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News_Naija

Anglique Kidjo Makes History With Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star

Beninese music icon and five-time Grammy winner, Angélique Kidjo, has made history as the first African artiste ever selected for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The announcement was made on Wednesday, during a conference by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, unveiling the Class of 2026 honourees. Kidjo, whose four-decade music career spans Afrobeat, jazz, funk, and traditional West African sounds, was named alongside 34 global entertainment figures including Miley Cyrus, Timothée Chalamet, Shaquille O’Neal, Deepika Padukone, and Lea Salonga. Her selection is part of a list ratified by the Hollywood Walk of Fame board of directors on June 25, after reviewing hundreds of global nominations. Recipients are expected to schedule their star ceremony within two years. Born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1960, Kidjo rose from the streets of West Africa to become one of the continent’s most powerful musical exports. Her signature albums like Logozo (1991), Black Ivory Soul (2002), Eve (2014), Celia (2019), and the Grammy-winning Mother Nature (2021), are said to have not only broken language and cultural barriers but reshaped how the world listens to African music. Kidjo’s musical collaborations span continents, from working with Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, and Bono, to more recent cross-generational partnerships with Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Davido, and Mr Eazi. In 2023, her duet with Davido, Na Money, became a continental hit, followed by Joy, a 2024 anthem championing African resilience and unity. Off-stage, Kidjo has dedicated her life to advocacy and education, especially for young African girls. As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, she has been instrumental in campaigns promoting gender equality, access to education, and girls’ rights. She is also the founder of the Batonga Foundation, which provides secondary education and vocational training to adolescent girls in rural Benin and beyond. Her humanitarian efforts have earned her accolades from institutions, including the BBC, TIME Magazine, and Amnesty International. Reacting to the announcement, chairman of the Walk of Fame selection committee, Peter Roth said: “These talented individuals have made significant contributions to the world of entertainment, and we are thrilled to honour them with this well-deserved recognition.” Other honourees on the 2026 list include Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Josh Groban, and culinary icon Gordon Ramsay. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was the sole pick in the sports entertainment category.

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Healthwatch

Wildfires: How To Cope When Smoke Affects Air Quality And Health

Smoke from regional wildfires endangers health even for those not directly in the path of fire.

How does wildfire smoke affect air quality?

How does wildfire smoke affect our health?

Who needs to be especially careful?

What can you do to prepare for wildfire emergencies?

Create an evacuation plan for your family before a wildfire occurs.

Make sure that you have several days on hand of medications, water, and food that doesn’t need to be cooked. This will help if you need to leave suddenly due to a wildfire or another natural disaster.

Regularly check this fire and smoke map, which shows current wildfire conditions and has links to state advisories.

Follow alerts from local officials if you are in the region of an active fire.

What steps can you take to lower health risks during poor air quality days?

Stay aware of air quality.AirNow.gov shares real-time air quality risk category for your area accompanied by activity guidance. When recommended, stay indoors, close doors, windows, and any outdoor air intake vents.

Consider buying an air purifier. This is also important even when there are no regional wildfires if you live in a building that is in poor condition. The EPA recommends avoiding air cleaners that generate ozone, which is also a pollutant.

Understand your HVAC system if you have one. The quality and cleanliness of your filters counts, so choose high-efficiency filters if possible, and replace these as needed. It’s also important to know if your system has outdoor air intake vents.

Avoid creating indoor pollution. That means no smoking, no vacuuming, and no burning of products like candles or incense. Avoid frying foods or using gas stoves, especially if your stove is not well ventilated.

Make a “clean room.” Choose a room with fewer doors and windows. Run an air purifier that is the appropriate size for this room, especially if you are not using central AC to keep cool.

Minimize outdoor time and wear a mask outside. Again, ensuring that you have several days of medications and food that doesn’t need to be cooked will help. If you must go outdoors, minimize time and level of activity. A well-fitted N95 or KN95 mask or P100 respirator can help keep you from breathing in small particles floating in smoky air.

profile/5170OIG3.jpeg.webp

Healthwatch

Wildfires: How To Cope When Smoke Affects Air Quality And Health

Smoke from regional wildfires endangers health even for those not directly in the path of fire.

How does wildfire smoke affect air quality?

How does wildfire smoke affect our health?

Who needs to be especially careful?

What can you do to prepare for wildfire emergencies?

Create an evacuation plan for your family before a wildfire occurs.

Make sure that you have several days on hand of medications, water, and food that doesn’t need to be cooked. This will help if you need to leave suddenly due to a wildfire or another natural disaster.

Regularly check this fire and smoke map, which shows current wildfire conditions and has links to state advisories.

Follow alerts from local officials if you are in the region of an active fire.

What steps can you take to lower health risks during poor air quality days?

