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Greece gives actor Tom Hanks honorary Greek citizenship

Tom Hanks may officially consider himself Greek.

Greece’s President Prokopis Pavlopoulos has signed an honorary naturalization order allowing the 63-year-old actor to claim Greek citizenship, his office told The Associated Press on Friday.

Hanks frequently spends his summer vacation on the Greek island of Antiparos and his wife, actress and producer Rita Wilson, is of Greek and Bulgarian ancestry.

Under Greek law, honorary naturalization may be granted to people “who have provided exceptional services to the country or whose naturalization serves the public interest.”

UK firefighters out in force to tackle fires on hottest day of the year

LONDON (AP) — Firefighters were tackling multiple fires in central England on Thursday after the U.K. recorded its hottest day of the year as an intense stretch of hot weather continued to grip Europe. The wildfires across the West Midlands, which saw several houses burned to the ground, have been “one of the most significant” incidents the region’s fire service has ever dealt with, chief fire officer Simon Tuhill said. A child and three firefighters were taken to the hospital following the wildfire in Stourbridge. West Midlands mayor Richard Parker described the “multiple fires across our region” as an “extremely worrying and fast-moving situation."
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