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Indonesia wildfires threaten orangutans rescued from animal traffickers

Orangutans rescued from wildlife traffickers face a new threat from the record number of fires that have broken out in Indonesia in recent weeks. Flames have come within metres of an animal rehabilitation centre in West Kalimantan as hot, dry and windy conditions have been amplified by a powerful El Niño and the human-driven climate crisis. In the first 13 days of August, Indonesia registered more than three times more forest fire hotspots than in the whole of the same month last year. This followed a record number of blazes between January and July. West Kalimantan has been at the epicentre. After 40 days without rain, there have been dozens of severe outbreaks of fire in the region. Flames threatened the Yiari orangutan rehabilitation centre this week. The fire moved rapidly from 1km away to within 100 metres of the perimeter within days, prompting staff to relocate the 60 resident orangutans to enclosures in the middle of the centre. Indonesia authorities have water-bombed the forest to try to control the blaze, and teams from the centre joined the firefighting efforts as the air quality worsened, posing a threat to animals and the wider ecosystem. The centre’s director, Dr Karmele Llano Sánchez, said in her latest update that battling the fire had been relentless. “We were fighting it until 3am, but this morning it has reignited. The teams are working round the clock but they are exhausted.” The situation had reportedly stabilised as of Thursday evening, with all the animals safe, but the meteorological agency has said the hot, dry conditions are likely to continue and could lead to more outbreaks. Indonesian authorities have urged people to avoid setting fires and to remain vigilant because the peak of the fire season is usually in September and October. Yiari is seeking funds for more firefighting equipment. It warned of the growing threat earlier this year after a fire started for land clearing spread into one of its ecosystem restoration sites.

Sydney airport incident involving Virgin and Qantas flights didn’t have to be reported, Airservices Australia says

The organisation that manages Australian skies has defended its decision not to immediately report a fresh safety incident at Sydney airport when a Virgin plane aborted its take-off. The chief executive of the commonwealth-owned Airservices Australia, Rob Sharp, said he did not believe the incident met the reporting threshold given the substantial distance between the Virgin plane and a Qantas aircraft crossing the runway in front of it on Sunday. Sharp said air traffic controllers rescinded clearances while the aircraft were still more than 1km apart. “Based on that criteria, it didn’t meet the mandatory reporting requirements from our perspective,” Sharp said on Friday. “However, we’re quite open to reviewing the data that surrounds it. If there are improvements to be made, we will make them.” The incident was referred to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on Thursday – four days after the event. It was the third safety issue at the country’s busiest airport in recent weeks. There are about 60 “runway incursions” a year in Australia, according to the ATSB, but they rarely happen at major airports or with large aircraft. The pilot of the Virgin flight saw the Qantas plane transiting in front of it, reduced thrust and brought the aircraft to a stop at about the same time the clearance was rescinded. Sunday’s incident took place just a few hours after a Jetstar plane narrowly avoided colliding with a Qatar Airways plane on the Sydney tarmac, prompting nationwide attention on a shortage of air traffic controllers. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email A third incident occurred in late July, when a Qantas flight was initially cleared to cross a runway in front of another plane that had just landed. The three incidents are under investigation. The ATSB chief commissioner, Angus Mitchell, said he was seeking reasons for the delayed report of the latest incident. “This type of runway incursion and loss of separation is a transport safety concern, and we immediately commenced an investigation upon being notified of this yesterday afternoon,” Mitchell said on Friday. The safety bureau boss said while it was “too early to make any conclusions”, the ATSB would “consider any organisational or systemic issues that may have contributed” to the incident involving the Virgin and Qantas planes.

‘Tiktok wouldn’t open at all’: Taiwan simulates an internet blackout, with an eye on China threat

