Climate

Authorities warn residents to be prepared to leave their homes as fast-moving wildfires spread across western Canada.

The district of Summerland in British Columbia has issued evacuation orders, as powerful wildfires continue to sweep across western Canada.

A state of emergency was declared early on Saturday morning, with thousands displaced from their homes as the Bald Range wildfire continues to burn out of control.

“Summerland and Faulder and Peachland. Tonight our hearts are heavy as we watch the Bald Range wildfire. The firefighters and first responders are doing an incredible job and my heart is with them, as well as all the evacuees and volunteers,” Amelia Boultbee, a Canadian MP representing Penticton-Summerland, wrote in a social media post on Friday night.

The district is home to about 12,000 people, according to the 2021 census. On Saturday, local officials announced that the area had lost power due to the fire and instructed residents to boil water.

Saturday morning’s evacuation orders affect the Peachland watershed, the Brenda Mines area, Lower Princeton and its downtown core areas, according Emergency Info BC, a provincial government service.

All residents were asked to prepare to leave immediately.

Canada has faced a summer of large wildfires, with blazes tearing across provinces such as Ontario and Quebec.

Scientists have said that climate change has worsened wildfire conditions in recent decades, with areas across the globe experiencing periods of extreme drought and heat.

In recent months, Canada and the United States experienced a record-setting heat dome that helped exacerbate wildfire conditions by drying out vegetation.

To the south of British Columbia, the US state of Washington also experienced large wildfires this month, contributing to poor air quality across the region.

Firefighting teams from countries such as Mexico, Australia, France and New Zealand have all provided support to Canada. About 1,500 firefighters are currently deployed across British Columbia, which has issued 39 evacuation orders and 49 alerts.

British Columbia’s Premier David Eby said earlier this week that the western province has sufficient resources to deal with the fires and has additional firefighters and aircraft at its disposal.

“For those in the area, please keep following updates,” Eby said in a social media post on Friday night. “If asked to evacuate, go immediately. The conditions are changing extremely quickly.”

Footage shows the moment a lightning strike hit a football player in southern Thailand, during a semi-final match, killing him instantly. The strike injured 12 others as a monsoon storm swept through the area. Warning: video shows graphic footage.

Monsoon downpours cause floods and landslides as climate change and El Nino disrupt rainfall patterns.

Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people across India since July, according to official data, with thousands forced to flee flooded homes.

The annual monsoon brings rain that farmers depend on, but scientists say climate change is making it increasingly deadly across South Asia.

This year’s toll spans several states. Assam has been hit hardest, with at least 87 dead, and Sivasagar district alone accounting for 47.

Kerala has recorded at least 15 deaths and seven missing after days of heavy rain, Chief Minister VD Satheesan said, with more than 10,000 people sheltering in more than 300 relief camps in the state.

A report by the public state broadcaster said that Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir has seen at least 31 killed by intense rain bursts.

Lightning strikes have killed at least 14 people in Jharkhand, most of them farm workers caught in open fields. Jharkhand saw more than 200 deaths in 2025, mainly attributed to “lightning associated with thunderstorms”, the India Meteorological Department said in January.

Monsoon-related deaths are an annual occurrence across India after the region’s long summers when many parts of the country face water scarcity and drought.

The pattern extends beyond India’s borders. In Sri Lanka, at least eight deaths and 12,000 displaced from monsoon flooding have been recorded. This happened while the country’s eastern regions were in the grip of a severe drought, with authorities having to transport drinking water for residents in tanker trucks.

Sri Lanka’s government said last month that the extreme weather stems from this year’s El Nino, a climate pattern that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. It occurs when normal east-to-west trade winds weaken or reverse, pushing warm water eastward and significantly disrupting global weather and rainfall.

A US federal appeals court says EPA likely acted unlawfully in trying to cancel Biden-era clean energy grants.

A United States federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration likely broke the law when it tried to cancel a multibillion-dollar clean energy programme, dealing a blow to the president’s broader push to dismantle Biden-era climate policies.

The full US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot freeze roughly $20bn in grants awarded to nonprofit groups for clean energy projects, reversing an earlier decision by the same court.

But the money will not be released immediately. The ruling has been temporarily put on hold to give the EPA time to ask the US Supreme Court to intervene.

At the centre of the dispute is the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a programme created by Congress through former US President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

The programme, often referred to as a “green bank”, was designed to give federal money to nonprofit organisations that would give out loans and invest in small energy projects, energy-efficient buildings and clean-energy infrastructure.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has been trying to dismantle the programme, saying it doesn’t align with his agency’s priorities and accusing its recipients of fraud, waste and mismanagement.

In a video posted on social media last February, Zeldin described the fund as an example of government waste.

“Shockingly, roughly $20bn of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution by the Biden EPA,” he said. “This pot of $20bn was awarded to just eight entities that were then responsible for doling out your money to NGOs and others at their discretion.”

“The days of irresponsibly shovelling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” he added.

The following month, the EPA froze billions of dollars that were being held at Citibank to be distributed as grants.

The organisations, which included the Climate United Fund, Coalition for Green Capital and three others, denied any wrongdoing and sued, arguing the administration was illegally withholding money already approved by Congress and attempting to kill the programme because it opposed its climate goals, not because of evidence of fraud.

Tuesday’s decision overturns a ruling by a three-judge panel of the same appeals court last September that sided with the administration. The full appeals court agreed to revisit that decision, a rare move reserved for significant cases.

The majority of judges said the EPA’s attempt to terminate the grants and claw back the money “based solely on a policy disagreement” likely violated the Inflation Reduction Act. It also said the agency hadn’t provided assurance that it would leave the funds untouched if the injunction were lifted.

The ruling restores an order issued last year by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who found the EPA had failed to justify cancelling the grants and warned the administration was encroaching on Congress’s power to decide how federal money is spent.

The case is one of several legal challenges to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reverse Biden’s climate agenda. Since returning to office, Trump has rolled back environmental regulations, expanded support for fossil fuel production and sought to unwind clean energy initiatives, arguing they impose unnecessary costs on businesses and consumers.

A cluster of fast-moving wildfires has devastated the outskirts of Spokane, Washington state, with 65,000 people told to leave their homes. More than 700 buildings have been destroyed as the fires spread from surrounding vegetation into residential neighbourhoods, posing an unprecedented threat to lives and property.

The blazes have become the top firefighting priority in the US because of their scale and the danger they pose to communities. While no deaths have been confirmed, authorities say it will take time to assess the full extent of the damage as search teams begin entering the hardest-hit areas.

The evacuation orders expanded from about 4,000 people on Sunday to 65,000 by Monday, highlighting the speed at which the fires spread into populated communities.

Here is what to know:

What is happening in Spokane, Washington?

