Hawaii braces for direct hit from Tropical Storm Lala

• Five years after the Taliban seized power in Kabul, Afghans face a starkly divided reality where some report improvements while many others endure increasing hardship. • Syria continues to struggle with the aftermath of over a decade of conflict, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and a massive global displacement crisis.

• Pakistan has historically utilized mediation as a core pillar of its foreign policy to manage conflicts between neighboring adversaries. • Unlike global superpowers, Pakistan's drive for mediation is fueled by immediate security threats, including refugee influxes, cross-border terrorism, and narcotics smuggling.

Academic was pronounced dead at his home in south London after police called to address after 3pm on FridayJason Arday, the black academic who resigned last week as a professor at the University of Cambridge, has been found dead at his home in south London.The Metropolitan police said officers were called to Arday’s address by the London ambulance service after 3pm on Friday. Continue reading...

Heavy machinery seen operating in famous Santa Elena Canyon amid outcry over new wall infrastructure in beloved Texas parkBulldozers have begun plowing up ground at the mouth of Big Bend national park’s famed Santa Elena Canyon as part of the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar “smart wall” expansion on the US-Mexico border, according to new footage taken by activists who have been monitoring the site.Tensions have run high since the Trump administration announced plans to erect new border security infrastructure in the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region of south-west Texas, which includes the Lone Star State’s largest and most-visited national park. Continue reading...

People urged not to light barbecues, campfires or anything else that could spark fire during period of extreme heatMillions of people across England and Wales have received an emergency alert to their phones as the government warns against activities that could start fires.The deputy prime minister, Louise Haigh, said it was the most extensive use to date of the emergency alert system, with phones beaming a siren noise about 7pm, with the warning “there is a serious risk of wildfires nationally”. Continue reading...

Michael Boren requested more aircraft for 7-acre Cabin Creek fire, some of which were diverted from other firesMichael Boren, the US undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment who oversees the US Forest Service, reportedly pressed agency staff last month to deploy more aircraft to a 7-acre (2.8-hectare) fire that was burning near his Idaho ranch, according to a Washington Post report on Friday.The Cabin Creek fire in Idaho began on about 12 July as a result of an unattended campfire, and spread across several acres in Idaho’s Sawtooth national forest. By 15 July, the forest service said that the fire was 100% contained. Continue reading...

Festival organiser says she has booked next year’s headliners but would not say if Taylor Swift is among themMadonna will not be performing at next year’s Glastonbury, the festival’s organiser, Emily Eavis, has said.The singer, who has the most top 10 singles in UK chart history of any female artist, has never featured at Britain’s biggest music festival. Continue reading...

Palestine’s vice-president calls plan ‘flagrant violation of international law’ and a step towards full Israeli annexationIsrael’s defence minister wants to transfer law enforcement powers for Israelis in the occupied West Bank over to the police, a plan that Palestine’s vice-president described as a “flagrant violation of international law” and step towards full Israeli annexation.Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the military to draw up plans for the handover of responsibility for policing Israeli settlers amid domestic and international criticism of the army’s failure to tackle militants besieging three Palestinian families. Continue reading...

Thursday has been described by residents as ‘horrendous’, ‘distressing’ and ‘one of the scariest days of my life’People in Stourbridge have described the fires that devastated more than a dozen homes as “horrendous” and “distressing”, with one describing blazes that surpassed the height of residential houses.Multiple fires spread across the West Midlands on Thursday as temperatures reached record highs of 38.1C in the UK, during the country’s fifth consecutive heatwave. Continue reading...

Facility also had no air conditioning for two days amid extreme heat, according to one of the people detainedPeople detained at an overcrowded federal immigration camp in Mississippi were sickened by a mystery gas leak, then denied medical care when they complained of headaches and other symptoms, it has been alleged.A lengthy power outage at Adams county detention center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility run by the private operator CoreCivic, also left it without air conditioning for two days this week, according to one detainee who contacted the Guardian through his family. Continue reading...

Group backs Elijah Manley in primary election in bid to unseat veteran Democrat in newly drawn districtA progressive group has endorsed a 27-year-old substitute teacher who overcame childhood homelessness in his bid to unseat the veteran Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida.The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) said it is backing Elijah Manley in next week’s primary election in Florida’s newly drawn 20th congressional district, casting the race as a contest between a young economic populist and a stalwart of the Democratic party establishment. Continue reading...