Caution

Five hotspots in the Canary Islands – including Tenerife – have been issued a ‘high alert’ warning that prohibits tourists and residents from taking part in a slew of common activities

A ‘high alert’ warning has been issued across five popular hotspots in the Canary Islands, including Tenerife. Authorities across the tourist-riddled archipelago, located off the coast of northwestern Africa, have urged tourists and locals to take ‘extreme caution’ as high temperatures and dry, windy weather conditions have increased the risk of wildfires.

Temperatures are expected to reach a scorching 34C in parts of the region in the following days, while highs of 37C have been forecast for Gran Canaria. Meanwhile, strong winds above 30km per hour are also slated to shift across the islands.

READ MORE: Brits warned as ‘disgraceful’ silent tourist tax exposed in city break hotspot

On Monday, July 28, at 8am, level one prevention measures were reportedly activated in Tenerife, while wildfire alerts were also extended to El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and Gran Canaria. At the time of writing, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura seem to have dodged the alert.

According to local news site Canarian Weekly, the Canary Islands Government has implemented the INFOCA wildfire emergency plan, which prohibits those on the island from having BBQs or open flames in recreational areas or outdoor spaces. Tourists and residents are also prohibited from smoking in forest areas, trails, campsites, or public use areas in the mountains.

Even spark-producing tools such as chainsaws and strimmers are said to be banned during the level one restrictions, as well as letting off fireworks in or near forested zones. “Residents and visitors are also strongly advised to avoid entering forested areas during the alert period,” the publication added.

The alert follows a wildfire outbreak in La Palma, which is believed to have been caused by human activity. Authorities have therefore urged the public to ‘remain vigilant’ and report any signs of smoke or fire immediately by calling 112.

Back in 2023, forest fires in Tenerife ripped through more than 15,000 hectares of land and resulted in around 12,000 people being forced to evacuate. Again, this blaze was blamed on arsonists, but shows just how quickly fires on the archipelago can spread – especially during the dry season.

The warning follows a slew of deadly wildfires that have spread across Europe during the sweltering summer months and resulted in tragedy. As previously reported, more than 1,500 people were recently evacuated in Turkey as blazes continues to ravage regions across the country.

One firefighter has tragically died while attempting to quash an inferno in the country’s fourth most populated city, Bursa. The city’s mayor Mustafa Bozbey added that more than 7,000 acres of land had been scorched by the fatal fire too.

Thousands of people were also forced to flee as wildfires hit two major Greek islands and villages near Athens this month – with two homes being burn down to the ground in the blaze. You can read more about the Turkey and Greece wildfires here.

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July 11 (UPI) — British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Friday she expected Brussels to back a new so-called “one-in, one-out” deal with France aimed at curbing the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Cooper said she was confident the European Commission would endorse the pilot scheme signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during a state visit after Paris said it needed legal authorization.

The deal, which would see France take back migrants from Britain for the first time in an arrangement under which one migrant who arrives without permission is returned for each migrant with a legal asylum claim in France that Britain takes in, must also be approved by the other 26 EU countries.

Speaking to a London radio station, she added that she didn’t believe the scheme would be blown off track by resistance from countries fearful they might end up dealing with returned migrants, particularly frontline nations Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy and Malta which bear the brunt of migration from Africa and the Middle East and beyond.

“We have been talking to the EU commissioners. We’ve also been talking to other European interior ministers and governments throughout this process. The French interior minister and I have been speaking about this, to develop this, since October of last year, and the EU commissioners have been very supportive,” Cooper said.

“So that is why we have designed this in a way to work, not just for the U.K. and France, but in order to fit with all their concerns as well.”

However, Brussels said Friday that it needed more information regarding the “substance and form” of the deal to be able to form a view on its legality before endorsing the plan, saying it needed to comply with EU law, both in spirit and practice.

“What we have now is an announcement and a political agreement, in principle, to have a pilot agreement,” said an EU commission spokesman.

“Once we know more about the substance and the form of that, we can tell you more about it, but we will look at this together with U.K. and France we will be working with all parties involved.”

