About 3,000 people have died in France of heat-related causes since abnormally high temperatures swept across the country about two weeks ago, the health ministry said yesterday.
"The number of deaths linked directly or indirectly to the heat ... can be estimated at around 3,000 for the whole of France," the ministry said in a statement.
But Parisians breathed easier as Sahara-like temperatures began to abate on Wednesday, although health authorities faced renewed accusations that people died unnecessarily from the heat wave.
The director general of Paris' hospitals authority, Rose-Marie van Lerberghe, said "a little over 100" people died in the capital since last Friday because of baking heat.
But on Wednesday morning, Paris awoke to temperatures of 23?C, noticeably cooler than record early morning heat of 25.5?C registered at the start of the week, weather service Meteo France said.
"The air's less heavy. There's a small breeze for the first time," said Mrs. Chida, a woman in her 70s who ventured out for morning errands. "Today I've been able to get to the bank."
Britain felt the relief of cooler weather on Wednesday following record-breaking temperatures.
It was warm in London and the southeast, with temperatures ranging from 25?C to 28?C. But that was a refreshing change compared to Sunday, when the nation recorded its hottest day ever -- 38.1?C at Gravesend in southern England.
Temperatures remained high in Switzerland on Wednesday, with forecasters saying the Swiss would have to wait another day before the thermometer starts to drop. The temperature in the capital Bern reached 37?C, the hottest day there since 1865.
It remained in the high 30?Cs across Germany on Wednesday, with a record high temperature overnight of 27.6?C measured in Neutstadt, in southern Germany.
Forecasters are predicting a drop in temperatures of up to 8?C by the weekend, with winds bringing cooling air in some regions. Despite thunderstorms and showers forecast in the north, officials say there is still no end to the dry spell that has made forests particularly susceptible to fires.
Wednesday was so far the warmest day in Austria this year with temperatures of almost 39?C. The Vienna meteorological institute said temperatures will ease today.
The temperature in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, reached 32?C on Wednesday but are expected to drop as of Sunday, with hail storms and cool weather to come.
Meteo France forecaster Michel Daloz said the thermometer climbed toward 32?C in Paris by early Wednesday afternoon.
The fortified city of Carcassone in the south roasted in 41?C heat, while the Rhone Valley registered 39?C, Daloz said. The heat has prompted winemakers in some areas to begin harvesting their grapes early.
On Wednesday, days after the first complaints accusing the French government of a slow response to heat-related deaths, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin asked the Paris region to launch an emergency hospital plan to provide for a massive influx of patients.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number