Spokane, Washington’s second-largest city, is at the centre of one of the state’s most destructive wildfire emergencies in recent history after three fast-moving wildfires erupted on its northern outskirts over the weekend. Fanned by strong winds and fueled by exceptionally dry vegetation, the fires have burned more than 8,000 acres (3237 hectares) and spread from surrounding forests and grasslands into residential neighbourhoods, forcing approximately 65,000 people to evacuate, according to the Spokane Valley Fire Department.

Hundreds of buildings, most of them homes, have already been destroyed, with aerial surveys suggesting many more may have been damaged. Entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to charred rubble, with some properties left standing only as brick chimneys.

The scale of the disaster has overwhelmed local resources, prompting one of the largest firefighting operations in the state, with more than 1,000 firefighters deployed from across the region.

Despite the massive response, the fires remain uncontained, and officials say it could take days to fully assess the destruction. While no deaths have been confirmed, authorities initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people after the evacuations, though that number has since fallen significantly as families have been reunited. Emergency shelters have been opened across Spokane, and officials are urging residents not to return to evacuated areas or fly drones, which can disrupt critical aerial firefighting operations.

Firefighters are taking advantage of a brief period of cooler temperatures and lighter winds, but forecasters warn that hotter, drier and windier weather is expected to return later this week, raising fears that the fires could spread even further.

Washington is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in more than three decades, with about 450,000 acres (182,000 hectares) burned so far this summer. More than 250,000 acres have burned in recent major fires alone.

What caused the fires?

Local news outlets have reported that the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced on Monday evening that a 37-year-old had been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire.

However, experts say the conditions that allowed the fires to spread so rapidly were already in place.

Washington has been experiencing severe drought and an unusually low winter snowpack, leaving vegetation exceptionally dry and highly flammable. Those conditions have been compounded by periods of extreme heat, low humidity and strong winds, creating an environment in which even a small ignition can quickly grow into a fast-moving wildfire.

Scientists have also linked increasingly severe wildfire seasons across the western US to human-caused climate change, which has contributed to hotter temperatures, longer droughts and drier landscapes. While climate change does not directly ignite wildfires, it makes them more likely to spread rapidly and become more destructive once they start.

Why are the Washington wildfires so severe?

The Washington wildfires have become particularly severe because several factors have converged, allowing the blazes to spread rapidly.

• Multiple large fires burning simultaneously: Spokane is dealing with three major wildfires at once, while dozens of other significant fires are burning across the western US. Managing multiple large incidents simultaneously has made it harder to concentrate resources on a single fire.
• The fires advanced rapidly into populated communities: Driven by strong winds, the flames jumped roads and rivers, allowing them to move from forests and grasslands into residential neighbourhoods. More than 700 buildings have been destroyed, making the fires far more difficult to contain as they threaten homes, businesses and critical infrastructure.
• Firefighting resources are stretched: More than 100 new wildfires have been reported across 15 US states over a single weekend, placing extraordinary pressure on national firefighting resources. Although more than 1,000 firefighters have been deployed to Spokane, emergency officials say aircraft, equipment and personnel are being shared across multiple emergencies.
• An ongoing threat despite improved weather: Firefighters have benefitted from a brief period of cooler temperatures and lighter winds, but officials warn that hotter, drier and windier conditions are expected to return. With the fires still not contained, there is a significant risk that they could grow further or ignite new areas.

What role are drought, heat and climate change playing?

Scientists say drought, extreme heat and climate change are making wildfire seasons longer, more frequent and more destructive across the western US.

Drought dries out vegetation, turning forests and grasslands into fuel that can ignite and burn more intensely.

Heat and low humidity accelerate fire spread by drying vegetation even further and creating conditions in which flames can move rapidly across the landscape.

Climate change amplifies these conditions, as rising global temperatures are increasing the likelihood of prolonged droughts, more frequent heatwaves and longer fire seasons, making large, destructive wildfires more likely once they ignite.

What is the weather forecast for midweek?

The weather is expected to worsen again by midweek.

While Monday and Tuesday offered a brief, helpful window of cooler temperatures and calmer winds, the midweek forecast calls for a return of:

• Extremely high temperatures, particularly on Thursday, with highs forecasted up to 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit). On Monday, it was at 22C (72F).
• Low humidity (very dry conditions).
• Gusty winds with speeds up to 26 km/h.

Because the fires remain completely uncontained, authorities are keeping evacuations in place. They warn that the worst outcome would be letting residents return to their homes, only to have to evacuate them again 24 to 48 hours later when the hot, windy weather returns.

Washington’s entire congressional delegation is awaiting a response from President Donald Trump regarding their request for an expedited emergency declaration to deliver immediate federal relief to displaced families.

Are other states also fighting wildfires?

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, most of the fire activity in the US remains concentrated across the country’s northwest.

Right now, the major fires are mostly grassland burns in Idaho, Oregon and Utah, as well as fires in Florida’s Everglades National Park, in addition to new fires reported in Left Creek in Wyoming, Antelope Creek Fire in Nevada and the Sand Creek and Middle Coulee fires in Montana.

A lightning-caused fire that has burned more than 530 square miles (about 1,370 sq km) of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon continued to grow on Monday. The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.

In central Utah, a blaze quadrupled in size more than the weekend to nearly 109 square miles (282 sq km) by Monday afternoon. More than 100 cattle have died, according to law enforcement.

A total of 1,000sq km (386sq miles) has burned across Washington state, and some of the fires have not been contained.

Wildfires in eastern Washington state have forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area and destroyed at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures, authorities said on Sunday.

The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second-largest city, burned about 21 square kilometres (8sq miles) over the weekend and were among dozens of wildfires across the Western United States that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.

Roughly 1,000sq km (386sq miles) have burned across the state, and some of the fires, including those in the Spokane area, have not been contained.

Fire and law enforcement officials said there had been no reports of injuries or people unaccounted for, but they stressed it was early in the response effort.

Videos from the Spokane area showed buildings on fire, black smoke billowing up near neighbourhoods, and the smoking ruins of homes, with only chimneys still standing. Several officials expressed concern that the area appears set to continue having dry weather in the coming days.

“We are not out of danger,” Senator Maria Cantwell said during a news conference with federal, state and local officials in Spokane. “The next couple of days will be challenging.”

Investigators have not determined how the blazes began.

Spokane was not the only region struggling to contain fires.

Crews using bulldozers and helicopters continued for a tenth day to fight a fire that has burned nearly 1,360sq km (525sq miles) of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon. The area is home to cattle ranches, with authorities saying the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.

In central Utah, a massive blaze more than doubled in size over the weekend, jumping from about 41sq km (16sq miles) to 145sq km (56sq miles) by Sunday morning. More than 100 cattle have been killed, according to local law enforcement.

