25.07.2026 16:17

Wildfires in the Southwest: Tens of Thousands Flee the Flames

Biscarrosse - 25 July 2026: Smoke hangs over the holiday resorts on France's Atlantic coast. Severe wildfires in Gironde and the neighbouring Landes department have forced tens of thousands of people to flee within a few days. Families left campsites, holiday homes and residential neighbourhoods with only the essentials; for many, it is uncertain when they will be able to return.In Gironde, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported a total of 167,000 evacuees on Saturday. According to him, the figure refers to areas affected by the fires there. In the Landes department, authorities had registered more than 23,000 precautionary evacuations by Friday. The figures convey an impression of the extraordinary scale, but may change rapidly as further evacuations take place.The situation is particularly tense around Biscarrosse and Parentis-en-Born. The Landes prefecture ordered the evacuation of residential areas and campsites, as well as a care home and a holiday camp. Prefect Gilles Clavreul activated the department's operational crisis unit. Alternative accommodation was organised for those affected in several municipalities, including Gastes, Ychoux and Sainte-Eulalie-en-Born.The evacuations are hitting the holiday region in the middle of the peak season. Numerous travellers had to leave without much preparation. According to reports from the disaster area, tourism businesses are helping to accommodate those affected. Available rooms, pitches and municipal premises are now serving as temporary shelter for families, elderly people and holidaymakers. Relief organisations are also supporting the care and reception of evacuees.Emergency services are battling...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 16:01

A400M to Be Deployed for the First Time in Wildfires in the Gironde

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: France is deploying an Airbus A400M military transport aircraft equipped with a fire-retardant dropping system for the first time in its fight against severe wildfires in the Gironde. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed the armed forces to send the aircraft to the affected region as early as Saturday. The prime minister's office announced this, according to the AFP news agency. Civilian and military emergency services are currently under considerable strain in the southwest of the country.The A400M is not a conventional firefighting aircraft, but a strategic and tactical transport aircraft operated by the French Air and Space Force. For the...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 15:45

Wildfire in Gironde: Residents Push Back Against the Flames

Saumos - 25 July 2026: The wildfire that broke out near Saumos, north of the Bassin d'Arcachon, on Wednesday continued to spread on Saturday. According to consistent reports, more than 19,000 hectares have now been affected by the fire. In Gironde's dense pine forests, smoke and changing conditions are complicating firefighting efforts. At the same time, emergency crews are trying to prevent the flames from advancing further toward more densely populated areas.Because the fire brigade cannot be everywhere at once, some residents are attempting to protect homes and property boundaries with their own resources. They are watering areas and using available equipment while professional crews...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 15:00

France Sends 500 Additional Soldiers to Wildfire Areas

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: In view of the severe wildfires in southwestern France, the government is increasing military assistance for the heavily strained fire services. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced, following an interministerial crisis meeting on Friday, 24 July, that 500 additional soldiers would be deployed to Gironde and the Landes department. According to the government, this will bring the total number of military personnel supporting civilian emergency services to more than 1,000.The additional units are expected on Saturday in a situation that can change rapidly because of large-scale vegetation fires and shifting winds. Their duties will primarily involve logistics, traffic management, securing evacuated areas and setting up necessary infrastructure. The soldiers will not replace the fire service or its specialists in directly fighting the fires. They are intended to relieve the sapeurs-pompiers so they can concentrate personnel and equipment on the fire fronts.With the reinforcement, the government is responding to a strain that is overwhelming regional civil protection services. During major fires, emergency services in the affected departments...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 14:46

Wildfire in Gironde: Cap-Ferret Fully Evacuated

Lège-Cap-Ferret - 25 July 2026: Due to the wildfire near Saumos, the entire Lège-Cap-Ferret peninsula in Gironde was evacuated. According to the municipality, more than 1,000 people left the area by boat on Friday, 24 July, while around 12,000 others departed by road. A report by France Télévisions also showed some residents who initially did not want to leave their homes.The evacuation was ordered because the fire was spreading toward the coastal towns on the Bassin d'Arcachon. During the night into Friday, firefighters protected the town of Lège and widened a firebreak. It was intended to prevent the flames from advancing further toward Claouey and onto the narrow peninsula. According to a statement from the municipality, residents were initially not permitted to return to their homes.According to the municipal administration, the evacuation proceeded in an orderly manner. Boats supplemented the evacuation via the RD106, the peninsula's only road connection. Since 2023, Lège-Cap-Ferret has had a wildfire evacuation plan coordinated with the authorities. The additional route by water is intended to...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 14:30

