France has triggered a rare red alert over the latest heatwave to hit the country as temperatures are expected to reach in 42°C on Wednesday in the southern Rhone valley.
"A lasting and intense heatwave for the period has settled over the country," officials said in a statement on Monday.
The departments of Rhone, Drome, Ardeche and Haute-Loire were under the highest alert effective at 4pm local time, with peaks expected in the south-west and the Rhone valley.
It was the sixth time Meteo France has triggered the red alert – part of the government's scheme to protect the population during periods of extreme weather – and the first this year.
The latest wave of hot weather has been caused by a so-called heat dome, a meteorological event characterised by a persistent high-pressure system that acts as a barrier, trapping warm air on the ground.
South and south-eastern France are the regions most affected by extreme temperatures, while the north and north-west have temperatures considered normal for this time of year.
This regional disparity is reflected in a list of France's 70 hottest cities compiled by daily newspaper Le Figaro.
Cities in the south-east, such as Annecy, Lyon and Saint-Etienne, are expected to experience the biggest temperature increase.
Based on climate scenarios provided by French laboratories, the newspaper calculated the number of unusually hot days expected throughout June, July and August between 2041 and 2070.
An unusually hot day is when the temperatures is at least 5°C higher than the 1975-2006 average.
A number of other south-eastern and eastern cities, such as Avignon, Valence and Dijon, are believed by climate experts to be similarly affected.
They are all expected to experience on average 16 unusually hot days a year.
Paris is ranked 41st in the list, with a predicted 10 unusually hot days.
Northern cities are set to be least affected by temperature increases in France, with only four days of unusually hot weather a year expected in the port city of Calais.
Cities in the western region of Brittany, including Brest, Quimper and Lorient, are scheduled to experience between six and eight unusually hot days a year.
Meanwhile, about 260 firefighters were battling a fire near the village of Chanousse in the foothills of the Alps in south-east France, the Association for the Prevention and Reporting of Forest Fires reported on Monday.
Flames have consumed about 120 hectares of woodland, local authorities said.
Power company EDF has extended a power cut at its 1.3 gigawatt Golfech 2 nuclear reactor in south-western France on Monday because river water used to cool the reactor had surpassed maximum temperatures due to excessively hot weather.
A restart has been delayed until Friday.
The heatwave extends beyond France, with Spain and Greece blighted by new wildfires. In Spain’s Canary Islands, a blaze that police say was started deliberately last Tuesday on Tenerife continued to burn out of control, although the worst seemed to have passed. More than 12,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and about 13,400 hectares of pine forest and scrubland have burnt.
In Greece, authorities ordered the evacuation of two villages in the central Viotia region, about 100km north-west of Athens, after a forest fire broke out on Monday morning. The coastguard placed two patrol boats and several fishing boats and private vessels on standby in case an evacuation by sea was necessary.
Temperatures in Madrid expected to hover just below 40°C, more than 6°C above normal for the time of year, according to Maxar Technologies.
It has been a summer of extreme weather, from wildfires to flooding and violent storms across the Northern Hemisphere. The world’s hottest month ever was recorded in July and the extreme weather increases the intensity of such events.
Fires are still raging across parts of south-east Europe as dry, hot weather provides perfect conditions for blazes to ignite. A wildfire that began on Saturday morning in the Alexandroupolis in north-east Greece is still burning, according to authorities.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THREE
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Food of choice: Sushi
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ACC 2019: The winners in full
Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Afcon 2019
SEMI-FINALS
Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm
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Matches are live on BeIN Sports
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Featherweight
Azouz Anwar (EGY) beat Marcelo Pontes (BRA)
TKO round 2
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) beat Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
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Welterweight
Gimbat Ismailov (RUS) beat Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR)
TKO round 1
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) beat Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Unanimous points decision
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) beat Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)
TKO round 1
Catchweight 100kg
Marc Vleiger (NED) beat Mohamed Ali (EGY)
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Featherweight
James Bishop (NZ) beat Mark Valerio (PHI)
TKO round 2
Welterweight
Abdelghani Saber (EGY) beat Gerson Carvalho (BRA)
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Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) beat Igor Litoshik (BLR)
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Bantamweight
Fabio Mello (BRA) beat Mark Alcoba (PHI)
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Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magomedsultanov (RUS)
TKO round 1
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) beat Jayson Margallo (PHI)
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Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) beat Roman Golovinov (UKR)
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Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Submission round 2
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
TKO round 2
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UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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