Fast-moving wildfires have scorched more than 250,000 acres across Washington state, forcing widespread evacuations around Spokane. Communities in neighbouring British Columbia, Canada are also under threat as the UN warns of worsening global heat.

Hungary says a heatwave is forcing the shutdown of its largest nuclear power plant for the first time in 44 years. Scorching temperatures and drought have caused record-low water levels in the Danube river, disrupting reactor cooling systems.

French wildfires show signs of easing, with containment efforts holding in Var and Gironde after destructive blazes.

Gale-force winds have fanned flames across multiple parts of Greece, intensifying a new front in Europe’s wildfire emergency, while major fires in France and Spain show signs of easing, with blazes either not advancing or under control.

Hundreds of firefighters, backed by water-dropping planes and helicopters, worked with emergency workers to protect Porto Germeno, a popular resort on the Gulf of Corinth, as heavy winds drove flames through the coastal area west of Athens on Saturday.

The fire broke out on Friday near the neighbouring village of Agios Vasileios. About 300 people were evacuated by sea, and authorities issued further evacuation orders for the regions, according to The Associated Press.

Greek authorities issued emergency alerts for several areas for Saturday and warned of extreme wildfire risk in the regions of Attica and Evia.

A Greek newspaper, Protothema, reported the fire in Porto Germeno split into three fronts and many houses caught fire in the area, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for nearby towns of Agia Paraskevi, Kryo Pigadi and Agios Nektarios.

Theodore Giannaros, a wildfire meteorologist at the National Observatory of Athens, told The AP an estimated 15 to 19 square miles (39 – 50sq km) had been affected, although authorities had not issued an official burned-area figure.

Fires ‘under control’ in France

The wildfires that have ravaged France are “today under control”, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Saturday, more than a week after the largest wildfire since 1949 flared up.

“Overall, the fires are now under control in our country” and, in Gironde, in the southwest, “we have returned to a more stable situation,” he said in an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche weekly.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said flames that left a trail of destruction across villages have eased. In a post on X, he said fires in Gironde were now under control while “significant work has been done to contain the fire’s progression by the 1,500 firefighters” in the mountainous southeastern Var department, where fire burnt through 1,500 additional hectares (3,700 acres) of land.

In the Var, defensive lines around the Gros Bessillon fire held overnight, and no additional ground burned, Var Prefect Simon Babre told French media on Saturday.

Portugal’s major wildfire was declared under control, while Spain’s largest fires were no longer making sustained advances and most evacuation orders had been lifted.

Spanish conditions mixed

Spain continued battling several wildfire hot spots on Saturday, two days after the government declared the end of a national emergency caused by huge fires in the country’s central provinces.

However, fires worsened overnight in Leon.

Europe is Earth’s fastest-warming continent, heating at more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought leave vegetation drier and more combustible, allowing fires to spread faster and burn more intensely.

Climate change has helped southern Europe’s likelihood of wildfires double since 1981, say researchers.

Southern Europe is “becoming more flammable,” with the number of summer days featuring conditions likely to produce fires having more than doubled since 1981, according to a new report.

The study, published on Thursday in the Scientific Reports journal, said that this “major intensification” of fire-prone weather is driven by climate change. It noted that these effects are especially pronounced in France and Spain, which have been battling some of their largest blazes since records began in recent weeks.

The steep increase in the frequency of fire weather – characterised by searing temperatures, low humidity, dryness, and strong winds – “can only be attributed to global warming,” said study co-author Raul Cordero.

European countries are enduring an above-average season for wildfires, and have already overtaken 2025, which was a record-breaking year for destructive blazes.

Cooling weather and rain helped to calm the worst of the fires in France and Spain on Thursday.

France told 84,000 evacuees in the southwest of the country that it was now safe to go home, as France’s largest wildfire since 1949 pulled back.

Spain ended its state of national emergency as wildfires threatening areas near Madrid – the largest Spain has experienced since records began in 1961 – began to come under control.

However, as high temperatures moved eastwards, fires were being fought in Greece, Turkiye, and the United Kingdom.

In Greece, two firefighters died on the island of Crete on Wednesday, the fire department said, as several fires started around the country, fanned by gale-force winds. Another died in a separate fire in the Peloponnese region as the blazes continued into Thursday.

“We have difficult days ahead of us,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Firefighters in Turkiye have been battling at least 115 fires across the country, although at least 110 were under control, according to the country’s agriculture minister.

An enormous wildfire has forced evacuations and prompted road closures in eastern England. The fire at Dunwich Heath, a significant biodiversity site, is one of the largest the region has seen.

Both countries expect to see temperatures soar into Wednesday, which could cause the blazes to spread.

The spread of wildfires in France and Spain that had come dangerously close to the cities of Bordeaux and Madrid appears to be slowing, authorities say, but they are bracing for yet another stifling heatwave this week, which could fan the flames of current blazes and ignite new ones.

Nearly 4,000 people were evacuated from tourist sites in the Lacanau area of the Gironde region in southwestern France on Tuesday, bringing the total number who have fled Gironde to well over a quarter of a million. The wine-growing region, which includes the historic city of Bordeaux is the worst affected in France by the wildfires

“We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told BFMTV on Tuesday. “We will continue attacking this fire despite the forecast rise in temperatures.”

Images posted by the French newspaper Le Figaro showed ash on a beach in Lacanau. Sophie Brocas, Gironde’s prefect, has banned all sporting and cultural events until August 8.

France’s fourth heatwave of 2026 is expected to begin on Tuesday as temperatures are forecast to reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days. When the heatwave reaches Spain on Wednesday, temperatures are expected to be even hotter there.

In Spain, 116,000 people have had to leave their homes since the wildfires began, but some have since been able to return. In the central province of Toledo, people from nine of 11 evacuated towns were allowed to go back to their homes on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said people “can be a little more at ease” after progress overnight in tackling the many blazes in the country, which are mostly concentrated in central Spain.

Firefighters are also dealing with blazes in the neighbouring provinces of Avila and Toledo. About 800sq km (310sq miles) of land have burned.

One Spanish evacuee from the east of the country told the Reuters news agency he had witnessed “total chaos”.

“It was like in the movies where hell cracked the ground open, and you see the red hell.”

The scorching heat has renewed concerns about climate change with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez describing the fires as “the most painful expression of a climate emergency”.

Sanchez said authorities are beginning “to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the fight against wildfires” but cautioned that the upcoming heatwave still has to be dealt with.

Wildfires in the UK and Europe are a “stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate”, the Prince of Wales has said.

More than 300,000 people have so far been evacuated from parts of France and Spain as wildfires continue to rage on the continent, with another intense heatwave on the way.

In Scotland a major incident was declared at the weekend as a result of a major wildfire in the Cairngorms, while a number of smaller fires have burned elsewhere in the UK.

Prince William wrote in a post on X: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the devastating wildfires across France, Spain and the UK.”

“We are deeply grateful to the firefighters, emergency services and volunteers working tirelessly in extraordinarily difficult conditions.

“These events are a stark reminder of the challenges posed by an increasingly extreme climate and the importance of protecting both people and nature.”

Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world – but particularly in Europe. It is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.

This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe’s water supply, and more intense wildfires.

Wildfires are currently tearing through France and Spain.

France has seen its worst fires in two decades, while officials in the Spanish capital Madrid say they are the worst the region has ever experienced.

In the UK, an assessment by the Met Office showed that fires could be exceptionally severe by Wednesday if they were to start in parts of London, the south east or the east of England as a result of hot, dry conditions.

London Fire Brigade said it dealt with more than 1,300 incidents over the weekend – including grass fires, property fires and rescuing a person from the Thames.

It has urged people to avoid disposable barbecues, dispose of smoking materials and put litter in the bin or take it home to avoid starting wildfires.

Temperatures are expected to rise again later this week, with a fourth heatwave of the year looming for some areas. Amber heat health alerts have been issued for much of eastern England.

According to provisional Met Office data, the month of July has been 3C above average across the UK, which could see it end up as one of the hottest Julys on record.

Wildfires are rampaging through vast areas of land in southwestern Europe, forcing France and Spain to evacuate more than 325,000 people from their homes.

Some of the worst fires in France since World War II come just weeks after record-breaking heatwaves scorched Europe. Authorities have deployed thousands of firefighters to battle the blazes.

On Sunday, France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, said about “115,000 hectares (284,171 acres) have burned in wildfires in France since the start of the year”. In Spain, 119,458 hectares (295,187 acres) of land have been burnt as of July 22 , according to data from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

More than 150,000 hectares have burned across Spain since January, said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – that’s six times the area destroyed during the same period last year.

Wildfires destroyed 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) of land in Europe in 2025 – up from 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) in 2022, according to the United Nations.

What is the main cause of the wildfires and why are authorities struggling to contain them?

What has happened?

Since early July, wildfires have been burning across southern and western Europe, with France and Spain being the worst hit.

About 220,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in France, about 75,000 people in Spain, and around 30,000 others there ordered to shelter in place, according to authorities.

In Spain, a fast-moving wildfire in the Andalusia region killed at least 12 people on July 10 . By July 20 , the fires had spread hundreds of kilometres to the capital, Madrid. At least 10,000 people have been evacuated following wildfires in the central region of Madrid. On July 24 , Spanish authorities declared a national emergency, saying two major blazes were “out of control”.

Over the weekend, a separate blaze in Spain’s eastern Castellon province ravaged more than 4,300 hectares (10,625 acres), regional authorities said.

“The fire is out of control, it’s very difficult to extinguish from a technical standpoint, especially because of the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day,” the regional leader of Valencia, Juanfran Perez, told reporters near the site.

The wildfire in Spain has now entered the Sierra de Espadan natural park, containing large forests of pine trees and cork oaks.

In France, the wildfires are among the country’s worst since World War II and have particularly ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula, an exclusive holiday destination on France’s southern Atlantic coast about 70km (43 miles) from Bordeaux.

Reporting from Maubec, near Toulouse, Al Jazeera’s Nina Montagu-Smith said: “When I visited Arcachon, a seaside town just across the bay from Cap Ferret on Thursday last week, we could see the fires on the peninsula. Within hours, the sky had blackened and the smoke was thick over Arcachon town.”

“All trains from Arcachon were cancelled, apparently due to an ‘electrical fault’,” she added. “Fire engines were lining the A63 from Bordeaux towards Arcachon on Thursday evening as I drove eastwards to Libourne, which is 100km from the fires in the Gironde region,” she said.

Our correspondent noted that after the wind picked up on Thursday evening, smoke from the blaze reached Libourne, where ash was falling from the sky.

“We have since relocated further east in France towards Toulouse, where the sky is very grey and we could still smell the smoke on Sunday night,” she added.

The wildfires have now spread through areas surrounding Bordeaux, where firefighters were trying to prevent the flames from reaching the regional capital.

Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said the fire was just 15km (nine miles) from entrances to the main city.

“We have a fire that is not under control and which is moving in the direction of the city area,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France 2 TV on Sunday evening. “The overall situation is very unfavourable, we are in a situation that is unprecedented.”

So far, authorities have moved 197,000 people from areas around Bordeaux – including popular holiday spots which are generally crowded at this time of the year.

The Bordeaux region is famed for its vineyards and the ‌‌city is one of the main transport hubs for tourists visiting nearby holiday resorts on the Atlantic coast.

Cazenave said earlier on Sunday that there were no plans yet to evacuate Bordeaux, whose wider metropolitan area has a population of about 850,000. Nunez said authorities would continue to assess the situation calmly and realistically, and the government has warned against road or rail travel to the area.

The wildfires disrupted Sunday’s Tour de France finale in Paris, which organisers shortened from 133 to 89 kilometres (83 to 55 miles) after security forces originally assigned to the race were redeployed to fight the fires instead.

Why are these fires so bad?

Scientists are warning that pyrocumulonimbus clouds – unprecedented in southwest Europe – are forming.

According to the British Royal Meteorological Society, these are thunder clouds “created by intense heat from the Earth’s surface”. They can make conditions almost impossible for firefighters.

They are formed similarly to normal clouds, but “the intense heat that results in the vigorous updraft comes from fire, either large wildfires or volcanic eruptions”, the society said. It explained that there may be a burst of rain because of them but warned that this rain “can then carry embers from the fire, igniting spot fires away from the source. In some cases, dry lightning from these storms can strike without rain, further spreading the wildfire”.

A spokesman for France’s National Firefighters Federation of France (FNSPF) told the AFP news agency: “Lightning forms within the cloud, striking the embers on the ground and further fuelling the fire … It produces a low, rumbling sound. While this type of fire occurs regularly in Canada and Australia, it is unprecedented in France,” he said on Sunday.

“We have reached a point of ‘operational impossibility’ that requires us to accept the need for strategic retreat – to understand and acknowledge a natural force beyond our control,” he said.

“It calls for … knowing what can be done and, above all, what cannot. The situation on the ground is defensive rather than offensive; it is a war-like scenario where we are under constant bombardment and must get everyone to safety,” he added.

What are authorities doing now?

Spanish and French authorities say firefighters alone cannot fight the blaze and have appealed for international help.

On Sunday, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central provinces affected by major blazes alongside Madrid and Toledo, where more than 45,000 hectares (111,000 acres) have burned.

“We have a window of opportunity this weekend to fight the wildfire and, therefore, to protect lives, protect population centres and, ultimately, to bring this very serious wildfire under control as far as possible,” he said.

Sanchez said his government will declare a civil protection emergency for the central provinces plagued by the wildfires on Tuesday, unlocking additional recovery funding.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X ⁠⁠on Saturday: “The fires which ⁠⁠are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before”.

Lecornu called another government crisis meeting on Saturday for ministers to discuss the response to the emergency, the second such meeting in as many days.

French President Emmanuel Macron was holding a cabinet crisis meeting on Monday.

The European Union’s civil protection mechanism is monitoring the situation and has been assisting. Under the mechanism so far, Greece and Italy have sent firefighting aircraft to Spain, while Portugal has deployed more than 100 military personnel, along with equipment.

Two more aircraft will arrive “as soon as possible” from Turkey, the Spanish interior ministry added on X.

Why are these fires becoming so much harder to contain?

Wildfires have been a common occurrence in Europe in recent years, but authorities have increasingly been struggling to contain them.

Sanchez said the growing scale of the fires and their intensity, fuelled by increasingly extreme weather such as the heatwaves this summer, require policies grounded in climate science.

Eduardo Rojas, chairman of the Board at the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story programme on Sunday that there are multiple factors causing the wildfires which also need attention.

He said the fires in the wild lands of the country have occurred where the “urban interface is extraordinarily complex”. He noted that some areas were “built up in the 60s, 70s and 80s without a proper city plan and with lack of infrastructure, lack of water availability…and with a lack of knowledge of the neighbourhoods.” When a fire occurs, therefore, there is a “lack of knowledge” about how to deal with them.

“The fire in west Madrid is a kind of fire that doesn’t burn a huge area but creates a lot of hesitation,” he said.

“We also have farms where cereals are harvested and even [with] a small lightning [strike], the cereal can start to burn and at the end a big agricultural area ends up burning which is a big damage for farmers,” he noted.

“These kinds of fires need to be tackled in a totally different way because their cause and their environment and conditions are incomparable with one another,” he added.

Laurie Laybourn, executive director of Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, a non-partisan thinktank told Al Jazeera that governments across the continent are unable to cope with the pace at which climate change is occurring.

“All governments develop what are called reasonable worst-case scenarios to inform their planning and in many instances the events that we’re seeing are going beyond even those. So what that tells us is that the tools that we’ve got, the analysis that is informing government planning is a step behind how fast climate change and its supercharging of disasters is,” he said.

So is this all mainly because of climate change?

According to the European Forest Institute, a wildfire “is a chemical reaction of combustion, which requires a source of heat (lightning, an agricultural “burn” which escapes, or a spark originating in an electric line), oxygen and fuel (forests, shrubs or pastures) to get started.”

“Wildfire risks are increasing worldwide because of climate change and land use change,” the institute added in a July 9 report.

In a recent report, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe issued a warning about climate change, saying it is directly responsible for intensifying wildfires and their increasing frequency.

There are clear indications that climate change is “supercharging” incidents such as wildfires, Laybourn told Al Jazeera.

“Any disaster is very complex. The causes are multilayered, including how we build and how we use land…But climate change is supercharging the conditions that make us vulnerable to things like wildfires and that has been something that’s been predicted now for many decades and tragically becoming true in front of our eyes,” he said.

According to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change service, Europe is now the fastest warming continent on Earth, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since 1980.

Laybourn explained that this summer’s heatwaves were also caused by climate change.

He warned and stressed that governments need to prioritise tackling the issue.

“This should be a moment of profound alarm and reflection, particularly for governments.”

Ifugao, Philippines – At first light, the village of Batad begins to stir to life beneath the towering cliffs surrounding its amphitheatre-like rice terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Apu Penneng, an Ifugao elder who owns one of the village’s largest tracts of ricefields, struts with youthful confidence along a narrow and steep path in this highland community 1,100 metres (3,608ft) above sea level.

Dressed in a traditional loincloth, shawl and headgear, he is heading for the Tanig, an elaborate morning ritual before the harvest begins. At a courtyard next to rows of huts, dozens of village women also gather for the Bullogan chi Munbotoh, the procession to the harvest site.

Against the glow of the rising sun, the centuries-old terraces finally come in full view as if cascading from the sky. The fields of Tinawon rice grains, moist from the drizzle the night before, glimmer like morsels of gold ready for picking.

But the otherwise majestic landscape is punctuated by the sight of collapsed earth and boulders, right in the middle of the terraces.

In November last year, Super Typhoon Fung-wong triggered a landslide that killed two locals and demolished one of the centuries-old canals irrigating the rice paddies. About 2.2 hectares (5.4 acres) of rice fields were damaged, affecting 150 farmers.

“It was the worst we’ve seen here,” Apu Penneng calmly said, as he pointed to a deforested patch of land above the terraces. From afar, it looked like it had been slashed with a giant blade.

The wreckage has been an unwelcome reminder for villagers of the destructive nature of extreme weather conditions, which have been increasing in frequency in recent years.

Batad was also struck with landslides in 2011, 2023 and 2025. With the emerging threat of this year’s Super El Nino, a climate phenomenon that increases global temperatures and drives more extreme weather and rainfall patterns, the Ifugao people worry about more damage to come.

Across the world, 80 percent of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites are facing climate-induced stress, according to an August 2025 study published in the scientific journal Nature.

The study found that UNESCO sites in low and middle-income countries receive the least conservation support, making them even more vulnerable to harsh climatic conditions. It added that in tropical monsoon areas, those conditions include record-breaking heatwaves, extended droughts and sudden drenching rainfall – much like what struck Batad in November 2025.

“Climate change is really aggravating the situation on the ground,” said lawyer Marlon Martin, head of the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement (SITMO).

For the rice terraces to stay intact and stable, the soil needs to maintain a certain level of moisture year-round. But because of recent bouts of dry spells, deep cracks have developed, making the terraces prone to erosion, said Martin.

“When sudden bursts of rain occur, the water would seep into the cracks too abruptly, resulting in erosion” and even soil collapse, he added, warning that the Super El Nino could only mean more trouble ahead.

According to Steve Baccay, head of Ifugao’s Provincial Agriculture and Environment Office, an equivalent of $500,000 is needed for the restoration work in Batad following last November’s landslide.

Since the disaster, Batad residents themselves have come together a few times to do voluntary communal work called bachang to fix the demolished irrigation canal.

The social welfare and labour departments have also extended emergency food and cash assistance to affected farmers. However, additional national government aid is unlikely until the next fiscal year.

Climate change is nothing new, and for centuries people in Ifugao have adapted to the changes using Indigenous engineering techniques to protect the terraces, said Martin. But for Batad to withstand more frequent and more extreme weather, national intervention is needed, he added.

For Batad village chief Romeo Heppog and his family, the rice terraces are not just a source of their livelihood, but part of their identity and their way of life.

Organising the annual rice harvest festival is his way of honouring their ancestors and renewing their “sacred oath” to preserve the terraces for the generations to come, he said.

At the Tanig pre-harvest sacred ritual, Heppog watches closely alongside Apu Penneng as Apu Buy-a Nadyug, Batad’s chief Indigenous priest known as Mumbaki, leads the harvest rituals, including the pouring and drinking of fresh rice wine.

Hunched on the ground next to a pair of wooden Bulul, which embody invisible spiritual beings of the Ifugaos, the octogenarian Apu Buy-a Nadyug recites verses seeking blessings and protection for the harvest.

With the help of another village elder, Apu Penneng then leads the slaughter of chickens as a symbolic offering to Ifugao ancestors and the spiritual beings.

In one of the final acts of the hour-long sacred ritual, Mumbaki Apu Buy-a Nadyug then scrutinises the guts of the chicken, and pronounces another year of “bountiful harvest”.

Apu Penneng and Heppog then lead the banging of gongs signifying merriment and the start of the joyful harvest.

For a moment, the worries of the villagers of Batad are drowned out by the loud rhythmic sound that has been passed from generation to generation.

Apu Penneng then proceeds to his ricefield for the harvest.  Amid the uncertainties for his community, his face beams with pride as he gazes at the panoramic view of Batad.

From a distance, the 2,702 metres (8,865ft) Mount Amuyao, the country’s 10th highest peak, towers over Batad, as if guarding it from the threats of nature.

“We will get through this,” said Apu Penneng.

Wildfires are ravaging many parts of western and southern Europe, with France and Spain among the hardest hit.

The World Health Organization has warned that climate change is contributing to the frequency and intensity of the fires. This is clear in the record temperatures and successive heatwaves seen across the continent since May. France and Spain have deployed thousands of firefighters, and neighbouring countries have sent assistance. Authorities say the situation is unprecedented.

So, what will it take to extinguish the flames?

Presenter: Per Nyberg

Guests:

Eduardo Rojas – chairman of the board at the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification

Soraya Fettih – global campaigns coordinator at 350.org, an international environmental organisation focused on addressing the climate crisis

Laurie Laybourn – executive director of Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, a non-partisan think tank

Noul hit southern Guangdong province and neighbouring Hong Kong, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region.

Typhoon Noul has hit southern China, including Hong Kong, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in Guangdong province.

China’s national weather centre said Noul made landfall on the coast of Huidong county in Huizhou, southern Guangdong province, at approximately 3:50am local time on Sunday (19:50 GMT on Saturday).

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Noul was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year.

Hong Kong’s Observatory said Noul, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour) near its centre, was moving Sunday into inland Guangdong and weakening progressively, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the region.

More than 715,000 people had been relocated for safety by early Sunday in Guangdong province, according to state-owned China National Radio. On Saturday, authorities said some 340,000 people were evacuated.

China’s National Meteorological Centre expected parts of southern Guangdong and southeastern Fujian provinces to experience heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend.

Many trees were seen uprooted in Huilai county, located on the coast of Guangdong province, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hong Kong’s airport authority said about 350 flights were cancelled on Sunday. At least nine people were injured across the city during the typhoon period, according to Hong Kong authorities.

As Noul approached Hong Kong, parts of a large scaffolding on a high-rise building collapsed on Saturday afternoon, local police said, although initial reports indicated there were no injuries.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said Noul was bringing rainfall to parts of southern and eastern Taiwan. It was passing over waters south of Taiwan and was moving away from the island Saturday.

Earlier this month, Typhoon Bavi brought strong winds and rain to eastern China, leading to the evacuation of more than two million people. It made landfall on July 11. Another, Maysak, made landfall in southern China on July 3.

Thousands of people are being evacuated from areas of southern France as firefighters battle huge wildfires. Researchers say climate change is intensifying heat and drought, creating conditions for larger and more destructive wildfire seasons across Europe.

Global hunger declined for the third consecutive year in 2025, offering a rare piece of positive news for food security after years of setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and economic instability. Yet the United Nations warns that the gains remain fragile, with climate change, geopolitical tensions and disruptions to global trade threatening to reverse recent progress.

According to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, jointly produced by five U.N. agencies, approximately 645 million people or 7.8% of the global population experienced hunger last year. That marks an improvement from 8.1% in 2024 and 8.6% in 2022, continuing a gradual downward trend.

While the figures suggest the world is moving in the right direction, U.N. experts caution that achieving the goal of ending hunger by 2030 remains far from guaranteed.

Hunger Declines Across Every Continent

For the first time in several years, every continent recorded improvements in hunger levels, including Africa, where progress has historically been the slowest.

Asia accounted for much of the global improvement, led by significant gains in India, while Latin America and the Caribbean continued building on earlier successes. Several African nations—including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Senegal—also reported improvements after years of deteriorating food security.

Despite these advances, Africa remains the world’s most food-insecure region. Around 309 million people, or roughly one in every five Africans, continue to suffer from chronic undernourishment.

U.N. officials described the continent’s improvement as encouraging but modest, emphasizing that much more investment will be needed to sustain progress.

India Emerges as a Key Driver

India played a central role in reducing global hunger statistics.

Home to nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, the country has lowered hunger levels to below 10%, driven by expanded welfare programs, increased agricultural productivity and improvements in food distribution.

The country’s progress demonstrates how targeted government policies combined with economic growth can substantially improve food security even in densely populated developing economies.

Elsewhere, the Dominican Republic also achieved sufficient progress to be removed from the global hunger map.

Climate and Geopolitical Risks Persist

Despite encouraging trends, the U.N. warns that several emerging risks could quickly undermine global food security.

One of the most immediate concerns is the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where escalating tensions in the Middle East have increased transportation costs and driven up prices for fuel and fertilizers—critical inputs for agricultural production worldwide.

Higher energy costs inevitably translate into more expensive food production and distribution, placing additional pressure on consumers already facing elevated food prices.

Meanwhile, forecasters are monitoring the possible emergence of a strong El Niño weather pattern, which could reduce crop yields across many vulnerable regions through droughts, floods and extreme temperatures.

Together, geopolitical instability and climate shocks threaten both food availability and affordability.

Hunger Is Falling, But Healthy Diets Remain Unaffordable

The report also highlights an important distinction between reducing hunger and improving nutrition.

Although fewer people are experiencing chronic hunger, 2.69 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet.

The U.N. estimates that a nutritious daily diet costs an average of $4.28 per person when adjusted for purchasing power—well beyond the reach of many households in low-income countries.

The affordability gap is especially severe in Africa, where 66.1% of the population cannot afford healthy food, more than double the levels recorded across much of Asia and Latin America.

Poor transport infrastructure, inadequate cold-storage facilities and fragmented regional trade continue to make nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat significantly more expensive across the continent.

Nutrition Challenges Extend Beyond Hunger

The report also warns that improving calorie intake alone is not enough.

Child malnutrition remains widespread in many developing countries, while anemia among women continues to worsen. At the same time, adult obesity is increasing globally, illustrating the growing “double burden” of malnutrition in which undernutrition and unhealthy diets coexist.

This reflects broader structural problems within global food systems, where inexpensive calories are often more accessible than balanced nutrition.

What’s Next?

U.N. experts remain cautiously optimistic that global hunger can continue declining through 2030, provided governments maintain investments in agriculture, strengthen international trade and improve resilience against climate shocks.

However, the outlook depends heavily on geopolitical stability. Continued conflict in the Middle East, disruptions to major shipping routes, worsening climate events or prolonged trade barriers could rapidly increase food prices and slow or reverse recent gains.

Analysis: Progress Is Real, But Food Security Remains Fragile

The latest U.N. report demonstrates that coordinated public policies, agricultural investment and social protection programs can reduce hunger on a global scale. India’s progress, alongside improvements across Latin America and parts of Africa, shows that meaningful change is possible even amid economic uncertainty.

Yet the report also highlights a growing challenge: food security is increasingly shaped by forces beyond agriculture itself. Climate change, global shipping disruptions, energy prices and geopolitical conflicts now influence what people eat as much as farming does. While hunger is declining, access to affordable, nutritious food remains out of reach for billions. Sustaining progress will therefore require not only producing more food, but building more resilient supply chains, improving regional trade and adapting agricultural systems to an increasingly volatile global environment.

With information from Reuters.

With the World Cup final less than 24 hours away, an unlikely factor is grabbing the attention of organisers, fans and players alike.

The lingering smoke from the Canadian wildfires sparked earlier this week has engulfed the northeastern region of the United States, raising questions about its impact on the Spain vs Argentina final in New Jersey on Sunday.

A visible haze hung over the twin World Cup host states of New York and New Jersey on Saturday, with inclement weather causing disruptions.

At one point on Friday, New York rated as the city with the worst air quality in the world.

The World Cup final between the European champions and current title holders kicks off at 3pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Here’s what we know about the smoke, weather and World Cup final:

Is there a haze in New York and New Jersey before the World Cup final?

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is hanging over the region, reducing visibility and affecting air quality in most northeastern US states.

Warnings of unhealthy air quality remained in effect across a wide area of the US east coast on Saturday.

However, experts predict conditions will improve for the big showdown in New Jersey tomorrow.

The air quality index forecast shows an improvement from unhealthy air to “moderate” air quality for sensitive groups from Saturday to Sunday in East Rutherford, which means little to no health risk for the general public on the day of the final.

How is the weather and what’s the forecast in New Jersey before the Spain vs Argentina final?

A thunderstorm passed through the area on Saturday afternoon, causing heavy rain and loud thunder at the New York New Jersey Stadium, renamed from MetLife Stadium.

State police urged people to leave the stadium seating bowl and field and take shelter. Volunteers and staff dashed inside for cover as ponchos were handed out. The sky was the same thick, soupy grey it had been for days.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill warned residents about the potential for damaging winds, tornadoes, flash flooding and large hailstones.

FIFA said it was in close contact with local authorities as it continues to monitor the impacts from the wildfire smoke and the storms on the stadium conditions for the final.

Have the weather and smoke disrupted preparations for Spain or Argentina?

Spain’s last training session ahead of the final at a nearby Melanie Lane Training Ground was suspended because of storms and lightning in the area.

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) said that was in accordance with US storm safety protocol.

“The players are currently taking part in a warm-up session indoors,” RFEF added.

FIFA said that there would not be another time slot for the team to train.

Argentina had an outdoor training session at their scheduled time of 1:30pm (17:30 GMT), with players showing no concerns about air quality or the weather.

Will the wildfire smoke affect the World Cup final?

The haze will mostly clear from New Jersey just in time for the final, thanks to thunderstorms passing through the area, meteorologists say.

“This storm front will largely move the smoke out of the northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina,” said Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at online weather service AccuWeather.

“There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” Roys said. “In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the northeast.”

Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist at WFLA-TV, echoed the forecast, saying the storm front would “sweep the atmosphere clean”, leaving only a thin smoke that World Cup spectators may still smell in the air.

“It won’t be dangerous anymore,” Berardelli said. “It’s going to be dramatically better.”

Temperatures are forecast to be around 27C (80F) with light breezes and low humidity for kick off.

“You couldn’t have asked for much better weather for the World Cup,” Berardelli added.

Both experts expect the heavier smoke on Sunday to be concentrated closer to the fires, hanging over parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes region.

Berardelli said they are burning longer and faster because of climate change.

Plumes of smoke from wildfires in Canada are pouring into major US cities across the Midwest, Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Polluted air is affecting more than 100 million people and is creating concern ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final.

WASHINGTON — Democrats are making a growing effort to adopt a pragmatic focus as they campaign on affordability in the midterms, as some within the party push for moving away from ideological arguments.

Across the country, Democratic candidates are trying to win over voters by talking about real-life scenarios, framing other platform issues in economic terms and, strategists say, aiming to shift a perception that Democrats deal in the abstract.

They see an opening created by voters’ focus on the economy and their ability as the party not in power to leverage affordability as the key midterms issue as Trump’s economic approval remains low. Trump has dismissed the issue, calling affordability a “hoax” by Democrats while also promising economic improvements.

“There has been a learning process in being able to take what Trump and the Republicans are doing and make sure that [candidates] are coming back to the real-world economic implications of whatever that might be,” Democratic strategist Alex Jacquez, who served in the Biden White House. “That’s where maybe [Democrats] haven’t always, in the recent past, made the full connection all the way through.”

Now, “the moment is ripe,” he suggested, for the party to shift its image.

The Democrats’ concentration on affordability and the economy has defined their midterm messaging, playing off elevated inflation, the effects of Trump’s tariffs and high gas prices caused by the war in Iran. The party is attempting to capture enough swing voters to win a House majority in November, and some believe the Senate could also be within reach.

Polling shows pessimism about the economy has increased among all Americans and most believe the country is in an affordability crisis. Americans most frequently mention government leadership and economic issues as the country’s most important problems in Gallup polling.

Voters also increasingly disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, including working-class white voters who make up a key part of his base. In an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll last month, Americans gave the president his lowest-ever approval rating on the economy at 33%.

Speaking in Pennsylvania on Thursday, Trump said of affordability: “That’s a fake word that they use. They caused the affordability problem. It’s called high prices.”

