Lala weakens to tropical storm as it lashes Hawaii with heavy wind and rain

Hurricane Lala downgraded after skirting Big Island as one person dies and over 130,000 households are without power

Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday after skirting Hawaii without making landfall, but it wasn’t done punishing the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts. Total rainfall of nearly 3ft (one meter) was expected on the higher windward slopes, turning rivers into raging torrents and threatening mudslides.

The Hawaii governor, Josh Green, said at least one person died in a car accident in the South Point area of the Big Island. More than 130,000 households were without power Sunday morning across Hawaii’s three largest islands, according to the utility tracker poweroutage.us. At least three hospitals were operating on generator power, and 19 roofs were lost, Green said.

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Greek island wildfire kills two people as helicopters called in to tackle Belgium forest blaze

Belgium battling biggest fire in more than a century as flames near German border and 600 people told to evacuate

Two people have died in fires on the Greek island of Salamis as firefighting aircraft were called on to help tame the biggest blaze in Belgium in more than a century in the latest wave of wildfires in Europe.

The bodies of two people were recovered from the Peristeria beach area of Salamis on Sunday after two fires broke out on the island, a fire department spokesperson told AFP. Hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate.

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Nazi artefacts still being sold online years after trade outlawed across Australia

One seller says second world war memorabilia containing banned Nazi symbols is legal under exemptions to the laws

Nazi artefacts bearing prohibited symbols are being openly sold in Australia three years after the federal government made it illegal to do so, with vendors saying they are doing so for “educational” reasons.

The government in 2023 outlawed the display and trade of items bearing the Nazi Hakenkreuz (swastika) and double-sig rune that was the logo of the Schutzstaffel (SS), after multiple states passed similar laws that banned the display of Nazi symbols and the performance of the Nazi salute.

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Europe’s tallest Virgin Mary statue unveiled in small Polish village

Hundreds watched the 56-metre monument’s consecration, including anti-communist leader Lech Wałęsa

An enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe’s tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, in the presence of the anti-communist leader Lech Wałęsa.

Hundreds of people took part in the consecration of the monument, which towers 55.6 metres (182ft) over Konotopie in central Poland, a village of fewer than 150 people.

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Cambridge University defends its mental health support for Jason Arday

University says it continued to provide support after resignation of academic, who was found dead on Friday

The University of Cambridge has defended its mental health support for the academic Jason Arday.

The university said it had continued to provide Arday with extensive mental health support and security measures, including installing panic alarms and screening racist emails and post, after he resigned from his post as professor of sociology of education this month.

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Logies 2026: Sam Pang wins gold and Sam Neill wins posthumous best actor at Australia’s TV awards

Neill won for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer, at a ceremony dominated by wins for the ABC

Sam Neill has won a posthumous best actor award at Australia’s biggest television awards, the Logies, with comedian Sam Pang taking home the night’s top honour, the Gold Logie award for most popular personality.

Neill, who died in July, won his posthumous Logie for best lead actor in a drama, for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer. His close friend, the actor Heather Mitchell, accepted the award on his behalf.

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Deepfake Anthony Albanese used in celebrity scams duping Australians out of $7.4m, Asic warns

Australia’s corporate watchdog says PM is the figure most commonly used in deepfakes to promote phony investment opportunities

There has been a steep rise in scammers luring victims into phony investment opportunities using deepfakes of celebrities and politicians, Australia’s corporate watchdog has warned.

And Anthony Albanese is the figure most commonly co-opted.

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‘She is a hero’: 13-year-old survivor of Michigan shooting rampage called 911

Girl called police after she was shot four times in shooting spree that left six dead, including gunman

A 13-year-old girl in Michigan survived being shot four times in a shooting spree that left six people dead – including the suspected attacker – and called emergency help herself shortly before investigators identified the gunman, according to a state police official and her family.

Those actions made the teen a “hero”, said a relative of hers as well as two of the dead victims.

The Associated Press contributed

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‘Absolutely manic’: hot weather puts unprecedented pressure on Greater Manchester police

Force has seen busiest month in its history, with heatwaves putting added strain on criminal justice system

On England’s hottest day of the year so far, Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester was thronging with pedestrians, many clutching ice-creams or cold drinks as they passed through the town centre.

Officers from Greater Manchester police were also out in force, some in plainclothes, some stationed by a facial-recognition van, apprehending wanted suspects and stopping persons of interest. In total, officers made 54 arrests across the borough of Tameside as part of Operation Avro, GMP’s blitz on local crime which runs in a different district each month.

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Renaissance paintings by Antonello da Messina stolen from Sicilian museum

Theft of four works on national holiday described as wound to historical memory and cultural identity of city of Messina

Four of the most important works of art by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during a national holiday from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina.

Thieves gained access to the Regional Museum of Messina, or MuMe, on Saturday evening, possibly capitalising on attention being focused on La Vara, a huge religious festival that takes place in the city on 15 August, when Italy marks the Ferragosto national holiday.

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Murder inquiry opens after death of man bitten by dog in West Yorkshire

Detectives say 55-year-old man arrested and appeal for anyone who witnessed altercation in Wakefield

Police in West Yorkshire have launched a murder investigation into the death of a man after he was bitten by a dog.

Officers were dispatched to Wakefield just after 1.30pm on Saturday, after receiving reports of an altercation a short time earlier on an old trainline footpath.

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Taliban threaten former Afghan police worker after MoD leak reveals identity

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisals

A man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.

Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government.

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv blows up biggest ‘Russian Amazon’ hub in drone attack – The Independent

  1. Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv blows up biggest ‘Russian Amazon’ hub in drone attack  The Independent
  2. Wildberries Depot Ablaze Near Moscow as Drone Downed in Romania  Bloomberg.com
  3. Video: Apocalyptic Blaze After Massive Drone Attack Hits Moscow Region  NDTV
  4. Wildberries under fire: Why is Ukraine targeting a Russian retail giant?  aljazeera.com
  5. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence reports cyberattack on Wildberries  Українська правда
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Florida sets record for sea turtle nests but Trump move could stall recovery

Loggerhead turtles abound this season but rollback of Endangered Species Act protections could threaten future

Wildlife groups in Florida are celebrating record numbers of sea turtle nests this season, but experts warn Donald Trump’s recent gutting of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) could reverse decades of their recovery from the edge of extinction.

With more than two months of the summer nesting season still to run, loggerhead turtles have already laid 13,770 nests, hundreds more than recorded in any previous year, along an 8.5-mile stretch of shoreline monitored by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

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Ukraine targets Moscow in mass drone attack as Russia bombards Kyiv – aljazeera.com

  1. Ukraine targets Moscow in mass drone attack as Russia bombards Kyiv  aljazeera.com
  2. Ukraine attacks Russia with hundreds of drones in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial assaults of the conflict  CNN
  3. ‘Massive’ Ukrainian drone attack on Russia kills at least six, says Moscow  The Guardian
  4. Ukraine launches one of its largest aerial attacks of the war, killing at least 6 people in Russia  AP News
  5. Ukraine launches 600 drones toward Moscow in major barrage, mayor says  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
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