A fast-moving California wildfire exploded to become the state’s biggest of the year, forcing evacuations and the closure of a highway, and evoking memories of the devastating blazes that laid waste to parts of the state in January.

Authorities on Crete moved more than a thousand tourists and residents to safety as an out-of-control wildfire engulfed a forested area in the southwest of the island.

A new wildfire has erupted in Greece prompting evacuations, while firefighters in Turkey pressed ahead with efforts to contain a deadly blaze west of the country

Firefighters raced Thursday to contain wildfires that forced thousands to flee holiday resorts on the southern Greek island of Crete, while neighboring Turkey grappled with its own deadly blazes that claimed at least one life.

A wildfire on the island of Crete that forced the evacuation of 5,000 tourists and locals is "retreating", Greek firefighters told AFP on Friday, but a new blaze fanned by