At least 150 houses have been destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country. Firefighters were also continuing to battle a blaze near Athens on Thursday morning, while the mayor of Olympia, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site. The blazes erupted as Greece is in the grip of a heatwave. …Experts have warned that global heating is increasing both the frequency and intensity of such fires. On Evia, the huge flames leaping up from the forest could be seen from the sea. …In outskirts of Athens more than 500 firefighters, a dozen water-bombing planes and five helicopters battled another wildfire. The blaze started on Tuesday in a pine forest at the foot of Mount Parnitha, sending plumes of dark, acrid smoke over Athens and leaving carcasses of burnt-out houses in its wake.