BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania declared “Code Red” yesterday as the death toll from a weeklong heat wave rose to 18, Greece called a state of emergency, forecasting temperatures of 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), and forest fires raged in Bulgaria. Romanian Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu said three Romanians had died in the last 24 hours and urged people to cancel outdoor travel in the hottest part of the day. “Code Red will be enforced in five southern counties and in the capital Bucharest,” he told journalists after an emergency meeting. The government also banned outdoor work in the hottest hours. Sporadic blackouts hit parts of Bucharest.

BANJA LUKA (AP) – A 4-year-old boy who disappeared a week ago in northwest Bosnia may be alive and wandering the forest in circles, police said yesterday. Ratko Makaric disappeared July 16 from his village of Josipovici when his uncle left him alone for a moment to feed his cattle. On Sunday, searchers found fresh tracks “that match his shoes,” and partially eaten fruit. “It seems the boy may be alive,” Banja Luka police chief Zoran Stanisljevic said. Police, villagers, firefighters and soldiers have been searching the area, but until Sunday had found only a plastic toy and the child’s mobile phone kilometers from where he disappeared.

Two Austrians and a German were fined for cycling naked along the banks of the River Danube in Serbia where a heat wave has sent temperatures soaring. “Police arrived after being alerted by passers-by,” said police spokesman Stevan Krstic in the northern city of Novi Sad. Temperatures in Serbia and other parts of the Balkans have hovered stubbornly for the past week at around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). The three men were brought to a magistrate on charges of disrupting public peace and order and were fined 10,000 dinars (125 euros) each. (Reuters)

Wildfires swept across Kosovo yesterday, leading to evacuations by NATO peacekeepers and local authorities. Almost two dozen houses were engulfed in flames in two hamlets in Kosovo’s northeast and southwest regions, authorities said. Police evacuated the villagers but failed to save cattle from the growing flames. NATO sent helicopters over the weekend to help firefighters and the local civil emergency force to contain the fires. Authorities said some 11,400 acres (4,615 hectares) of land had been destroyed by fire over the last two months. (AP)