Summary: The wildfire that broke out in Gran Canaria on Saturday has been “contained” but not suppressed, according to the regional leader of Spain’s Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres. Over 1,000 local residents have been evacuated and taken to shelters and municipal centers while emergency crews battle the blaze..........A 55-year-old man who had been working in the area with a welding machine has been arrested by the Civil Guard, who suspect that he accidentally started the fire in a property near Cruce de las Peñas. While many people may believe Spanish drivers are less disciplined behind the wheel than other European road users, this turns out to be just another urban myth. The reality is somewhat different – the Spanish it turns out are far from the worst drivers on the road, according to the annual survey carried out by the Spanish Royal Automobile Club (RACE) in collaboration with the Association of Drinks and Refreshments and with the support of Spain’s DGT traffic authority. …..... For eleven days now, the Spanish rescue vessel Open Arms has been waiting in international waters with over 100 migrants on board and nowhere to take them. Although the Italian island of Lampedusa is only 30 nautical miles away, the prospect of docking at the port is as distant as ever: Italy has refused the ship entry, as has Malta, and no other EU country has taken action. POLICE arrested a 19-year old Algerian for skippering an inflatable dinghy heading for the Spanish coast with 18 migrants on board. In the UK …......Philip Hammond has penned an explosive letter to Boris Johnson, signed by 20 of his Tory colleagues, in which he suggests the PM has 'set the bar so high that there is no realistic' chance of a new divorce agreement.