In Taipei, the streets swiftly empty as air raid sirens ring out and alerts ping on mobile phones. Police officers usher any stragglers into shelters, leaving the capital suddenly deserted. In cities across Taiwan, these kinds of drills are a fact of life every year, amid the growing threat posed by China across the strait, but this time there is something different. Internet speeds were drastically cut on Thursday, simulating a coordinated attack for the first time. Data-heavy services such as video calls, streaming and mobile payments became difficult or impossible to use, while videos on social media barely loaded. However, Wang Chen-wen knows how to reach others. When the sirens sound and her mobile internet begins to grind to a halt, Wang goes to the roof of her 25-storey apartment building, searching for a better radio signal. She connects her phone via Bluetooth to a small, flat device hanging from her bag. Within seconds, she is sending messages without relying on the internet. Minutes later, some of them succeeded in reaching a friend in a neighbouring district. “Testing from Beitou district, Taipei.” “Xinyi district, Taipei.” Messages begin coming in as users share their locations in a group chat being tested on an open-source platform that allows people to use text messages via long-range, low-power radio signals. “You can’t wait until something actually happens to realise you should have prepared,” says Wang, who leads a local group that provides civil defence training and started learning how to use the platform about six months ago. Authorities said the drill was designed to encourage people to prepare alternative means of communication in an emergency – part of Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its civil resilience in the face of growing military threats from Beijing, which claims the self-ruling democracy as its own territory and has not ruled out using force to annex it. The internet disruption exercise took place on two separate days this week across 14 cities and counties in northern and central Taiwan, home to roughly 70% of the island’s 23 million people. “If the idea is to recreate what it might be like during a war, it’s definitely inconvenient, but I can understand why they’re doing it,” says Jimmy Chu, a 22-year-old worker who says messages from his boss failed to come through during the drill. Tzeng Yi-suo, an associate researcher at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, says the inconvenience itself was intentional. “It’s a starting point for raising public awareness,” Tzeng says. “Through repeated exercises, people will gradually understand that this is about experiencing that inconvenience and testing the backup systems we may need.” For Chen Hui-xuan, an 18-year-old who tried to use her phone on the metro during the drill, the inconvenience was real. “TikTok wouldn’t open at all. Facebook worked, but it was really slow, and messages on Instagram took around 30 seconds to send,” she says. There is growing concern about the vulnerability of Taiwan’s submarine cable network – 16 international cables and 10 domestic ones – which the government has called an “irreplaceable digital lifeline”. Several cables have been damaged in recent years in incidents involving Chinese or China-linked vessels, which Taiwan’s coast guard has described as a “grey zone” strategy aimed at depleting the island’s resources without crossing the threshold into an act of war. In 2025, a Chinese captain was convicted of deliberately damaging a cable linking Taiwan’s main island with the offshore Penghu archipelago, while another Chinese fishing boat captain was later convicted of negligently damaging a cable serving Matsu, another outlying archipelago administered by Taiwan. Taiwan is seeking to build multiple layers of backup communications so that no single disruption can cut off the island. The options include low-Earth-orbit satellite services that could help people stay connected should terrestrial networks be disrupted. The approach has drawn on lessons learned in Ukraine, where Elon Musk’s Starlink has played a role after conventional infrastructure was damaged during Russia’s invasion. Last month, Taiwan’s legislature approved amendments that could clear the way for Starlink to enter the local market, although relying on Musk’s network has raised concerns because of his extensive business interests in China. In a crisis where internet access was limited, Tzeng says people would face “a high degree of uncertainty and fear”, which hostile forces could exploit. “The question is how you use the backup communications channels available to get reliable information to people and reassure them.” For Wang, knowing she has another way to communicate has already made a difference. “At least I know that if something happens, I already have a basic plan and know what to do, so I won’t face whatever disaster may come with fear or panic,” she says.

Ukraine war briefing: Crimea bomb kills ‘Ukrainian sub commander who defected’

