France - Fires whipped by high winds ravaged swaths of southern France and Portugal on Wednesday burning scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of thousands multiple fires formed a column marching toward the Mediterranean port city of Marseille killing three elderly people and leaving more than 300 with minor burns and smoke inhalation A forest watchman was killed on the mainland during the night when one of more than 100 blazes engulfed the caravan he was sleeping in 150 kilometers (95 miles) north of Lisbon as the fire in southern France moved toward Marseille At least 2,700 hectares (6,670 acres) of land were devastated battling a separate blaze in the nearby Herault region - brought under control like a fire in an industrial area outside Marseille that stocks oil and petrochemicals The Marseille airport rerouted incoming flights to make way for firefighting aircraft were bracing for flames that risked lapping at its doors Thick layers of ochre-colored smoke dimmed the afternoon skies of sun-drenched Marseille while black plumes rose above Vitrolles and Pennes-Mirabeau Firefighters in both countries battled multiple blazes fanned by high winds and fed by brush in a hot A full 186 wildfires were counted Wednesday on Portugal's mainland But the blazes were exceptionally powerful in both countries roaring through Madeira and southern France at the height of the tourist season - a mainstay of the economy of Madeira islands Portugal's National Civil Protection Service reported 14 major wildfires burning out of control in mainland Portugal where almost 4,500 firefighters were in action in a massive operation supported by 28 water-dumping aircraft and 1,300 vehicles the government requested help from other European Union countries The Madeira fire forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents and tourists in the islands Residents described chaotic nighttime scenes with people fleeing the flames by car at high speed on the wrong side of the road told reporters the three local victims died in their burned homes early Wednesday as the wildfire hit the coastal city in the dark He said two other people were seriously hurt and one person went missing At least 37 houses and a five-star hotel had burned down more than 1,000 people were evacuated in several towns about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Marseille where some homes were burned down It's progressing fast," Deputy Marseille Mayor Julien Ruas said on BFM-TV He said firewalls had been set up on the corridor leading toward the city but if the fire passed those "it will move toward the northern neighborhoods of Marseille." and continues burning everything in its path," firefighters said in a statement from a temporary headquarters set up in Vitrolles French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 1,800 firefighters were mobilized to fight the blazes Some 400 police officers were helping towns secure homes and firefighting aircraft The Madeira blaze broke out Monday and firefighters said the island's steep hills and dense woodland made it hard to reach the flames said officials suspect that fire was started deliberately and police have made two arrests David Byrne has officially announced “Amazing Humans Doing Amazing Things,” a quirky one-night-only variety show to celebrate five years of his nonprofit solutions-focused magazine Reasons to be Cheerful This new inspiring and idiosyncratic program will feature esteemed performing artists from a vast array of disciplines who will take the stage at New York’s Town Hall on October 8 in a testament to the irrepressible nature of human creativity “Amazing Humans Doing Amazing Things” promises a program unlike any other “Variety shows were a big deal when I was young,” Byrne muses “It’s a format you don’t see as much of these days We looked for acts that could capture that sense of zany Reasons to be Cheerful inspires people by unearthing unexpected gems and this show will embody that same spirit of gleeful surprise.” “Amazing Humans” parallels the periodical it honors with its eclectic array of offerings unified by their spirit-stirring effect the show will feature entries from such exciting oddball acts as the legendary comedian-slash-musician-slash-more Fred Armisen NY-based non-male Brazillian-American drumline Fogo Azul and the expansive female-led brass band Brass Queens Other artists include the comedian and ventriloquist Nina Conti Belgian-American indie-pop sensation Tamino contortionist and aerial acrobat Ellie Steingraeber and the raunchy puppetry of Epidermis Circus with more still to be announced in the coming weeks Tickets go live on Friday Watch: Phish Become ‘Seinfeld’ Cast in New ‘Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney’ Sketch Billy Strings Performs for Kids at Michigan’s Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Widespread Panic & Aquarium Rescue Unit Revisit the Touring Festival Listen: Bruce Springsteen Previews Unreleased Film Soundtrack ‘Faithless,’ from ‘Tracks II: The Lost Albums’ Daze Between New Orleans Day Two: Odes to The Allman Brothers Band Listen: Van Morrison Shares “Cutting Corners,” Second Preview Single from ‘Remembering Now’ Listen: Warren Haynes Unveils Four ‘Million Voices Whisper’ Bonus Tracks Belgian beats Bennett and Hofstetter on crosswind-hit stage 3 in Arles The Dane had won the opening three days of the race and was the man to launch the long sprint for the line at the end of the 183.2km concluding stage racing in the front group after the peloton had been shattered by crosswinds he couldn't quite convert the move into total domination of the four-day race he was passed by Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) who was in turn passed by Van Asbroeck in the dying metres of the sprint The Belgian jumped out the wheel late and came through to secure his first win since 2019 with Bennett taking second and Axel Zingle (Cofidis) third among the 11-rider front group.  