French PM says wildfires “under control”

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Saturday that the wildfires that had ravaged France were "under control".

In the hardest-hit Gironde department, "we have returned to a more stable situation," the French prime minister said in an interview with local newspaper.

The blaze in Gironde, the largest department in metropolitan France and located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, erupted in a pine forest near the administrative center of Bordeaux, which marks the country's largest wildfire since 1949.

The massive fire has scorched 42,000 hectares of land, destroyed more than 200 homes, and forced the evacuation of over 200,000 people.

France has for weeks been battling wildfires after a series of deadly heatwaves that have dried up riverbeds and vegetation.

Lecornu said if weather conditions changed, the authorities would immediately reinstate necessary preventative measures.

Also on Saturday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that wildfires have consumed 119,000 hectares of land across France since the beginning of this year.

French PM says wildfires “under control”

Chinese crested terns, one of the world's rarest seabird species, have been recorded in coastal wetlands in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, for a seventh consecutive year.

Bird photographers captured images of the critically endangered birds on July 23 and 24, with sightings this season reported to be more frequent than in previous years.

With a global population of just over 200, the Chinese crested tern is under China's highest level of national protection. Its rarity and elusive nature have earned it the nickname "the mythical bird" in the country.

The species breeds mainly on uninhabited islands off the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces in east China. Between July and September, some birds stop in Nantong's coastal wetlands to rest and feed during their seasonal migration.

The repeated sightings underline the role of Nantong's wetlands as a stopover site for rare migratory birds, as Jiangsu continues efforts to restore wetland habitats.

Rare Chinese crested terns return to east China wetland for seventh year