Western

Widespread damage across Ni’ihau, Kaua’i and O’ahu after reportedly first-ever recorded tornado watch in Hawaii Hurricane Lowell caused significant damage to Hawaii’s western islands this week. On Tuesday night the centre of Lowell tracked 50 miles (80km) from the island of Ni’ihau in Kauai County as a category 2 storm with winds of up to 110mph. The strong winds resulted in widespread power outages across Ni’ihau, and the islands of Kaua’i and O’ahu.The event was particularly notable because a tornado watch had been issued for Kaua’i on Monday night and into Tuesday morning. According to research maps from Iowa State University, it was likely to be the first-ever recorded tornado watch in Hawaii’s history. In the event, a tornado was not documented, however hurricanes can produce tornadoes and most often occur in thunderstorms within rain bands away from the centre of the hurricane. Currently, five named stormed have occurred in the central Pacific with the strong El Niño this year being a key driver in the above normal hurricane season, as noted by the National Weather Service. Continue reading...

• The UNRIC Info Point & Library Newsletter for September 2026 has been released, focusing on bringing attention to overlooked emergencies around the world. • The newsletter aims to capture human stories from hard-to-access areas and share them with international media, highlighting the need for protection of millions of civilians under humanitarian principles and human rights law. • This effort means that people affected by under-reported crises and higher-profile conflicts, such as those in the Middle East, Sudan, and Ukraine, may receive more international support and attention.

Downed trees cause widespread power outages on Kauai as winds and rains rip up roads and coat homes in mudDamaging winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Lowell caused significant damage on Hawaii’s western islands, knocking out power to thousands, ripping up stretches of road and drenching homes and stores with mud.Fierce winds downed trees and caused widespread power outages on the island of Kauai, home to 73,000 residents. The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative reported that nearly all of its roughly 35,000 members were without power on Tuesday. Continue reading...

• The Taliban’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum signed a major oil and gas exploration and production agreement with the Saudi company Delta Energy in Kabul. • The deal focuses on the exploration and production of energy resources within Afghanistan. • This agreement highlights the shifting geopolitical influence of Persian Gulf nations and Western powers over Afghanistan's natural resources.

Police say the drugs were uncovered as part of ongoing investigations into illicit drugs in BroomeA Western Australian man has been charged after police said they found approximately 3.5 grams of methylamphetamine in a ziplock bag wedged between the bacon and egg of a McMuffin meal during a car search.The arrest on 20 August was part of ongoing investigations into illicit drugs in Broome, in WA’s Kimberley region. Continue reading...

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen secures 57% of the vote after preferences as party’s WA leader says result will send shock waves across the countryOne Nation has claimed victory in the Secret Harbour state byelection in Western AustraliaWith 74.5% of the vote counted, One Nation’s Luke Herdegen leads Labor’s Georgia Tree 57-42 after preferences. Continue reading...

World’s largest streaming services have also increased subscription costs repeatedly in US, research findsBusiness live – latest updatesSubscribers to Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video in western Europe have faced higher price increases than in any other market in recent years, according to research.Over the past four years the world’s largest subscription video streaming services have dramatically changed their business models introducing lower-priced, basic advertising tiers to attract new subscribers, while also increasingly monetising users willing to pay more for a premium experience. Continue reading...

Reports of collapsed and severely damaged buildings in several major cities, including Cali and PereiraColombia earthquake live – latest updatesA powerful earthquake has struck western Colombia, with reports of collapsed and severely damaged buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira.The US and Colombian geological surveys reported that a 7.4 magnitude earthquake had struck at 7.34 am local time (13.34 BST) on Monday, with its epicentre in the western department of Chocó. It was also felt in neighbouring Venezuela. Continue reading...

Weather system tied to warming sea surface expected to intensify in fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027El Niño, a recurring climate phenomenon marked by above-average sea surface temperatures, when changes in wind patterns allow warmer water to spread across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, could spell a wet winter for portions of the western and south-eastern US, climate models show. Coastal areas may be at elevated risk of flooding, experts warn.Climate scientists predict this year’s “super” El Niño, a label assigned when sea surface temperatures climb by at least 2C, will be the strongest of the century. The weather system is expected to intensify in the fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...

