burn through trees and bushes during the Cerro de los Pinos wildfire, in Cáceres, Spain, on August 4, 2025. Olivier Chassignole / AFP / Getty Tourists walk on a beach as smoke from wildfires raging in France's Aude department is visible from the Mediterranean Coast in Banyuls-sur-Mer, in southwestern France, on August 5, 2025. The fire broke out earlier that afternoon in Ribaute, burning more than 9,000 acres of forest and scrubland in just a few hours, before reaching the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, where a number of houses burned down. McKlein Photography / LAT Images / Getty Kalle Rovanperä competes in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 during Day 3 of WRC Rally Finland, in Jyväskylä, Finland, on August 2, 2025. Men use a boat to transport their vehicles across the Kokcha River on the outskirts of the Fayzabad district of Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, on August 7, 2025. Niharika Kulkarni / AFP / Getty A large statue of hands rises above the flooded Namo Ghat, along the Ganges River, following monsoon rains in Varanasi, India, on August 1, 2025. Tristan Duplan Fribourg of France performs a trick during the men's preliminary event at the 2025 IWWF World Under 21 Waterski Championships, at Predator Bay Water Ski Club, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on August 1, 2025. Steve Drottar helps the dog Rosie catch a wave during the World Dog Surfing Championships, in Pacifica, California, on August 2, 2025. Tang Dehong / VCG / Getty Villagers row water-chestnut buckets side by side as they harvest water chestnuts, in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, China, on August 6, 2025. Umut Karahasanoglu / Anadolu / Getty Silhouettes of nomads on horseback reflect in a pond at sunset in the mountainous highlands of Kyrgyzstan. From the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip, the sun sets behind destroyed buildings in the Palestinian territory, on August 7, 2025. Palestinians rush to retrieve aid packages during an airdrop over Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on August 6, 2025. Police confront pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the Dutch Parliament, on August 7, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands, as lawmakers convened an emergency session to discuss the escalation of violence in Gaza. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Thursday, 'The Netherlands is not planning to recognize a Palestinian state at this time.' A Pataxó woman attends the IV March of Indigenous Women, in defense of women's rights, local Indigenous people, and the environment, in Brasilia, Brazil, on August 7, 2025. Abhisek Saha / Middle East Images / AFP / Getty A group of students celebrate Friendship Day by writing friendship messages on one another's arms, in Agartala, Tripura, India, on August 3, 2025. Pope Leo XIV arrives on a helicopter in Tor Vergata for the Jubilee of Youth prayer vigil, on August 2, 2025, in Rome, Italy. The Vatican expected half a million young Catholics to arrive for the jubilee. Dingena Mol / ANP / AFP / Getty Participants watch a person using a Flyboard during the Canal Parade in Amsterdam, on August 2, 2025. The boat parade is part of the annual Amsterdam Pride. A kiteboarder performs a jump during a windy day in Agios Nikolaos, east of Athens, Greece, on August 7, 2025. Gracie Hyde stumbles as she competes in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase finals during the U.S. Championships athletics meet, in Eugene, Oregon, on August 2, 2025. A group of people practice yoga during sunrise at the beach, in Barcelona, Spain, on August 5, 2025. Niklas Halle'N / AFP / Getty A a staff member holds the helmet of the character Sauron in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy during a press preview of movie props set to go up for auction, in London, on August 6, 2025. Zhang Xiangyi / China News Service / VCG / Getty A visitor interacts with a robotic hand, at the Robot Mall in Yizhuang district, Beijing, China, on August 4, 2025. A cluster of space-capsule homestays overlooks rolling hills, at the Shuimo Danxia scenic area, in Lanzhou, Gansu province, China, on August 1, 2025. Straw bales are decorated as a wedding couple to point out an upcoming wedding, in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, on August 4, 2025. Lions named Bart and Khalila interact in their enclosure at a zoo in the Czech Republic, on August 6, 2025. Stray cats gather on a table at the protected cat colony Proyecto Aldameros, in a park in the historic area of Havana, Cuba, on August 5, 2025. Former circus artist Krystian Kaulis takes a swim with Mrs. Meyer, an American alligator, in an outdoor pool, in Elmenhorst, Germany, on August 1, 2025. Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
