Las autoridades francesas ordenaron este martes la evacuación de 4.000 personas adicionales en sitios turísticos de la costa atlántica, en el marco de lo que podría convertirse en la mayor evacuación en Francia. El avance del incendio forestal al oeste de Burdeos mantiene bajo amenaza los esfuerzos de los bomberos, que ven complicado el control de la situación debido al regreso de altas temperaturas que marcan un promedio de 30°C de máxima durante esta semana.

El fuego se reactivó cerca de Grand Crohot, una concurrida playa de la península de Lège-Cap-Ferret, según informaron fuentes locales. Una flota de 23 aviones y helicópteros, en aumento respecto a los 18 desplegados inicialmente, trabajó arrojando agua y retardante de fuego para frenar la propagación de las llamas.

“La situación sigue siendo complicada. Eso está claro. Todavía no hemos superado la crisis”, advirtió la prefecta de Gironda, Sophie Brocas. La funcionaria detalló que unos 60.000 residentes evacuados preventivamente de Le Haillan y de zonas de Mérignac y Eysines, en las afueras de Burdeos, podrían regresar durante la jornada. Aunque no se registraron incendios en estas áreas, se recomendó a la población mantener sus teléfonos encendidos y mochilas de emergencia listas.

Mientras miles de personas debieron abandonar los puntos turísticos costeros, quienes regresaban a sus hogares recibieron advertencias para permanecer en estado de alerta ante la fragilidad del control sobre el incendio.

En Francia y España, alrededor de 330.000 personas debieron dejar sus hogares y lugares de vacaciones ante los grandes incendios forestales. España enfrenta su cuarta ola de calor del verano, con varios focos aún activos, incluido el mayor incendio registrado en su historia. Las autoridades comenzaron a levantar órdenes de evacuación y confinamiento domiciliario en algunos sectores tras avances los logrados por los bomberos durante la noche.

El incendio de la Gironda destruyó una superficie equivalente a cuatro veces el tamaño de París y forzó la evacuación de 220.000 personas. El ministro del Interior, Laurent Núñez, calificó la operación como “muy probablemente” la mayor evacuación civil efectuada en el país fuera de un contexto bélico.

La orden de evacuación preventiva abarca campings, complejos vacacionales, residencias turísticas y parques de ocio en los alrededores de la localidad de Lacanau, según comunicaron las autoridades regionales de Gironda. El portavoz de la federación francesa de bomberos, Eric Brocardi, indicó a la cadena BFMTV: «Nos encontramos en un punto crítico. Seguiremos combatiendo este incendio a pesar del aumento previsto de las temperaturas“.

Mientras las llamas alcanzaban viviendas y las autoridades pedían a los turistas mantenerse alejados, algunos visitantes expresaron su intención de no cancelar sus vacaciones pese al riesgo. Un grupo familiar comentó al diario galo Le Parisien que decidió continuar con su viaje, valorado en 4.000 euros (4.558 dólares), mientras que otro grupo evaluaba si abandonar unas vacaciones de 650 euros (741 dólares) por persona.

En el momento de mayor intensidad, el incendio de la Gironda provocó una gigantesca nube de tormenta negra, electrificada e iluminada desde el interior, fenómeno identificado como nube pirocúmulonimbo, el primero de su tipo registrado en Francia. Esta formación desencadenó relámpagos, vientos huracanados y la aparición de nuevos focos fuera del frente inicial.

El servicio meteorológico nacional activó una alerta amarilla por calor para la Gironda, con temperaturas previstas entre 33 y 35 °C (91 y 95 °F) en el interior, a partir del mediodía del martes.

El Ministerio del Interior informó que, en lo que va del año, los incendios han quemado más de 1.160 kilómetros cuadrados (448 millas cuadradas) en Francia.

Según el servicio climático Copernicus de la Unión Europea, el viejo continente es actualmente el que experimenta el calentamiento más rápido del planeta, con registros que duplican el promedio mundial. Europa Occidental marcó el junio más caluroso de su historia, y el calor extremo junto a la sequía han favorecido la propagación e intensidad de los incendios en Francia y España.

(Con información de Associated Press)

A man in France discovered remains believed to belong to five newborns hidden inside cardboard boxes in his home after his partner gave birth at home and was taken to a hospital, according to prosecutors.

He became distressed after he found out about her pregnancy at ⁠a very late stage, despite her repeated denials, and began searching their home, prosecutors said. The couple already had two children, ages eight and nine.

The woman, 32, who was not identified, was allegedly arguing with her husband over what was in the boxes at their home in the town of Orange on Monday after she gave birth at home to a baby boy the day before.

She started complaining about abdominal pain during the argument on Monday. She was taken to a hospital and her husband stayed behind and discovered the dead babies hidden in the boxes.