High 30s celsius forecast for France, Spain and Italy next week, before affecting Germany, Poland and CzechiaAnother pulse of heat is expected to affect central and western Europe next week. The latest forecast models show daily maximum temperatures well into the high 30s celsius widely across France, Spain and Italy during the first half of the week, while Germany, Poland and Czechia will experience the highest temperatures towards the end of the week. The shift in the focus of the heat as the week progresses can be attributed to the movement of high pressure. At the start of the week, low pressure centred in the Atlantic and high pressure centred over the low countries will draw warm air in from southern Europe northwards into parts of France. During the working week, the high pressure will slip a little farther south and east, enabling the warm air once situated over western Europe to make inroads into parts of Germany and central Europe.The heat in central and western Europe this summer has been unrelenting. Last week’s weather tracker highlighted extreme recording breaking temperatures for the month of July in Austria. However, only a few days later, on 4 August, the all-time record was shattered with 41.0C achieved in Stammersdorf, north-east of the capital, Vienna. This comfortably broke the previous all-time record set in the August of 2003 by 0.7C. Unbelievably, that record was broken again the following day when 41.2C was recorded in Deutsch-Altenburg. Slovakia also set a new all-time record on the same day of 41.4C. The continuing European heatwave is associated with a vertically extensive anticyclone, and had the effect of raising the freezing level above 4,000 metres across much of the Alpine region. This represents a level in the atmosphere well above many Alpine glaciers, accelerating the seasonal melting process. On the opposite side of the Atlantic, 51.8C was recorded in Badwater, California, the highest temperature in the US for 2026 so far. Continue reading...

High winds prevent firefighting aircraft from collecting seawater as flames spread through AtticaEurope’s wildfire crisis fractured along starkly different fronts on Sunday: gale-force winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris against renewed spread, and Spain’s major fires finally stopped advancing.The centre of immediate danger was Greece. Gale-force winds drove flames deeper into western Attica, the administrative region that includes the capital, threatening villages and an industrial district outside the city of Megara as violent wind gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea. Continue reading...

In Oregon and Washington, low humidity and powerful winds have put officials on alert for wildfire spreadA heatwave scorching the western US region has elevated the risk of hazardous fire conditions particularly in parts of Oregon and Washington, where low humidity and powerful winds have put officials on alert for wildfire spread.The National Weather Service has forecast blistering temperatures through early next week that could climb from 110F to 120F across the south-west. In the Pacific north-west, highs reaching into the 90s are expected in the days to come. Continue reading...

Europe and US risk being outpaced on innovation, as happened in the car industry, warns Pascal SoriotAstraZeneca must operate at “Chinese speed” to ensure it doesn’t suffer the fate of the western automotive industry by losing out to more innovative rivals, the drug company’s boss has said.The FTSE 100 company is watching the rise of China’s pharmaceutical industry closely and collaborating to take drugs to global markets, but its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said the US and European pharmaceutical sector must focus on increasing the speed of innovation. Continue reading...

At least 90 active blazes in British Columbia in what PM says is one of the country’s most intense seasons on recordHow dangerous are wildfires and how can we stop them from getting worse?Fresh wildfires have broken out in western Canada and forests continued to ⁠burn in Ontario as the country ⁠battled what the prime ​minister, Mark Carney, called one of the most intense wildfire seasons on record.Nearly 34,000 lightning strikes over the past week led to a series of fires ⁠and evacuation orders in southern British Columbia. There were 25 evacuation orders and 90 active wildfires in the province as of Friday morning, and authorities said warming ⁠and drying conditions could cause them to grow. Continue reading...

Vigilantes also took part in the fight that raged all night and the following morning, residents sayNigerian soldiers killed more than 300 members of kidnapping and cattle bandit gangs in the north-western state of Zamfara this week, according to a government official.Government troops targeted the gangs in Gummi district in a two-day operation that “led to the elimination of more than 300 terrorists”, Zamfara’s information commissioner, Mahmud Muhammad Dantawasa, said in a statement. Continue reading...

Britain expands heat alerts while estimates suggest June’s death toll could surpass 20,000 across continentThe UK is sweltering through the peak of its third heatwave of the year as countries around Europe struggle to recover from an early onslaught of baking summer heat.Punishing temperatures pushed higher by fossil fuel pollution have broken records across the continent in recent weeks. Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record, scientists confirmed on Thursday, accompanied by high global ocean temperatures that could cause “mass-mortality events” for some species. Continue reading...

Temperatures across ravaged region 3C above average as scientists warn of risks for people, ecosystems and infrastructureRecord wildfires in Europe show failure to adapt carries a mounting costWestern Europe has been scorched by its hottest June on record, scientists have said, as the UK enters its third heatwave of the year and wildfires ravage France and Spain.Inflamed by carbon pollution, the deadly June heatwave helped push surface air temperatures for the region 3.06C above their average from recent decades, according to the EU’s Copernicus climate monitoring service. Continue reading...

