A hot air mass blowing in from Africa is set to take hold of much of the country from Wednesday to Monday.

Temperatures are set to soar above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in large parts of southern and central Spain, with the mercury potentially rising as high as 44C (111F) in interior valleys. In those areas, minimum temperatures are hardly supposed to dip below 25C (77F).

On Tuesday, Spain’s Health Ministry issued an advisory telling the public to keep hydrated and cool during the hottest parts of the day.

Just one-third of Spanish households have air conditioning, according to housing platform Idealista. However, the heat wave is coinciding with the highest-ever electricity prices in Spain, so those who do use air conditioners to cool off could face discomfort when getting their energy bills at month’s end.

Although Spain has so far been spared from the forest fires that have devastated other areas of the Mediterranean like Turkey or Greece, starting Wednesday more than half of the country will be under extreme or very high risk of fire.

This is Spain’s first official heat wave, although the summer has already been hot and dry in much of the country.

In Catalonia, the government is asking farmers to prepare their lands to minimize fire risks./agencies

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the country summoned the Swiss charge d'affaires in Ankara to protest the terrorist YPG/PKK-linked group opening an office in Geneva.

Citing the opening of the terror group YPG/PKK's so-called "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria" office in Geneva, a statement said the Swiss diplomat was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

It was conveyed that the Swiss authorities should not allow the "bloody-handed terrorist organization and its affiliated groups to gain legitimacy and propaganda under names such as associations or non-governmental organizations," said the statement.

The ministry also noted that "the terrorist propaganda should end immediately."

Stressing that there should be no separation among terror groups while fighting terrorism, the statement also reminded that "those who embrace terrorist organizations may face the same menace one day."

Turkey further vowed to "resolutely continue its fight against the PKK, which is also recognized as a terrorist organization by the EU, and its affiliated groups everywhere."

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is PKK’s Syrian offshoot./aa

Responding to growing criticism over the government’s failure to properly tackle the raging forest fires in Greece, the prime minister Tuesday apologized to the Greek nation for the inefficacy of the state mechanism and promised action against those responsible for the crisis.

Assuming political responsibility on the issue in a speech, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised an urgent aid package worth €500 million ($585 million) to the victims of the blazes, saying the people responsible will account for their actions.

Criticism over the forest fires that have been ongoing for more than 10 days escalated Tuesday with the opposition in Greece coming down hard on the government.

People in the affected Aegean Euboea island and the Morea peninsula voiced their anger at the government for its delayed response to the fires.

The opposition parties held the government responsible and called on the concerned cabinet members to resign immediately.

Chairperson of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), Alexis Tsipras, said Mitsotakis disregarded his and scientists' warnings on the fires.

The firefighting teams reported that the fires which had been contained in some regions in the north of Euboea have burst into flames once again.

The teams are fighting the blazes with nine aircraft and four helicopters, while the fires constantly change direction due to the wind.

Some villages in the region have been evacuated, while many citizens refused to abandon their homes, and kept fighting the flames with their limited means./agencies

German train drivers will strike for three days because of a pay dispute with national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, their union said Tuesday.

The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) said freight train drivers will stop work late Tuesday, with passenger train drivers ceasing operations Wednesday morning. The strike would end at 2 a.m. on Friday.

GDL’s leader Claus Weselsky said at a news conference in Frankfurt that 95% of members voted for the industrial action after negotiations with Deutsche Bahn failed to reach an agreement.

He also accused Deutsche Bahn management of misleading the public about the talks.

“They are talking about new and improved offers made to us. This has nothing to do with the reality,” he said, adding that the latest proposal was not negotiable for them.

“Now the only way for us to achieve improvements and better offers is through further industrial actions,” he said.

The union of more than 37,000 members is demanding a 3.2% pay rise for train drivers and a one-time €600 ($703) bonus because of work during the coronavirus pandemic./agencies

A leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and his wife were shot dead Monday by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said.    

Regional police said Ghulam Rasool Dar, a district president of BJP Kisan Morcha, and his wife Jawahira Banoo were fired on indiscriminately after militants barged into their rented accommodation in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital city Srinagar.

Regional Police Chief Vijay Kumar, while confirming the incident, said the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the attack.

“A manhunt has been launched to nab the attackers,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the ruling party’s spokesman, Altaf Thakur, condemned the killing of Dar and his wife, terming it barbaric and cowardly. He said attacking and killing innocent people will lead nowhere and the acts reflect the frustration of the militants.

He expressed his sympathies with the bereaved family and urged the police to apprehend the attackers and punish them sternly.

The lieutenant governor of the Jammu and Kashmir region, Manoj Sinha, also condemned the attack.

“This is an act of cowardice and perpetrators of violence will be brought to justice very soon. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family in this time of grief,” he said on his official Twitter account.

The attack is the third this year on ruling party leaders and workers in the Kashmir region.

On March 29, militants launched an attack outside the municipal office in Sopore, around 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Srinagar, killing two municipal councilors -- Shams-ud-din Peer and Riyaz Ahmad -- and police constable Shafqat Ahmad.

On June 3, militants shot dead BJP councilor Rakesh Pandit while he was in south Kashmir’s Tral area without his two security guards./aa

Niger’s health minister announced Monday that 213 cases of cholera including 12 deaths were recorded in the country’s Zinder, Dosso and Maradi regions. 

"The situation is under control," local media quoted Idi Illiassou Mainassara as saying, indicating the measures taken by the authorities for prevention and treatment.

Mainassara said the cholera germ was identified during analyses carried out after several cases of diarrhea and vomiting in the country.

Among other things, he cited the strengthening of surveillance following information received from Nigeria.

Since the beginning of the year, 709 samples in neighboring Nigeria have been collected with positive cases, according to a report from the Nigerian Center for Disease Control.

"As of Aug. 1, 2021, a total of 31,425 suspected cases including 816 deaths have been reported from 22 states and the Federal Capital Territory," it added./aa