The message read: “In loving and devoted memory. Charles R”. The “R” in King Charles’ title refers to “Rex,” which is Latin for king. The service at Westminster Abbey — attended by
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Here’s a look at the life of professional soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Birth date: February 5, 1985
Birth place: Funchal, Portugal
Birth name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Father: Jose Dinis Aveiro, a gardener
Mother: Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook
Children: with Georgina Rodriguez: Alana Martina, 2017; Bella Esmeralda and male twin (name unreleased, died in childbirth), 2022; via surrogate: Eva and Mateo (twins), 2017; with mother’s name unavailable publicly: Cristiano Jr., 2010
All-time leading male goalscorer in international football.
First male player in history to score a goal in five different World Cups.
Portugal’s all-time top international goalscorer.
Winner of the Ballon d’Or footballer of the year award five times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), and the European Golden Shoe four times (2007-08, 2010-11, 2013-14 and 2014-15).
One of his acts of charity was paying for the brain surgery of a 10-month-old boy. Other acts have included raising money for survivors of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and paying for treatment for a 9-year-old cancer patient.
His father named him after US President Ronald Reagan.
Early 1990s – Joins local amateur team Andorinha.
Late 1990s – Joins Clube Desportivo Nacional da Madeira, one of Portugal’s leading professional football clubs.
Early 2000s – Signs with Sporting Clube de Portugal.
August 12, 2003 – Signs with Manchester United for £12.24 million ($19.7 million).
August 20, 2003 – Debuts for Portugal’s national team.
June-July 2004 – Represents Portugal in the UEFA Euro and scores a goal in the tournament opener. This is his first major international tournament.
July 2004 – Plays for Portugal during the Summer Olympics. Portugal is eliminated in the group stage.
2005 – Wins the FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award.
October 2005 – Comes under investigation for an alleged sexual assault but is not charged.
June 17, 2006 – Scores his first World Cup goal against Iran. Portugal wins 2-0.
2008 – Wins the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
2009 – Transfers to Real Madrid. The deal includes an £80 million (more than $130 million) transfer fee.
December 15, 2013 – Opens a museum dedicated to his football career in his hometown of Funchal, Portugal.
January 6, 2014 – Scores his 400th career goal.
January 20, 2014 – Is named Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry.
October 17, 2015 – Officially becomes Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer in the club’s 3-0 victory over Levante at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
November 9, 2015 – The documentary “Ronaldo” premieres in London.
November 8, 2016 – Signs a “lifetime” endorsement deal with Nike.
January 2017 – Is named the inaugural Best FIFA Men’s Player of 2016.
June 13, 2017 – Is accused of defrauding Spanish authorities of $16.4 million in tax between 2011 and 2014.
August 14, 2017 – According to the Spanish Football Federation, Ronaldo is banned for five games following his red card in Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory over rival Barcelona. On top of the one-game ban for the red card, he will miss four further games for pushing referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea as he was leaving the field.
October 23, 2017 – Wins the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award for the second year in a row.
December 7, 2017 – Claims his fifth Ballon d’Or, equaling the record set by eternal rival Lionel Messi.
July 10, 2018 – Leaves Real Madrid to join the reigning Serie A champion Juventus, based in Turin, Italy, on a four-year contract and a reported $117 million transfer fee.
September 27, 2018 – Kathryn Mayorga files a lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada, accusing Ronaldo of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009. She seeks to void a settlement and nondisclosure agreement she says she was coerced to sign by Ronaldo and his legal team. Ronaldo denies the allegations.
January 10, 2019 – Las Vegas police spokeswoman, Officer Laura Meltzer, confirms that in the course of investigating a rape allegation against Ronaldo they have sent a warrant to authorities in Italy requesting a sample of his DNA.
January 22, 2019 – Ronaldo agrees to settle his tax fraud case with Spanish authorities by paying a fine of $21.6 million and accepting a 23-month suspended prison sentence. Under Spanish law, first-time offenders can avoid prison time if the sentence is under two years.
April 20, 2019 – Juventus defeats Fiorentina 2-1 to claim the Italian championship Serie A title. Ronaldo becomes the first player ever to win titles in the Premier League (with Manchester United), La Liga (with Real Madrid) and Serie A (with Juventus).