NEWBORN VANISHED AFTER SECRET BIRTH, PARENTS ALLEGEDLY CLAIMED BABY ‘WAS A PRANK’: COPS

The man, also 32, then notified authorities through the hospital ​where the woman was being treated for pain.

«The husband stayed behind when she was taken to the hospital, and looked inside the cardboard boxes they had been arguing over – that’s when he found the five dead babies,» an investigating source said, according to the US Sun. «All the [fetuses] were decomposing, and had been around for quite a while.»

Police searched the couple’s home, and prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected murder on Monday.

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Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected murder on Monday. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

A forensic pathologist estimated, based on initial findings, that the bones ​and decomposing remains belonged to five newborns.

Authorities said the remains included bones believed to belong to four newborns and the decomposing body of a fifth. Autopsies and further laboratory testing were ordered.

The man told ‌police ⁠he was unaware of his wife’s possible pregnancies.

The public prosecutor’s office urged child welfare services to assess the health of the couple’s eight and nine-year old children. It ​also issued a ​provisional placement ⁠order for the newborn baby, pending referral of the case to a children’s court judge.

The ​mother, who was still in the hospital on Tuesday, has not yet spoken to investigators.

The man told ‌police ⁠he was unaware of his wife’s possible pregnancies. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

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A post-mortem examination has been ordered on ​the decomposing remains, and the bones will undergo anthropological analysis in a laboratory, according to prosecutors.

The couple had no history of problems and were described by a neighbor as «charming people,» according to French outlet AFP.

The neighbor, Florent Jean, told the outlet that the wife was a stay-at-home mother and the husband worked. Jean said the two were «normal people, really.»

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Senate took its first major step in fulfilling one of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s biggest desires: levying bone-crushing sanctions against Russia.

A bipartisan swell carried the sanctions package through its first hurdle on an 86-12 vote, which has gone through several iterations in the time since it was first formulated by Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. He explained that at its core, the package was designed to stop purchases of Russian oil and gas that was «fueling Putin’s war machine.» 

«Ukraine’s fight is our fight,» Blumenthal said. «Nobody believed that more deeply and passionately than Lindsey Graham. He lived it, and this vote is a step forward.»

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S FINAL MISSION NEARS FINISH LINE AS WORLD LEADERS GATHER TO HONOR HIM

The colossal vote also marks a huge victory on the floor for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who over the summer has managed to pass or advance two major bills with a massive wave of bipartisan support on the Senate floor, even during starkly partisan times in upper chamber. 

And the package that survived Tuesday night, just hours after lawmakers, world leaders and family said their last Washington, D.C., goodbyes to the longtime senator has once again been revamped.

A bipartisan group led by Blumenthal and Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who picked up her older brother’s sanctions crusade, announced that a deal had been reached to rename the package in honor of the late lawmaker, and tack on additional sanctions against Iran.

Lawmakers argue that the best way to remember Graham, and cement his legacy into law, is to pass the newly-minted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, particularly as a symbol of his ferocious support for Ukraine.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S SISTER CARRIES ON LATE SENATOR’S WORK, BECOMING SOUTH CAROLINA’S FIRST FEMALE SENATOR

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital that «literally the first conversation I ever had with Lindsey Graham was about Russia sanctions.»

«I know he was very passionate about this and I know that sanctions are one of the best tools we have for bringing wars to an end without having to commit any of our military,» Husted said.

The bill, as Blumenthal noted, still focuses on kneecapping Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort by targeting Moscow’s top financial gainer: oil and gas sales.

BRINGING THE WAR TO PUTIN’S FRONT DOOR: IS UKRAINE’S ENERGY STRIKE STRATEGY WORKING?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a memorial service for former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

But it also extends sanction authority against Iran that hampers funding to the country’s weapons and energy sectors as the administration and negotiators abroad seek to find a long-lasting peace agreement for the war in the Middle East.

Also, still in the legislation are targeted sanctions against Putin, Russian officials and Russian military leaders, up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports, tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy, like China and India.

It also gives President Donald Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions, among others.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., one of the original backers of the sanctions package, is already putting pressure on the House to make a move on the legislation. The lower chamber left until the end of August last week. 

«I am hopeful that when we get this across the finish line, which is going to happen in a big way, that the House will come back immediately and pass this legislation,» Britt said. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close ally of Graham’s, made the journey to Washington to attend his funeral, and meet with President Donald Trump and lawmakers in the process to push the sanctions bill and a deal for more anti-ballistic defenses in the war against Russia.

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Zelenskyy said on X that, «First and foremost, I offered President Trump our condolences on the passing of Lindsey Graham. He was a true friend of Ukraine.»

«The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,» Zelenskyy said. «We also spoke about diplomacy – it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.»

And Zelenskyy, after his closed-door meeting with lawmakers, went to the viewing gallery in the Senate to watch vote, which after many stops and starts, finally showed signs of progress.