Melted asphalt, shoes for dogs: Europe wilts in heat
AFP / PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRAIn Portugal, temperatures are close to all-time highs
Europe sweltered Saturday in intense heat with temperatures hitting near-record highs of 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) in Portugal, while elsewhere high temperatures melted the asphalt or saw a highway shut down.
Here is a roundup:
- Spain: three dead -
In southern Spain, the heat continued to pound the tourist city of Cordoba reaching 44 C.
Over in the northeast, a fire at the border with France shut a highway between both countries as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze with the help of six water-dropping planes and helicopters.
The soaring mercury has already claimed the lives of three people this week.
A middle-aged man in Barcelona, whom media said appeared to be homeless, was found collapsed on a street Friday and taken to hospital where he later died of heatstroke, Catalonia's civil protection agency said in a statement.
Two other men -- a roadworker in his 40s and a 78-year-old pensioner tending to his vegetable garden -- also died from heatstroke this week.
- Portugal: peak heat, fire -
The heatwave was expected to reach its peak on Saturday, said Paula Leitao of the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).
In Monchique in the south, a forest fire raged on two fronts, aided by "a temperature of 46 degrees but a real feel of 50 degrees" and very little humidity in the air, Victor Vaz Pinto, head of rescue operations in the district, told local media.
So far, close to 740 firefighters helped by 10 water-dropping planes and helicopters were working to put it out, according to Vaz Pinto and the civil protection agency.
In Lisbon, authorities have closed playgrounds and called on people to avoid picnics and outdoor activities.
Refuges for homeless people have also opened earlier in the day to allow them to take shelter from the crushing heat.
- Austria: dogs fitted with shoes -
In Vienna, police dogs due to patrol a beach volleyball tournament were fitted with special shoes.
Police said that even if temperatures were not excruciatingly hot, reaching just 34 C on Saturday, the dogs would have to spend hours walking on surfaces exposed to the sun that could easily go over 50 C, and would still need the shoes.
- Netherlands: asphalt melting -
In the Netherlands, authorities closed certain sections of highways where the heat had melted the asphalt.
The central city of Zwolle, meanwhile, started cutting the branches of some 100 poplar trees.
Dutch public television NOS explained that branches could break due to the heat and create danger for drivers or passers-by.
- France: nuclear reactors close -
AFP / PHILIPPE DESMAZESTailbacks in scorching weather on the busiest day on French roads
A total of four nuclear reactors in France have been closed due to the heatwave.
French power company EDF said the measures were taken to avoid temperature hikes in rivers. The nuclear plants draw water from rivers to cool down the reactors and then return it to the river.
Saturday was also the summer's busiest day on the roads, as July holiday-makers returned home and those who vacation in August departed.
By late morning, some 705 kilometres (440 miles) of traffic jams had been reported, according to France's traffic authorities, as the sun beat down on the asphalt.
- Italy: health warnings -
Italy too faced the summer's busiest day on the roads for the same reason as France.
AFP / Andreas SOLARO
Holiday-makers were expected to face adverse weather conditions wherever they went.
In the north, there was no let-up in the scorching heat while violent hailstorms were expected in the afternoon in the south.
This week, the Legambiente association for the defence of the environment published a report on the negative effects of heatwaves.
It revealed that in Lazio, the region where Rome is located, heatwaves had caused around 7,700 deaths since 2000.
- Sweden: Relief -
Following its hottest July in 250 years, rainshowers gave Sweden some respite on Saturday across most of the country.
The mercury fell to more typical summer temperatures of around 20-25 C, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute said.
Zimbabwe opposition in court over post-vote violence
AFP / Luis TATOSupporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were due to appear in court Saturday after violence marred the first elections in Zimbabwe
Members of Zimbabwe's defeated opposition party appeared in court Saturday on violence charges, a day after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared winner of the historic first elections following the downfall of Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe ally, has called for unity after presidential rival Nelson Chamisa rejected the results, insisting he was the real winner of an election marred by a deadly crackdown on opposition supporters.
