American-born French performer Joséphine Baker will be entered into Paris’ Panthéon mausoleum, making her the first black woman to receive the honour. The government says Baker will be inducted into the monument in November. The Panthéon is a burial place for celebrated French icons such as scientist Marie Curie and writer Victor Hugo. Baker will be just the sixth woman to join some 80 national heroes. Born in St Louis, Missouri in 1906, Baker rose to international stardom in the 1930s after moving to France to pursue a career in showbusiness. She was also a resistance fighter for her adopted country France during World War Two, and had a role in the civil rights movement in the US.(BBC)…[+]

The funeral has been held of a family of six who died when a landslide engulfed their home in the Mexican state of Veracruz on Saturday. A mother and five of her six children – the youngest just two weeks old – were killed in the landslide triggered by Hurricane Grace in the city of Xalapa. The woman’s husband has been telling local media how he and his neighbours tried to free his family from the mud. Rescuers eventually managed to pull a seven-year-old boy out alive. The man, named as Adán by local media, said he had run from their simple home on a hillside when he had heard a loud roar early in the morning on Saturday. (BBC)…[+]

At least 22 people have been killed and dozens more are missing following flash floods in the US state of Tennessee. Rescue crews are searching for more than 50 people in rural Humphreys County, which is west of Nashville. The record-breaking flooding began on Saturday, submerging entire roads and taking out telephone and power lines. Emergency workers are searching door-to-door in the worst-hit areas, with rescuers also combing through the debris of homes that were washed away. The names of the missing have been listed on a notice board at an emergency centre in Humphreys County, with relatives left fearing the worst. On the county’s Facebook page, people have been desperately seeking any information that could help locate their missing friends and relatives.(BBC)…[+]

When Amazon, which is often blamed for single-handedly ruining the High Street, opened its first physical bookshops in 2015 it sparked fury in some quarters. But after branching out into grocery and gadget shops, the e-commerce giant now reportedly plans to go much further – opening several large bricks-and-mortar retail sites akin to department stores. Amazon declined to comment on the claims, made by the Wall Street Journal, calling them “rumours and speculation”. But the newspaper said Ohio and California had already been earmarked as probable locations. Quoting people familiar with the plans, it said the new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet, smaller than most department stores, which typically occupy about 100,000 square feet, and will offer items from top consumer brands.(BBC)…[+]

A woman has been found clinging to an upturned inflatable dinghy about 138 miles (220km) off the Canary Islands – the only survivor of a migrant tragedy feared to have claimed 52 lives. She was spotted in a poor state by a passing merchant ship and emergency services flew her to safety. Two bodies were found by the coastguard and the woman told officials that more than 50 other people were on board. More than 8,000 migrants have reached Spain’s Canary Islands this year. Many of them set off from a stretch of coastline between Tarfaya in Morocco and Laayoune in Western Sahara, a disputed territory claimed by Morocco. The route has become increasingly popular as migrant passages to Europe through the Mediterranean have become harder to take. However, human rights group Walking Borders has described it as the world’s most dangerous migration route. (BBC)…[+]

Mining giant BHP says it has fired at least 48 workers for sexual assaults and harassment at its Western Australia mining camps since 2019. Australia’s richest mining companies are facing intense scrutiny over the treatment of women at their isolated sites. Recent court cases have prompted a state government inquiry into sexual harassment at mining locations. Several companies have admitted the problem and pledged to make changes. Other miners, including Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals, also reported allegations but did not disclose if they had sacked workers.(BBC)…[+]

The prettily named village of Marceline is 30 minutes’ drive north of Les Cayes.  Before the earthquake hit it had two churches – Catholic and Baptist – a medical centre, a school and a voodoo community centre. A tarmac road runs through the village, and off that tight paths cross banana trees, meandering by cinder block houses. The town we arrive in is unrecognisable. The drive up to Marceline is marked by landslides, and huge fissures in the road. The driver at times slows the car to a stop so he can negotiate the cracks. The town of Les Cayes was badly affected by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on 14 August. Perhaps one in six buildings collapsed. Here it’s hard to find a house that is standing. Kelly Phildor was a 15-year-old boy who was preparing for a new school term. He was cheeky and full of life. His nickname was Kelly Forever, and he had scrawled that moniker on to his shirt. “I didn’t realise his life would be so short,” his mother, Marie Rose, says.(BBC)…[+]

Lithuania has accused 12 Belarusian officers in riot gear of illegally entering its territory to push a group of migrants over the border. Its border service said the Belarusians were repeatedly told they had violated the border during the tense incident on Tuesday. Belarus accused Lithuanian guards of being violent towards the migrants. EU interior ministers condemned Belarus for trying to “instrumentalise human beings for political purposes”. More than 4,100 mostly Iraqi migrants have entered EU member Lithuania illegally from neighbouring Belarus so far this year. The rise in illegal crossings started in June after the EU imposed sanctions on Belarus’s long-time authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko.(BBC)…[+]

US President Joe Biden has said US troops may stay in Afghanistan beyond his withdrawal deadline, as armed Taliban fighters kept desperate evacuees from reaching Kabul’s airport. Mr Biden wants US forces out by the end of this month, but up to 15,000 US citizens are stranded in the country. The US president told ABC News the turmoil in Kabul was unavoidable. Foreign governments are ramping up the airlift of Western citizens and Afghans who worked with them. Washington has pledged to evacuate all remaining American citizens, along with 50-65,000 Afghans – such as former translators for the US military. In total, America has evacuated more than 5,200 people to date, including 2,000 in the last 24 hours. The Pentagon has told reporters it aims to expand the airlift to 9,000 people a day. About 4,500 US troops are in temporary control of Karzai International Airport in the nation’s capital, but Taliban fighters and checkpoints ring the perimeter.(BBC)…[+]

The trial of the Grammy-winning US singer R Kelly is set to begin at a US federal court in New York on Wednesday. The R&B star is accused of racketeering, sexual abuse and bribery; charges which he has denied.

Some of the allegations made against the singer – full name Robert Sylvester Kelly – date back more than two decades. If he is convicted on all counts he could faces 10 years-to-life in prison. Kelly is best known for hits including Ignition (Remix), I Believe I Can Fly, Bump n’ Grind and If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time.Kelly and members of his entourage are accused of recruiting women and underage girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with the singer. The stories go back to the start of his career in the 1990s, with many centring around the alleged predatory pursuit of teenage girls. The 54-year-old is currently facing multiple state and federal charges in the US, with accusations including sexual assault, abuse of a minor, making indecent images of minors, racketeering and obstruction of justice. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.(BBC)…[+]