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As wildfires rage across Sicily and Greece, Portugal is the latest Mediterranean country to be hit. A fire broke out on 26 July near the popular coastal holiday spot of Cascais, just 30km west of capital city Lisbon. The blaze started at 5pm in part of the Sintra-Cascais natural park, with strong winds fanning the flames and quickening the spread. Local residents chipped in to help the hundreds of Portuguese firefighters sent to tackle the fires, with some attempting to protect their homes and villages with buckets of water and hosepipes. “The fear now is that it will get to the houses,” local resident Ines Figueiredo told Reuters. “We try to help as much as we can with buckets (of water) ... but it’s not worth much.” Planes were also dispatched to waterbomb the blaze before night fell, alongside more than 600 firefighters. Winds of of up to 60km/h were the biggest obstacle to putting out the fire, according to the mayor of Cascais, Carlos Carreiras. A number of local residents have been evacuated as a precaution. If you’re booked to travel to Portugal, is it still safe to go? And what are your rights if you cancel a holiday? Here’s what we know. Where is affected by the wildfires? So far, the fire is contained to Sintra-Cascais natural park; it hasn’t spread as far as the resort of Cascais, popular with holidaymakers for its beaches and vibrant marina. Some villages within the vicinity of the park have been affected, with nine firefighters and four civilians so far treated for minor injuries and some residents evacuated. Elsewhere, smaller blazes have been reported in the north and centre of Portugal, one of which is near the second city of Porto. The highest level of alert for rural fire danger has been issued for several regions, including holidaymakers’ favourite, Faro in the Algarve. Is it safe to travel to Portugal? So far, the one major blaze has yet to impact on any areas that tourists are likely to visit. Unlike the Greek island of Rhodes, where a number of holidaymakers have had to be evacuated from the worst-affected areas, Portugal’s wildfires won’t affect the overwhelming majority of visitors. The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) advice on Portugal has not been updated to reflect the latest fires; its standard advice reads: “Forest fires can occur anywhere in Portugal. Risk of fires is higher when the weather is hot and dry. Fires have become more common due to drought and high temperatures. “Forest fires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The Portuguese authorities may evacuate areas and close roads for safety reasons. You should: familiarise yourself with local safety and emergency procedures follow the advice of the Portuguese authorities call the emergency services on 112 if you see a wildfire “Starting a forest fire, even if it is by accident, is illegal in Portugal.” No holidays to Portugal appear to have been cancelled by travel companies at this time. Can I cancel my holiday to Portugal? Cancelling a holiday to Portugal based on the currently very small risk of fire impacting the trip would very likely lead to you losing any money paid so far. While most tour operators are offering customers due to travel to fire-affected parts of Rhodes the option of cancelling and rebooking, the same is not true of Portugal, where the blaze is yet to affect tourist areas. If you’ve booked travel and accommodation separately, rebooking flights in many cases costs as much as buying a whole new ticket. Cancellation costs incurred also won’t be covered by your travel insurance in the vast majority of cases, as the FCDO has not issued an advisory against all “non-essential” travel to Portugal. Read More More than two million expected to head overseas for summer getaway despite heatwave 8 best cities and towns in Portugal to visit on your next holiday Best beaches and seaside holidays in Europe 2023 ‘I cannot hold the pee’: Woman caught urinating on plane cabin floor How to spot a hidden camera in your Airbnb Tourists flying into Greece inferno reveal why they refuse to cancel holiday

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US tourist Stephen Termini is believed to have been kicked and beaten in Dublin city centre.