Rep. Adam Gray, a Democrat who represents a purple Central Valley district and is a member of the center-left Blue Dog Coalition in Congress, said he believes voters have grown frustrated by the failure of Washington lawmakers to pay attention to what the people want out from government.

He pointed to Central Valley growers whose business has been affected, he said, by the rising price of fuel and fertilizer, the squeeze on the labor market caused by immigration enforcement and changes to federal programs.

“How regular people experience politics, it’s not the kind of ideological debates we have in Washington,” Gray said. “It’s the experience of doing something, whether that’s shopping for groceries or going to the lake to go boating with your family and realizing the price of gas is through the roof or the road to the lake is in disrepair.”

At a time when Democrats have debated how to embrace a party identity beyond opposing Trump and intra-party fights between progressive and moderate candidates have drawn attention, some believe the “practical” tactic may offer one key to the party’s path forward.

In Texas, Democratic candidates are pointing to the impact of data centers on water supply or the consequences of the state’s abortion ban, said Matt Angle, director of Lone Star Project, a political research organization that works to help get Democrats elected.

“The fact that Corpus Christi is running out of water … [or] you have women who have died because they were denied abortion services,” Angle said. “It’s very important that those things not be talked about in ideological terms but in practical terms. I think Democrats are doing a better job of that than ever before.”

“Real life is happening on the ground,” Angle added. “I think Democrats see that.”

Republicans pursued a similar strategy successfully in 2024, and their attacks on Democrats for focusing on cultural issues may have been successful in pushing Democrats away from that messaging, said Republican strategist Brittany Martinez.

“They have made it clear that’s the direction in which they’re trying to go,” she said of Democrats. “I also think you have outliers of the party that sometimes suck all the oxygen out of the room and maybe derail that message.”

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Christian Martinez said Democrats’ economic record, including in California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, demonstrates a failure to prioritize working families.

“It’s laughable that Democrats are trying to make kitchen-table issues their brand,” he said. “It only proves their political brand is broken, while Californians continue living every day with the receipts from Democrats’ failed agenda.”

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said Thursday at a summit convened by the Washington-based news outlet the Hill that he was confident the party would retain the House and Senate and projected optimism about the economy.

“He’s going to bat for the American worker every single day,” Gruters said of Trump. “He’s going to continue to do everything he can to get the nose of the economy in this country up and to get prices down.”

But as Trump appears to prioritize other issues, Martinez said, Republicans are facing their own uphill battle to win over swing voters.

“When the president has mocked affordability, said it’s not a crisis, I don’t think that helps [Republicans],” Martinez said. “Democrats have an opportunity to capitalize on that right now.”

Both moderate and progressive Democrats see the moment as a chance to define what the party stands for beyond opposing Trump, and both have seized on real-life arguments, though the approaches differ.

Progressives have long framed a spectrum of issues in economic terms, said Usamah Andrabi, spokesperson for the progressive caucus Justice Democrats.

“That has always been the progressive economic playbook, and I think it’s about time that the other wings of the Democratic Party catch up to us,” Andrabi said.

That also means, he said, not backing away from other issues, such as abortion, foreign wars and healthcare.

“It has always been the right that has sought to divide our communities on these so-called culture war issues,” Andrabi said. “Our vision forward should be one that includes everyone… That does not mean simply ignoring some people’s most urgent crises to focus on something else, because these are interconnected.”

Climate advocates, for instance, are “effectively connecting” climate to top midterm issues, including including gas and utility costs, AI data centers and the Iran war, said Jamie Henn, executive director of nonprofit communications lab Fossil Fuel Media, and have encouraged Democratic candidates to do the same.

“Climate, like many issues, doesn’t win itself on its own merits. It’s in the ways that you talk about it and connect it to kitchen-table issues,” Henn said. “Do it in the right way – it’s not a science lecture on global warming, it’s a story about how clean energy can reduce your bills.”

Still, getting more candidates to pick up those messages can be a steep climb, he said. Advocates in some spaces, including climate, have worried about their issues being sidelined.

“There are Democrats that could be threading this needle who aren’t,” Henn said. “We know the issues that climate needs to be connected to, but [politicians] need… to do a better job to clearly articulate the messages.”

Monitor ranks Toronto as having the worst air quality on earth, surpassing Kinshasa, DR Congo, and New Delhi, India.

Toronto’s air quality has ranked the worst among all major cities in the world as smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario blankets the skies and spreads into the northeastern United States, triggering multiple health warnings and evacuations.

Wildfires continued burning through sparsely populated areas hundreds of miles from Toronto, Canada’s largest city, on Wednesday, sending smoke over a wide area, although cities in the area are not being threatened.

Environment Canada reported an Air Quality Health Index reading of 10+, classified as “very high risk”, for Toronto. Forecasts suggested that hazardous conditions could persist through Thursday night.

IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, ranked Toronto as having the worst air quality across the globe, surpassing the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kinshasa and India’s New Delhi.

“The biggest contributor to Toronto’s spike in air pollution right now is wildfires, though the higher-than-average temperatures are also playing a role,” Armen Araradian of IQAir told the AFP news agency.

While this year’s wildfire season in Canada has been fairly muted compared with recent years, there are more than 800 active fires nationwide.

A video that went viral on social media showed a Canadian National train surrounded by fire near Armstrong, Ontario. Canadian National employees in the area and residents of Armstrong were evacuated on Monday night, the railroad operator said in a statement. It suspended rail operations near Armstrong as a precaution.

Smoke from the wildfires also worsened air quality across the border in the US, with the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire particularly affected.

Authorities in New York City have issued an alert over unhealthy air quality, urging residents to reduce strenuous outdoor activity and take extra breaks if they are outside on Wednesday and Thursday.

The National Weather Service said smoke could linger until the end of the week.

“We probably haven’t seen the worst of it yet for New York City. We probably haven’t seen the worst of it yet for the Great Lakes and upstate, and New England yet either,” Dan Westervelt, Lamont associate research professor at Columbia University, told the Reuters news agency.

More than 80,000 people are expected to attend the FIFA World Cup final at an open-air stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, with another 50,000 planning to watch the game from New York City’s Central Park, where skies appeared hazy.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged people, especially those with health conditions, to exercise caution.

The Canadian government has said that wildfire season began more slowly this year than in 2023 or 2025 – the two worst seasons for wildfires – but warned that fires were likely, due to warmer-than-usual temperatures across the country.

It said some 835 active fires were burning across the country on Wednesday, with 112 considered out of control, and most in the central provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

They have burned 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) so far.

Greg Evans, a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the University of Toronto, said the city had been simultaneously hit with severe heat and wildfire smoke.

“I expect that this will occur more frequently over the coming decades, so cities and residents need to prepare for this in the future,” he said.