Evacuation at Cap-Ferret: Families Spend the Night in Their Cars

Lège-Cap-Ferret - 25/07/2026: Traffic on the narrow road from the Cap-Ferret peninsula to the mainland came to an almost complete standstill in many places on Saturday. Cars carrying luggage, children and pets moved only slowly through the heavy traffic. Authorities had ordered the evacuation of the entire peninsula after the forest fire that had been raging near Saumos since 22 July spread further.For residents and holidaymakers, the departure became a night under exceptional circumstances. Franceinfo reported that families slept in their vehicles because of the long waiting times. Ash fell on roads and cars in some areas. The long, narrow peninsula is connected to the...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 14:16

Wildfires approach Bordeaux: Seven municipalities partially evacuated

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: Wildfires in Gironde advanced to the western edge of the Bordeaux metropolitan area on Saturday. Authorities ordered precautionary partial evacuations in seven neighboring municipalities. Affected are Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Saint-Jean-d'Illac, Martignas-sur-Jalle, Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc, Le Haillan, as well as areas outside the motorway ring road in Mérignac and Eysines.The orders apply primarily to residential areas near woodland and follow the spread of the fires toward the urban area. They are locally limited protective measures, not an evacuation of the entire urban area. The affected municipalities are located along the western and northwestern developed edge of the metropolitan area, where residential neighborhoods and extensive vegetation...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 14:00

Wildfire near Bordeaux: Reception center for evacuees reaches its limits

Bordeaux - 25/07/2026: Since the night, more people have been arriving at the Parc des Expositions in northern Bordeaux after having to leave their houses, apartments or holiday accommodation because of the major wildfire in Gironde. Luggage, water bottles and the search for a place to sleep define the scene in the halls. The reception center set up by the city is reaching its capacity limits due to the new influx.The trigger is further precautionary evacuations west of the metropolis. Sophie Brocas, prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the department of Gironde, ordered evacuations overnight into Saturday in seven municipalities and areas near Bordeaux. Those...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 13:45

Nearly 98,000 hectares burned: France records historic high

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: Nearly 98,000 hectares have been destroyed by vegetation and forest fires in France since the start of the year. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the toll on Saturday as a historic record. According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the country's previous national high for burned areas had already been exceeded by the end of July. The departments of Gironde and Landes in the southwest of the country have been particularly hard hit.Overnight into Saturday, the intensity of several major fires temporarily subsided. However, the respite is likely to remain fragile: stronger winds were expected again...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 13:31

Wildfire in Gironde: Firefighters Battle Hidden Hotspots

Bordeaux - 25/07/2026: Since Wednesday, July 22, firefighters have been battling a major fire in Gironde. Even in areas where no open flames are visible, the situation remains dangerous. Embers and heat can persist below the surface for a long time. Dry vegetation and wind can then sometimes be enough to fuel the fire again.At this stage, the work of emergency crews shifts from direct firefighting to the laborious task of securing the affected areas. Firefighting teams inspect the fire perimeter, look for smoke and check particularly vulnerable locations. Suspicious areas are opened up, watered and then inspected again. Only when the temperature has dropped sufficiently and no hidden hotspots can be found can the risk of a flare-up be reduced.Embers in roots, tree stumps, layers of leaf litter and dead branches are especially persistent. Organic material can continue to burn unnoticed in the ground. When the wind picks up, fresh oxygen reaches such spots. Sparks and burning plant material can also be carried beyond the already extinguished perimeter, where...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 13:16

SNCF advises against travel to Gironde and Landes due to wildfires

Bordeaux - 25/07/2026: Due to severe wildfires in southwestern France, the state railway SNCF recommends postponing non-essential travel to the departments of Gironde and Landes this weekend. According to the Ministry of Transport, passengers with tickets for the affected areas can cancel their tickets free of charge or rebook them for another date.The recommendation is intended to reduce traffic in the operational areas. Access routes are to remain clear for firefighters, emergency services and local authorities. SNCF therefore advises travelers to check the status of their connection immediately before departure. Complete and consistent information on possible disruptions to individual train services was not initially available.Transport...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 12:46

Bordeaux Sets Up Large Shelter for Wildfire Evacuees

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: The Bordeaux-Lac exhibition grounds have become a central refuge for people forced to leave their accommodation because of the widespread wildfires in Gironde. In Hall 3 of the Parc des Expositions, emergency personnel have been receiving evacuees, primarily from at-risk campsites and holiday resorts, since Thursday. Camp beds, drinking water, hot beverages and meals are available.Bordeaux Metropole said the hall can accommodate up to 10,000 people if needed. Municipal volunteers, the French Red Cross and the metropolis's volunteer civic reserve are organizing supplies, registration and rest areas. The shelter is intended primarily for people who, following an evacuation order, are...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 12:30

