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Europe is set to reach even higher temperatures over the weekend, as the Cerberus heatwave continues to grip the south of the continent.

Temperatures are expected to continue to swelter in Italy, with a second heatwave expected to rocket 12C (53.6F) above average in some areas on Sunday.

Five cities in Sicily, Sardinia and Puglia have issued fresh warnings for individuals to avoid being out in the midday heat after the Italian health ministry issued the same warning in another 10 cities from Bologna to Rome on Friday.

A large crowd of tourists visit the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis Hill on this hot day
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The Acropolis was temporarily closed for a few hours on Friday. Pic: AP

The Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis Hill
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But it later reopened to visitors

A similar “red alert” was issued in Cyprus, appealing for the public to take extra care and avoid using any machinery that could spark fires.

In the capital Nicosia, more than two dozen elderly people sought refuge at a dedicated heat shelter the municipality reserves for summer heatwaves.

Temperatures are expected to hit a midday high of 43C (110F) on Saturday, and are not expected to go below 27C (77F) even through the night, while humidity will hit 65% along the coast.

It follows temperatures of above 40C (104F) in Greece, which left tourists disgruntled after the temporary closure of the Acropolis in Athens.

A boy cools himself in a fountain
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A boy cools himself in a fountain in Greece. Pic: AP

Children cool themselves in a fountain of the central Syntagma square

Staff from charity the Red Cross handed out bottled water to dehydrated tourists waiting in long lines hoping to beat the Acropolis’ 12-5pm local time closure, but some were left disappointed at the last-minute announcement by authorities.

“I even bought a €50 ticket to skip the line to enter and I couldn’t enter the place,” Hector from Mexico said on Friday.

Read more:
Europe heatwave – latest: Tourists stretchered away and major attraction shut down
Why is Europe being hit by such high temperatures and when will it end?

Spain, Italy and Greece to swelter in 40C heat

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Will Europe heatwave get worse?

In Spain, people packed the beaches on Friday as the country enjoyed a short-lived respite from its second heatwave of the summer.

Temperatures were still expected to reach 40C in at least 12 of Spain’s 17 regions, after a high of 45C scorched the southeastern town of Albox on Wednesday.

Spain’s Aemet state weather agency said another heatwave is expected to start on Sunday with highest temperatures yet to come.

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How is Greece tackling Cerberus?

Spanish coastal areas like Las Palmas, Tenerife and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands were at high risk of forest fires on Friday.

A map created by Sky News, adapted from Copernicus Emergency Management Service data, showed most coastal regions at “moderate” or “high” risk of forest fires.

A volunteer gives water to a visitor near the Acropolis hill, during a heatwave in Athens, Greece, July 14, 2023. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi
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A volunteer gives water to a visitor near the Acropolis hill. Pic: AP

Meanwhile, inland areas painted a different picture – with much of the centre of the map under “very high”, “extreme” or “highly extreme” risk of blazes.

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How the heatwave is impacting Greece

People in Croatia found creative ways of staying cool, using mud to protect themselves from the glaring heat as the country reached 30-37C (86F).

“It [mud] is definitely better than sun screen, I think protection factor is much better,” said Josef, a Slovakian tourist visiting the coastal town of Nin.

Women walk covered with mud that is believed to be curative at the Queen's Beach in Nin
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Beachgoers covered with mud in Nin

A couple covered in mud that is believed to be curative sit at the Queen's beach in Nin

People in Rome and Greece looking for ways to cool down used numerous fountains.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg weighed in on the high temperatures in a post on Twitter, saying global heat records should serve as an urgent wake-up call.

“Last week we experienced the hottest days ever recorded, many days in a row. We are also experiencing record high sea level temperatures and record low ice levels. This is an emergency,” she said.

Salvation Army volunteer Francisca Corral, center, gives water to a man at a their Valley Heat Relief Station, Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
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Salvation Army volunteer in Phoenix, US

Away from Europe, dangerous heatwaves are also being seen in the US, with more than a third of Americans put under extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings on Thursday.

Phoenix hit 43C (109F) for the 14th consecutive day, putting it on track for a possible new record next week.

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Four more arrests made over Louvre heist as £76m haul remains missing

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Four more arrests made over Louvre heist as £76m haul remains missing

Four more arrests have been made by French police investigating the Louvre museum heist.

Two men and two women from the Paris region were detained on Tuesday, prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

Ms Beccuau’s statement did not say what role the quartet are suspected of having played in the robbery. The two men are aged 38 and 39, and the two women are aged 31 and 40.

They are being interrogated by police, who can hold them for questioning for 96 hours.

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Louvre: How ‘heist of the century’ unfolded

The latest arrests come after investigating magistrates filed preliminary charges against three men and one woman who were arrested last month.

Some of the French Crown Jewels, worth an estimated £76m, were stolen in the audacious October raid.

