Category Archives: World News

‘Silent killer’: experts warn of record US deaths from extreme heat

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Fears of new high death toll this year as prolonged heatwave causes spike in hospitalizations from people who work outside

The punishing heatwaves that have scorched much of the US could result in a record number of heat-related deaths this year, experts have warned, amid a spike in hospitalizations from collapsing outdoor workers.

Among those needing hospital treatment are heat-exhausted hikers and even people who have suffered severe burns from touching blistering concrete and asphalt.

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‘Shameful loss’: wolves declared extinct in Andalucía

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Naturalists decry extinction of species as loss of habitat, poaching and illegal hunting take toll

For centuries, wolves have roamed the mountain ranges of Andalucía in southern Spain, but after years of decline the creature has been officially declared extinct in the region.

Since 2003, the regional government has carried out a census of the wolf (Canis lupus signatus) population in an effort to monitor the species and reduce conflict with the local population, farmers in particular.

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Leak reveals ‘touchy’ issues for UAE’s presidency of UN climate summit

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Exclusive: Long list of ‘sensitive’ topics for petrostate include oil and gas production, emissions and Yemen war crimes

A comprehensive list of “touchy and sensitive issues” for the United Arab Emirates, which is running the next UN climate summit, has been revealed in a document leaked to the Guardian.

The document sets out the government-approved “strategic messages” to be used in response to media requests about the issues, which range from the UAE’s increasing production of oil and gas to people trafficking.

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Indian sanitation workers clean up with £1.2m lottery win

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An impulsive decision to collectively buy a single lottery ticket resulted in the friends from Kerala collectively hitting the jackpot

The 11 women had never felt luck was on their side. The friends, some in their 20s and others over 70, all struggled to make ends meet, earning only a small salary as they collected and segregated rubbish in their town of Parappanangadi, in the south Indian state of Kerala.

Yet this week, their fortunes changed. An impulsive decision to pool their small resources to collectively buy a single lottery ticket, at a cost of 250 rupees (£2.50) – the equivalent of a day’s wages – resulted in them collectively hitting the jackpot. This week, they found out they had won the monsoon bumper prize, worth 100m rupees (£1.2m).

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Tuesday briefing: The global fallout from Niger’s coup

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In today’s newsletter: The country has been considered stable in an unstable region. So what sparked a coup – and what effects will it have?

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Good morning.

Just a few months ago, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, visited Niger and called it a “model of democracy” in the region. Last week those words seemed rather foolhardy, as reports began to emerge of a military coup under way. On Wednesday morning, the country’s presidential guard, a group who were supposed to protect democratically elected leader President Mohamed Bazoum, blockaded the presidential palace. Soldiers appeared on state TV to announce they had removed the president from power, seized control of the government and suspended the constitution. And on Friday, the commander of the guard, Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, declared himself the leader of Niger in a televised address.

Climate crisis | Rishi Sunak has pledged to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves as he revealed a new round of intensive North Sea drilling, which experts said could be catastrophic for global heating.

War on Ukraine | Within the last few hours Russian air defences shot down “several” drones again targeting the Moscow region, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with one hitting a tower that had also been struck on Sunday.

Asylum | The Home Office has been forced to delay moving people seeking asylum on to a controversial giant barge in order to carry out last-minute fire safety checks amid concerns the vessel has not received approval from inspectors.

Land rights | Wild camping is once again allowed on Dartmoor after the national park won a successful appeal against a ruling in a case brought by a wealthy landowner.

Television | Angus Cloud, the actor best known for his role on HBO’s teen drama Euphoria, has died aged 25, his family confirmed on Monday. Cloud died on Monday at his family home in Oakland, California. No cause of death was given. His father had recently died, the statement said, and the actor “intensely struggled with the loss”.

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Joe Biden says ‘I have seven grandkids’ after acknowledging four-year-old Navy

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President had previously failed to publicly mention Navy, daughter from Hunter Biden’s relationship with Lunden Roberts

For the first time in an interview, Joe Biden acknowledged he has seven grandchildren, including Hunter Biden’s four-year-old daughter Navy.

“I have seven grandkids,” the president said, “five of ’em old enough to talk on the phone, you know, every day I either text or call them.”

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Teenager among 15 heat-related deaths as Japan and South Korea swelter

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In South Korea, 12 people died from heat-related deaths last weekend, while in Japan, three people died including a 13 year-old on her way back from school

Twelve people have died from heat-related causes in South Korea as it swelters through a heatwave, while in Japan it emerged a 13-year-old girl had died from heatstroke on her way back from a school club.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that at least five of those who died over the weekend were farmers, and at least seven were over 70, including some in their 90s. Most of the country has been under a heatwave warning – issued when temperatures pass 35C – since Tuesday. Over the previous week, three people are believed to have died from heat-related causes.

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Barbenheimer backlash: Warner Bros apologises after its Japan arm complains

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Warner Bros Japan publicly criticised US counterparts over ‘inconsiderate’ reactions to art combining playful Barbie imagery with mushroom clouds

Warner Bros global headquarters has apologised after its Japan office publicly complained that the US-based company was engaging with the “Barbenheimer” movement, which promotes a double bill of the apocalyptic Oppenheimer film and the lighthearted Barbie blockbuster.

There is a growing backlash in Japan against the conflation of Greta Gerwig’s playfully marketed movie with Oppenheimer, a biopic of the scientist behind the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Senegal authorities arrest opposition frontrunner, ban his party and cut internet

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Supporters say string of charges are intended to prevent Ousmane Sonko and his Pastef party challenging President Macky Sall

Senegal’s government has dissolved a major opposition party within hours of the party’s popular president and opposition leader saying a judge had ordered his arrest.