May 8, 2019 – The lawsuit filed in Clark County, Nevada, accusing Ronaldo of rape is voluntary dismissed by Mayorga. Larissa Drohobyczer, Mayorga’s attorney, tells CNN that “The state case was dismissed by us because we filed the identical claims in federal court due to federal court rules on serving foreigners, we basically just switched venues, but the claims remain.”
July 22, 2019 – The Clark County District Attorney’s office says that Ronaldo will not face sexual assault charges in Las Vegas. The office says the allegations, which were first made in 2009, cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
August 16, 2019 – Federal court documents reveal that following Mayorga’s 2009 accusation of rape, Ronaldo paid Mayorga $375,000 in a settlement and confidentiality agreement. Mayorga is asking the court to invalidate the agreement on the grounds that Ronaldo and his legal team took advantage of her fragile emotional state to coerce her into signing it.
September 8, 2020 – Scores his 100th international goal in Portugal’s Nations League match against Sweden, becoming just the second man in history to reach the milestone.
October 13, 2020 – Has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a statement by the Portuguese Football Federation.
August 31, 2021 – Manchester United confirms the signing of Ronaldo for a second time, completing his transfer from Juventus.
September 1, 2021 – Breaks the men’s all-time international goalscoring record after scoring two goals against Ireland in the Group A World Cup qualifier in Almancil, Portugal.
October 6, 2021 – A federal judge recommends that the rape case against Ronaldo be dismissed, because Mayorga’s attorneys improperly obtained and used information from leaked documents. On June 10, 2022, the case is dismissed. In 2023, Ronaldo is reimbursed over $300,000 for legal fees he spent while defending himself. US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey ruled the attorney representing Mayorga, Leslie Stovall, pay Ronaldo. The court found Stovall owed the money after the attorney was judged to have harmed the footballer through “bad-faith lawyering.”
March 12, 2022 – Scores his 806th career goal against Tottenham, breaking FIFA’s all-time record for most goals in competitive matches in men’s football history.
April 18, 2022 – Ronaldo and his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, announce that one of their newborn twins, a boy, has died.
November 22, 2022 – Manchester United announces Ronaldo is leaving the English Premier League club with immediate effect. The announcement comes a week after Ronaldo gave an explosive TV interview about his frustrations at the club.
November 24, 2022 – With a goal in Portugal’s opener against Ghana in Qatar, becomes the first male player in history to score at five World Cups.
December 30, 2022 – Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr announces that Ronaldo has joined the team.
March 23, 2023 – Ronaldo breaks the all-time men’s international appearance record after captaining Portugal in its Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein in Lisbon.
February 28, 2024 – The Saudi Arabian Football Federation announces Ronaldo has been suspended for one match and fined for “provoking” fans in a Saudi Pro League match.
Cristiano Ronaldo has Portuguese airport renamed in his honor
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Here is a look at the life of the Princess of Wales, the former Catherine (Kate) Middleton.
Birth date: January 9, 1982
Birth place: Reading, Berkshire, England
Birth name: Catherine Elizabeth Middleton
Father: Michael Middleton, former airline pilot, now mail-order business owner
Mother: Carole (Goldsmith) Middleton, former flight attendant
Marriage: Prince William, The Prince of Wales (April 29, 2011-present)
Children: George Alexander Louis, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana and Louis Arthur Charles
Education: University of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, 2005, MA, Art History
Is the eldest of three children of self-made millionaires.
Her engagement ring belonged to Princess Diana.
2001 – Meets Prince William at University of St. Andrews.
2002-2005 – Shares living quarters with William and several other college students.
2003 – Begins dating Prince William around Christmas.
April 1, 2004 – First public sighting of the couple, a ski trip in Switzerland, is reported.
2006-2007 – Works as an accessories buyer for British ladies’ fashion chain store Jigsaw.
March 2007 – Ends relationship with Prince William, but within months they are on again.
October 2010 – Becomes engaged to Prince William during a trip to Kenya.
November 16, 2010 – Prince Charles officially announces the engagement to the world.
April 19, 2011 – The Middleton family coat of arms is unveiled.
April 29, 2011 – Marries Prince William at Westminster Abbey and becomes Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge.
June 2011 – The Duke and Duchess make an apartment on the grounds of Kensington Palace their London home.
June 30-July 8, 2011 – The couple’s first official trip to a foreign country, Canada.
July 8-10, 2011 – Visits Los Angeles, where she and William visit a job fair for veterans and an arts center in a low-income neighborhood. It is her first trip to the United States.