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Mitch McConnell froze and briefly appeared to be unable to continue speaking during a Senate Republican press conference. He was led away by colleagues and returned not much later, stating that he was “fine”. This is not the first time that the 81-year-old has had a health scare. The scene occurred on Wednesday as Republicans held their last weekly press briefing before the August recess, and discussed remaining business including the chamber’s effort to pass a defence spending bill before the holiday begins. Mr McConnell was seen freezing at the podium for several seconds before a number of senators, including Joni Ernst of Iowa, approached him and encouraged him to step away. He did so, only to come back a few minutes later. He refused to elaborate on what had just occurred. “Can you address what happened here at the start of the press conference? Was it related to your injury from earlier this year when you suffered a concussion?” asked CNN’s Manu Raju. “I’m fine,” responded the senator. “You’re fine? You’re fully able to do your job?” Raju asked in response, to which the minority leader replied: “Yeah.” Mr McConnell entered the Senate in 1985 and has been the top Republican since 2007. Mr McConnell’s freezing at the press conference is likely to be looked at with scrutiny given the renewed interest in the issues presented by the increasingly advanced ages of many of the members of the upper chamber of Congress. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, in particular, has been the subject of intense criticism on the matter as many have argued that the 90-year-old, who has sometimes appeared confused in interactions with reporters and staff, is no longer up to serving. This is a rundown of Mr McConnell’s previous health issues: Childhood polio He continues to walk with a limp, a residual issue caused by his battle with polio at a young age. When Mr McConnell was two years old in 1944, his upper left leg was paralyzed by polio and he was treated at the Warm Springs Institute in Georgia established by Democratic World War II President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for his own struggle with the same disease. “When I was a child and my dad was in World War II, I got polio. I recovered, but my family almost went broke,” Mr McConnell said in a 1990 re-election ad. “Today, too many families can’t get decent, affordable health care. That’s why I’ve introduced a bill to make sure healthcare is available to all Kentucky families, hold down skyrocketing costs, and provide long-term care.” Since that ad, Mr McConnell has been criticized by his political opponents for working against affordable healthcare. In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic was underway, Mr McConnell told the AP that it reminded him of having polio as a child. “Why does this current pandemic remind me of that? I think number one is the fear,” he said. “And the uncertainty you have when there’s no pathway forward on either treatment or a vaccine and that was the situation largely in polio before 1954.” At the time of the AP interview, only 16,000 people in the US had died of Covid-19. As of today, more than 1.1 million have died in the US as a result of the pandemic, according to the WHO. “There’s hope that we’re going to get on top of this disease within a year, year and a half,” Mr McConnell told the AP in 2020. Speaking about his childhood polio, Mr McConnell grew emotional as he said he was “lucky” to have a mother “who was determined to see me walk again”. “Tenacity, hard work and not giving up – my mother instilled all that in me before I was four years old and I think it’s been a guiding principle in how I lead my life,” he added. Asked how his mother could afford his polio treatment, Mr Connell told the AP: “Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that.” He recalled the relief at the arrival of the polio vaccine. “I’ve had a normal life, but I’ve been acutely aware of the disease that I had and the relief that the country had when they found the vaccine,” he said in 2020, months ahead of the Covid-19 vaccine’s arrival. “We’re going to get that relief.” Triple heart bypass surgery Mr McConnell had a triple heart bypass surgery in February 2003 in connection to blocked arteries. The procedure was conducted at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC. A fall that caused a concussion The 81-year-old Mr McConnell returned to the Senate in March of this year after suffering a fall that caused a concussion. “Leader McConnell tripped at a dinner event,” communications director David Popp said at the time, adding that Mr McConnell would be in hospital for “a few days of observation and treatment”. The event was at the Waldorf Astoria DC – previously the Trump International Hotel from 2012 to 2022. One of the colleagues at Mr McConnell’s side guiding him away after he froze on Wednesday, Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, a physician by training, said at the time that he expected that Mr McConnell would make a full recovery. Mr McConnell also fell at his home in Louisville, Kentucky in August 2019, suffering a shoulder fracture. Read More Mitch McConnell leaves press conference abruptly after appearing unable to speak Kevin McCarthy denies he made any deal with Trump to try to expunge his impeachments Kentucky attorney general can’t explain why he hasn’t used key to his office in three years Mitch McConnell recently ‘fell in airport and was using wheelchair’ before blackout Trump wants to see Biden impeached, and other Republicans are quick to pile on Mitch McConnell’s health history reveals previous issues after briefing freeze

The rapper's spectacular show at the Egyptian landmark is officially cancelled at the last minute.

Ukrainian troops are inching closer to the eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene for some of the fiercest fighting in the continuing invasion, officials in Kyiv have said. Deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said fierce fighting raged near the villages of Klishchiivka, Kurdyumivka and Andriivka on the southern flank of Bakhmut, a small city reduced to ruins in a bloody, months-long battle that gave Russian forces control of the area for now. Despite steady Western military aid, Ukrainian military officials have said Russia still has an advantage in artillery, tanks and manpower. But Volodymyr Zelensky’s military is about to receive a consignment of 1,700 strike and reconnaissance drones to help with its counteroffensive. It comes as Russian forces struck port infrastructure in Ukraine‘s Odesa region in an overnight missile attack, killing a security guard and damaging a cargo terminal, the region’s governor said on Thursday. Odesa’s ports have been regular targets for Russian attacks since Moscow withdrew on July 17 from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea. Read More Angry Russia refuses to speak at UN meeting on its attacks on Ukraine's key port city of Odesa. Putin’s forces pushed back around Bakhmut as Ukraine’s troops press on with counteroffensive Wrongfully detained in Russia and injured fighting in Ukraine. Everything we know about Trevor Reed Russian fighter jet strikes another American drone over Syria in the sixth incident this month

Travis Kelce candidly expressed feeling hurt after failing to give Taylor Swift a personalized bracelet during her Arrowhead Stadium concert

Sinead O'Connor achieved international stardom in 1990 with her rendition of 'Nothing Compares 2 U', a song originally written and composed by Prince

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Spain Firefighters have "stabilised" a wildfire that ravaged 400 hectares of woodland in the