Page 8 - aruba-today-20190727

A8 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 27 July 2019

Heat, then hail: Weather and travel woes hit Britain, France

By NATASHA LIVINGSTONE perature of 38.7 C (101.7
Associated Press F) was recorded at Cam-
LONDON (AP) — The tem- bridge University Botanic
perature's dropping but Garden in eastern England,
Europe's troubles aren't which if confirmed would
over: A record-busting heat be the highest ever record-
wave gave way Friday to ed in the U.K. The existing
thunderstorms and hail- record for the U.K. — 38.5
storms, bringing the Tour de C (101.3 F) — was set in Au-
France to a dramatic halt gust 2003.
and causing trouble at Brit- It said "quality control and
ish airports and beyond on analysis over the next few
one of the most hectic trav- days" will determine wheth-
el days of the year. er the reading becomes
In addition, travelers at Lon- official. Authorities across
don's Heathrow and Gat- Europe were looking to ad-
wick airports faced delays dress the consequences of
because air traffic control- Thursday's soaring temper-
lers grounded flights over a atures, as records that had
technical problem. stood — in some cases for
It marked the second day decades — fell.
of travel disruptions in Euro- Europeans and tourists
pean capitals after one of alike jumped into fountains,
the hottest days in memory, lakes, rivers or the sea to
when many places in West- escape a suffocating heat
ern Europe saw tempera- A view of people at St Pancras International train station, in London, Friday, July 26, 2019. wave rising up from the Sa-
tures soar beyond 40 de- Associated Press hara. Britain, France, Bel-
grees Celsius (104 degrees ment. which race leader Julian of Network Rail. "Everything gium, Germany, the Neth-
Fahrenheit). Compounding In France, suffocating heat Alaphilippe lost his top spot was done to keep trains erlands — all places where
that, the weekend is a big turned into slippery storms and accompanying yellow moving where possible, air conditioning is not typi-
travel moment across Eu- Friday — including a hail- jersey just ahead of Sun- and last night hundreds cally installed in homes,
rope as families head off for storm on the Tour de France day's finale. of staff were out fixing the cafes or stores — strained
their summer holidays now route in the Alps that was so British rail commuters were damage and repairing the under the heat.
that schools have broken sudden and violent that or- also facing delays after the railway ready for today." France faced a spike in
up for the academic year. ganizers ordered a stop to heat wave prompted Net- Passengers using Eurostar fires in forests and farm
After several hours of flight the world's premier cycling work Rail to impose speed services to and from Paris fields that left a dozen fire-
restrictions over U.K. air- event. restrictions in case the were also facing "severe fighters injured, and a rise in
space Friday, the national As riders careened down tracks buckled. Engineers disruption" due to over- drownings. Interior Minister
air traffic controller NATS hairpin turns after mounting from the company have head power line problems Christophe Castaner linked
said it had fixed the tech- a 2,770-meter (9,000-foot) been working to get the in the French capital, which the country's 60 drowning
nical issue and would be peak, a storm lashed the network back to normal af- on Thursday recorded its deaths so far this month in-
able to safely increase traf- valley below. A snowplow ter the track temperatures hottest day ever with the directly to the current heat
fic flow. worked desperately to soared to up to 20 C (68 F) temperature rising to 42.6 C wave, noting a rise in peo-
"Weather is continuing to clear the route of slush, but more than the air tempera- (108.7 F). ple drowning in unguarded
cause significant unrelated organizers deemed it too ture. Britain, along with much of bodies of water as they
disruption across the coun- dangerous to continue. "With the railway being Western Europe, endured seek relief from high tem-
try and more widely across Weather almost never made of metal and mov- potentially its highest tem- peratures, some of whom
Europe, which has further stops the three-week race, ing parts, the sustained high perature ever on Thursday. suffer thermal shock when
complicated today's oper- and the decision came temperatures took their toll The country's weather ser- they jump from hot air into
ation," NATS said in a state- on a day of high-drama in in places," said Phil James vice said a provisional tem- cold water.q

Manhunt on in Rome for suspect in officer’s on-duty slaying

Associated Press ($112) ransom to return a of the arranged meeting
ROME (AP) — Police hunt- bag with a cellphone that on a street in Prati, a district
ed for a suspected thief had been snatched from its near Italy's supreme court
who fatally knifed a Cara- owner elsewhere in Rome. building.
binieri officer in a quiet Struck in the heart and the Two Americans staying at
Rome neighborhood early back, the officer died short- a nearby upscale hotel
Friday, and prosecutors ly after in a hospital, Italian were being questioned Fri-
were questioning several media said. day evening at a Carabin-
people in case, including Cerciello Rega and a part- ieri station by prosecutors,
two young American tour- ner were working in plain- Carabinieri Lt. Col. Orazio
ists who were lodging in a clothes when they con- Ianniello said. He denied
nearby hotel. fronted two suspects about reports that the two men,
Italy's paramilitary Cara- the theft after the bag's about 20 years old, had
binieri police corps said owner contacted police been detained.
Mario Cerciello Rega was A car of the Italian Carabinieri, paramilitary police, is parked for help when the alleged He said he didn't know
near a blood stain, the site where Carabiniere Vice Brigadier
stabbed eight times by a Mario Cerciello Rega was stabbed to death by a thief in Rome, thieves sought a rendez- if they were being ques-
man who allegedly was Friday, July 26, 2019. vous to receive the ransom. tioned about the theft or
demanding a 100-euro Associated Press The officers went to the site about the slaying. q