Vladimir Putin driving himself to the opening ceremony of a new section of the trans-St Petersburg Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) road yesterday. Two of the three sections are now open to traffic. The road through-passes the historic city centre. Putin used the opportunity to make it clear Russia is open to foreign investment for the next part of its massive infrastructure plans, which include a new ring road around Moscow. A meeting on the subject is due ‘soon’. Picture courtesy of kremlin.ru.

Cannot believe we’re using this picture again.. but it encapsulates two things about today: that Via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome is off limits to private vehicles from this morning (and possibly taxis and buses soon too) as the Colosseum undergoes renovation. Secondly that this is Black Saturday ‘Zwarte Zaterdag’ the busiest day on Europe’s roads as everybody sets off on holiday. After a record breaking start, nearly 800km of jams in France by lunchtime, the situation rapidly improved. See @DE_Traffic for the latest.

Gibraltar – police warned against taking cars into Spain today ‘unless necessary’. Queues reached three hours at one point as border guards again started to search every vehicle. By this afternoon though queues had subsided. The tension continues to ratchet up in the territory after Spanish fisherman threaten a blockade over the laying of an artificial reef in the Bay. The FCO carpeted the Spanish ambassador in the week over the continuing harassment at the border. In the meantime, should you avoid Gibraltar, or make a beeline for it? Pic via @GBCNewsroom. For more info see www.gbc.gi or for a live webcam feed www.frontierqueue.gi