The wind struck the race just before the 70km to go mark with the peloton blowing apart and rapidly closing the gap to the five-man breakaway – Luca De Meester (Bingoal WB) The group's advantage fell from over six minutes to under two in short order and as the lead group from the peloton flew along to push their advantage and Cofidis were well represented in the move with five while 10 others from teams including Israel-Premier Tech the lead part of the peloton caught the break for good third and fourth in GC – Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R) Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) weren't in the move Riders slipped off the back of the front group as the kilometres passed by while the gap to Costiou's group increased over a minute at 40km to go that gap would only increase to over three minutes as the size of the lead group slimmed down considerably leaving a small group of contenders for the stage it looked as though Pedersen would complete the race with a fourth stage win in four days but despite launching long he didn't quite have enough to hold on and secure the win though he'll be more than happy to walk away with the overall his sixth win of 2024 and second GC victory to boot Results powered by FirstCycling Dani has reported from the world's top races She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia As the experimental iconoclast embarks on a UK tour for new album American Utopia which presumably couldn’t have been further from Byrne’s aim The soundtrack to Byrne’s directorial debut was made as the band was falling apart and it is tempting to say you can tell. The weakest Talking Heads album it feels simultaneously laboured and undercooked: the sound is leaden; Puzzlin’ Evidence and Papa Legba amount to padding And yet it is still sprinkled sparingly with magic a risky undertaking that perhaps inevitably misses as often as it hits As it lurches from great to grating – on I Dance Like This this happens in the space of one song – you could never accuse Byrne of resting on his laurels but Here Lies Love is surprisingly great: the songs are sparky – as dance producers go Fatboy Slim has always been big on pop hooks – the story is legible and Róisín Murphy’s turn on the disco-infused Don’t You Agree Not everything on Look Into the Eyeball’s eclectic menu is fantastic but it is substantially more fun than its predecessor on which Byrne dabbled awkwardly with drum’n’bass and trip-hop: indeed on its two collaborations with legendary soul producer Thom Bell it has a genuinely infectious euphoria about it suggestive of an artist once more finding his groove Oscar worthy ... Ryuichi Sakamoto playing a Fairlight CMI Series III sampling synthesiser and a Yamaha DX7 keyboard. Photograph: Ebet Roberts/Redferns14 Talking Heads – Naked (1988)Talking Heads’ last big push returned to the sonic density of Remain in Light with South America replacing west Africa as a rhythmic source If it feels like much harder work than the album it is modelled after perhaps that was the point: its mood is troubled Anyone expecting a retread of Byrne and Eno’s earlier collaborations was in for a shock: their reunion yielded pop The lyrics are haunted by the Iraq war and everything is given a shimmer of weirdness by Eno’s production Talking Heads’ 2m-selling commercial peak dialled down the experimentation in favour of streamlined Something was undoubtedly lost along the way from the breeziness of And She Was through to the darker more angsty Give Me Back My Name and the deathless Road to Nowhere Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads.11 David Byrne – Lead Us Not Into Temptation (2003)An intriguing return to Byrne’s homeland of Scotland his soundtrack to Young Adam paired him with various members of Belle and Sebastian among others: you can hear their influence on the sound Lavishly orchestrated and featuring Rufus Wainwright duetting with Byrne on a Bizet aria and Lazy but it really does: Byrne’s voice sounds fantastic and his knotty funny meditations on ageing politics and corporate sponsorship hit home Byrne’s score for Twyla Tharp’s ballet was so akin to Talking Heads that the band performed two songs from it live: you can hear a similar blend of polyrhythmic funk and twitchy nervousness here as on Remain in Light while the superb Red House dabbles in the same early sampling techniques as My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Read more7 David Byrne – Rei Momo (1989)The late 80s were packed with pop stars dabbling in world music but Byrne’s first post-Talking-Heads solo album is a cut above and an underrated joy: he clearly has a love and an innate understanding of Latin and South American music The songs are uniformly strong and fit perfectly with their musical setting this album’s simplified sound lost some of its predecessor’s experimental edge But it makes up for any shortfall with impeccable songwriting: Burning Down the House Byrne’s collaboration with Annie Clark never felt like two artists trying to stitch their styles together: it was a creative union that sparked spawning something completely coherent and significantly different from their respective back catalogues Leaning heavily on brass arrangements that range from funky to whimsical to subtle its dry ruminations on the weirdness of life are genuinely funny Read more3 Talking Heads – Fear of Music (1979)The opening rhythmic clatter of I Zimbra made clear that Talking Heads had shifted into an entirely different gear funkier and darker – its second side is the most disturbing music they ever made The sense of a band mapping out their own territory is impossible to miss A tapestry of found sounds from radio broadcasts over tape loops and funk rhythms My Life in the Bush of Ghosts did not invent sampling but no one had foregrounded the idea in the way Byrne and Eno did ultimately changing the sound of pop in the process Cutting-edge experimentation tends to date but this still sounds fantastic 35 years on Watch the video ... Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads.1 Talking Heads – Remain in Light (1980)Apparently made by a band in a state of turmoil – who was arguing with whom and about what depends very much on whose version of events you believe – and a commercial flop on release Remain in Light is Talking Heads’ vertiginous creative zenith: a thick broiling stew of sound into which was stirred funk early hip-hop and Eno’s ambient experimentation it is unique: for an album that has been claimed as an influence by countless artists Remain in Light still does not really sound like anything else Wes Anderson movies - ranked!The Coen brothers’ films - ranked!Stanley Kubrick's best films - ranked! The 30 best boyband members - ranked!The greatest Scottish indie bands - ranked!Quincy Jones's greatest ever moments - ranked! This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Next raceMay 8 Maxime Bouet: ‘It's a disappointment’Race reportFeb 15 The ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team once again tried to set the pace in the Tour de Provence 2025 Raúl García Pierna finished 10th in the second stage the Spaniard retains 6th place in the overall classification ahead of Sunday's final stage between Rognac and Arles (190.6 km) We were concentrating on the series of bumps in the last 30 kilometres of this second stage of the Tour de la Provence The strategy was to make the race harder before the final climb of the day Laurens Huys crashed heavily and had to retire the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team tried to make the race harder so that Ewen Costiou or Raúl García Pierna could get away on the climb we came up against someone stronger than us I'd told Ewen to point them out before they attacked It was all down to Raúl to avoid any breaks Cristiàn Rodriguez 11th overall The Vuelta Femenina, a special jersey Cristián Rodríguez 6th in the queen stage Clémence Latimier joins the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team Songs like Every Day Is a Miracle skew largely towards the bright side – a mature and thoughtful reaction to the despair felt by many in the wake of Trump’s presidency This being Byrne, one of pop’s most refreshing thinkers, it’s not as simple as chipper equanimity, however. Bullet, for one, is a superficially lovely song about a bullet finding its mark. Everybody’s Coming to My House (made with longtime foil Brian Eno) is a funky workout in which Byrne finds that “we’re only tourists in this life” Listen to Everybody’s Coming to My House by David Byrne.This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Mads Pedersen secures GC title at three-day stage race Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) came late to win the stage Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) was second and Alexander Konijn (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) was third  Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) appeared to hit a speed bump in the road and lost control of his bike just 100 metres from the finish sparking a high-speed crash amongst the sprinters Israel-Premier Tech said Ackermann suffered road rash and superficial wounds but did not suffer any fractures.  Pedersen avoided the crash and finished ninth and so secured overall victory A strong breakaway got away late in the race and it was hard to catch them back We didn't get the result but we still got the GC "I think it was Ackermann who crashed and when he went down That destroyed the sprint for me but I'm happy I didn't go down There's still two months until Paris-Roubaix."    The final stage of the Tour de La Provence was the flattest of the race offering a long day and 190km in the saddle.  with the peloton together even after a fast opening 70km of racing It was a sign the finish would be fast and furious.  A slowing in the peloton inspired an attack and suddenly Raùl Garcia Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels) Daniel Smajkic Årnes (Van Rysel-Roubaix) Matisse Julien (CIC U Nantes) and Damien Girard (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) got away Garcia Pierna was an overall threat and so the peloton kept them under control However the attackers refused to give up hope and worked together in a slick and efficient paceline Garcia Pierna was eventually dropped in the final 10 kilometres Lidl-Trek did some of the work but with GC virtually assured they forced others to lead the chase and so Israel-Premier Tech and Unibet Tietema Rockets massed on the front in the final kilometres.  The gap to the attackers was still significant as they entered the final five kilometres but the peloton could see them and sensed an opportunity for another sprint show down.  