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Tourism on Fuji
Tourists flock to Fuji - visitors must now pay

Tourists who want to hike Mount Fuji will now have to buy a ticket, writes The Japan Times. The new effort is an attempt to limit the mass tourism that affects one of the country's main symbols.

The ticket will cost 2,000 yen (about 131 Swedish kronor) to access the mountain roads. The number of visitors per day must also be limited to 4,000.

- As more and more hikers visit Fuji, the mountain has long been plagued by the risk of accidents caused by overcrowding near the summit, increased environmental impact due to illegal littering and bad behavior by spontaneous hikers, says Kotaro Nagasaki, governor of Yamanashi prefecture where Fuji is located.

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Extreme weather in Europe
Greek Prime Minister on fires: "Dangerous summer"

Greece is facing a dangerous summer in terms of forest fires, says the country's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis according to Reuters. The country was hit by an early heat wave which led to several forest fires breaking out in several parts of the country.

- It is a summer that is expected to be particularly dangerous [...] the most difficult times are still ahead of us, he said when he addressed his cabinet.

- We had a very difficult month of June in terms of weather conditions with high drought and unusually high wind gusts for the time of year, he added.

The country has strengthened its ability to fight forest fires this year. This after 19,000 people were forced to evacuate the island of Rhodes and 20 people died in the northern part of the country last year.

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Storm Beryl
Prime Minister seeks shelter in his basement: "Not a joke"

Airports have closed and businesses have put their operations on hold as they wait for Storm Beryl to sweep across the Caribbean, the BBC reports.

In the Caribbean island nations of Barbados, St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, hurricane warnings have been issued and residents have been urged to seek shelter.

- This is no joke. I am preparing to seek shelter in the basement, said Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in a speech on Monday.

- The roof of our house may not hold up to a wind force of 66 meters per second, he continues.