The blaze encroached upon houses and hotels that were earlier evacuated

International News via Reuters:

Firefighters battled a blaze Thursday on the island of Crete that scorched forests and olive groves and forced over 1,000 to evacuate, while a fresh conflagration near Athens threatened homes, highlighting Greece’s vulnerability to wildfire risks.

Gale-force winds and aridity made for tinderbox conditions, hampering Greek authorities’ efforts’ to tame the fires, as much of Europe baked in an early summer heatwave linked to the death of at least eight people across the region.

A new fire broke out in the Athens suburb of Pikermi on Thursday afternoon, threatening many homes and prompting the evacuation of three settlements as more than 100 firefighters battled to extinguish it.

Thick grey smoke billowed over the area, close to the Athens international airport and Rafina, home to the capital’s second largest port. The main avenue linking the suburb to Athens was closed to traffic.

Authorities said there was a high risk of fires also on Friday.

In Crete, around 230 firefighters, along with 46 engines and 10 helicopters, were deployed to contain the conflagration on Crete, which broke out a day earlier near Ierapetra town on the southeastern coast of Greece’s largest island.

Authorities declared a state of emergency in the wider municipal area of Ierapetra on Thursday, state broadcaster ERT said.

The blaze encroached upon houses and hotels that were earlier evacuated, stoked by intense winds that “rekindled and hindered firefighting efforts,” fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.

More than 1,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from at least four settlements. Most took shelter at an indoor stadium in Ierapetra, while others transferred to hotels in the north or left Crete by boat, authorities said.

“It was very scary,” said 26-year old Danish tourist Mikkel Sallin, who was evacuated to another hotel. “We are just glad to stay here right now and feel safe.”

Local media reported damage to some homes, and some people were hospitalised with respiratory issues, an official said.

Southeastern Crete saw a massive exodus of about 5,000 holidaymakers, George Tzarakis, head of hoteliers in the area, told Reuters, expressing concern over the impact on future bookings. Tourism is a key income earner for the popular tourist island.

‘WILDFIRE HOTSPOT’

Greece and other countries in the Mediterranean are in an area scientists dub “a wildfire hotspot” – with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate.

Scientists say heatwaves have arrived earlier this year, spiking temperatures by up to 10 C (50 F) in some regions as warming seas encouraged the formation of a heat dome over much of Europe, trapping hot air masses.

July is usually the most difficult month of the fire season due to high temperatures and strong winds, the fire brigade’s Vathrakogiannis said.

Meanwhile, in Turkey, thousands fled as authorities battled wildfires in Cesme and Odemis districts for a second day on the western coastal province of Izmir.

Winds hindered their efforts as the flames approached a main highway to Cesme, local TV footage showed, and thick smoke billowed over mountainous areas.

Italy’s health ministry issued red alerts for 18 cities as temperatures poised to soar as high as 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in major cities.

Temporary blackouts were possible with power consumption surging from the use of air conditioners, Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin warned.

Swiss utility Axpo has shut its two reactor units at the Beznau nuclear power plant due to high river water temperatures.

Reporting by Alexandros Avramidis in Ierapetra, Renee Maltezou, Angeliki Koutantou and Karolina Tagaris in Athens, Ezgi Erkoyun in Ankara, Alvise Armellini in Rome and Miranda Murray in Berlin; Editing by Bernadette Baum

France’s antitrust agency said the Shein brand had misled customers about discounts

International News via Reuters:

France’s antitrust agency said on Thursday it had fined fast-fashion retailer Shein 40 million euros ($47.17 million) for alleged deceptive business practices including misleading discounts and vague claims about environmental impact, following a nearly year-long probe.

The agency said Infinite Style E-Commerce Co Ltd, which handles sales for the Shein brand, had misled customers about discounts, and that the company had accepted the fine.

In a statement, China-founded Shein said the antitrust agency had informed Infinite Style Ecommerce Co Ltd (ISEL) of issues related to discounts and environmental claims in March last year, and had taken corrective action within the following two months.

“All of the points raised have therefore been resolved more than a year ago,” Shein said in a statement. “ISEL takes very seriously its legal and regulatory obligations in France.”

($1 = 0.8480 euros)

Reporting by Makini Brice and Helen Reid; Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Susan Fenton

For AI companies, the enforcement of the act means additional costs for compliance

International News via Reuters:

With less than a month to go before parts of the European Union’s AI Act come into force, companies are calling for a pause in the provisions and getting support from some politicians.

Groups representing big U.S. tech companies such as Google owner Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta, and European companies such as Mistral and ASML have urged the European Commission to delay the AI Act by years.

WHAT IS THE AUGUST 2 DEADLINE?

Under the landmark act that was passed a year earlier after intense debate between EU countries, its provisions would come into effect in a staggered manner over several years.

Some important provisions, including rules for general purpose AI (GPAI) models, are due to apply on August 2.

GPAI, which includes foundation models like those made by Google, Mistral and OpenAI, will be subject to transparency requirements such as drawing up technical documentation, complying with EU copyright law and providing detailed summaries about the content used for algorithm training.

The companies will also need to test for bias, toxicity, and robustness before launching.

AI models classed as posing a systemic risk and high-impact GPAI will have to conduct model evaluations, assess and mitigate risks, conduct adversarial testing, report to the European Commission on serious incidents and provide information on their energy efficiency.

WHY DO COMPANIES WANT A PAUSE?

For AI companies, the enforcement of the act means additional costs for compliance. And for ones that make AI models, the requirements are tougher.

But companies are also unsure how to comply with the rules as there are no guidelines yet. The AI Code of Practice, a guidance document to help AI developers to comply with the act, missed its publication date of May 2.

“To address the uncertainty this situation is creating, we urge the Commission to propose a two-year ‘clock-stop’ on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force,” said an open letter published on Thursday by a group of 45 European companies.