July 22, 2011 – Her wedding dress is put on display at Buckingham Palace.
January 5, 2012 – Announces the four charities she will support as a patron: the Art Room, which helps disadvantaged children express themselves through art; the National Portrait Gallery, which houses a famous collection of royal paintings and photographs; East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, which helps children with life-threatening conditions; and Action on Addiction, which assists those with addiction issues.
March 19, 2012 – Gives her first official public address at East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice facility in Ipswich, England.
September 2012 – The French magazine Closer runs photographs of the Duchess privately sunbathing topless. The pictures also run in the Irish Daily Star newspaper.
September 17, 2012 – The Duchess and William file a complaint in France against the photographer who took the topless sunbathing pictures. They are seeking damages and would like to prevent further publication of the photos. The French magazine Closer, the Irish Daily Star and the Italian magazine Chi have each published some of the topless photos.
December 3, 2012 – The royal household announces that the Duchess is pregnant. According to the announcement, she is admitted to hospital with acute morning sickness.
July 22, 2013 – The Duchess gives birth to the couple’s first child, a son weighing 8 lbs., 6 oz. The baby is named Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge.
May 2, 2015 – The Duchess gives birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter weighing 8 lbs, 3 oz. The baby is named Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge.
February 17, 2016 – Guest edits Huffington Post UK as part of her Young Minds Matter initiative.
April 30, 2016 – As part of a partnership with the British National Portrait Gallery, the Duchess will appear on the cover of the centenary issue of fashion magazine British Vogue, and have two of her portraits hung in the gallery.
September 4, 2017 – Kensington Palace issues a statement that the Duchess is pregnant. The baby will be her and Prince William’s third child.
September 5, 2017 – A French court rules that the topless sunbathing pictures of the Duchess were an invasion of privacy, awarding her and William 100,000 euros (about $119,000) in damages.
April 23, 2018 – The Duchess gives birth to the couple’s third child, a son weighing 8 lbs., 7 oz. The baby is named Prince Louis Arthur Charles of Cambridge.
November 27, 2020 – The Duchess and the Royal Foundation release the findings of a study on how Covid-19 has impacted parents and caregivers of those raising children under the age of five. The study relied in part on a survey of more than half a million people about the early childhood years in the UK.
June 18, 2021 – The Duchess launches The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. In a video announcing the center’s creation, the duchess says the goal is to “raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes.”
September 8, 2022 – Queen Elizabeth II dies, and Charles ascends to the throne.
September 10, 2022 – King Charles III announces William will be given the title Prince of Wales, making Catherine Princess of Wales.
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Here’s a look at the life of award-winning screen legend Sophia Loren.
Birth date: September 20, 1934
Birth place: Rome, Italy (grew up in Pozzuoli, outside of Naples)
Birth name: Sofia Villani Scicolone
Father: Riccardo Scicolone
Mother: Romilda Villani
Marriages: Carlo Ponti (April 9, 1966-January 10, 2007, his death; September 17, 1957-September 3, 1962, annulled)
Children: Edoardo, Carlo Jr.
At six, her chin was cut by shrapnel during a bombing in World War II.
Other screen names used before becoming Sophia Loren were Sofia Lazzaro and Sofia Scicolone.
Nominated for two Academy Awards and won one. She also received an honorary award.
Nominated for eight Golden Globes and won five. She also received the honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Nominated for one Grammy Award and won.
An accomplished cook, she has written three cookbooks.
1949 – Enters the Queen of the Sea beauty contest and comes in second, winning a train ticket to Rome, where she begins modeling and acting in B-movies.
Early 1950s – Is the runner-up in a nightclub beauty contest for Miss Rome. Movie producer Carlo Ponti is one of the judges.
1951 – Makes her US film debut as an uncredited extra, with no lines, in the film “Quo Vadis?”
Early 1950s – Adopts the last name Loren.
October 23, 1953 – “Aida” opens; it’s her first major leading role.
1957 – Loren appears in her first English-speaking leading role, “The Pride and the Passion.” She learns her lines by using cue cards of English words written phonetically.
1962 – Wins the Best Actress Academy Award for “La ciociara (Two Women).”
September 3, 1962 – Her marriage of almost five years to Carlo Ponti is annulled. Neither the Vatican nor Italian law recognizes Ponti’s 1957 divorce by proxy from Giuliana Ponti. Loren and Ponti are forced to annul their marriage after warrants for their arrest are issued.
