President urges firefighters to ‘stay strong’

(AP): French President Emmanuel Macron urged fire crews to “stay strong” as they battled on Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control. He warned that the fight will take time but vowed, “We will win this battle together.” On a visit to a coordination centre for the massive firefighting effort in southwest France, Macron heard how the blaze raging since last week has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding fire storm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to flee their homes. “We’re facing a completely unprecedented fire,” Macron said, describing the situation as France’s worst fire-related crisis since World War II. He praised firefighting teams who stopped the inferno’s progression on Monday after days of spreading flames that edged toward the wine region city of Bordeaux. But with woodlands still smoldering, he and other government officials cautioned that the battle isn’t yet won, with forests turned tinder-dry by successive heat waves this year and another forecast for this week. “The weeks ahead will be hard. We must hold firm,” Macron said.

Former leader sentenced for campaign lies