A Russian military officer labelled as a Ukrainian defector ⁠was killed in a ⁠bomb attack on Thursday in Russian-annexed Crimea. Robert Shageyev was described on Russian Telegram channels as ‌a former Ukrainian naval officer who switched allegiance to ‌Russia during Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 when he was commanding Ukraine’s only submarine, the Zaporizhzhia. Myrotvorets – a Ukrainian website keeping a database of people described as war criminals or ‌traitors – said Shageyev had been “liquidated”. The attack took place in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea. The regional governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said a woman was arrested on suspicion of ⁠assassinating Shageyev on behalf of Ukrainian special services. State news agency TASS quoted the FSB security service as saying the arrested woman was ⁠a Russian national. There was no immediate comment ⁠from Ukraine. Separately, Razvozhayev said four Russian explosives experts and a security guard were killed in Sevastopol while trying to dispose of an explosive device. A Russian drone attack on a passenger train killed two people, Ukrainian officials said. “Today in the Odesa region, the Russians once again destroyed an ordinary passenger train locomotive with a jet-powered drone. There were 340 people on the train,” said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Thursday. “Whoever was operating that drone certainly could not have been unaware that the target was entirely civilian,” he added. The dead were the train’s engineer and assistant engineer, officials said. An oil refinery in the Russian city ⁠of Orsk that was hit by Ukrainian drones has been forced ⁠to shut down ⁠completely, the regional governor said on Thursday. “Shrapnel damaged key infrastructure that cannot currently be repaired. The equipment is imported, and due to sanctions, repairs could ⁠take up to six months,” said Yevgeny Solntsev, governor of the ‌surrounding Orenburg region. The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it had attacked the Orsk refinery near the border with Kazakhstan about 1,470km (915 miles) south-east of Moscow. A Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted, the Polish prime minister said. Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of another Nato country. The suspect, allegedly recruited by Russia’s secret services, was detained by Polish authorities on 7 August. The American Ukrainian citizen “was uncomfortable for the Putin regime”, Tusk said. The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US state department said it was aware of the reports but had no additional information. Ukraine has proposed a deal with Russia for both sides to halt their attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea in an apparent attempt to reopen a crucial grain corridor, Reuters reports. Kyiv is said to have made the offer through a third party. Moscow had yet to respond, the news agency added on Thursday. Since July, Ukrainian attacks have effectively closed the route for commercial Russian shipping, hitting nearly 220 vessels in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, including oil tankers, grain cargo ships and passenger ferries, write Luke Harding and Andrew Roth. Russia on Thursday struck Ukraine’s port of Izmail, in the Odesa region near ⁠the Romanian border. Ukrainian drones struck the major Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat refinery in Bashkortostan deep inside Russia. It is one of Russia’s biggest refineries and lies south-east of Moscow about 1,300km (800 miles) from Ukraine’s border. Wildberries – the Russian online retailer targeted by Ukrainian drones for its sale of war supplies and its economic importance – said the Salavat attack also started a fire at one of its facilities. Russia and Ukraine swapped bodies of killed soldiers on Thursday. Kyiv has previously accused Russia of handing over the remains of civilians and Russian soldiers – fuelling suspicions Moscow manipulates the exchanges to make it look like more Ukrainians are dying than Russians, which is the opposite of independent assessments. “The bodies of 261 deceased persons have been returned to Ukraine, which, according to the Russian side, belong to Ukrainian servicemen,” said Ukraine’s prisoners of war agency. Citing a Russian lawmaker, the RBC media outlet said Moscow had handed over 261 bodies while Ukraine had transferred 24. Ukraine has condemned the illegality of Russian parliament ⁠elections next month in occupied areas. The foreign ministry statement coincided with the start ‌of a mission of ‌observers from ex-Soviet states to watch the election process. The foreign ministry in Kyiv said the presence of the observers made no difference: “Any vote organised by Russia on the sovereign territory of Ukraine is illegal and the results of such a vote are null and void and ‌have no legal consequences.”

Romania shuts its last nuclear reactor as drought-hit Danube river drops to record low

Romania has been forced to shut down the last working ⁠reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova. Drought and record-low water levels have deepened fears of an energy crisis across Europe, which is facing a new summer heatwave. The drought-hit Danube, whose waters cool the Romanian plant in Cernavoda, already forced Nucelarelectrica to shut down ⁠one reactor in late July. On Thursday the company said it needed to shut the second reactor “due to the significant and ongoing drop” in the river’s water level, and it did not foresee a restart in within the next 10 days. Nuclearelectrica’s two 706-megawatt reactors account for 20% of the country’s power ⁠output. Romania has declared a state of energy emergency throughout August and asked companies and households to reduce consumption during peak hours. Shutting down the reactor posed immediate problems for Moldova, Romania’s eastern neighbour, ⁠which has also endured low river levels and relies on Romanian power to cover up to 60% of its own electricity shortages. With Romanian imports now unavailable, Moldova faces the prospect of increased purchases from Ukraine, if Kyiv can supply the ‌power, buying more expensive power from western countries or imposing rolling power cuts. “I think we should be ready for a worsening situation, including power outages, although it’s hard to say for sure right now,” Moldovan energy expert Sergiu Tofilat told Radio Chisinau. Romania’s energy ministry said it had ⁠turned on a 330-megawatt lignite-fired power plant, adding it was also relying on increased wind generation and hydro power – based ‌on available water in reservoirs – to ‌make up for shortages. It has warned that as a last resort, large industrial users would have to face restrictions in the evening hours to save electricity. In early August, the government said carmakers Dacia and Ford would pause production in the country until 19 August to help with the power deficit. Nearly two-thirds of the Danube has seen flow rates drop to the lowest on record for a July in 34 years, according to analysis from the European climate change observatory Copernicus. The drought has hit nuclear power providers across Europe. France, which uses nuclear power to generate about 70% of its electricity, recorded a more than 20% shortfall in atomic production capacity this week, a record deficit caused by outages linked to drought, extreme heat and a jellyfish invasion, according to Agence France-Presse calculations based on Électricité de France (EDF) data. In total, 13 of the 57 reactors in EDF’s nuclear fleet were affected. Hungary, neighbouring Romania, has avoided a complete shutdown of its only nuclear plant, Paks, whose four reactors are also cooled by the Danube. But with the river expected to drop further, Hungary’s prime minister, Péter Magyar, said on Wednesday that the government had ordered the construction of a submerged wall, or weir, to try to control flows nears the plant. Two 80-metre (260 feet) barges are also being stationed at Paks that could be sunk to raise the water level. Paks, which usually provides about a third of Hungary’s electricity, has been partially shut down since late last month. The drought in Europe has been exacerbated by human-induced climate change, according to the World Weather Attribution group of scientists, who warn that the problem will worsen. The low levels of the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, have also severely affected shipping along its 2,850km (1,770 mile) route stretching from western Germany to the Black Sea. Reuters and Agence France-Press contributed to this report

‘So much more respect for myself’: NZ ultrarunner Sophie Woods on smashing a 2,000km alpine run record

A couple of weeks into her record-breaking 2,000km run through Europe’s alps, Sophie Woods feared she might die. Woods and her photographer had just scaled a peak in Switzerland, when a severe thunderstorm engulfed them. “The lightning was going off around us ... there was nowhere to shelter in place [and] all the rocks around us were conductive,” Woods tells the Guardian, from her home in Andorra, nearly two weeks after she became the fastest person ever to run the Via Alpina, a 2,000km network of alpine trails through eight countries. “I was slightly concerned that one of us was going to die,” she says. “I ran so fast to get out of that.” Woods set off from Muggia, near Trieste, in Italy on 4 July to run the mountainous Via Alpina trail winding through Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, and Monaco with an ambitious goal: complete it in record time. It was an Odyssean feat. As well as battling thunderstorms and several heatwaves, Woods faced another unexpected challenge. At one stage, she had been running since 3am through Austria’s mountains, amid unbearable heat. By mid-afternoon she was exhausted, hot and stressed about whether she and her crew had accommodation for the night. Then, a swarm of blood-sucking horse flies descended. “They were biting me, and I was already at my wit’s end,” she says. “I’m screaming at them every time they bite me. All I wanted to do is curl up in the foetal position and cry.” Unable to outrun them, Woods put away her hiking poles and grabbed two handfuls of ferns. “I spent the next hour just whacking myself with these ferns everywhere and I looked completely nuts. It was horrendous.” In the face of extreme conditions, the 42-year-old New Zealander remained a cautious runner and kept focus – sometimes for 20 hours a day. One ankle sprain, or fall, could have scuppered her goal. Each day she consumed about 7,000 calories, and was supported by her husband, George Woods, and photographer Zoe Salt, who fed her, cooled her down and arranged rests and accommodation along the route. By week three, she felt stronger than ever. “My body was just like, ‘OK, this is our life now … we go out and eat mountains for breakfast.’” Woods ran through the night to reach the finish line in Monaco on 1 August, shuffling into the glitzy city-state exhausted, and grateful she and her team were still in one piece. “You’ve used up everything … so it just was a sense of relief I don’t have to run any more,” she says. The journey had taken her a remarkable 28 days, 17 hours and 59 minutes – smashing the previous record of 35 days and 21 hours set by British runner Jake Catterall, and beating Dutch runner Tessa Caspers’ previous best women’s time of 38 days. The record, Woods says, also belongs to her team: “It’s a pretty massive thing to ask of anyone, and I’m just so grateful to them.” Realisations and inspiration Born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, Woods showed little interest in running as child. After moving to the UK, aged 20, she started running to improve her health, initially managing just 15-minute jogs. As her habit grew, she began running 10km races, which soon escalated to marathons. During the week, Woods worked at a hair salon, while her weekends were spent seeking out mountainous trails. After 16 years in London, she bought a camper van with her husband and spent the next seven years travelling Europe’s mountains, before eventually settling in Andorra. Woods has competed in dozens of premiere races, including running the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (a 170km mountain race) six times, the Tor des Géants (an extreme 330km endurance event) and more, over the past decade. But by 2025, her joy in running started to wane. After several years attempting IVF treatment, Woods and her husband had to come to terms with infertility. As a result, each race felt like she was “just going through the motions”. “I was really struggling with the fact … that my life wasn’t going to look different, that I wasn’t going to be changing nappies and doing school runs,” Woods says. On seeing his wife struggling, George Woods suggested they focus on a new challenge – Woods running the Via Alpina, with him as crew. The endeavour would have a profound effect on her love for the sport and her sense of self. “I had come from a place with the IVF where I was not particularly in love with my body,” Woods says. “But my love and respect for my body, and what she can do for me now, is just so much more. What she allowed me to achieve, in a way that was joyful … I just have so much more respect for myself.” Since completing the trail, Woods has been flooded with messages from girls and women around the world who want to try a 5km run or push themselves further. Her Instagram account has gained more than 55,000 followers in recent weeks. Woods “never thought” she would be in a position to inspire others and the widespread interest in her feat has come as a surprise. “When you’re in the trail-running world, these things seem a lot more normal,” she says. “But it has blown up, and you start to understand that what you’ve just done is not normal at all.”