1964 – Stars in the movie, “Matrimonio all’italiana (Marriage Italian Style).” Nominated for an Academy Award.
1964-1965 – Moves to France with Carlo Ponti and becomes a French citizen.
1965 – Giuliana Ponti obtains a French divorce recognized by Italian law.
April 9, 1966 – Loren and Carlo Ponti marry for the second time.
July 24, 1968 – Loren and Ponti cleared of bigamy charges by Rome’s criminal court.
January 23, 1979 – Loren is tried (in absentia), and acquitted, of complicity with Ponti in income tax evasion, misuse of government subsidies, and illegal export of Italian funds and artwork. Carlo Ponti is convicted and sentenced to four years in prison (two years were pardoned) and fined 22 billion lire ($24 million). All charges against him were cleared in 1987.
1980 – Portrays both herself and her mother in the made-for-TV movie “Sophia Loren: Her Own Story,” based on her 1979 autobiography, “Sophia: Living and Loving, Her Own Story,” written with A. E. Hotchner.
May 20, 1982 – Loren begins her 30-day jail term for tax evasion, for unpaid supplementary taxes for 1963-1964.
June 5, 1982 – Serves 17 days of her 30-day jail term.
1991 – Receives Honorary Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
2003 – Winner, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children (along with Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev) for reading Prokofiev’s “Peter and The Wolf.”
2009 – Appears in the movie “Nine,” her first role in five years.
November 2014 – Loren’s memoir, “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: My Life,” is published.
November 13, 2020 – “The Life Ahead” premieres on Netflix. The film stars Loren and is directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti.
April 2021 – Loren opens Sophia Loren Original Italian Food, a restaurant and pizzeria, in Florence, Italy.
September 24, 2023 – Is taken to hospital for surgery after falling in her home and suffering several fractures to her hip and thighbone.
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One person has died and eight people have been hospitalized after an outbreak of botulism in a restaurant in the French city of Bordeaux, according to a statement from France’s public health body on Wednesday.
Two less serious cases were also identified, according to local health authorities.
It is thought that the diners ate sardines in a home-made oil preserve, which was contaminated with botulism bacteria. They all dined at the Tchin Tchin wine bar from September 4 to September 10, Public Health France said.
According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, the customer who died was a woman in her thirties who was visiting Bordeaux with her partner, who is still in intensive care.
Botulism is a paralyzing nerve toxin, considered to be one of the most potent and lethal substances in the world.
It’s produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and sometimes by strains of Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium baratii. The rod-shaped bacteria are commonly found in soil and sediments from lakes, rivers and oceans.
The bacteria thrive in low-oxygen conditions, such as canned foods, deep wounds and the intestinal tract, but when threatened form protective spores with a hard coating that allows the bacteria to survive for years.
Thierry Touzet, deputy director of the Gironde civil protection authority, told journalists Wednesday that the restaurant will be closed for “the next few days, if not weeks” following discussions with the owner to facilitate cleaning and disinfection of the premises.
“He has considered closing for a longer period to carry out all these operations, and also to train in food preservation techniques,” Touzet said.
“The establishment was generally well kept however there was a real problem in the process of preserving food,” he said, adding that the owner has been asked to no longer make preserved fish.
He added that there were nine jars of the sardines that were served during the week when the infections were identified, and about 25 people may have eaten the fish.
France’s public health agency has warned anyone who visited the restaurant and has shown any symptoms of botulism to immediately seek medical help. These symptoms can include abdominal pains, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred or double vision and a dry mouth accompanied by a difficulty swallowing or even speaking.
Treatment of severe botulism infections can involve assisted breathing in intensive care. However, a rapid treatment of antitoxins after the onset of symptoms can shorten hospitalization periods.
Botulism can be fatal in 5-10% of cases, according to Public Health France.
Bordeaux, in southwest France, is known for its history and wine. The city is popular with tourists and is also hosting matches of the ongoing Rugby World Cup.
CNN has reached out to the Bordeaux prosecutor and Tchin Tchin wine bar for comment.
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US national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed Sunday that the US will allow European countries to start training Ukrainian fighter pilots to use F-16 fighter jets, after reports that Europe was awaiting formal approval.
