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Wildfires burn more than 4,000 acres in North Carolina

(NYT) — Two wildfires, each greater than 2,000 acres, more than doubled in size Sunday and raged uncontained in Polk County, North Carolina, after residents were ordered to evacuate among warnings of dire conditions.

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As of Sunday evening, the North Carolina Forest Service reported four active fires in the county.

The largest two — Black Cove, which grew Sunday to 2,076 acres, and Deep Wood, which also grew, to 2,545 acres — were at zero percent containment.

Both fires were burning in timber on steep terrain on a mix of state-owned and private land in the Green River Gorge, according to the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Nearly 250 firefighting personnel from across North Carolina and other states were working to prevent the fires from spreading to neighborhoods and structures, the department said.

Polk County, in the western part of the state, is home to about 20,000 people.

The threat of wildfires extended beyond North Carolina and into South Carolina, where Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency in an effort to combat a wildfire known as the Table Rock fire in Pickens County.

That blaze ignited Friday in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and spread across 300 acres by Sunday. It was zero percent contained, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

Paris votes to make 500 more streets pedestrian

PARIS (Reuters) — Parisians voted in a referendum on Sunday to pedestrianise a further 500 of the city’s streets, giving fresh momentum to efforts by the French capital’s left-leaning town hall to curb car usage and improve air quality.

Some 65.96% of Parisians voted in favour of the measure, while 34.04% rejected it, official results showed. Only 4.06% of voters turned out in the consultation, which was organised by the municipality.

This was the third such referendum in Paris in as many years, following a 2023 vote that approved a ban on e-scooters, and a decision last year to triple parking charges for large SUVs.

The referendum will eliminate 10,000 more parking spots in Paris, adding to the 10,000 removed since 2020. The city’s two million residents will be consulted on which streets will become pedestrian areas.

Paris town hall data shows car traffic in the city has more than halved since the Socialists took power in the capital at the turn of the century.

The 500 additional streets to be pedestrianised will bring the total number of these so-called “green lungs” to nearly 700, just over one-tenth of the capital’s streets.

At least 4 die as 30 wildfires erupt in South Korea

(NYT) — Nearly 30 wildfires broke out in southeastern South Korea over the weekend, killing four people and injuring six others, officials said Sunday.

Thousands of firefighters and dozens of helicopters were sent out to fight 29 fires that burned through at least 4,700 acres and forced the evacuation of around 1,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry. The fires also disrupted train service and prompted the closing of some roads.

On Saturday evening, the government declared a state of disaster for part of the region. All but six of the 29 fires had been extinguished by Sunday morning, the Interior Ministry said.

All of the reported deaths and injuries were linked to a fire that started in Sancheong county, about 160 miles southeast of Seoul, South Korea’s capital, on Friday afternoon, officials said.

Five of the six people hurt were seriously injured, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. At least two of the dead were firefighters, officials said.

The Sancheong fire started when a farmer’s lawn mower caught fire, authorities told the local news media.

Greenland to receive visit from Vance’s wife, son

(Bloomberg News) — Second lady Usha Vance will travel to Greenland this week, the latest ally of Donald Trump to visit the island as the president ramps up his rhetoric that the U.S. should buy it from Denmark.

Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, will travel to Greenland with her son and a U.S. delegation on Thursday and return on Saturday, the White House said. She is expected to visit historical sites and attend the Avannaata Qimussersua, Greenland’s national dog-sled race.

The planned trip comes after one that Donald Trump Jr. made in January, which the president’s son described as a personal visit that didn’t include any scheduled meetings with officials.

“Ms. Vance and the delegation are excited to witness this monumental race and celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity,” the White House said in a statement.

Trump has posited that the U.S. needs Greenland to protect its own national security interests, telling Congress in a speech this month that he expected to get it “one way or the other.” His stance on Greenland reflects an increasingly expansionist U.S. agenda that has included desires to take over Canada, the Panama Canal and Gaza.