PARIS: Two people died in France as a result of “heat-related illness,” said the minister for ecological transition on Wednesday, as the country registered its second-hottest June since records began in 1900.
A heatwave across Europe this week broke high temperature records, leading to the closure of nearly 2,000 schools in France at midday on Tuesday.
“More than 300 people have been treated by firefighters and two have died following heat-related illnesses,” ecology minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said on Wednesday.
“June 2025 has become the second hottest June since records began in 1900, behind June 2003,” she added.
Temperatures in June 2025 were 3.3 degrees Celsius higher than the seasonal average compared to 3.6 degrees Celsius in June 2003, her office said.
Meteo-France said June 30 was the hottest day in June since measurements began in 1947, beating the previous record set in 2019.
Relief will start to arrive from the Atlantic on Wednesday, bringing thunderstorms and cooler temperatures to parts of western Europe.
Two die in France of ‘heat-related illness’: minister
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Two die in France of ‘heat-related illness’: minister
35 million Nigerians ‘risk hunger after global funding collapse’
- The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level
ABUJA: Nearly 35 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger this year, including 3 million children facing severe malnutrition, the UN said, following the collapse of global aid budgets.
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 humanitarian plan in Abuja, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the long-dominant, foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that Nigeria’s needs have grown.
Conditions in the conflict-hit northeast are dire, Fall said, with civilians in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states facing rising violence.
BACKGROUND
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Malick Fall said the foreign-led aid model in Nigeria is no longer sustainable and that the country’s needs have grown.
A surge in terror attacks killed more than 4,000 people in the first eight months of 2025, matching the toll for all of 2023, he said.
The UN can only aim to deliver $516 million to provide lifesaving aid to 2.5 million people this year, down from 3.6 million in 2025, which in turn was about half the previous year’s level.
“These are not statistics. These numbers represent lives, futures, and Nigerians,” Fall said.
He also said the UN had no choice but to focus on “the most lifesaving” interventions given the drop in available funding.
Shortfalls last year led the World Food Programme to also warn that millions could go hungry in Nigeria as its resources ran out in December and it was forced to cut support for more than 300,000 children.
Fall said Nigeria was showing growing national ownership of the crisis response in recent months through measures such as local funding for lean-season food support and early-warning action on flooding.
