- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
Greece orders thousands to evacuate as wildfires rage
Greece on Sunday ordered thousands of people to evacuate as firefighters battled a spate of wildfires, and experts warned of more extreme weather to come next week.
Firefighters were battling a "dangerous" fire near Athens on Sunday night, with smoke covering parts of the capital in a dark haze. The emergency services issued evacuation orders in several towns including the historic site of Marathon.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cut short his holiday and returned to Athens Sunday evening to deal with the crisis.
By Sunday afternoon, firefighters had quickly dealt with 33 out of the 40 blazes that had broken out in the past 24 hours, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told the press at an emergency briefing.
But the force was battling seven more in the high Mediterranean summer heat, he said.
Already Saturday, Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias had warned that half the country was under a high-risk warning for fires due to high temperatures, wind gusts and drought conditions.
In the East Attica region near the capital, a blaze in the Varnavas area spread to a pine forested zone with scattered houses, giving off so much smoke that Athens glowed red at one point. It was still raging Sunday night.
Hundreds of people fled at least eight nearby villages, while other battled to save their houses from the fire by trying to douse the flames.
- 'Everything is burning' -
"The situation remains dangerous given the fact the fire is raging in an area with houses and has provoked damages," said Vathrakogiannis.
"The strong winds spread it in a flash, creating extreme behaviour, with new fronts behind the containment lines," he added.
A force of more than 400 firefighters backed by 110 vehicles, 29 firefighting aircraft and helicopters was deployed to battle the flames, which "in many cases reached more than 25 metres high", Vathrakogiannis said.
Firefighters and forest commandos were expected to continue the battle all night long.
In the village of Metohi, which so far was not threatened, Eugenia told AFP she was afraid of what might happen in the night.
"Every year we have to escape from our houses," she said speaking from the saddle of her motorbike fresh from checking up on her cats.
The fire brigade spokesman said they had had to rescue many trapped civilians because they refused to leave their homes despite the evacuation messages.
Giorgos Tsevas, from Polydendri, a village near the fire front that in Greek means "many trees", was desperate.
"Everything is burning. I have 200 olive trees there but now they are gone," the 48-year-old said.
Another fire that erupted earlier on Sunday afternoon in Megara, West Attica, triggering an evacuation alert, was partially contained after destroying at least three houses and cars.
Forty-eight firefighters equipped with 13 vehicles and additional volunteers were working on the ground, along with aerial support.
In Thessaloniki, a fire in the Lagadas area was partially under control, with 20 firefighters, 10 vehicles and one helicopter at the scene.
- Record temperatures -
Temperatures are forecast to peak at 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) in Greece on Monday, with the highest temperatures expected in the west of the country.
Winds in some areas reached 80 to 90 kilometres per hour Sunday, greatly complicating the work of the firefighters.
The Mediterranean country is exceptionally vulnerable to summer blazes, with this season seeing fires burn daily.
After the warmest winter on record, Greece also experienced its hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.
It registered its earliest recorded heatwave in June.
Scientists warn that human-induced fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world.
The rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Y.Aukaiv--AMWN