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Europe Sizzles and Eiffel Tower's Summit Closes

A city sanitation worker uses a high-pressure hose to cool people off by the Eiffel Tower during a heatwave in Paris, France, 01 July 2025. EPA/YOAN VALAT
A city sanitation worker uses a high-pressure hose to cool people off by the Eiffel Tower during a heatwave in Paris, France, 01 July 2025. EPA/YOAN VALAT
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Europe Sizzles and Eiffel Tower's Summit Closes

A city sanitation worker uses a high-pressure hose to cool people off by the Eiffel Tower during a heatwave in Paris, France, 01 July 2025. EPA/YOAN VALAT
A city sanitation worker uses a high-pressure hose to cool people off by the Eiffel Tower during a heatwave in Paris, France, 01 July 2025. EPA/YOAN VALAT

Europe sizzled in its first major heat wave of the summer on Tuesday, as Barcelona recorded its hottest June in over a century and the summit of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors.

Health warnings remained in effect in several countries. The abnormally hot weather “is exposing millions of Europeans to high heat stress” with temperatures more typical of July and August, said Samantha Burgess of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Spain: Record temperatures Barcelona's Fabra Observatory reported an average temperature for last month of 26 C (78 F), breaking records since the data began in 1914. It said a single-day high of 37.9 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) for June was recorded Monday. Barcelona is usually spared the worst heat in Spain, thanks to its location between hills and the Mediterranean.

Ramón Pascual, a delegate for Spain’s weather service in Barcelona, told The Associated Press the "very intense heat wave” is clearly linked to global warming.

Pascual said inhabitants of the Mediterranean region are not being helped by the rising sea temperatures, which greatly reduce any cooling effects of a nearby body of water.

Spain’s weather service said recent surface temperatures for the Mediterranean near the Balearic Islands are 5 to 6 degrees Celsius higher than average.

Spain's national average for June of 23.6 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) was 0.8 C hotter than the previous hottest June in 2017.

Madrid was forecast to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit).
“We’re just surviving,” said Miguel Sopera, 63. “At night it’s impossible due to the terrible heat.”

France: Closed schools Temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Paris. National weather agency Météo-France placed several departments under the highest red alert. More than 1,300 schools were partially or fully closed.

Visitors to the Eiffel Tower without tickets were told to postpone their visits as the summit was closed until Thursday for "everyone's comfort and safety.”

Climate experts warn that future summers are likely to be hotter than any recorded to date, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius expected every year by 2100.

Italy: A blackout Italy's health ministry said 17 of the country's 27 major cities were experiencing a heat wave.

In Florence, where temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, parts of the city center experienced a blackout following a surge in electricity demand. Backup systems restored power, energy company Enel said.

Near Bologna, the 46-year-old owner of a construction company collapsed and died while repaving a school parking lot, state-run RAI reported. An autopsy was being conducted but heat was suspected.

The Netherlands: Water gun fight In the Dutch town of Soest, first responders said they were bringing a fire hose to an evening water gun fight.

“Bring your water pistol and swimming clothes with you, because you’re guaranteed to get soaked!” the firefighters said on social media.

Portugal: A record high The weather service in a statement Monday night confirmed the highest single temperature ever recorded in mainland Portugal for the month of June at 46.6 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) on June 29 in the town of Mora, west of Lisbon.

Türkiye: Wildfires Firefighters across Türkiye tried to contain wildfires that have forced the evacuation of some 50,000 residents for the third consecutive day.

Czech Republic: Polar bears Temperatures were expected to reach 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by Wednesday in parts of the Czech Republic.

The Prague zoo distributed up to 10 metric tons of ice, with special attention given to polar bears. Zoo director Miroslav Bobek said twin brother bears Aleut and Gregor discovered frozen pieces of squid.

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Varieties

Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)
Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)
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Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)
Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)

Portugal closed all schools and shuttered non-essential public services on Wednesday as a major Atlantic storm headed for the country's mainland.

Streets remained largely deserted ahead of the arrival of Storm Charles after the government told people to stay at home as heavy rain and rough seas were expected to batter the Portuguese coast, with wind gusts of up to 140 kph (85 mph).

It was the first time in living memory that Portugal’s roughly 8,000 schools had canceled classes nationwide over a storm forecast.

Buses without passengers drove through the country's capital, Lisbon, where some streets flooded due to clogged drains. A national supermarket chain closed its stores, while an international technology conference in Lisbon attended by around 70,000 people called off the day's events.

In January, the country's center-right government faced harsh criticism for its weak response when Storm Kristin hit central Portugal, felling thousands of trees and causing widespread property damage that is still being repaired.

The brunt of Storm Charles was expected to hit the Atlantic coast on Wednesday afternoon and evening, coming from the southwest after it had struck the Portuguese island of Madeira on Tuesday with 130 kph (81 mph) winds.

Varieties

Once the World's Fastest, Ocean Liner Will Become Largest Artificial Reef

The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)
The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)
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Once the World's Fastest, Ocean Liner Will Become Largest Artificial Reef

The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)
The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)

An ocean liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas is headed to a final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world's largest artificial reef.

The S.S. United States is scheduled to be sunk Wednesday off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, fulfilling a long-planned $13.5 million project aimed at attracting more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish.

