More than 250,000 people flee their homes in France and Spain as wildfires burn

LEGE-CFERRET, France: The Tour de France's last stage Sunday is being slashed in length by a third to divert officers to the fight against wildfires in the country's southwest.

The Paris police department said in a statement Saturday that the riders will race inside Paris, rather than starting from Thoiry, west of the capital, on a circuit of 89 kilometers (55 miles), down from the 133-kilometer (82.5-mile) route that had been planned.

The statement said part of the security deployment planned for the 21st and final stage of the three-week race will instead "reinforce the response efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires."