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SAO PAULO — The number of fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest region for the month of August surged to the highest level since 2010, government data showed on Sunday, after a record drought that has been plaguing the biome. Last year's rains came late and were weaker than usual because a weather pattern, known as El Nino, was supercharged by climate change, leaving the rainforest especially vulnerable to this year's fires. Satellites detected 38,266 fire hotspots in the Amazon in August, more than double compared to the previous year and the largest number for that month since 2010, data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) showed. The August data reaching a 14-year high comes after last month's fire hotspots in the region surged to a two-decade high. While the data is the fastest indicator of the state of fires in the region, which often peak between August and September, it does not indicate the intensity. Fires in the naturally wet and humid biome often start on cattle ranches where locals are converting the jungle into pastures for cattle ranching. Warmer air and drier vegetation have created conditions where fires can spread more rapidly as well as burn more intensely and for longer. Deforestation has also reduced the rainforest's ability to produce rain and humidity. Helga Correa, a conservation specialist at WWF-Brasil, said in an initial assessment of the August data last week that the fires were driven by a combination of weather, climate change and human actions. "The region where we detected concentrated smoke in August coincides with the so-called Arch of Deforestation, which includes the north of Rondonia, the south of Amazonas and the southwest of Para," she said. "This indicates that, in addition to climate change and El Nino, changes in land use produced by humans play a central role in the increase in fires," she said.  

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Niamey, — Torrential rains in Niger have killed at least 15 more people, regional authorities said on Sunday, the latest casualties of the downpours lashing the African nation. Heavy rains have been drenching Africa's Sahel region since June and the latest victims in Niger come on top of at least 217 people who have died across the country in that time, according to authorities. More than 350,000 people have been affected and last week rising floodwaters nearly cut off the capital Niamey from the rest of the country before retreating. The latest deaths occurred on Friday in the city of Maradi, the country's economic capital whose eponymous region that has been one of the areas most affected by the rains. "We have registered 15 human lives lost, we have also registered injured and heavy material damage", regional governor Issoufou Mamane told public television. Friday saw 150 millimeters (six inches) of water fall on the city in the space of 90 minutes, local television said. Images broadcast on television showed water racing through the streets, touching off landslides and collapsing homes as it carried off cars, motorcycles and trees. Drinking water and electricity supplies have been affected in some areas, according to broadcasters. The downpours have also disturbed traffic on the main route linking Maradi to the city of Zinder. Niger's rainy season normally lasts from June to September and consistently brings a heavy death toll. In 2022 there were 195 deaths and 400,000 people affected.  

Venice, Italy — Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney and Brad Pitt admit they are disappointed their latest comedy "Wolfs" is not getting a broad cinema release and instead heading almost straight onto Apple TV. "It is a bummer," Clooney said on Sunday, adding that television streamers, such as Apple AAPL.O, were nevertheless vital to the future of filmmaking, presenting actors with opportunities and generating bigger audiences for their work. "Streaming, we need it, our industry needs this," he said. Written and directed by Jon Watts, "Wolfs" is an old-fashioned crime caper with Clooney and Pitt playing lone-wolf professional fixers who are forced to work together with comically unfortunate consequences.   Apple originally signaled it would place the film in a large number of cinemas before the TV release, but instead opted to show it briefly in a restricted number of U.S. movie theatres and then run it on its global TV service. "We'll always be romantic about the theatrical experience. At the same time, I love the existence of the streamers because we get to see more story, we get to see more talent, it gets more eyes," said Pitt. "It's a delicate balance right now and it'll right itself." Asked what it meant if two of the biggest names in the business could not get a broad cinema release, as they had requested, Clooney quipped: "Clearly we're declining." Sixteen years after last appearing together in 2008's Coen brothers' comedy "Burn After Reading," Pitt and Clooney said they jumped at the chance to reunite when they read Watts' script for "Wolfs." "I got to say, just as I get older, just working with the people that I just really enjoy spending time with has really become important to me," said Pitt, who turned 60 last year. In a news conference full of light-hearted banter, Clooney, said Pitt, was fortunate still to be offered parts. "He's 74 years-old and he's very lucky at this age to still be working." On a more serious note, he denied a New York Times story in August that said both he and Pitt had been paid more than $35 million each to appear in the film. "I'm only saying that because I think it's bad for our industry if that's what people think is the standard bearer for salaries. I think that's a terrible thing. It will make it impossible to make a film," he said. "Wolfs" is showing out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, which runs until Sept. 7.

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates — The helicopter crash in which Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi was killed was primarily caused by weather conditions that included thick fog, Iran's state TV said on Sunday, citing the final investigation report on the incident. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner who was seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died when his helicopter crashed in May in a mountainous region near the Azerbaijan border. "The main reason of the helicopter crash was complicated weather conditions in the region," the final report concluded, according to Iran's state TV. A thick mass of fog caused the helicopter that was carrying Raisi and his companions to crash into the mountain, the report issued by a high committee charged by Iran's military with investigating the incident said. A preliminary report by Iran's military had said in May that no evidence of foul play or an attack had been found during the investigation.

