COLORADO – A hiker is missing after flash flooding inside Grand Canyon National Park on Thursday afternoon, according to the National Park Service. The park service said it was engaged in search and rescue operations, looking for the woman they say may have been swept away amid the flash flooding near the Colorado River confluence, according to a Friday news release.

The woman, identified as Chenoa Nickerson, 33, of Gilbert, Arizona, was not wearing a life jacket at the time she was swept into Havasu Creek, the release said. A 20-year-old college student from North Carolina died after falling from a Grand Canyon rim.

Several hikers had become stranded during the flash flood early Thursday afternoon, the park service said. A rescue flight was sent to recover the stranded hikers, both below and above Beaver Falls but Nickerson remained missing, according to the release.

The National Park Service described Nickerson as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 190 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about her is being asked to contact the park service’s Investigative Services tip line. Her sister, Tamara Morales, said, “We remain hopeful that she will be found safely,” according to CNN affiliate KNXV. Nickerson’s husband was safely rescued, Morales told KNXV.

“We love her very much and are not giving up on her,” Morales said of her sister. “We want all efforts focused on the search and finding her safely.” Arizona Governeur Katie Hobbs activated the Arizona National Guard to assist with rescue efforts on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, which is surrounded by Grand Canyon National Park, according to KNXV. Flooding caused by monsoon storms prompted several emergency evacuations. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

MEXICO – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, has criticised the United States for recent comments that framed his proposed judicial overhaul as a “risk” to Mexico’s democracy. In a morning press conference on Friday, Lopez Obrador described the criticism as “disrespectful” to Mexico’s “national sovereignty”. “I hope this will not happen again,” he said.

The Mexican government also announced it would send a diplomatic note that says the US comments “represent an unacceptable interference, a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty”. Thevgovernment’s response came a day after US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar warned the proposed judicial changes — which include putting judges up for election — could threaten “the historic commercial relationship” between the two countries. “Democracies can’t function without a strong, independent and non-corrupt judicial branch,” Salazar told reporters.

He added that the proposed overhaul would “help cartels and other bad actors take advantage of inexperienced judges with political motivations” and “create turbulence” — both economically and politically — for years to come. Salazar said on Friday that his comments, poorly received in a country where the US has a long history of interference in domestic affairs, were made in the “spirit of collaboration”.

“I am most willing to engage in dialogue with Mexico’s leadership on the direct election of judges and exchange views on different models,” the US ambassador said in a social media post explaining his position. Lopez Obrador, a populist president often criticised for attacking independent regulatory agencies, has long been at odds with Mexico’s judicial branch. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

RUSSIA – Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 115 prisoners of war from each side, both countries confirmed, with the United Arab Emirates acting as an intermediary. “The UAE has successfully mediated a new captives exchange between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine, resulting in the release of 230 captives,” the Gulf country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.

It was the UAE’s seventh mediation effort this year between the two countries, the ministry said in a statement. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 115 Ukrainian POWs were returned from Russia, Russia confirmed that 115 of its servicemen captured in the Kursk region during Ukraine’s ongoing incursion were released.

Both sides have carried out periodic prisoner swaps via intermediaries since the war began nearly two years ago, despite the absence of any peace talks between them since the early months of the conflict. This was the first such swap since Ukraine shocked Russia by crossing the border into Kursk on August 6. One of the biggest exchanges was on January 3, when the warring countries traded a total of 478 captives following mediation by the UAE.

The UAE ministry said that the total number of captives exchanged through its mediation efforts now stood at 1,788. Zelenskyy said those freed included members of the country’s national guard, the armed forces and the navy. “We remember everyone,” he said in a post on X. “We are searching for them and making every effort to bring them all back.” (CNN)a

SUDAN – Sudan’s de facto ruler, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has said his government would not join peace talks in Switzerland, saying the military would “fight for 100 years” if necessary to defeat the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Burhan, who leads the governing Transitional Sovereignty Council, told reporters in Port Sudan on Saturday that the talks aim to “whitewash” the RSF and countries that support the paramilitaries. “We will not put down our weapons as the rebellion continues. We will not co-exist with the rebels and we will not forgive them,” he said. The United States opened talks in Switzerland on August 14, which concluded on Friday, aimed at easing the human suffering and achieving a lasting ceasefire.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates also acted as mediators in the talks, which aimed to secure more aid as Sudanese civilians face famine, mass displacement and disease.

While an RSF delegation showed up, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Burhan, were unhappy with the format and did not attend. But they were in telephone contact with the mediators.

“Though we were in consistent communication with SAF virtually, we regret their decision not to be present, and we believe that limited our ability to make more substantial progress towards key issues, particularly a national cessation of hostilities,” the mediators said in a statement on Friday. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

DHAKA – Rescuers are scrambling to evacuate flooded communities after heavy rains inundated parts of Bangladesh and northeast India, killing at least 36 people and causing rivers on both sides of the border to reach extreme levels.

Nearly 4.5 million people have been affected by the flooding in Bangladesh, which has forced hundreds of homes under water, leaving residents stranded on rooftops, the country’s Disaster Management ministry said.

At least 13 people have died in the flooding and almost 200,000 people have been evacuated from flooded areas in Bangladesh, Md Kamrul Hasan, a senior official of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, told reporters Friday.

In the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, which borders Bangladesh, at least 23 people have died, according to Mohsen Shahidi, a senior official in India’s National Disaster Response force. In Tripura, more than 64,000 people are seeking shelter in relief camps, the state’s emergency operation center said.

Heavy flooding and mudslides have killed hundreds, displaced millions and wrecked infrastructure across South Asia in recent months. While floods are common in the region during monsoon season, scientists say the human-caused climate crisis has exacerbated extreme weather events and made them more deadly.

Parts of Tripura and districts in eastern Bangladesh have recorded heavy rainfall of up to nearly 200 millimeters (about 8 inches) in recent days, which has caused perilous floodwaters to rise. (CNN)…[+]