Some 51,386 hectares of crops, woodland and other vegetation have gone up in smoke in Italy due to mainly arson-caused wildfires since the start of the year, environmental group Legambiente said on data updates to Thursday July 27. This is the equivalent of over 73,408 soccer pitches, it said.
In the last three days alone, Legambiente said, no less than 31,078 hectares of vegetation have been consumed by the flames. “The last three days’ data are shocking,” it said referring to July 25-27, when wildfires swept much of the south and especially Sicily.
The lion’s share of the destruction since the start of the year has been suffered by Sicily with 41,365 hectares of greenery lost, or 80% of the total.
It is followed by Calabria with 7,390 hectares, Puglia (1.456) and Abruzzo (284 hectares).
An helicopter douses the raging wildfire during an aerial operations to put out the fire in the wooded areas of Pedara, center to the slopes of Etna, near Catania, South Italy. To combat the raging fire, the mayor of Aci Catena, Margherita Ferro, has asked for help and called for the ‘intervention of helicopters and Canadair’, while calling on citizens to stay at home. EPA-EFE/ORIETTA SCARDINO
Via ANSA
22nd July 2026
Authorities in Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands, and Romania have taken coordinated action against an organised crime group suspected of smuggling migrants through the Balkans using ren...
22nd July 2026
Updated 1250
Malta Hits Record 713MW Power Demand as Heatwave Triggers Widespread Outages: Malta recorded a record 713MW electricity demand on Tuesday, surpassing the previous peak of...
22nd July 2026
Updated 1250
Malta Hits Record 713MW Power Demand as Heatwave Triggers Widespread Outages: Malta recorded a record 713MW electricity demand on Tuesday, surpassing the previous peak of...
21st July 2026
Morning Briefing
Manoel Island Marina to Remain as Government Rules Out Further Development
Prime Minister Robert Abela said the Manoel Island marina and yacht yard will remain in ...
25th June 2026
The European Commission has unveiled an ambitious package of tax reforms aimed at simplifying tax rules across the European Union, reducing compliance burdens for businesses and strength...
10th June 2026
The European Union's new Migration and Asylum Pact enters into force on 12 June, ushering in the most significant reform of the bloc's migration framework in years and placing renewed em...
22nd July 2026
Gold rose to a two-week high on Wednesday on technical buying as investors assessed the widening Middle East conflict and awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week for clues on...
21st July 2026
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that an initial finding from a probe into an incident in which a passenger was partly sucked out of a Boeing 737's roken window suggested "foreign obje...
8th June 2026
The European Parliament has approved a major new initiative aimed at reducing workplace accidents and strengthening worker protection across the European Union, as concerns continue to g...
8th June 2026
The European Union has approved new rules aimed at tightening the screening of foreign investments in strategic sectors, marking a major shift in Europe’s approach towards economic secur...
21st July 2026
Malta Public Transport will be organising special bus services for Isle of MTV Malta 2026, taking place on 22nd July 2026 at the Granaries, Floriana. In order to provide a convenient tra...
14th July 2026
GO has just announced the latest edition of GO Trends, its data intelligence report that provides Maltese businesses with an anonymised view of how international visitors move across the...
22nd July 2026
The cost of the United States' war in Iran has risen to $37.5 billion so far, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, as he faced skeptical lawmakers for the first time sin...
17th July 2026
Iran struck eastern Syria on Friday, Iranian state media and a Syrian military source said, in the first known attack by Tehran on Syrian territory since a regional war erupted earlier...
25th June 2026
At least 32 people have been killed and more than 700 injured after two powerful earthquakes — measuring 7.2 and 7.5 — struck central Venezuela seconds apart, causing widespread destruct...
25th February 2026
Thousands of Cuban security personnel have begun leaving Caracas after nearly two decades in Venezuela, as Washington ramps up efforts to dismantle the long standing alliance between the...
22nd July 2026
Ukraine has recaptured 700 sq km (270 sq miles) of its territory this year, outgoing Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday, confirming he was leaving the top military ...
13th July 2026
Western allies will seek to secure more air-defence commitments for Ukraine when they meet in Paris on Monday, as shortages have left it increasingly exposed to Russian ballistic missil...