Firefighters have managed to halt the spread of a “monster” blaze in southwest France, allowing authorities to reopen a stretch of highway to traffic ahead of a busy travel weekend.

“The fire did not advance overnight thanks to the significant means employed,” the local prefect said in a tweet Saturday.

Reinforcements from across Europe helped local firefighters tackle the blaze which has ravaged forests in France’s Gironde region since Tuesday and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes.

The fire has been fanned by wind and scorching temperatures of up to 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in recent days.

The southwest of France had already been hit by fires in July that destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and temporarily forced almost 40,000 people from their homes.

Successive heatwaves have sparked wildfires across Europe this summer, throwing the spotlight on the risks of climate change to industry and livelihoods.

Storms are expected to sweep through France on Saturday night, bringing down temperatures and prompting severe weather warnings.

Over a thousand French firefighters were supported by hundreds of firefighters from across Europe, as well as trucks and waterbombing aircrafts, which continued to arrive Saturday.

Hundreds of firemen are also fighting fires further north in Brittany, where a blaze has burned 400 hectares, as well as in the Jura region in the east, where more than 500 hectares have burned.

More than 60,000 hectares (230 square miles) have gone up in flames so far in France this year, six times the full-year average for 2006-2021, data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows.

Homes were destroyed, trains delayed and flights cancelled as Tropical Storm Meari swept over parts of central Japan.

Aerial footage showed the extent of the damage to community infrastructure – which prompted a major clean-up operation.

Some areas saw 50% more rain than the entire amount expected in August.

The Lagos State Government has engaged stakeholders on the need to establish a smooth Right of Way (RoW) and construction of the Opebi-Mende link Bridge, a priority project of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu Administration.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, who spoke during the stakeholders’ meeting in Alausa, described the construction of the Opebi-Mende link Bridge and approach roads as an iconic project that would help in addressing the Traffic and Transportation and the Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy Pillars of the T.H.E.M.E.S. Agenda of the Lagos State Government.

“It is a known fact that the people are the ultimate beneficiaries of development projects like this. As promised through the T.H.E.M.E.S. Agenda of the present administration, the State Government led by Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu will continue to take concrete steps towards ensuring the delivery of the dividends of democracy to our people.

Evidently, this particular project, like many that have been executed across sectors, will add on as a good example of making life more abundant for the governed”, he said.

He enjoined the people to grant Public Officers and contractors working on the site unhindered access and hitch-free operations for the project to be executed in record time.

Salako stated that, as part of the procedure for the establishment of the RoW, officers from the Ministry would serve Statutory Notices on buildings earmarked for removal, mark such affected buildings at the expiration of the notices and also invite officers from Lands Bureau to carry out a valuation exercise for compensation purposes before the actual removal of structures.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on E-GIS and Planning Matters, Dr. Olajide Babatunde, noted that it behoves all property owners to respect the RoW of public facilities to avoid the removal of structures whilst the Governor had approved the consideration of compensation for buildings that must give way for public infrastructure.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser, Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, urged the stakeholders to take ownership of the project and accord it the deserved support as their inputs and suggestions were factored in.

At the meeting were also the Permanent Secretary, Office of Infrastructure, Engr. Olufemi Daramola; General Manager, Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency, Ms. Ajibike Shomade, and the General Manager, Lagos State Planning and Environmental Monitoring Agency, Tpl. Daisi Oso, among others.

Turaida Castle is a recently reconstructed castle from medieval times, located in the historic Vidzeme region, in the Republic of Latvia.

Situated opposite from the Gauja River from Sigulda, the castle dominates the Museum Reserve, which visually is the most impressive element it has.

Built out of red bricks, it has a Gothic style, where the first evidence of its construction suggests that it was built in 1214 by the Archbishop of Riga, Albert.

Before the brick castle was built, on the same site there has been a wooden castle of the Livonian leader Caupo of Turaida.

The development of the castle continued throughout the years, and the castle slowly started losing strategic importance.

Badly damaged by fire in 1716, and not reconstructed, its condition slowly deteriorated and fell into ruin.

In the 1970s there have been archaeological excavations, which followed restoration and conservation works that slowly started showing how the castle was looking in the past.

The surroundings of the Turaida Castle are simply unique and amazing and from the main tower, one can witness the alluringly beautiful landscape of picturesque Gauja valley.

One of the important landmarks of Latvia, today this castle has many visitors who want to witness how the life has been in the past in Latvia.