Barcelona records the hottest June ever as a heat wave grips Europe

Barcelona records the hottest June ever as a heat wave grips Europe
A girl cools off at the water jets of a public fountain as outside temperatures reach 37 degrees celsius in Brussels on July 1, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 01 July 2025
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Barcelona records the hottest June ever as a heat wave grips Europe

Barcelona records the hottest June ever as a heat wave grips Europe
  • The previous hottest average for June was 25.6 C in 2003
  • Barcelona is usually spared the worst heat in Spain

PARIS: Barcelona recorded its hottest month of June since records started over a century ago, Spain’s national weather service said on Tuesday as Europe remained in the grip of the first major heat wave this summer.

The Fabra Observatory reported an average temperature of 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking records since 1914. The previous hottest average for June was 25.6 C in 2003. The same weather station said that a single-day high of 37.9 C (100 F) for June was recorded Monday.

Barcelona is usually spared the worst heat in Spain, thanks to its location between hills and the Mediterranean in Spain’s northeastern corner. But most of the country has been gripped by the extreme heat.

Health warnings remained in effect Tuesday in several European countries. Punishing temperatures were forecast to reach 40 C (104 F) in Paris and to stay unusually high in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Spain’s national average for June of 23.6 C (74 F) was 0.8 C hotter than the previous hottest June in 2017. It was also that first time that June was hotter than the average temperatures for both July and August.

Spain saw a new high mark for June established on Saturday when 46 C (114F) was recorded in the southern province of Huelva since national records were started in 1950.

“We are seeing these temperatures because we are experiencing a very intense heat wave that has come early in the summer and that is clearly linked to global warming,” Ramón Pascual, the regional delegate for Spain’s weather service in Barcelona, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

France suffocates

In France, the national weather agency Météo-France placed several departments under the highest red alert, with the Paris region particularly hard hit. More than 1,300 schools were partially or fully closed in the country.

Visitors to the Eiffel Tower without tickets were told to postpone their visits as the summit of the city’s landmark was closed until Thursday.

Climate experts warn that future summers are likely to be hotter than any recorded to date. By 2100, France could be up to 4 C (39 F) warmer, with temperatures exceeding 40 C expected every year and extreme heat spikes potentially reaching 50 C (122 F).

Man dies in Italy

Farther south, 17 of Italy’s 27 major cities were experiencing a heat wave, according to the health ministry.

There were torrential rains in Italy’s north on Monday and parts of Bardonecchia near Turin were covered in sludge after the Frejus river burst its banks. Near Bologna, one of the cities under a heat alert Tuesday, the 46-year-old owner of a construction company collapsed and died while repaving a school parking lot, state-run RAI reported.

An autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause, but heat was suspected. The CGIL labor union said the death of the man, whom it identified as Ait El Hajjam Brahim, owner of Veneto Pavimenti SAS, showed the need for improved measures to protect construction workers from heat exposure.

The Netherlands sweating

An annual event in Amsterdam to commemorate the end of slavery in former Dutch colonies was moved forward to avoid the hottest part of the day. People attending the event, including the city’s mayor, sat under white parasols and tried to keep cool with paper fans.

In the central town of Soest, first responders said they were bringing a firehose to an early evening water gun fight.

“Bring your water pistol and swimming clothes with you, because you’re guaranteed to get soaked!” the firefighters said in an Instagram post.

In the northern city of Groningen, organizers of an outdoor concert featuring veteran rocker Neil Young also took measures, including adding extra drinking water taps and providing free sunblock.

Portugal record

The Portuguese weather service issued a statement Monday night confirming the highest single temperature ever recorded in mainland Portugal for the month of June at 46.6 C (115 F) on June 29 in the town of Mora, west of Lisbon. The prior record was 44.9 C (112 F) in 2017.

Wildfires in Turkiye

Firefighters across Turkiye combated wildfires for a third consecutive day on Tuesday. The fires have damaged dozens of homes and forced the evacuation of some 50,000 residents.

The crews were nearing containment of two major fires in the Aegean province of İzmir and another in neighboring Manisa, Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı said. They were however, struggling with a large, wind-driven fire still sweeping through the southern province of Hatay.