At least six people died after troops in the capital Harare opened fire on demonstrators Wednesday, sparking an international outcry and raising grim memories of post-election violence under Mugabe's repressive rule.
Mnangagwa has accused Chamisa's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of fomenting the unrest, but said he would set up an independent commission to investigate the killings.
The 24 opposition members appearing in court were charged with "public violence" during the protests, accused of smashing windows at offices of the ruling ZANU-PF party and setting fire to vehicles.
They were remanded in custody until a bail hearing on Monday.
AFP / MARCO LONGARIZimbabwe President elect Emmerson Mnangagwa (centre) has urged calm after the opposition charged him with fraud in key elections last week
Defence lawyer Denford Halimani said the 16 men and eight women had been caught up in an "opportunistic dragnet" against the opposition.
Mnangagwa has insisted that Monday's landmark election was "free, fair and credible", hailing the vote as a fresh start as he pushes for an end to Zimbabwe's international isolation.
International observers praised the peaceful conduct of the vote, though EU monitors said Mnangagwa enjoyed an "un-level playing field" including heavy state media coverage.
- 'They cheated' -
AFP / Jekesai NJIKIZANAMDC leader Nelson Chamisa has urged his supporters to refrain from violence as he prepares to challenge the results in court
Mnangagwa won 50.8 percent against Chamisa's 44.3 percent, according to official results -- just enough to avoid a presidential run-off.
Chamisa, a 40-year-old pastor and lawyer, has urged his supporters to refrain from violence as he prepares to challenge the results in court.
"We won but they declared the opposite. You voted but they cheated," he said on Twitter on Saturday.
Mnangagwa, 75, has said Chamisa is free to mount a legal challenge, though such a move appears to have little chance of changing the result.
A former right-hand man to Mugabe, Mnangagwa was chosen to lead ZANU-PF after the brief military intervention last November that ousted the autocrat after 37 years in power.
Mnangagwa was allegedly involved in violence and intimidation during the 2008 elections when the opposition pulled out of the run-off following the deaths of at least 200 supporters in attacks.
Hailing the election as "a festival of unfettered freedom", he has pledged to represent all Zimbabweans, including those who did not vote for him.
But rights groups have expressed concern that heavy-handed policing to prevent more opposition protests is a sign of how he intends to govern.
Amnesty International said more than 60 people had been "arbitrarily arrested" in a post-election clampdown on the opposition.
Former colonial power Britain said it remained "deeply concerned by the violence following the elections and the disproportionate response from the security forces".
Overnight, residents said they had seen troops beating up civilians in Chitungwiza, a sprawling satellite town south of Harare.
AFP / Luis TATOSupporters of the newly reelected President Emmerson Mnangagwa celebrate in Mbare, a district of capital Harare
A journalist from the independent NewsDay newspaper was briefly detained Friday night while trying to report on a deployment of troops in the suburb of Kuwandzana, according to press freedom group MISA Zimbabwe.
- Investment push -
Seeking to lift Zimbabwe's pariah status, Mnangagwa is making a push for badly needed foreign investment, pronouncing the country "open for business" on Friday.
Mugabe left Zimbabwe's economy in tatters after presiding over the seizure of white-owned farms and hyperinflation.
Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk, an international relations professor at Wits University in Johannesburg, said Mnangagwa was well aware that his recovery plan required "goodwill and support" from the international community.
AFP / John SAEKIA timeline of the events in Zimbabwe since 1980
"If they roll out the soldiers -- beyond what happened on Wednesday -- throughout the country to suppress dissent, and if more people are killed, then this will spell no good news for this new incoming president," he told AFP.
North Korea -- a former close ally of Mugabe's -- congratulated his successor, wishing him "good health and happiness".
"If they roll out the soldiers -- beyond what happened on Wednesday -- throughout the country to suppress dissent, and if more people are killed, then this will spell no good news for this new incoming president," he told AFP.
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on all Zimbabweans to accept the result, while the United States urged the opposition to show "graciousness in defeat".
North Korea -- a former close ally of Mugabe's -- congratulated his successor, wishing him "good health and happiness".
copiado https://www.afp.com/fr/
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