The haul – which included a diamond and emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels linked to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amelie and Hortense, and Empress Eugenie’s pearl and diamond tiara – has not been recovered.

The heist was pulled off in mere minutes last month – and took place while the Louvre was open to visitors, raising doubts over the credibility of the world’s most-visited museum as a guardian for its priceless works.

On Sunday 19 October, two men used a stolen furniture lift to access the second floor Galerie d’Apollon.

They then cracked open display cases with angle grinders before escaping with their loot and fleeing on the back of two scooters driven by accomplices.

Read more:
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Gallery closed as structure in ‘dire state’

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Moment thieves escape Louvre in jewel heist

The Paris prosecutor previously said the robbery appeared to be the work of small-time criminals rather than professional gangsters.

Speaking shortly after the heist, art detective Arthur Brand told Sky News that detectives faced a “race against time” to recover the stolen treasure.

“These crown jewels are so famous, you just cannot sell them,” Mr Brand said. “The only thing they can do is melt the silver and gold down, dismantle the diamonds, try to cut them. That’s the way they will probably disappear forever.

“They [the police] have a week. If they catch the thieves, the stuff might still be there. If it takes longer, the loot is probably gone and dismantled. It’s a race against time.”

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Zelenskyy is racing to beat Donald Trump’s peace plan deadline – but what will Russia do?

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Zelenskyy is racing to beat Donald Trump's peace plan deadline – but what will Russia do?

Washington woke up this morning to a flurry of developments on Ukraine.

It was the middle of the night in DC when a tweet dropped from Ukraine’s national security advisor, Rustem Umerov.

He said that the US and Ukraine had reached a “common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva.”

He added that Volodymyr Zelenskyy would travel to America “at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump”.

Ukraine latest: ‘Delicate’ deal details must be sorted, White House says

By sunrise in Washington, a US official was using similar but not identical language to frame progress.

The official, speaking anonymously to US media, said that Ukraine had “agreed” to Trump’s peace proposal “with some minor details to be worked out”.

More on Donald Trump

In parallel, it’s emerged that talks have been taking place in Abu Dhabi. The Americans claim to have met both Russian and Ukrainian officials there, though the Russians have not confirmed attendance.

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Peace deal ‘agreement’: What we know

“I have nothing to say. We are following the media reports,” Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, told Russian state media.

Trump is due to travel to his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago tonight, where he will remain until Sunday.

He set a deadline of Thursday – Thanksgiving – for some sort of agreement on his plan.

We know the plan has been changed from its original form, but it’s clear that Zelenskyy wants to be seen to agree to something quickly – that would go down well with President Trump.

Read more:
US hails ‘tremendous progress’ on Ukraine peace plan

In full: Europe’s 28-point counter proposal

My sense is that Zelenskyy will try to get to Mar-a-Lago as soon as he can. Before Thursday would be a push but would meet Trump’s deadline.

It will then be left for the Russians to state their position on the revised document.

All indications are that they will reject it. But maybe the secret Abu Dhabi talks will yield something.

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‘Dead’ Thai woman sent to crematorium wakes up in coffin

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'Dead' Thai woman sent to crematorium wakes up in coffin

A woman brought in for cremation at a Thai temple was found alive in her coffin.

The 65-year-old had been taken to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, after she appeared to stop breathing two days earlier.

Her family had travelled hundreds of miles with her body in the coffin and were preparing for her to be cremated.

However, moments before the service began a shocked temple manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said he heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.

Ambulance workers lift the woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
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Ambulance workers lift the woman in her coffin. Pic: AP

“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said.

“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”

The cremation was due to be live-streamed by the temple.

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Thairath, the nation’s best-selling newspaper, named the woman in question as Chonthirat Sakulkoo, and said she was brought in by her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo.

The brother said she had been bedridden for about two years before her health deteriorated further and she became unresponsive, appearing to have stopped breathing, according to Mr Soodthoop

The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
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The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP

So, the brother placed her in a coffin and drove her 300 miles (500km) from their home in Phitsanulok province, in the north of the country, to the capital, Bangkok.

The Bangkok Post reported that the woman’s brother had been told by local officials that his sister had died.

The woman had wished to donate her organs to a hospital in the Thai capital, but her brother was turned away as he did not have the relevant paperwork.

Read more:
‘I attended my own send-off’: Inside a living funeral
Funeral director on why she speaks to dead people

Instead, he went to the temple, which offers a free cremation service.

After the woman was discovered alive she was assessed and sent to Bang Yai Hospital, Thairath reported, where she was treated for hypoglycemia, before being released back to her brother.

The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP
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The woman in her coffin. Pic: AP

Asked how he felt to learn that his sister is still alive, Mr Sakulkoo said he was indifferent, according to the newspaper.

Mr Soodthoop, said the temple would cover her medical expenses.

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