Relieving animals in Prague

Temperatures were expected to reach 37 C (98.6 F) by Wednesday in large parts of the Czech Republic, including the capital.

The Prague zoo took extraordinary measures to provide some relief to their animals as zookeepers started to distribute up to 10 metric tons of ice daily across the park.

The polar bears native to the Arctic are a major concern for the zoo, director Miroslav Bobek said.

Twin brothers Aleut and Gregor looked pleased when they found parts of their open-air enclosure covered with a thick layer of ice on Tuesday morning. They used the familiar substance to lie on it and roll on their backs. As a bonus, they discovered frozen pieces of squid among the pieces of ice.


Macron turns to politics on second day of UK state visit

Updated 14 sec ago
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Macron turns to politics on second day of UK state visit

Macron turns to politics on second day of UK state visit
WINDSOR: French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Britain turned to politics Wednesday as London is expected to press Paris for new measures to curb undocumented immigration.
The number of migrants arriving on England’s southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer is expected to push the French leader to do more to stop the crossings when the two leaders meet over lunch at the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence.
London hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link, the domestic PA news agency reported.
After he took power a year ago, Starmer promised to “smash the gangs” getting thousands of migrants onto the small boats, only to see numbers rise to record levels.
More than 21,000 migrants have crossed from northern France to southeast England in rudimentary vessels this year, providing a massive headache for Starmer as the far-right soars in popularity.
In a speech to parliament Tuesday, Macron promised to deliver on measures to cut the number of migrants crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a “burden” to both countries.
He said France and the UK had a “shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness.”
The talks at Downing Street come after a first day dominated by pomp and a warm welcome from King Charles III and members of the royal family.
Tuesday’s royal welcome from King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla included a horse-drawn carriage procession, a 41-gun salute and a sumptuous banquet at Windsor Castle, west of London, for the president and his wife Brigitte.


The Macrons began the second day of their visit by paying their respects at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor’s St. George’s Chapel.
Macron then discussed biodiversity issues with the king during a stroll in the castle grounds before he bade farewell to his host and headed to central London.
This is the first state visit by a French president to Britain since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and the first by a European Union head of state since Brexit in 2020.
After Britain’s acrimonious departure from the European Union, the two countries smoothed post-Brexit tensions in 2023 during a state visit by the famously Francophile king and a summit with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in France.
At Tuesday evening’s banquet, Charles used a speech to around 160 guests — including royals, Starmer and music icons Elton John and Mick Jagger — to warn that the two nations’ alliance was as crucial as ever amid a “multitude of complex threats.”
Charles concluded by toasting a new UK-France “entente... no longer just cordiale, but now amicale,” prompting Macron to laud “this entente amicale that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance.”
Hours earlier, in a speech to parliament, the French president had adopted a similar tone, saying that the two countries must work together to defend the post-World War II “international order.”
On Wednesday morning, Macron was also due to meet entrepreneurs and scientists working on artificial intelligence at Imperial College London.
Later, the French president will also visit the British Museum to formally announce the loan of the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England.
On Wednesday evening Macron will meet with the business community at a dinner held in his honor at the Guildhall, a historic building in the City of London, the capital’s financial district, with 650 guests in attendance.

Kenya’s president warns against bid to ‘overthrow’ govt by protests

Kenya’s president warns against bid to ‘overthrow’ govt by protests
Updated 09 July 2025
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Kenya’s president warns against bid to ‘overthrow’ govt by protests

Kenya’s president warns against bid to ‘overthrow’ govt by protests

NAIROBI: Kenyan President William Ruto warned Wednesday against attempts to “overthrow” the government through “unconstitutional means,” claiming recent violent protests were sponsored.

“They want to start chaos, organize protests, burn people’s property, bring disaster so as to overthrow the government before 2027... You cannot tell us that you want to organize chaos to overthrow the government!” Ruto said in Swahili.


Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule on cases against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine

Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule on cases against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine
Updated 09 July 2025
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Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule on cases against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine

Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule on cases against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine
  • Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia

THE HAGUE: Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule Wednesday on Russia’s actions in the conflict in Ukraine, including human rights violations during the full-scale invasion and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, marking the first time an international court will adjudicate Russian culpability for the wider conflict in Ukraine dating from 2014.

Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Moscow in 2022, following the full-scale invasion.

Families of the victims of the MH17 disaster see the decision as an important milestone in their 11-year quest for justice.

“It’s a real step in understanding who was really responsible,” Thomas Schansman, who lost his 18-year-old son Quinn in the tragedy, told The Associated Press.

The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17, 2014, using a Russian-made Buk missile fired from territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels. All 298 passengers and crew were killed, including 196 Dutch citizens.

In May, the UN’s aviation agency found Russia responsible for the disaster.

The ECHR is an important part of the Council of Europe, which is the continent’s foremost human rights institution. Russia was expelled from the council over Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine. However, the court can still deal with cases against Russia dating from before its expulsion.

In 2023, the judges sided with Ukraine and the Netherlands in a challenge over jurisdiction, finding there was sufficient evidence to show areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by separatist rebels were “under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation,” including providing weapons, and giving political and economic support.

Wednesday’s ruling won’t be the last from the EHCR dealing with the war. Kyiv has other cases pending against Russia and there are nearly 10,000 cases brought by individuals against the Kremlin.

The decisions in Strasbourg are separate from a criminal prosecution in the Netherlands in which two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel were convicted in absentia of multiple murders for their roles in the downing of Flight MH17.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the United Nations’ top court ordered Russia to stop military operations in Ukraine while a case is heard, a process that takes years. Russia has flouted the order by the International Court of Justice.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky formally approved plans to set up a new international court to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Schansman, who has also brought an individual case to the ECHR, has no plans to stop pursuing justice, more than a decade after his son’s death. “The worst thing we could to is stop fighting,” he told AP. “MH17 is not a case that will disappear for Russia.”


Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend

Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend
Updated 09 July 2025
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Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend

Russian FM Lavrov to visit North Korea this weekend
  • Russia's security chief Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year

SEOUL: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea this weekend, state media reported, the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military ties.

Lavrov "will visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from July 11 to 13 at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry," the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.

Russia's security chief Sergei Shoigu has visited Pyongyang multiple times this year, including last month, when the two countries marked the one year anniversary of the signing of a sweeping military pact.

The two heavily-sanctioned nations signed the military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the nuclear-armed North.

Pyongyang has become one of Moscow's main allies during its more than three-year-long Ukraine offensive, sending thousands of troops and container loads of weapons to help the Kremlin oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk region.

Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said, with Shoigu announcing in Pyongyang last month that the nuclear-armed North would send builders and deminers to Kursk.

North Korea only confirmed it had deployed troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine in April, and admitted that its soldiers had been killed in combat.

Leader Kim Jong Un has subsequently been shown in state media images honouring the flag-draped coffins of North Korean soldiers killed helping Russia fight Ukraine.


China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced

China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced
Updated 6 min 40 sec ago
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China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced

China says EU ‘mentality’, not trade, needs to be rebalanced
  • EU chief Ursula von der Leyen remarked the EU would seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths

BEIJING: Beijing said on Wednesday that the European Union needed to rebalance its “mentality,” not its economic ties with China, ahead of a summit between the two this month.

“It is hoped that the European side realizes that what needs to be rebalanced right now is Europe’s mentality, not China-EU economic and trade relations,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the EU would seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths.

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said Beijing was running the largest trade surplus “in the history of mankind” exporting vast amounts to the EU while making it harder for European companies to do business in China.

The trade deficit between China and the EU was a yawning $357 billion in 2024.

The commission leader, who will travel to Beijing with European Council President Antonio Costa, said the pair will seek to loosen export restrictions on rare earths — while Brussels also looks at “developing alternative supply resources.”

Beijing snapped back on Wednesday, saying that in the “current turbulent situation,” the bloc and China should “properly handle divergences and frictions.”

“We hope that the European Union will truly establish a more objective and rational understanding of China and pursue a more positive and pragmatic China policy,” Mao said.