Israel-Premier Tech had several sprint options but their hopes ended when Ackermann hit the speed bump in the final hundred metres and lost control of his bike Bennett was to the right and slightly ahead of the crash He did not hesitate and reproduced the speed that gave him victory on stage 1 in Saint-Victoret Results powered by FirstCycling Stephen FarrandSocial Links NavigationHead of NewsStephen is one of the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team having reported on professional cycling since 1994 He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022 before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters full of heavenly chickens and newspaper-ignoring elephants a secular hymn which compares the pampered middle classes to their canine pets: “Now a dog cannot imagine / What it is to drive a car / And we are limited / By what it is we are.” The album is full of pronouncements like this that aim at being zen kōans for a smartphone age The theatrical Byrne delivers many of the songs like show tunes can be read as a bit of knowing razzle-dazzle But he is unforgivably fond of the top end of his register and can be heard microtonally straining towards some big notes like someone who has picked a Whitney or Adele song at karaoke but is determined to style it out Everybody’s Coming to My House and Every Day Is a Miracle are badly damaged as a result The backings, made with an infamously all-male group of 25 collaborators are a mixed bag – Daniel Lopatin’s alt-R&B production on This Is That is beautifully spacious and sad but Brian Eno’s over-thought drum programming is tinny and funkless and includes the politest drum’n’bass breakdown ever Byrne is too instinctive a songwriter to ever totally miss the mark and his melodic gifts certainly haven’t left him – but this album often tends towards a ghastly dystopia of kitsch just a few miles from one of the most famous landscapes in the world Doudon wakes up every morning and looks out over what one of the greatest artists of the modern era saw How many can say that?" asks the farmer "Now they want to ruin everything." as important a landscape in Provence as the bay at Antibes or the promenade at Nice and one of the inspirations of modern art could soon have an addition: a high-speed line carrying trains from Marseille to Toulon at 220mph The countryside around the craggy mountain painted 87 times by Paul Cézanne as he searched for a new visual language to communicate structure All the vines and olive trees will be ripped up," said Doudon but this is just destruction for the sake of it The criticism strikes home because the construction of the new line along the south coast of France to extend the existing high speed line further east is to be accelerated as part of the nation's response to la crise President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered that billions of pounds' worth of investment in France's renowned TGV network be speeded up to help kick-start growth in the ailing economy I've poured money and sweat into my vines and that could just all disappear," he said Doudon makes the famous Provençal rosé on his 10-hectare plot But falling demand and rising costs means that any loss of land will signal the end "They will take some of my land and compensate me my great-grandfather worked this land; secondly I simply can't make ends meet with less than 10 hectares," he said The campaign against the new TGV line has powerful local support The route by Mont Sainte-Victoire and the famous landscapes of Cézanne Doudon and his fellow vignerons favour the "metropolitan route" along the coast between Marseille and Toulon although it would add 20 minutes to the journey and cost €3.5bn more than the route under Mont Sainte-Victoire There have been a series of demonstrations led by the winemakers and olive oil producers shouting the movement's slogan "Wake up "the basic rules of the Republic have been trampled" A descendant of the great painter has been enlisted "It's a sword plunged into the landscape I know that modernity means a certain number of things are necessary but we have to preserve this environment," Philippe Cézanne "The soul of Cézanne lies in these hills." One of the first pictures of Mont Sainte-Victoire painted by Cézanne was a protest against the Aix-Rognac railway line that was set to cut across the family lands of the artist "It was painted in 1870 and traces the railway line's route like a bleeding wound across the landscape," according to Michel Fraisset Patrice Doudon continues to tend his vines with his 66-year-old father hoping for a reprieve when the final decision is taken by a minister in Paris later this year "Someone takes a pen and draws a line on a map They don't really see what that can do to real people with real lives," he said "I just want to wake up and see things as Cézanne saw them every morning This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The former Talking Heads frontman calls his decision to exclude female collaborators on his new LP American Utopia ‘ridiculous’ David Byrne has apologised for not collaborating with women on his forthcoming album American Utopia after writing a blogpost that highlighted contributions from 25 male collaborators In a response to a backlash over the blogpost, Byrne wrote in a statement that the gender disparity issue “matters a lot to me … This lack of representation is something that is widespread and problematic in our industry I regret not hiring and collaborating with women for this album – it’s ridiculous it’s not who I am and it certainly doesn’t match how I’ve worked in the past “I am happy that we live in a time that this conversation is happening It’s hard to realise that no matter how much effort you spend nudging the world in what you hope is the right direction I never thought of myself as being ‘one of those guys’ This article includes content provided by Instagram We ask for your permission before anything is loaded as they may be using cookies and other technologies is David Byrne’s first LP since Love This Giant in 2012 Its collaborators include longtime creative sparring partner Brian Eno; British electronic producers Koreless Bullion and Airhead; acclaimed songwriters Sampha Jack Peñate and Ariel Rechtshaid; jazz performer Isaiah Barr; and Daniel Lopatin The songs were written over rhythm tracks by Eno and fleshed out by a small team of musicians and producers with further contributors invited to then add their parts to the songs The controversy comes as the music industry is attempting to improve gender equality – an initiative to ensure at least 50% women on the bills of music festivals is gathering pace