Two pilots have died after an aircraft fighting wildfires in Greece crashed – as crews battled more than 50 blazes across the country.
The crash happened over the town of Karystos on the island of Evia near Athens – and was broadcast on state television.
Footage showed the low-flying aircraft disappearing into a canyon before a fireball was seen moments later.
The Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, confirmed that both pilots, aged 34 and 27, had died in the crash.
“The loss of the lives of Air Force Officers and firefighting aircraft operators, in the line of duty and while attempting to protect the lives and property of citizens, as well as the environment of our country, is deeply saddening, he said in a statement.”
“Our thoughts are with their families and colleagues, to whom we extend our most sincere condolences.”
Mr Dendias also announced a three-day mourning period within the Armed Forces, while prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cancelled a planned visit to Cyprus for Wednesday.
Image: The plane moments before the crash
Image: The plane crashes into a hill on the island of Evia. Pic: ENEX/EPT
New evacuation warning issued
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It comes as thousands of Britons have been flown back from Rhodes – with new estimates suggesting 10% of land on the Greek island has been burned by wildfires.
Additional flights bringing stranded holidaymakers landed in the UK overnight, and more are expected to arrive throughout the day.
As many as 10,000 Britons were estimated to be on the island, a favourite tourist destination, the Foreign Office said.
Image: Thousands of people have been evacuated. Pic: Hellenic Red Cross
Scores of people were forced to spend the weekend sleeping rough on beaches, sun loungers, or on the streets as wildfires raged.
Temperatures have risen above 40C (104F) in parts of Greece, and on Rhodes – where a blaze is continuing to move inland, touching mountainous forest areas including part of a nature reserve.
A new evacuation warning has been issued for the inland village of Vati, and people there are being urged to move to Lindos.
Greece’s fire department says it has battled 53 wildfires across the country in the last 24 hours, including on the islands of Rhodes and Corfu, as well as “multiple flare-ups” on Evia and in the region of Achaea, to the west of Athens.
Local officers and arson investigators are probing the cause of the fires.
In Corfu, people in three areas have been told to evacuate from what the deputy mayor of north Corfu, Haris Yiotis, describes as the “fire of the century”.
Image: A satellite image shows the wildfire in Rhodes – with the grey areas showing the burn marks across the land. Pic: Planet Labs PBC via Reuters
However, he says not a single life has been lost and not a single inhabited building has been destroyed by the fire – though some abandoned buildings have been affected.
Desperate residents with wet towels around their necks have been using shovels to beat back the flames approaching their homes – with firefighting planes and helicopters resuming water drops at first light.
Sea evacuations have also been taking place at a beach in Corfu to transport individuals fleeing wildfires there.
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2:16
Corfu: Thousands moved to safety
‘We are at war’
Greek PM Mr Mitsotakis has said “we are at war” and completely focused on tackling the wildfires.
He is holding crisis talks with his ministers on Tuesday and has warned difficult days lie ahead, with conditions possibly set to improve on Thursday.
Large swathes of the country are at the highest risk level for fires tomorrow.
Mr Mitsotakis warned: “I will state the obvious – in the fact of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate hotspot, there is no magical defence mechanism. If there was, we would have implemented it.”
Today, scientists have published an assessment that states human-induced climate change has played an “absolutely overwhelming” role in the extreme heatwaves seen worldwide in recent weeks.
Prosecutors on Rhodes are now investigating what has caused the fires, and examining the preparedness and response of the authorities.
Image: Flames burn a hill on the island of Rhodes. Pic:AP
Image: A wildfire burns on the mountains near Vati village, Rhodes. Pic: AP
The EU has sent 500 firefighters, 100 vehicles and seven planes from 10 member states – with Turkey, Israel and Egypt also offering support.
Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s climate minister, said crews are “fighting non-stop on dozens of forest fire fronts” – with 12 consecutive days of heat and strong winds.
“The Greek Fire Service has battled more than 500 fires – more than 50 a day,” he added.
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10:46
Gove ‘heading to Greece next week’
It comes as Housing Secretary Michael Gove told Sky News on Tuesday that he plans to holiday on the Greek island of Evia in just over a week, and insisted the region is safe for holidaymakers despite fire concerns.
Some 77 firefighters were battling scattered outbreaks in Evia on Monday.
EasyJet repatriated 421 people back to the UK on two flights from Rhodes on Monday, with a third on Tuesday. This is in addition to nine scheduled flights to the island that are also taking place.
Jet2 had four repatriation flights scheduled for Monday evening – to Manchester, Bradford and Birmingham – with a total of 787 seats.
Fifty scheduled flights are going to take holidaymakers back from Rhodes this week, but each aircraft will leave the UK empty after all outbound flights and holidays were cancelled until Sunday.
Labour has suggested that the government should “rethink” the advice it is giving for Britons who have booked a trip to Rhodes.
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0:19
Airport closes in Sicily as wildfire approaches
Fires force airport to close in Italy
In Italy, a wildfire forced the closure of Palermo airport in Sicily for a few hours, as firefighters worked to put out a major blaze in a nearby area that also disrupted local road and rail traffic.
