A massive wildfire that has devastated southwestern France was no longer advancing on Thursday, local authorities said, raising hopes the crisis was easing. In Spain, most of the tens of thousands of people evacuated from areas west of Madrid were cleared to return home after the state of emergency was lifted. Firefighters, however, remained locked in battles against major blazes in the UK, Greece, Portugal and Turkey.
France and Spain on Thursday glimpsed a reprieve from some of the worst wildfires in living memory, which have sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing – among them Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife Amal.
