World

The rapper takes the witness stand at his trial in Australia where he denies raping a fan in a hotel room.

BBC World • 6 hours ago

Wind and record-breaking heat are fuelling the continent’s explosive fire season, with Spain and France among worst hit Explainer: what is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe? A combination of an unusually wet winter, very low rainfall since spring and repeated record-breaking summer heatwaves is likely to explain why wildfires have ignited, spread and resisted control so readily across France and Spain in recent days . About 90% of wildfires are started by human activity, typically igniting “fine fuels” such as vegetation grass, pine needles, litter and twigs. And recent weather has almost certainly made ignition far easier. Drought in western Europe has turned this vegetation – which normally dries after only a few hours of heat and low rainfall – into tinder. Continue reading...

The Guardian World • 6 hours ago

Government move follows months of drought and crop failures in Karamoja, with 1.5m people facing malnutrition Uganda has launched emergency food relief distribution after at least 19 deaths from hunger were reported in an area of prolonged drought in the east of the country. A crisis has been building in the Karamoja region of Uganda as crops have failed without the season’s expected rains, leaving the region’s 1.5 million people facing acute food shortages and rising malnutrition. Continue reading...

The Guardian World • 6 hours ago

Challenges vary from poor transport links to high numbers of people flocking to the area looking for work When 19-year-old Dejanae set her online job search criteria for the local area, she was shocked at how few options came back. She studied animal science in college but is struggling to find work in the West Midlands. “It’s hard. You put Dudley, but it’s mainly jobs outside Dudley that come up because there just isn’t much here,” she said. “Even jobs in Birmingham (10 miles away) are difficult because I’m two hours away on a bus, so they don’t even want to consider me.” Continue reading...

The Guardian World • 6 hours ago

Exclusive: Lawsuit filed on behalf of seven protesters alleges ban amounts to ‘a direct, content-based restriction’ on speech, effectively targeting pro-Palestine movement Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A group of pro-Palestine protesters have launched a high court challenge to a Queensland law banning the slogan “from the river to the sea”, arguing that it amounts to a discriminatory and unconstitutional infringement on free speech. The controversial laws, which also ban the expression “globalise the intifada”, were passed by the state’s Liberal National party government in response to December’s Bondi terrorist attack. Continue reading...

The Guardian World • 7 hours ago

Federal government touts emergency warning alert test as a success and says no approach works 100% of the time Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A blaring emergency warning alert Australians had been warned about was anti-climactic for some – and totally missed by others. Almost every phone in the country, alongside some smartwatches and tablets, was supposed to let off a loud noise at about 2pm AEST and receive a pop-up notification with the text “TEST MESSAGE” and “NO ACTION IS REQUIRED”. Continue reading...

The Guardian World • 7 hours ago