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More than 40 people have died in wildfires that have engulfed swaths of land in nine Mediterranean countries, destroying homes, livelihoods and forests. Thousands of firefighters worked to contain the blazes as searing temperatures scorched parts of Greece, Italy, Spain, Gran Canaria, Portugal, Turkey, Croatia and France, as well as Algeria and Tunisia. Authorities ordered the fresh evacuations of several communities in central Greece on Wednesday as they battled new fronts in the fires that have been spreading for 10 days. High winds hampered firefighting efforts, and combined with the heatwave, they created a “perfect storm” that allowed flames to spread. Sixty-one wildfires erupted across Greece in just 24 hours, the fire brigade said, with the worst outbreaks near the central town of Velestino, where officials ordered precautionary evacuations. Follow our live coverage of the wildfires and heatwave here But as Athens recorded 40C and northern Turkey 43C, there were hopes the mercury may now have peaked. The entire island of Rhodes, where more than 20,000 holidaymakers and locals were forced to flee at the weekend, was put into a state of emergency. At least seven people have been killed in Italy, which suffered extreme heat in the south and violent storms in the north, and in Algeria, 34 people including 10 soldiers have been killed by flames or smoke in recent days. Those fires also spread to forests in Tunisia, where some cities recorded 49C this week. On the island of Sicily, two elderly people were found dead in a home consumed by flames near Palermo airport, which had been closed temporarily because of encroaching flames, according to news reports. Another woman died after fires prevented an ambulance from reaching her home. Homes and hotels were also evacuated in the Italian regions of Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria. It comes after two Greek pilots were killed in a crash during a low-altitude water drop on Tuesday. The wildfires have released record greenhouse gas emissions this month, the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) said. The megaton of carbon was nearly double the previous record, set in 2007. Fire crews have been battling more than 500 fires for almost two weeks. Several people have been arrested or fined for accidentally starting fires, but scientists and EU officials say the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires is down to the climate crisis. Without human-induced climate change, wildfires would have been extremely rare, according to World Weather Attribution, a global team of scientists. On Rhodes, a nature reserve was damaged, and fires also burned in Vati and Gennadi. “The fires have started again,” a fire official told The Independent. “A little wind and the fire returns … that’s the problem.” Dozens of firefighters were trying to tame a firefront in the south. Greece’s civil protection agency extended its state of emergency to the whole of Rhodes for six months “to deal with emergencies and manage the consequences of catastrophic forestry fire”, minister Vasilis Papageorgiou said. In the sleepy town of Malonas, volunteers ventured out again to try to keep the fires at bay – having fought back the flames as they approached the night before. “We have no energy, we have no power – not enough to stop this ... We are waiting for the wind to calm down to try again tonight to finish the job, but it is very difficult because after 10 days everyone is very tired,” said a volunteer named Panos. However, a “level 5” alert on Crete on Tuesday was dropped to level 4 on Wednesday, and one fire official said the wildfires that had raged across Greece for more than a week abated on Wednesday. The Greek government tried to contain damage to the reputation of its tourism industry. Tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni stressed that wildfires had affected only a small part of the island. A fire brigade spokesperson, Ioannis Artopoios, said tackling the fires was a significant financial burden for Greece, with firefighting on Rhodes alone costing about €7.5m (£6.4m) so far. In Italy, the government was meeting to declare a state of emergency in regions worst hit and introduce a furlough scheme for workers most exposed to the heatwave. The country’s firefighters said they had battled nearly 1,400 fires between Sunday and Tuesday, including 650 in Sicily and 390 in Calabria, where a bedridden 98-year-old man was killed as flames consumed his home. Planes were also trying to douse the flames on the hills around Palermo on Wednesday. In Croatia, water-dropping planes and more than 100 firefighters held back a blaze before it reached houses in the walled town of Dubrovnik. In Portugal, more than 500 firefighters tackled a blaze near Lisbon. Around 90 people were forced to leave their homes, along with 800 animals taken from farms under threat. Read More Where are the wildfires? The nine affected countries mapped Greece wildfires: What is the Fire Weather Index and which areas could face wildfires in the future?

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British billionaire Joe Lewis – whose family trust owns Tottenham – has been bailed by a judge in New York after pleading not guilty to charges of giving insider trading tips, according to reports. The 86-year-old, who faces 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, appeared at an arraignment hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday. After entering a not guilty plea Lewis was released on a bail of 300 million US dollars (£230m), reportedly secured by a yacht and private aircraft equivalent to that amount. Lewis, and two of his pilots who are also facing charges, must remain in the United States. Prosecutors say Lewis, who was arrested on Wednesday morning, is alleged to have used his access to confidential information to provide stock tips to individuals close to him, with the indictment referring to one girlfriend having made 849,000 US dollars (£657,000) on one of those tip-offs. Lewis’ legal counsel David Zornow, from the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom firm, said: “The government has made an egregious error in judgment in charging Mr Lewis, an 86-year-old man of impeccable integrity and prodigious accomplishment. “Mr Lewis has come to the US voluntarily to answer these ill-conceived charges, and we will defend him vigorously in court.” Each of the first 13 counts of securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Manhattan prosecutors said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced on Tuesday that Lewis had been indicted over a “brazen insider trading scheme”. Prosecutors said Lewis, by virtue of his investments in certain companies, received material and non-public information about these companies. A release from prosecutors on Wednesday alleged Lewis had “misused and misappropriated this confidential information to provide stock tips to various individuals in his life, including his employees, romantic partners, and friends, as a way to provide them with compensation and gifts”. It added: “These individuals, in turn, traded on the tips provided by Lewis for vast personal gain.” Lewis bought a controlling stake in Spurs in 2001 for £22million. He officially ceded control of the club last year, with Bahamian lawyer Bryan A Glinton replacing him as a director according to Companies House. His stake in the club – which he held through the ENIC Group alongside Daniel Levy – was formally handed to a family trust last year. Family members of Lewis remain beneficiaries of the trust. PA understands the Premier League does not consider Lewis as a person with control at Tottenham, and is therefore not subject to its owners’ and directors’ test. A Tottenham spokesperson said: “This is a legal matter unconnected with the club and as such we have no comment.” US prosecutors said Lewis is also alleged to have falsely disclosed the extent of his ownership shares in a pharmaceutical company, Mirati, “through an elaborate array of shell companies and other entities, including an offshore trust purportedly for the benefit of his granddaughter”. As a result of this alleged false disclosure, prosecutors said he was able to exercise warrants in Mirati that he would otherwise not have been able to exercise, “at vast financial gain”. Also charged were Patrick O’Connor and Bryan Waugh, two pilots employed by Lewis to fly his private aircraft. In one instance, it is alleged Lewis loaned each of them 500,000 US dollars (more than £387,000) to buy shares in a company before it publicly announced favourable information about some clinical results. This type of behaviour - blatant disregard for the law - is not only illegal but undermines the integrity of our financial markets. Christie M Curtis, FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) acting assistant director in charge Christie M Curtis said: “As alleged, Mr Lewis treated material, non-public information at his disposal as though it was something he could give his friends and associates for their benefit. “This type of behaviour – blatant disregard for the law – is not only illegal but undermines the integrity of our financial markets. “The FBI is determined to ensure that anyone willing to perpetrate insider trading schemes is held accountable in the United States criminal justice system.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kylian Mbappe reportedly turns down chance to discuss move to Al Hilal Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace says Jofra Archer is ‘on course’ for World Cup Tom Latham and Will Jacks both make 99 as Surrey build lead over Somerset

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