Stay aware of air quality.AirNow.gov shares real-time air quality risk category for your area accompanied by activity guidance. When recommended, stay indoors, close doors, windows, and any outdoor air intake vents.

Consider buying an air purifier. This is also important even when there are no regional wildfires if you live in a building that is in poor condition. The EPA recommends avoiding air cleaners that generate ozone, which is also a pollutant.

Understand your HVAC system if you have one. The quality and cleanliness of your filters counts, so choose high-efficiency filters if possible, and replace these as needed. It’s also important to know if your system has outdoor air intake vents.

Avoid creating indoor pollution. That means no smoking, no vacuuming, and no burning of products like candles or incense. Avoid frying foods or using gas stoves, especially if your stove is not well ventilated.

Make a “clean room.” Choose a room with fewer doors and windows. Run an air purifier that is the appropriate size for this room, especially if you are not using central AC to keep cool.

Minimize outdoor time and wear a mask outside. Again, ensuring that you have several days of medications and food that doesn’t need to be cooked will help. If you must go outdoors, minimize time and level of activity. A well-fitted N95 or KN95 mask or P100 respirator can help keep you from breathing in small particles floating in smoky air.

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Worldnews

Death Toll From Texas Floods Rises To 82, Dozens Still Missing

At least 41 people still missing as officials face questions about why warnings did not reach hard-hit Kerr County. The death toll from the catastrophic floods that hit the state of Texas in the United States has risen to 82, as the search for the missing continues and officials face questions over a failure to evacuate people in hard-hit Kerr County. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday that at least 41 people remain unaccounted for across the southern state, three days after the deluge, and that more could be missing. He promised authorities will continue to work around the clock to find the missing, and warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more life-threatening flooding. In Kerr County, Sheriff Larry Leitha said on Sunday that searchers have found the bodies of 68 people, including 28 children, many of whom went missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls. Leitha said 10 more girls and a counsellor remain missing and pledged to keep searching until “everybody is found”. President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the victims and said he would probably visit the area on Friday. His administration had been in touch with Abbott, he added. “It’s a horrible thing that took place, absolutely horrible. So we say, ‘God bless all of the people that have gone through so much, and God bless… God bless the state of Texas’,” he told reporters as he left New Jersey. The flooding occurred after the nearby Guadalupe River broke its banks after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday, the US Independence Day holiday. Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said the destruction killed three people in Burnet County, one in Tom Green County, five in Travis County and one in Williamson County. Kidd said rescuers were evacuating people from more places along the river, “because we are worried about another wall of river coming down in those areas”, with rain continuing to fall on soil in the region already saturated from Friday’s rains. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was activated on Sunday and is deploying resources to first responders in Texas after Trump issued a major disaster declaration, the Department of Homeland Security said. US coastguard helicopters and planes were aiding search and rescue efforts. Freeman Martin, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said on Sunday that he expected to “see the death toll rise today and tomorrow”. Authorities, meanwhile, have faced growing questions about whether enough warnings were issued in an area long vulnerable to flooding, and whether enough preparations were made. Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from central Texas, said several communities along the Guadalupe River were evacuated after the National Weather Service sent out repeated warnings about the rising water levels, but not those in Kerr County. “There are still no answers as to why those here weren’t alerted,” he said. Rattansi said while Trump has activated FEMA assistance for Texas, the president had “made it clear in the past that he wants to phase out such aid, even once saying that if a state governor needs to ask for federal emergency help, perhaps they’re not up to the job”. Trump, when asked by reporters whether he was still planning to phase out FEMA, said that it was something “we can talk about later, but right now, we are busy working”. Rattansi also said that the Trump administration is phasing out “research and analysis of the changing climate because it feels it’s politicised and divisive”, even though “it’s exactly that sort of analysis that led to the warnings from the National Weather Service to municipal authorities to evacuate residents up and down the Guadalupe River”. “Climate scientists have long warned that warmer air will hold more moisture and result in ever more intense storms,” he said. “Yet just as their predictions are being realised, federal resources to predict, mitigate and manage extreme weather events are at risk as never before.” Rick Spinrad, a former director at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told Al Jazeera that less research will lead to less accurate predictions, making it harder for people to prepare. “Without research, without staff to do the work, we can assume that the predictions, [for] hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, drought, wildfires, tsunamis, for that matter, are undoubtedly going to degrade, and that means that people’s ability to prepare for these storms will be compromised,” Spinrad said. In February, the Trump administration announced cuts affecting the jobs of hundreds of staff at NOAA, including meteorologists at the National Weather Service. Abbott, the Texas governor, declared Sunday a day of prayer for the state. “I urge every Texan to join me in prayer this Sunday – for the lives lost, for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those on the front lines,” he said in a statement. In Rome, Pope Leo XIV also offered special prayers for those affected by the disaster. “I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters who were in summer camp, in the disaster caused by the flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States. We pray for them.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...