Two seriously injured after passenger train derails near Lewes in East Sussex

Two people have been seriously injured after a passenger train derailed between Haywards Heath and Lewes in East Sussex on Thursday. The South East Coast ambulance service said two people were taken to major trauma centres with severe injuries. Images of the aftermath appeared to show passengers standing on top of the toppled carriages while others could be seen in an area of heathland alongside emergency workers. British Transport Police said: “At this time we believe that two people have sustained serious injuries and a further nine patients have sustained less serious injuries. Patients have been assessed and treated at the scene, with some transported to local hospitals.” Assistant chief constable Ian Drummond-Smith said: “We’ve declared a major incident and a significant emergency service response is ongoing at the scene, but all passengers on the train have now been safely evacuated from the service. “Our thoughts are of course with everyone affected, and I’d like to reassure the public that we’re supporting the Rail Accident Investigation Branch [RAIB] to establish exactly what’s happened. We’ll provide further information as soon as we are able.” The RAIB has launched an inquiry into what went wrong. An aerial photograph of the scene showed three of the train’s eight carriages on their side. Rob Bradley and his six-year-old daughter Mabel were in the last of the carriages to stay upright. Speaking to the BBC he said: “We are doing OK. We were very lucky we were on the fourth carriage. The fifth went on its side. “We felt the train speeding up and started to rock. Then our carriage jumped vertically upwards and we could tell it was a derailment. The emergency brakes went on the train and everything got thrown forward. “The train skidded for quite a while before it stopped. We turned around and we saw the whole back of the train was open and smoke and dust were pouring into the carriage and we saw the fifth carriage had gone on its side.” Several rail routes were closed after the Southern service came off the tracks just before 4pm. Emergency services advised people to avoid the area, and said anyone travelling by rail in the area should allow up to 60 minutes extra for their journey. A spokesperson for Network Rail and Southern Rail said on Thursday evening: “We can confirm that the 14.24 Southern passenger service from Victoria to Eastbourne has derailed in the Lewes area of East Sussex. “Emergency services are on site and we will update with more information when we can. Trains through the area are suspended and passengers are advised to check online at southernrailway.com for the latest service information.” The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, tweeted: “Deeply concerned of reports of a derailment involving a Southern train in Lewes, Sussex. “Grateful to emergency services who are on the scene supporting those impacted. We are working quickly with the rail industry and local partners to assist passengers.” Southern said in an update on X at 5.47pm: “If you are travelling to Gatwick airport, please allow at least an extra 150 minutes for your journey to ensure you make your flight connections and use an alternative route. “We have requested rail replacement buses to the following stations: Haywards Heath, Lewes. We will update you here on X once confirmed, but for now, please continue to travel using your own alternative route.” In an earlier update it said the derailment had occurred between Haywards Heath and Lewes, meaning there were no trains running between Brighton and Lewes, Haywards Heath and Lewes and Seaford/Eastbourne and Lewes. The company told passengers: “You should delay your journey in this area until later on today, or use an alternative route to travel.” James MacCleary, the MP for Lewes, said: “I am aware of very concerning reports of a train crash in the Lewes area this afternoon. I am in touch with the relevant authorities now and will provide further updates as soon as I have more information. “This is clearly a very serious and developing incident, and my thoughts are with everyone affected. In the meantime, if you are concerned about someone or need urgent assistance, please contact the emergency services.”