Turkey closes Dardanelles strait due to forest fire

Turkey has closed the Dardanelles strait to shipping traffic due to forest fires in the area. The country's ministry of transport told The National that traffic had been “temporarily suspended in both directions due to the fires in Canakkale”. An official was unable to confirm a schedule from the ministry's directorate of coastal safety which suggested the closure would continue until midnight. A regional governor said firefighters were working from air and land to tackle the rural fires. More than a dozen people in Turkey have been killed amid fires and searing summer temperatures over recent weeks.