It also called for simplification of the new rules. 

Another concern is that the act may stifle innovation, particularly in Europe where companies have smaller compliance teams than their U.S. counterparts.

WILL IT BE POSTPONED?

The European Commission has not yet commented on whether it will postpone the enforcement of the new rules in August.

However, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen promised on Wednesday to publish the AI Code of Practice before next month.

Some political leaders, such as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, have also called the AI rules “confusing” and asked the EU to pause the act.

“A bold ‘stop-the-clock’ intervention is urgently needed to give AI developers and deployers legal certainty, as long as necessary standards remain unavailable or delayed,” tech lobbying group CCIA Europe said.

The European Commission did not respond immediatelyt to requests for comment.

Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels. Editing by Mark Potter

Dozens of popes have spent the summer months at Castel Gandolfo, where it is cooler than in Rome

International News via Reuters:

Pope Leo will revive a centuries-old tradition on Sunday by taking a holiday at Castel Gandolfo, where residents of the lakeside town hope for a tourism boost after the late Pope Francis shunned taking a summer break.

Leo, elected pope on May 8 after the death of Francis, will spend July 6-20 an hour’s drive south of Rome in the sleepy hill town of about 8,900 residents on the shores of Lake Albano.

The town’s mayor and business owners hope his stay – the first by a pope in 12 years – will attract tourists hoping to see the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican has owned a papal palace in the town, including vast Renaissance-style gardens, since 1596, but Francis, who shunned much of the pomp and privilege of the papacy, chose not to take vacations, spending the summer in his Vatican residence.

“Pope Leo has given us a wonderful gift,” Stefano Carosi, the owner of a coffee shop on the town’s main square, said. “The pope has always been important here … because he attracts people.”

Mayor Alberto De Angelis said residents were excited about the visit. “The presence of the popes in Castel Gandolfo has always meant a lot of activity, a lot of economic growth,” he said.

While Leo is expected to spend most of his vacation out of the public eye, staying in a Vatican-owned building behind a gated wall, residents and tourists will have the opportunity to see him at religious celebrations on July 13 and 20.

Dozens of popes have spent the summer months at Castel Gandolfo, where it is cooler than in Rome, which has been sweltering in an early summer heatwave with temperatures reaching more than 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit).

FRANCIS LEFT ‘LONG-LASTING’ MUSEUM LEGACY

Francis had Castel Gandolfo’s papal palace turned into a museum and opened the gardens to visitors.

Leo will not stay at the palace and the museum will remain open to the public, instead staying at another Vatican property.

Although Francis never spent the night in Castel Gandolfo, residents said his decision to open the museum has had long-lasting benefits.

Marina Rossi, owner of a mosaic studio in the town, said tourists used to come only in the summer to see the pope at one of his audiences, but now they came more frequently.

“It was more of a hit-and-run tourism, because there was the audience and then they would leave,” she said. “Now there is a steady flow of tourism throughout the whole year.”

Now, with Leo coming back, said Rossi, it gave the town the chance to attract even more tourists. “It’s an important moment,” she said. “I won’t hide my happiness.”

As for what Leo might do during his vacation, Maurizio Carosi, brother of Stefano, had a suggestion, saying he’d tell the pope: “If you want a good glass of wine, come visit with me!”

Reporting by Joshua McElwee and Claudia Chieppa; Editing by Janet Lawrence

The strike coincided with the start of the European summer holidays

International News via Reuters:

French air traffic controllers began a two-day strike on Thursday to protest over staff shortages and ageing equipment, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations just as the summer season gets under way.

France’s civil aviation agency DGAC told airlines to revise their schedules, including at Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport – one of Europe’s busiest hubs – forcing the carriers to cancel flights. 

Air France, France’s largest airline, said it had adapted its flight schedule, without giving details, but that it was maintaining its full long-haul flight schedule. IAG-owned British Airways was using larger aircraft to mitigate disruption.

Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel 170 flights affecting over 30,000 passengers on Thursday and Friday.

“Once again European families are held to ransom by French Air Traffic Controllers going on strike,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said. “It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on holidays.”

Easyjet said it would be cancelling 274 flights over Thursday and Friday.

The strike coincided with the start of the European summer holidays, one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

France’s second-largest air traffic controllers’ union, UNSA-ICNA, said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture. Another union, USAC-CGT, said the DGAC had failed to comprehend the frustration felt by controllers.

“The DGAC is failing to modernise the tools that are essential to air traffic controllers, even though it continues to promise that all necessary resources are being made available,” UNSA-ICNA said in a statement. 

“The systems are on their last legs, and the (air traffic control) agency is constantly asking more of its staff to compensate for its difficulties,” it added.

The DGAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trade unions’ concerns.

Their complaints echo grievances expressed by air traffic controllers in the United States over outdated infrastructure, dramatic staffing shortfalls and failing technology.

French Transport minister Philippe Tabarot called the unions’ demands unacceptable.

The DGAC asked airlines to cut one in four flights in and out of Paris airports and almost half of flights out of the capital on Friday. Elsewhere, airlines were asked to reduce flights by 30%-50%, with the south particularly hard hit.

“Despite these preventative measures, disturbances and significant delays are to be expected at all French airports,” the agency said, urging passengers to change their flights if they were able to.

Luxair Luxembourg Airlines warned that “additional delays and schedule changes are possible across other destinations, as air traffic rerouting and capacity constraints may cause knock-on effects throughout the network.”

Ryanair’s O’Leary urged the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, to reform EU air traffic control services to ensure adequate staffing at peak periods and to protect overflights – those that pass over a country or region without landing there – during national strikes.

Reporting by Makini Brice, Richard Lough and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, Sarah Young in London; Editing by Mark Potter