“Yes, we will,” Sullivan told CNN’s Jake Tapper when asked. “The president has given a green light and we will allow, permit, support, facilitate and in fact provide the necessary tools for Ukrainians to begin being trained on F-16s, as soon as the Europeans are prepared.”
Sullivan noted that European leaders have said they need several weeks to prepare training abilities and that the US would meet whatever timeline they set out.
“The United States will not be the hold up in ensuring that this F-16 training can get underway,” he said.
Remember: Ukraine’s quest for the superior US-made fighter jets received a huge boost when the Biden administration said in May that it would back a training program for pilots and would not disallow allies from supplying Kyiv with the planes. But the US has not said that it will supply Kyiv with F-16s directly.
What US lawmakers are saying: Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and former Navy pilot who sits on the Armed Services Committee, defended the timeline for directly supplying the fighting aircraft to Ukraine.
Responding to perceived criticism that the administration is slow-walking the decision to send F-16s, Kelly said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that it will take time and resources to train Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the aircraft in the first place.
“This is going to take some time. I don’t think it’s been slow-walked, but the process is a lot longer,” Kelly said, adding that during a visit to Ukraine in April, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team still weren’t certain what specific combat missions they wanted to use the jets for.
By contrast, Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican and former Marine who also sits on the Armed Services Committee, criticized the Biden administration’s approach.
While he praised Biden for his actions at the recent summit for the NATO military alliance, he criticized the administration for “slow-rolling” weapons systems to Ukraine, specifically citing the F-16s.
“As I predicted, they’re eventually going to do it, but it’s too darn long. That’s exactly what happened,” said Sullivan.
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Senior Russian officials at the Kremlin and in the regions have been forbidden from leaving their posts, claims IStories, an independent Russian media outlet.
IStories is an online investigative news outlet based outside Russia and is run by a well-known journalist Roman Aninn, who said his sources included acquaintances of high-ranking officials in the Presidential Administration.
Aninn told CNN he did not know how many people had tried to quit but had not been allowed to. “However, I know of concrete examples of those who tried to quit. These are governors, [from the] security forces, and people from the presidential administration,” he said.
The journalist declined to provide names so as to protect his sources.
IStories said it had been told by a former officer of the Federal Security Service (FSB) that he knew of “at least two cases when governors tried to leave their posts,” but the Internal Policy Department of the Presidential Administration had banned them from resigning and had hinted at criminal cases against them.
There is no way to verify the claims, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Tuesday that reports about high-ranking officials being banned from resigning for the duration of the “special military operation” — as Moscow refers to the war in Ukraine — were “another hoax.”
Aninn said the policy was not formal and never conveyed in writing. “There can be no written refusals or recommendations, because the ban is illegal. It all happens informally. A governor of the region submits his resignation, he is summoned to the Department of Internal Policy, intimidated, called a traitor and threatened with a criminal case if he insists,” he noted.
According to a presidential decree, servicemen under contract (which would include the majority of FSB employees) cannot leave even after their contract expires.
The ban has two goals, Aninn said. If many people leave, then public administration may become unmanageable, so the ban would “prevent the loss of control,” he said, adding that the other goal is to “show the people and subordinates that the authorities are united, that everyone is in place and no one is going to run away.”
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced an extension of the Black Sea grain deal Saturday, but he did not specify a new expiration date.
The deal, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July to guarantee safe passage for ships carrying vital grain exports from Ukraine, had been set to expire today.
“As a result of our negotiations with both parties, we extended the agreement period,” Erdogan said at an event in Turkey’s Çanakkale province.
“This agreement, which has provided the shipment of 25 million tons of grain to the world markets with more than 800 ships to date, is of vital importance for the stability of the global food supply,” Erdogan added. “I would like to thank the Russian and Ukrainian parties and the UN secretary general for their efforts to extend the agreement once again.”
The United Nations praised the extension in a statement.
“We remain strongly committed to both agreements and we urge all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully,” said Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN secretary-general.
Some context: The agreement comes after Russia said Monday it had agreed to a 60-day extension of the deal, while the UN emphasized on Thursday that the deal stated it would be extended for 120 days — not 60.
Why the grain deal is important: Ukraine and Russia are both significant suppliers of food to the world. Ukraine – known as one of the globe’s breadbaskets — normally supplies about 45 million metric tons of grain to the global market every year and is the world’s top exporter of sunflower oil. Together with Russia, it accounted for about one-quarter of global wheat exports in 2019.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of food was already at its highest level in a decade due to scrambled supply chains from the Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather events.