Well-preserved fourth-century quarters reveal details of daily life, urban development and economic activitiesArchaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a well-preserved Byzantine-era city in the western desert.The fourth-century quarters had residential and religious structures, including a basilica-style church in the Dakhla oasis. Archaeologists also found coins, pottery fragments and tools. Continue reading...

• The 7th Western Digital Economy Expo (WDEE Expo) concluded on June 28 in Xi'an, China, focusing on the theme of digital convergence and smart innovation. • The event featured representatives from over 30 Chinese cities, 119 leading digital economy companies, and international delegations from Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Cambodia. • The expo highlights Xi'an's strategic transition from an ancient capital to a modern "Digital Silk Road" hub, emphasizing the integration of industrial and digital sectors.

• The European Union is set to reallocate reform funding within the Western Balkans to prioritize "frontrunner" nations. • Financial support will be redirected toward Montenegro, Albania, and North Macedonia, as these countries are meeting reform deadlines more effectively than their neighbors. • This shift highlights a growing disparity in the pace of accession progress, rewarding states that demonstrate commitment to EU standards.

Marco Rubio is scrambling to provide effective disaster response to country whose president US deposed in JanuaryThis week’s dual earthquakes in Venezuela are a test for the new era of American power in the western hemisphere, as the Trump administration scrambles to provide an effective disaster response mission to a country that it now calls an ally in Latin America, after a US special forces raid in January deposed the country’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro.The US is marshalling what secretary of state Marco Rubio called a “big, fast, effective” and “whole-of-government” response as the state department sent three specialised urban search and rescue teams and pledged a $150m assistance fund that one former disaster relief expert called the largest he had seen within 24 hours of an incident. Continue reading...

Police will investigate how they interacted with Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent victims, after her family requested the reviewGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice in Western Australia have agreed to review how they interacted with Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, in the lead-up to her death a year ago by suicide.Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts, told ABC radio on Wednesday morning that they had written to both the state coroner and the police requesting an investigation into how police handled a domestic violence dispute she was involved in before she took her life on her WA farm last April at age 41. Continue reading...

Curtin University researchers use innovative techniques to date three-billion-year-old impact crater in Pilbara regionA meteorite that struck Earth three billion years ago left behind a “smoking gun” – evidence of the world’s oldest impact crater in a remote part of Australia.Ancient rocks in Western Australia’s Pilbara region record the event, which occurred during the Archean eon, a period 4 to 2.5 billion years ago, when tectonic plates were beginning to form and early life emerging. Continue reading...

Poultry producer Inghams announces move after brown skua confirmed to have virus and petrel being tested, in first cases seen on Australia’s mainlandFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPoultry farms in Western Australia have gone into lockdown after confirmation the deadly H5N1 bird flu has arrived on the country’s mainland.On Monday, the Inghams Group – Australia’s largest poultry producer – announced a “complete lockdown” in WA, despite no commercial detections of H5N1. Continue reading...

More than half of France’s population under severe weather warning with temperatures expected to exceed 40CMore than half of France’s population is under a severe weather warning as large swathes of western Europe endure the second extreme heat event of the year with temperatures expected to exceed 40C (104F).The French president, Emmanuel Macron, called for “extreme vigilance from everyone”, asking citizens to “take care of our oldest and most vulnerable people” and follow government advice. “We are going through difficult days,” he said. Continue reading...

YouGov survey of six countries shows respondents think crime is increasing – though most trust their national police Western Europeans believe crime is rising in their country, according to a survey, despite long-term overall crime rates falling across the region since the mid-1990s.The YouGov poll of Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain found most countries trusted their national police, led by Denmark where 74% of respondents said they had a lot or a fair amount of confidence in police nationally. Continue reading...

Inspector of custodial services says inmates are sleeping on the floor and denied basic entitlements due to ‘a systemic failure across multiple prisons’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInmates in Western Australia are sleeping on mattresses on the floor of overcrowded cells and subjected to “cruel, inhuman and degrading” conditions, prompting the jails watchdog to call for urgent reform.Most of WA’s correctional facilities are in crisis, with an increased level of harm observed across the system, the state’s inspector of custodial services, Eamon Ryan, said in a report tabled in parliament on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Government department says man was diving around Michaelmas Island, near Albany, when he was bitten by a suspected 4.5-metre sharkGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA male diver aged in his 30s is fighting for life after being bitten by a shark in Western Australia.The state’s department of primary industries said the man was bitten by a suspected 4.5-metre shark just before 11.30am Saturday AWST, while he was diving near Michaelmas Island off the coast of Albany, about 375kms south-east of Perth. Continue reading...