Cooper also insisted she was confident the plan would hold up against legal challenges that caused years of delays that ultimately sank a previous “deterrence” strategy championed by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak involving sending irregular migrants to Rwanda.

Shadow Home Secretary, Conservative MP Chris Philp, condemned the scheme as a publicity stunt.

“Starmer’s deal yesterday is a gimmick that won’t work, just like his ‘smash the gangs’ claim (now never mentioned) was a gimmick that didn’t work,” he said in a post on X.

The deal announced Thursday has been short on details, apart from stressing it would dismantle the business model of the criminal gangs smuggling people to Britain in often unseaworthy small dinghies, but the BBC said 50 people would be exchanged each week, initially.

A news release from the Home Office, Downing Street and the Border Force said the plan will be rolled out in tandem with action on so-called “pull factors,” such as the ability to find work illegally, that make Britain so attractive to migrants, which was repeatedly raised by Macron and the French side during his visit.

The government pledged a “major nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, focusing on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.”

“The U.K. will go further by changing the law to support a clampdown on illegal working in the gig economy. New biometric kits will be rolled out for Immigration Enforcement teams so they can do on-the-spot checks,” the statement added.

This Fourth of July, patriotism for many Americans feels a bit slippery.

As citizens of our near 250-year-old republic reminisce about the Independence Days of their childhoods — adorned with American flag motifs and smelling of charred hot dogs — some, particularly in 2025, are wrestling with thoughts about what it means to love one’s country.

Such dialogue has exploded as protesters over the last month have publicly condemned ongoing immigration enforcement raids. In L.A., several communities fearing the consequences of those raids are canceling their Independence Day events in an effort to protect vulnerable residents.

Organizers of the Gloria Molina Grand Park Summer Block Party in downtown L.A. posted on Instagram that they postponed the annual event “out of an abundance of caution and in light of ongoing events across L.A. county.”

At the same time, time-honored Fourth of July festivities are taking new shapes as concerns mount about their environmental costs. For the first time in nearly a century, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena will swap its crowd-favorite firework display for a drone show.

Although celebrating American independence may look different this year, L.A. still has a spirited slate of parades, concerts, boat rides and firework shows where you can show your patriotism — whatever that means to you.

Here is a list of 52 places and events in L.A. County to ring in the holiday. (Events start Wednesday and continue through Sunday, but be sure to watch for any new cancellations.)

June 18 (UPI) — The U.S. Federal Reserve held key interest rates steady Wednesday but said it still sees the possibility of two cuts later this year, with expectations that President Donald Trump‘s tariff policies will spike inflation and slow economic growth.

The Federal Open Market Committee kept its borrowing rate in the 4.25%-4.5% range where it’s been since December.

Earlier Wednesday it had been highly expected that the Fed would leave interest rates unaltered. However, the committee indicated that two cuts by the end of the year were not out of the question, with a chance of four future interest rate cuts being a possibility by 2027.

“The Fed’s main message at the June meeting will be that it remains comfortably in wait-and-see mode,” Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave said in a statement earlier in the day.

The Fed reported on inflation trends and other data in the midst of economic uncertainty.

Economic experts pointed to future so-called “stagflationary” economic pressures with the likelihood of the nation’s GDP pushing at a pace of more than 1% and inflation as high as 3%.

“Uncertainty about the economic outlook has diminished but remains elevated,” according to the FOMC, adding how it was being “attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate.”

The uncertainty stems not only from the unpredictable application of tariffs and ongoing trade volatility caused by them, but also from world events likely to have an effect on U.S. financial markets such as the Iran-Israel war.

“Investors should focus on [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell’s take on the softening labor data, the recent benign inflation prints and the risks of persistent tariff-driven inflation,” Bhave added.

Earlier, Wall Street economists had believed the Fed would keep interest rates in the 4.25% to 4.5% range.

The Fed has not cut interest rates so far during the Trump administration. Despite President Donald Trump aggressively pushing Powell to cut interest rates, he has declined, saying there is too much uncertainty in financial markets, largely because of tariffs that have been imposed and threatened.