Russian President Vladimir Putin lands in Beijing for talks with China’s Xi Jinping
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Contributor/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday ahead of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Putin was welcomed by Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, upon landing late Tuesday local time at an airport in Beijing.
On Wednesday, talks between Putin and Xi are set to occur at the Grand Hall of the People, followed by a formal reception, according to the Kremlin.
The two leaders “will discuss China-Russia relations, cooperation in various fields and international and regional issues of mutual interest,” the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The state visit marks Putin’s 25th trip to China, according to the spokesperson.
The two discussed the U.S. war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, fentanyl and increasing Chinese purchases of American farm products, according to a White House official.
Xi also warned that if the issue of Taiwan is handled “improperly,” the two nations could “come into conflict,” according to China’s official state broadcaster Xinhua.
(NEW YORK) — France has confirmed its first Ebola case linked to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, officials said.
The patient is a humanitarian doctor who recently returned from the DRC and has been transferred to a specialist hospital, authorities confirmed.
French health officials say the case was detected quickly, the necessary precautions are in place and that there is no indication of local spread.
“France has specialized capabilities for managing highly transmissible infectious diseases,” France’s Ministry of Health said in a statement announcing the case. “Patients are treated in a designated healthcare facility, following strict biosafety protocols (negative pressure room, dedicated equipment and protocols). Health authorities are fully mobilized and the situation is being continuously monitored.”
“All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon his arrival in the country, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination,” the statement continued.
Officials said a thorough epidemiological investigation is underway to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient and that they will be contacted “without delay” by the regional health agency before undergoing 21 days of home isolation while being closely monitored the entire time.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has assessed the risk of infection as “low” for European residents and travelers to areas of active transmission, and “very low” for the general European population.
A European heat wave continues, July 8, 2026, sending temperatures into triple digits across France and increasing fire danger. (ABC News)
(FRANCE) — Amid widespread severe drought and sweltering temperatures, hundreds of firefighters are battling to contain multiple wildfires that have ignited in France, destroying homes and prompting thousands of evacuations, authorities said.
The biggest wildfire is raging in the Pyrénées, prompting organizers of the famed Tour de France road cycling race, which started on Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, to ban spectators from lining the route in the mountainous region.
“The exceptionally large wildfire currently raging in the Pyrénées-Orientales is requiring a massive mobilization of wildfire-fighting resources, internal security forces, and all government agencies,” race organizers said in a statement. “The top priority remains the protection of people, property, and natural areas, as well as bringing the fire under control.”
Race organizers said only cyclists participating in the Tour de France and their supporting teams are authorized to travel the race route, which officials are trying to keep clear for emergency traffic.
The blaze in southwestern France near the Spanish border has burned 4,936 hectares, or a little over 12,000 acres, French officials said in a social media post on Wednesday.
At least 12,000 people had been evacuated from 27 municipalities across the Pyrénées-Orientales, although some have been allowed to return home as flames have subsided in some areas, authorities said.
The Pyrénées town of Vinça, which has a population of about 2,200, remained evacuated on Wednesday along with 11 other villages in the region.
Video from the region showed homes and vehicles burned, and huge swaths of forestland blackened. Firefighting aircraft were also filmed swooping down on burning areas, dropping fire retardant.
Earlier this week, the European Union announced it was sending such aircraft to France from Sweden and Cyprus.
About 450 firefighters are battling the fire in the Pyrénées from the ground and the air, but are struggling to gain control of the wildfire amid triple-digit temperatures in the area and wind gusts of up to 30 mph, officials said. Another 170 gendarmes, or law enforcement officers, have also been dispatched to the region to support the firefighting effort.
Firefighters appeared to make progress in battling the fire, reporting Wednesday that the conflagration did not expand overnight.
Temperatures in parts of southwestern France are forecast to reach 105 degrees on Wednesday, with temperatures climbing to 95 degrees and above across three-quarters of the country.
Most of the country is under an “elevated” fire alert.
High to very high fire danger warnings remained in effect on Wednesday in at least 54 departments — or local regional areas, including the Pyrénées-Orientales department, officials said.
Before the current wildfire outbreak, the highest number of departments under high or very high fire danger warnings at the same time was 29 in 2025, authorities noted.
Officials and experts have noted the fire season has begun weeks earlier than usual in France amid the unseasonal extreme heat wave that hit Europe in June. The heat wave has returned this week.
Scientists have said the record temperatures are being pushed up by climate change.
A 22-year-old firefighter was killed while battling a blaze in the Savoie region in the French Alps on Tuesday night, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a social media post on Wednesday.
Fire danger warnings have also been issued in the Rhône Valley in southeast France, and across the central and western regions of the country.
The danger is expected to remain at a high level through this week across most of the country, given the lack of rain, scorching temperature and low humidity, authorities said.
A sign is displayed out the Ministry of Defence headquarters, May 7, 2024, in London. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — A Russian Navy vessel fired warning shots at a U.K.-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday, the Russian military confirmed, saying the civilian boat was making a “dangerous approach” toward the warship.
The incident was reported midday Tuesday about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside U.K. territorial waters.
The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich detected the U.K. yacht “proceeding under engine power on a dangerous course that would bring it into close proximity with the warship,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Russian defense ministry said the frigate’s crew attempted to make radio contact with the yacht, launched signal flares and emitted sound signals, but the boat “continued its dangerous approach.”
When the two vessels were about 150 meters apart, the frigate’s commander fired warning shots “from small arms across the yacht’s course,” at which point the yacht immediately changed course away from the warship, the Russian defense ministry said.
“The crew of the Admiral Grigorovich acted in strict accordance with international navigation rules and took all necessary measures to prevent an incident,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
The British military is investigating the incident after the yacht alleged that the Russian warship fired warning shots nearby at a distance of approximately 500 yards (about 457 meters).
The Royal Navy patrol ship HMS MERSEY was monitoring the Russian vessel at the time, ABC News understands.
A seaboat from HMS MERSEY visited the yacht to gather more information and confirm those on board are safe. No injuries or damage have been reported and the yacht is continuing on its journey.
A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense told ABC News they are “investigating reports of an incident in the Channel.”
The incident comes a day after the U.K.’s Royal Navy led an interdiction of a tanker, the Smyrtos, sanctioned for being part of Russia’s shadow fleet, in the English Channel.
The U.K.’s defense ministry is viewing Tuesday’s reported incident as isolated and not linked to the interception, ABC News understands.