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Algiers — Algeria has been approved for membership in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), the country’s finance ministry has  announced. The decision was taken on Saturday and announced by NDB chief Dilma Roussef at a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. By joining "this important development institution, the financial arm of the BRICS group, Algeria is taking a major step in its process of integration into the global financial system," the Algerian finance ministry said in a statement. The bank of the BRICS group of nations -- whose name derives from the initials of founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- is  aimed at offering an alternative to international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF. Algeria's membership was secured thanks to "the strength of the country's macroeconomic indicators" which have recorded "remarkable performances in recent years" and allowed the North African country to be classified as an "upper-tier emerging economy," the finance ministry said. Membership in the BRICS bank will offer Algeria -- Africa's leading exporter of natural gas -- "new prospects to support and strengthen its economic growth in the medium and long term," it added. Created in 2015, the NDB’s main mission is to mobilize resources for projects in emerging markets and developing countries. It has welcomed several country as new members, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Saudi Arabia. 

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Koumac, France — An alliance of parties seeking independence for New Caledonia has nominated as chief a prominent opposition leader currently jailed in France over a wave of deadly rioting in the French Pacific territory. Christian Tein, who considers himself a "political prisoner," was one of seven pro-independence activists transferred to mainland France in June — a move that sparked renewed violence that has roiled the archipelago and left 11 people dead. His appointment on Saturday to lead the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front (FLNKS) risks complicating efforts to end the crisis, sparked in May by a Paris plan for voting reforms that indigenous Kanaks fear will thwart their ambitions for independence by leaving them a permanent minority. Laurie Humuni of the RDO party, one of four in the FLNKS alliance, said Saturday that Tein's nomination was a recognition of his CCAT party's leading role in mobilizing the independence movement. It was not clear if the two other alliance members, the UPM and Palika, supported the move — they had refused to participate in the latest FLNKS meeting and indicated they would not support any of its proposals. The alliance also said it was willing to renew talks to end the protests, but only if local anti-independence parties are excluded. "We will have to remove some blockades to allow the population access to essential services, but that does not mean we are abandoning our struggle," Humuni told AFP. On Thursday, France said it had agreed to terms with Pacific leaders seeking a fact-finding mission to New Caledonia in a bid to resolve the dispute, though a date for the mission has not yet been set. President Emmanuel Macron's government has sent thousands of troops and police to restore order in the archipelago, almost 17,000 kilometers (10,600 miles) from Paris, and the electoral reforms were suspended in June.

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Warsaw — Poland on Sunday marked 85 years since the outbreak of World War II during annual commemoration ceremony held at dawn to remember Nazi Germany's first attacks that triggered the deadly conflict. Nearly six million Poles died in the conflict that killed more than 50 million people overall, including the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, half of them Polish. The remembrance ceremony on Sunday was traditionally held in Westerplatte, on Poland's Baltic coast, where a Nazi German battleship had opened fire on a Polish fort 85 years ago to the day. Speaking at Westerplatte, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the lessons of World War II were "not an abstraction" and drew parallels with the war in neighboring Ukraine. "This war is coming again from the east," he said. He urged NATO member states to be "fully devoted to defense... against the aggression that we are witnessing today on the battlefields of Ukraine." Adolf Hitler's attacks on Poland led Britain and France to declare war on Nazi Germany. On September 17, the Soviet Union in turn invaded Poland. After the Nazis tore up their pact with Moscow, two alliances battled it out: the Axis powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan and the victorious Allied forces led by Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. Polish President Andrzej Duda took part in commemorations in the western Polish city of Wielun where Germany's first bombs fell 85 years ago. Duda said "sorry" from Germany was not enough and called for reparations, adding: "This issue is not settled." Although it has been 85 years since the war started, there are still unresolved matters according to Poland. Poland's current pro-EU government led by Tusk has urged Germany to provide financial compensation over losses the country sustained at the hands of Nazi troops. It echoed an earlier similar push by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party that lost power in October election. During his visit to commemorate the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, a doomed revolt against occupying forces, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of plans to establish a memorial to the Polish victims of the Nazis. "Many other efforts are underway, including for the remaining survivors of the German occupation. Our two governments are liaising closely on this," he said. Steinmeier did not, however, provide any further details on the possible compensation measures. According to Polish media, discussions between Warsaw and Berlin on financial compensation to the living victims of the Nazi Germany are underway, with Poland estimating up to 70,000 people would be eligible.

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NEW YORK — About 1,070 hotel workers in the U.S. cities of Boston and Greenwich are on strike after contract talks with hotel operators Marriott International MAR.O, Hilton Worldwide HLT.N and Hyatt Hotels H.N stalled, the Unite Here union said on Sunday. The strikes in Boston and Greenwich will last three days, the union said, adding that more hotel workers in different cities are expected to walk off the job across the U.S. throughout the Labor Day holiday weekend. Unite Here, which represents workers in hotels, casinos and airports across the United States and Canada, said frustrated workers may strike in major destinations including San Francisco and Seattle as they struggle to agree with hotel operators on wages and on reversing pandemic-era job cuts. "Strikes have also been authorized and could begin at any time in Baltimore, Honolulu, Kauai, New Haven, Oakland, Providence, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle," Unite Here said in a statement. A total of 40,000 Unite Here hotel workers in more than 20 cities are working under contracts that expire this year. About 15,000 of those workers have authorized strikes in 12 markets from Boston to Honolulu. Workers have been in negotiations for new four-year contracts since May. "We’re on strike because the hotel industry has gotten off track," Unite Here President Gwen Mills said. "We won't accept a 'new normal' where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers," Mills added. Unite Here workers in 2023 won record contracts in Los Angeles following rolling strikes and in Detroit after a 47-day strike. In Las Vegas, casino operators MGM MGM.N, Caesars CZR.O and Wynn WYNN.O resorts reached an agreement in November to avert a strike with 40,000 hospitality workers days before a deadline that would have crippled the Vegas Strip.

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