A400M to support wildfire firefighting operations in Gironde

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has instructed the armed forces to deploy an Airbus A400M transport aircraft on Saturday to support firefighting operations in severe wildfires in Gironde. According to the Matignon government office, the aircraft is intended to supplement the ongoing operations of civilian aircraft and firefighters. No confirmed result from the deployment was available by late morning.The A400M was originally designed as a military transport aircraft for personnel, equipment and humanitarian missions. For firefighting, a special drop module is installed in the cargo hold, allowing water to be released over fire areas. According to official information, France is initially testing this solution in operational use. It does not replace the Canadair fleet or other civil protection firefighting aircraft.The Interior Ministry, Defence Ministry and Airbus concluded an agreement on 17 July on the provision and equipping of an A400M. The drop module is intended to strengthen national capabilities during a particularly tense wildfire season. According to the authorities, technical trials had previously been conducted in France and Spain before a deployment under real conditions was prepared.The A400M mission follows a worsening situation in southwestern France. A major wildfire has been burning near Saumos in Gironde since Wednesday. At the same time, another serious fire broke out in Landes, including near Biscarrosse. The Gironde prefecture ordered precautionary evacuations of additional municipalities during the night into Saturday because the risk situation changed as the fires spread.Lecornu had...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 12:16

Wildfires west of Madrid merge into major blaze

Cenicientos - 25 July 2026: Three wildfires west of Madrid have merged into a large fire zone in the Sierra Oeste. The previously separate fires near Villa del Prado, San Martin de Valdeiglesias and Almorox are affected. According to Spanish authorities and media reports, more than 63,000 people in the Madrid region and the neighboring province of Avila have been evacuated or told not to leave their homes for the time being.The situation worsened significantly over the course of the day. On Friday morning, initial reports put the burned area at around 6,000 hectares. On Saturday, however, Spanish media estimated the affected area in Madrid...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 11:46

Trump calls LeBron James a possible racist without evidence

Washington - 24 July 2026: US President Donald Trump described basketball star LeBron James as a possible racist without evidence during a press conference at the White House. It was prompted by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy's question about the best player in NBA history. Trump chose Michael Jordan and coupled his sporting judgment with a personal attack on James.Jordan is a friend he plays golf with, Trump said, and also a very good person. He then said of James that he might be a racist; perhaps he simply did not like him. The president added that he preferred people who liked him. Trump gave...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 11:31

Holiday traffic: More than 200 kilometers of traffic jams on France’s motorways

Paris - 25 July 2026: The start of the holiday period placed considerable strain on France's long-distance road network on Saturday morning. Nationwide, the recorded traffic-jam sections totaled more than 200 kilometers. The main travel routes to the south and west were particularly affected: the A7 through the Rhone Valley, the A9 to the Spanish border and the Mediterranean coast, and the A10 between the Paris area and Bordeaux.Many holidaymakers were setting off for their summer destinations at the same time. The state traffic forecast service Bison Fute had already warned of exceptionally difficult traffic conditions for Saturday, 25 July, and issued its highest travel-traffic alert level for the entire country. Long delays were expected especially on routes to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, as well as to the southwest.According to the forecasts, drivers on the A7 were expected to encounter slow-moving traffic particularly between Marseille and Orange in the morning, and between Orange and Lyon in the afternoon. The route is one of the main corridors for travelers from...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 11:15

Wildfire in Gironde reaches outskirts of Bordeaux: Further evacuations ordered

Lège-Cap-Ferret - 25 July 2026: A large-scale wildfire in Gironde triggered further precautionary evacuations west of the Bordeaux metropolitan area overnight into Saturday. The prefecture ordered measures in parts of several municipalities after the fire front expanded further under the influence of strong winds. Areas near Mérignac and Bordeaux Airport are also affected.Prefect Sophie Brocas said on Friday evening that strong westerly winds were driving the flames further east. The fire had reached an exceptional scale. With the evacuations, authorities aim to prevent residents from being endangered by flames, thick smoke or cut-off transport routes. Anyone who had to leave their accommodation should return only after official clearance.According to the latest figures from the French Interior Ministry, around 141,000 people have been evacuated from Gironde and the adjacent department of Landes since Wednesday evening, including around 110,000 in Gironde. The figure of nearly 150,000 evacuees mentioned in the live ticker could not be conclusively confirmed based on the available information. The total may change at short notice with new evacuation...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 11:00