The project will keep what had been a technological marvel when it made its maiden voyage in 1952 from becoming scrap metal.

The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying old Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Other passengers have included President John F. Kennedy and Britain’s former King Edward VIII. In 1968, a young Bill Clinton took it when he went to Oxford University, decades before he was elected president.

In preparation for the sinking, organizers removed the 65-foot smokestacks and plan to have them anchor a new museum that celebrates the ship. Once aboard, passengers were treated to dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and Calf's Head en Tortue.

“It was our goal to make sure that she wasn’t lost forever,” said David Lawrence, a member of the board for the S.S. United States Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving the ship.

The ship will be sunk without using explosives

Federal environmental and explosives rules prevent Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor from using explosives to scuttle the ship, said Nick Tomecek, the county's spokesperson. Concerns about inclement weather prompted officials to move up the sinking by a day.

The S.S. United States has pipes that pulled seawater into tanks as part of the system that cooled its boilers, he said, and those tanks have been removed so that once the valves are opened, water will flood the hull. Workers also have cut 10-foot by 10-foot holes in the decks, and more than 400 portholes have been removed.

The ship is to sink in about 180 feet (55 meters) of water, with its top deck about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface — shallow enough that inexperienced divers can visit. It will settle on the floor of the waters about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola.

Larger than the Titanic, the ship's first voyage set a speed record

More than 3,000 workers helped build the S.S. United States in 1950 and 1951 in Virginia. An Associated Press reporter and President Harry Truman's daughter, Margaret, were among 1,700 passengers for the first voyage.

The ship's average speed for that trip was almost 41 miles (66 kilometers) per hour, besting a record set by Britain's R.M.S. Queen Mary in 1938 by 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) per hour, according to the AP's dispatch.

The S.S. United States set the record even though its journey ended in the face of a full gale that reached 69 miles (111 kilometers) per hour — “so strong it blew a ping pong table off the deck,” AP reported.

At 990 feet (302 meters), the ship is 108 feet (33 meters) longer than the ill-fated Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage across the Atlantic.

“She really embodies and expresses this country’s best,” said Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship's designer. “She represents pride and resilience and strength and beauty.”

The ship's resting place has many artificial reefs

About 500 artificial reefs are located in the waters near where the S.S. United States will rest, Tomecek said.

Previously, the largest artificial reef came from the 2006 scuttling of an aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany in the Gulf off of Pensacola — near enough to the S.S. United States site that an experienced diver could visit both in the same day, Tomecek said. The Oriskany, launched in 1950, was 911 feet (278 meters) in length.

“We're trying to be the best diving destination in the world,” Tomecek said.

The ship was decommissioned in 1969. Attempts by a hotel magnate and Norwegian Cruise Lines to use the ship never floated, and from 1996 until recently, it sat along a dock in Philadelphia.

“I’m just so happy that we are able to save parts of her,” Gibbs said.

Varieties

Medical Breakthrough for People with Same Disorder as Celine Dion

Celine Dion. (AFP)
Celine Dion. (AFP)
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Medical Breakthrough for People with Same Disorder as Celine Dion

Celine Dion. (AFP)
Celine Dion. (AFP)

People suffering from stiff person syndrome (SPS), which affects Celine Dion, the singer, could soon benefit from a new medicine which improves symptoms.

Patients in the US were given a one-off immunotherapy drug in a clinical trial, resulting in two individuals regaining function related to everyday life that had been lost to SPS, according to The Telegraph.

SPS is a rare neurological disorder that gets progressively worse, and symptoms include stiffness in the body, spine, arms and legs.

The Telegraph said patients were given chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, which teaches the body’s immune system to recognize and attack deadly cells causing disease.

CAR-T therapy is already approved on the NHS for some illnesses, including certain types of cancer, and research is ongoing.

One patient in the US trial, Jonathan Walden, had reached the point where walking and basic daily tasks required help from his family.

After CAR-T therapy, he has now returned to work and normal activities.

“I can go to work every single day. I can do everything I did before. I go hunting, I can go fishing,” he said.

Dr. Anastasia Zekeridou, a neurologist and researcher at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in the US, which led the trial, said: “What was most striking was the degree of improvement we saw in some patients.”

“With existing treatments, we may be able to improve symptoms, but we very rarely see patients return to their previous level of function,” she said, adding that these early results are very encouraging, and the key question now is whether those improvements will be sustained over time.

Dr. Sean Pittock, chairman of the department of neurology at Mayo Clinic, said: “CAR-T therapy has already transformed the treatment of some cancers, and we are now beginning to see its potential in autoimmune neurologic diseases.”

Pittock also explained that the results in stiff person syndrome offer tremendous hope, not only for people living with this disease but potentially for patients with other immune-mediated neurologic conditions where effective treatment options remain limited.

“There is still much we need to learn, but this opens an exciting new avenue for the field,” he said.

Dion, the Canadian vocalist, announced she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome in December 2022.

In an Instagram video, she told fans the condition had affected “every aspect of my daily life,” including harming her voice.

SPS affects an estimated 8,000 people worldwide. The British Neurological Surveillance Unit identified 119 confirmed cases in the UK across a five-year tracking period between 2000 and 2005.

Scientists believe it can become a widespread syndrome that affects multiple parts of the body and involves the brain, brainstem and spinal cord.