In 2022, the number of people grappling with acute food insecurity — meaning their access to food was so restricted that it threatened their lives and livelihoods — shot up to 345 million from 135 million in 2019.
CNN’s Julia Horowitz contributed reporting to this post.
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Europeans have already been struggling with the heat this summer, but meteorologists warn that it’s going to get even hotter over the next few days.
Widespread alerts warning of medium or high temperatures have been issued across many countries in Western, Central and even northeastern Europe.
Weather forecasters in the UK say the country will sizzle this week in a heat wave that could set a new record for hottest day. Temperatures will peak on Thursday, when the mercury could reach a sweltering 39 Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit), according to the UK’s national weather service, the Met Office.
The hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK is 38.5 C (101.3 F), recorded in Faversham, south east England, in August 2003, according to the Met Office.
Predictions of the hottest day on record come as UK academics call for heat waves to be given names, to ensure the associated dangers are conveyed clearly to the public.
“The Met Office must do more to warn people about the dangers of heat waves and should give names to heat waves the way it does for winter storms,” the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science said Tuesday.
The institute cited data from Public Health England to highlight an estimated 863 “excess deaths” as a result of three heat wave events last summer, which was the hottest on record in England.
“Far more people in the UK have died from recent heat waves than from storms, so it should be uncontroversial to start applying names to both,” said Bob Ward, the institute’s director of policy.
He added: “The Government and its agencies, including the Met Office, must lead the way in communicating the growing dangers of heat waves and other impacts of climate change, so that the British public are better informed and can protect themselves.”
“If the Government does not lead on this issue, it also risks encouraging the media to continue to underplay these risks in their coverage, and there will continue to be preventable deaths,” Ward cautioned.
Amid the rising temperatures, London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that it had recovered the body of a man who had vanished while swimming with friends in the River Thames in London on Tuesday. Searches were continuing Wednesday for two others who disappeared from sight in other parts of the Thames while swimming Tuesday evening.
Over in France, it’s set to be even hotter, with meteorologists predicting the heat wave to reach its peak Thursday, with temperatures of 42 C (107.6 F) expected in Paris. On Tuesday, temperatures reached at 41.2 C in the southwestern city of Bordeaux, a record for the city.
In preparation for the intense heat, the national weather service, Météo France, put 80 of its 96 regions on high alert.
A red alert – the highest level – has been issued in 20 of the divisions; the other 60 are currently on an orange alert – the second-highest warning level.
“We wanted to alert everyone, and no one is without risk,” French Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn said. “Common sense must prevail, everyone must feel assured by the red level that this will affect all 20 regions. It is a health alert for all citizens.”
Buzyn said the government is also encouraging businesses to allow staff to work from home during the heat wave.
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu earlier called for awareness of the high risk of drowning. More than 40 drowning deaths were registered during the week of the first heatwave peak at the end of June – an unusually high number “closely related to heat waves.”
The extreme heat also forced the EDF electricity company to shut down two nuclear reactors in southwest France after they exceeded the heat threshold, according to a company spokesperson.
“We do very thorough studies for the environment and we do not want to damage the fauna and flora. It is a precautionary principle,” an EDF spokesperson said. “There are large margins to avoid risk.”
France recorded its highest-ever temperature earlier this year on June 29, with a sweltering 45.9°C (114.62 F) in Gallargues-le-Montueux in the southern department of Gard.
Notre Dame’s chief architect told Reuters on Wednesday that the record-breaking heat wave could jeopardize the cathedral’s vaulted ceiling, which was ravaged by a fire in April.
Meanwhile in Italy, the country’s Health Ministry put 15 zones on high alert as Europe battles its second extreme heat wave of the summer.
“The heat here today is not historic. We expect the heat to remain stable until this Friday and heat is expected to increase a bit,” a spokesperson from Italy’s weather service said, “(On) Saturday and Sunday it is expected to cool down.”
Further north, Belgium endured its hottest day ever, with temperatures rising to 102°F (39.2°C), the highest ever recorded in the country, according to the national weather service. The record-breaking temperature was reported in Diepenbeek, in the eastern province of Limburg.
The World Meteorological Organization defines a heat wave as a period when temperatures are at least 5 C above average for five consecutive days.
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