The incident added to Sicily’s travel misery at the peak of the tourist season. On some parts of the island, temperatures rose to 47.6C (117.7F) on Monday – close to a record European high of 48.8C (120F) recorded there two years ago.
Image: Flames burn in vegetation in Sicily. Pic: AP
Italy has put 16 cities on red alert because of the high temperatures.
Meanwhile, an overnight storm tore off roofs and uprooted trees in Milan, blocking roads and disrupting transport.
A Delta flight that took off from Milan and was bound for New York was forced to land in Rome after its nose and fuselage were severely damaged by a hailstorm.
And two women were killed on Monday and Tuesday in the northern Monza and Brescia provinces after being crushed by falling trees.
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1:11
Impact of wildfires in the last 24 hours
In southern France, several dozen firefighters battled a wildfire in the Cagnes-sur-Mer and Villeneuve-Loubet areas, to the west of Nice.
The Bouches-du-Rhone region, which includes the city of Marseille, has been placed under a “red alert”, with authorities seeing a “very high risk” of wildfires.
In Algeria, wildfires have killed 34 people – including 10 soldiers trying to get the flames under control in the face of high winds and searing summer temperatures.
Image: A forest fire rages on in the mountainous area of Bourbatache, Algeria. Pic: AP
Image: Vehicles were burnt out after wildfires in Algiers. Pic: AP
Bejaia, part of the Berber-speaking Kabyle region east of Algiers, was the hardest-hit area, with 23 deaths since Sunday, the local Soummam Radio reported on Tuesday.
Another 197 people have been injured, while at least 1,500 people have been evacuated.
Fires have also forced the closure of two border crossings with neighbouring Tunisia, where temperatures have hit 49C (120.2F) in some cities.
At least 37 people were killed last August when wildfires raged near Algeria’s northern border with Tunisia.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
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Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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5:07
The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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3:27
How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
Donald Trump has announced a 10% trade tariff on all imports from the UK – as he unleashed sweeping tariffs across the globe.
Speaking at a White House event entitled “Make America Wealthy Again”, the president held up a chart detailing the worst offenders – which also showed the new tariffs the US would be imposing.
“This is Liberation Day,” he told a cheering audience of supporters, while hitting out at foreign “cheaters”.
He claimed “trillions” of dollars from the “reciprocal” levies he was imposing on others’ trade barriers would provide relief for the US taxpayer and restore US jobs and factories.
Mr Trump said the US has been “looted, pillaged, raped, plundered” by other nations.
Image: Pic: AP
His first tariff announcement was a 25% duty on all car imports from midnight – 5am on Thursday, UK time.
Mr Trump confirmed the European Union would face a 20% reciprocal tariff on all other imports. China’s rate was set at 34%.
The UK’s rate of 10% was perhaps a shot across the bows over the country’s 20% VAT rate, though the president’s board suggested a 10% tariff imbalance between the two nations.
It was also confirmed that further US tariffs were planned on some individual sectors including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical mineral imports.
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6:39
Trump’s tariffs explained
The ramping up of duties promises to be painful for the global economy. Tariffs on steel and aluminium are already in effect.
The UK government signalled there would be no immediate retaliation.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We will always act in the best interests of UK businesses and consumers. That’s why, throughout the last few weeks, the government has been fully focused on negotiating an economic deal with the United States that strengthens our existing fair and balanced trading relationship.
“The US is our closest ally, so our approach is to remain calm and committed to doing this deal, which we hope will mitigate the impact of what has been announced today.
“We have a range of tools at our disposal and we will not hesitate to act. We will continue to engage with UK businesses including on their assessment of the impact of any further steps we take.
“Nobody wants a trade war and our intention remains to secure a deal. But nothing is off the table and the government will do everything necessary to defend the UK’s national interest.”
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0:43
Who showed up for Trump’s tariff address?
The EU has pledged to retaliate, which is a problem for Northern Ireland.
Should that scenario play out, the region faces the prospect of rising prices because all its imports are tied to EU rules under post-Brexit trading arrangements.
It means US goods shipped to Northern Ireland would be subject to the EU’s reprisals.
The impact of a trade war would be expected to be widely negative, with tit-for-tat tariffs risking job losses, a ramping up of prices and cooling of global trade.
Research for the Institute for Public Policy Research has suggested more than 25,000 direct jobs in the UK car manufacturing industry alone could be at risk from the tariffs on car exports to the US.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) had said the tariff costs could not be absorbed by manufacturers and may lead to a review of output.
The tariffs now on UK exports pose a big risk to growth and the so-called headroom Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced to restore to the public finances at the spring statement, risking further spending cuts or tax rises ahead to meet her fiscal rules.
A member of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), David Miles, told MPs on Tuesday that US tariffs at 20% or 25% maintained on the UK for five years would “knock out all the headroom the government currently has”.
But he added that a “very limited tariff war” that the UK stays out of could be “mildly positive”.
He said: “There’s a bit of trade that will get diverted to the UK, and some of the exports from China, for example, that would have gone to the US, they’ll be looking for a home for them in the rest of the world.
“And stuff would be available in the UK a bit cheaper than otherwise would have been. So there is one, not central scenario at all, which is very, very mildly potentially positive to the UK. All the other ones which involve the UK facing tariffs are negative, and they’re negative to very different extents.”