The Guardian

• ‘My shirt was wringing’: National Express bus drivers speak out on 40C conditions

  Drivers in West Midlands say buses ‘unbearable’ during heatwaves, raising employee and passenger safety fears

  Bus drivers in the West Midlands have spoken out about the “horrendous” working conditions they have experienced during heatwaves, which led to 40C temperatures in their cabs.

  The UK was hit by high temperatures and dry weather in three successive heatwaves, with temperatures topping 37C last month when the country recorded its hottest ever June day. Last week, the Met Office warned climate extremes were becoming the “new ‘normal’ for the UK”.

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• ‘It’s total devastation’: inside the Amazonian war against illegal gold mining

  The Guardian goes on the ground with Brazilian forces fighting to eradicate mining that has destroyed protected areas of Indigenous land

  The jerry-built bordello at the foot of Vila Cururu, an illegal gold-mining settlement at the heart of Brazil’s most desecrated Indigenous territory, was a hive of depravity until just a few weeks ago.

  Inebriated prospectors huddled around wooden tables, swigging beer and Scotch whisky, and ogling pole-dancing sex workers before going with them to shacks behind the brothel.

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• AI-altered images on birdwatching forums putting research at risk

  Experts warn increase in enhanced photos on birding platforms creating fake sightings, threatening credibility of tool used by scientists

  For many birdwatchers, recording a species outside its normal range is the holy grail. In the UK, the discoveries often make national headlines. The western reef heron, for example, usually found in Africa and southern Europe, was spotted in a seaside town in north Wales in June, and widely celebrated on birding forums.

  But a new scourge is threatening to disrupt the fun: AI slop.

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• Weather tracker: Flooding and landslides hit large parts of Asia

  Torrential rain has battered Vietnam, southern China and South Korea, leading to multiple deaths

  Large parts of Asia were hit by devastating flooding and landslides last week, leading to multiple deaths, as torrential rain battered Vietnam, southern China and South Korea.

  According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological forecasting in Vietnam, the Phuc Than weather station recorded 206mm of rain in 24 hours, from last Thursday into Friday, which caused homes to be swept away, power cuts and destroyed 238 hectares (588 acres) of farmland. Flash flooding swept through the village of Muong Than in southern Vietnam early on Friday morning, causing the deaths of at least four people and leaving four others missing. South Korea also had rainfall totals reaching almost 200mm with a station in Paju, just to the north of Seoul, recording 192.5mm, causing homes and roads to become flooded.

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• ‘When I get home, my whole body aches’: extreme heat saps health and wages of India’s poorest workers

  Exclusive: Outdoor workers losing up to 9% of income as weather becomes ‘poverty multiplier’, research says

  Extreme heat is pushing some of India’s poorest workers further into poverty, with income losses of up to 9% for outdoor workers, new research has found.

  Analysis done by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that extreme heat is acting as a “poverty multiplier” for hundreds of millions of workers in India’s informal sector.

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