Ousmane Sonko, a charismatic opposition figure widely supported by Senegal’s youth, was in prison on Monday as he awaited trial on new criminal charges, said his party’s communications director, El Malick Ndiaye.

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Phoenix’s record streak of temperatures above 110F ends after 31 days

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Reprieve expected to be brief, with the forecast calling for highs again above 110F for several days later in the week

Phoenix’s record stretch of daily highs over 110F (43.3C) ended Monday as cooling monsoon rains slightly tempered the dangerous heatwave that suffocated the American south-west throughout July.

The region, from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert, has been grappling with historic heat since June. Phoenix and its suburbs sweltered more intensely than most, with several records including the 31 consecutive days of 110F days. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974.

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California: bear soaks in hot tub to beat the heat

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Animal, found lounging in a Burbank neighborhood, climbed over a wall and headed back after it was done relaxing

With temperatures soaring across the US, people and animals alike are looking for a place to find relief. In southern California, one bear sought to beat the heat by taking a dip in a hot tub.

On Friday, police in Burbank responded to a report of a bear sighting in a residential neighborhood. The bear was filmed calmly lounging in the hot tub. After a short dip, the bear climbed over a wall and headed to a tree behind the home, police said in a statement.

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Memphis police say Jewish school shooting averted after officers shot gunman

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Officers shot and wounded armed man who fired shots and was trying to gain entry to Margolin Hebrew Academy, police say

Police in Memphis said they had likely prevented a mass shooting after they shot a man who earlier was reported to have opened fire at a Jewish day school in the Tennessee city.

In a statement and news conference, local police said they had responded to a report of a white man with a handgun shooting outside the Margolin Hebrew Academy and trying to gain entry to the building.

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Protests erupt in Bulgaria after attacks on woman by ex-partner deemed ‘mild’

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Rallies in Sofia and other cities after leniency shown to man whose ex-girlfriend says she was cut hundreds of times by him

Thousands of Bulgarians have taken to the streets to protest against violence against women after a harrowing case of a teen cut hundreds of times shocked the Balkan nation.

Approximately 5,000 people demonstrated in Sofia, while protests also took place in other cities across the country, where rallies over violence against women are rare.

In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

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Top US adviser to attend Saudi talks in bid to attract support for Ukraine plan

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Ukraine and allies seek to draw countries such as Brazil and India off the fence and back Kyiv’s proposals for ‘just and durable peace’

Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, is expected to attend a meeting in Saudi Arabia this weekend at which Ukraine and its allies will try to persuade countries from the global south to back Kyiv’s proposals for ending the war.

According to officials involved in planning for the meeting, it is primarily aimed at drawing neutral countries such as Brazil and India off the fence in their approach to the Russian invasion.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: civilian deaths reported after strikes in Kryvyi Rih, Kherson and Donetsk

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Ukraine defence minister says Moscow has intensified strikes on military infrastructure; Kremlin says Ukraine counteroffensive ‘not working out as planned’

Alexey Kulemzin, the Russian-imposed mayor of the occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, has reported that “facades, balconies, roofing and glazing” have been damaged in Kuibyshevskyi district in the city by overnight shelling.

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appears to have said in a voice message published on Monday that his Wagner group was not currently recruiting fighters but was likely to do so in future.

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At least eight dead following alleged revenge attack by São Paulo police

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Brazil authorities call for investigation after hundreds of police officers were deployed in response to the killing of an officer

Authorities in Brazil have called for an investigation after a police operation on the coast of São Paulo state left at least eight people dead, in an apparent act of retaliation.

About 600 police officers have been deployed across the Baixada Santista region in response to the killing of an officer by drug traffickers in the city of Guarujá last Thursday.

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Myanmar junta extends state of emergency, forcing delay to elections

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Military-controlled government seemingly needs more time to organise new vote as it tackles protests and armed resistance

Myanmar’s military-controlled government has extended the state of emergency it imposed when the army seized power from an elected government in 2021, forcing a further delay in elections it promised when it took over.

MRTV television said the National Defense and Security Council met on Monday in the capital, Naypyidaw, and extended the state of emergency for another six months starting on Tuesday because time is needed to prepare for the elections. The NDSC is nominally a constitutional government body, but in practice is controlled by the military.

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British woman among three killed in French motorway collision

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Miriam Posen, from London, killed in three-vehicle crash on A26 that left five others in a critical condition

A British woman has died along with two other people in a three-car collision on a motorway in northern France.

More than 65 firefighters and nine ambulances attended the crash on Sunday evening, which involved eight children and involved a British nine-seater family vehicle and two other cars on the A26 near Neuville-Saint-Vaast and Thélus.

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Niger coup leaders accuse France of plotting military intervention

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Junta that seized power claims Paris is aiming to reinstate deposed president as regional tensions grow

The military junta that seized power in Niger has accused France of plotting military intervention to reinstate the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, as tensions in the region continued to grow in the wake of the coup.

The junta said on national TV that France was searching “for ways and means to intervene militarily in Niger” and had held a meeting with the chief of staff of Niger’s national guard “to obtain the necessary political and military authorisation”.

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Islamic State says it carried out Pakistan suicide bombing that killed 54

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Blast took place at political rally for a pro-Taliban party as country faces a rising tide of militant attacks

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 54 people in Pakistan, as the country battles a rising tide of militant attacks.

The bombing took place at a rally for a pro-Taliban party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has faced a rapidly declining security situation due to attacks from militant groups including the Pakistan Taliban and Islamic State’s regional affiliate.

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