Smoke from Southwest fires reaches Aveyron and Correze

Rodez - 25 July 2026: Smoke from the severe forest fires in Gironde and Landes reached Aveyron and Correze on Saturday. In several places far from the fire zone, residents reported the smell of fire and a milky haze in the sky. Authorities stress that these observations do not automatically indicate a new local fire. The effect was also reported from other parts of southwestern France early in the morning.The Aveyron fire service recorded a very large number of calls from the western part of the department since the early morning. Locations mentioned included Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Montbazens and Rieupeyroux. Emergency crews checked the affected areas but...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 10:46

Protecting Your Home from Burglary: Simple Measures Before Summer Travel

Paris - 25.07.2026: Ahead of summer travel, protecting empty apartments and houses is once again coming into focus. Expensive technology is not always the first or most important step. According to security authorities, risks can primarily be reduced through consistently secured access points, attentive neighbors and carefully planned absences. The key is to give burglars neither easy access nor clear indications of an extended trip.Doors, windows and secondary entrances come first. The national Ma Sécurité platform recommends reliable locking systems, closed windows and a door that is always locked twice. Even during short absences, keys should not be hidden outside the home. Ladders, tools, scaffolding...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 10:30

Trump orders informational signs outside Smithsonian museum

Washington - 25 July 2026: Informational signs are to be placed outside the National Museum of American History, one of the most visited institutions on the National Mall. On Friday, 24 July, US President Donald Trump ordered that the signs should draw visitors' attention to portrayals his administration considers inaccurate. At the heart of the matter is the question of who tells the history of the United States - and from what perspective its conflicts are interpreted.The directive is addressed to the Department of the Interior, the Office of Management and Budget, the General Services Administration and the White House Domestic Policy Office. The National...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 10:15

Hitler’s Birthplace in Braunau Is Now a Police Center

Braunau am Inn - 25 July 2026: The structurally transformed building in Salzburger Vorstadt has a new purpose. Austria opened the Braunau Police Center there on July 22. Adolf Hitler was born in the building on April 20, 1889. It will now house the district police command and the Braunau police station - a deliberate decision against any glorification of the site.The opening focused not on historical staging or curiosity, but on how a democratic state deals with a building burdened by its past. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that the republic, the state and the city were confronting the history of the house. The...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 10:01

Six historic medinas of the Comoros become UNESCO World Heritage

Busan - 25 July 2026: UNESCO has added the medinas of the historic sultanates of the Comoros to the World Heritage List. With the decision of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, the island nation in the Indian Ocean receives its first entry on the prestigious list. The designation recognizes a serial cultural heritage site: six historic urban centers whose history extends far beyond the present-day young republic.The medinas emerged from early urban settlement centers that had developed by the 11th century at the latest. In the 14th and 15th centuries, they grew into independent city-states. A medina is not merely an old town, but a densely evolved network of homes, trade, religion and public life - an urban organism that preserves its history in alleyways, courtyards and walls.The Comorian cities lay along the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. For centuries, transport routes between the East African Swahili coast, the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India and more distant regions intersected here. The inscription therefore recognizes not only individual buildings, but...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 09:15

Wildfires in Gironde: Seven municipalities near Bordeaux evacuated as a precaution

Bordeaux - 25 July 2026: Authorities in Gironde ordered the precautionary evacuation of seven municipalities on the outskirts of Bordeaux overnight into Saturday. Those affected are Saint-Medard-en-Jalles, Saint-Jean-d'Illac, Martignas-sur-Jalles, Saint-Aubin-de-Medoc, Le Haillan, as well as the areas of Eysines and Merignac located outside the ring road. The move was taken because of a wildfire that, according to authorities, is spreading toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area.The measures are primarily intended to protect the public from a potential rapid spread of the fire and from the effects of dense smoke. The situation remains dynamic, as wind and drought are affecting operational conditions. Sophie Brocas, prefect of the...

Aktuell Read 25.07.2026 09:04

Six Dead After Violence Near Nablus: Israel Announces Major Military Operation

Tell - 25 July 2026: Four Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed following an armed incident in the Palestinian village of Tell, west of Nablus. The incident occurred on Friday, 24 July, in the northern occupied West Bank. According to Palestinian health authorities, four residents of the village were killed by Israeli fire. The Israeli army reported the deaths of two Israelis.Accounts of the sequence of events differ. Israel's army said armed forces intervened after an attack on Israeli civilians in the area. Palestinian representatives and residents, however, reported that Israeli settlers had reached the vicinity of Tell, leading to a confrontation with villagers...

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