What happened
Firefighters in France and Spain are scrambling to contain some of Europe’s largest wildfires before another spell of extreme heat that is expected to intensify the blazes. In Spain, the country’s biggest recorded wildfire has scorched 50,000 hectares in the Ávila region, while two major fires north-west of Madrid have burned about 70,000 hectares. In neighbouring France, a massive blaze near Bordeaux has destroyed 42,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of about 220,000 people.

Who said what
Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska described yesterday and today as “absolutely crucial days” before hotter weather returns. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the fires were “the most painful manifestation of a climate emergency” and argued that such disasters were “no longer an exception; it is the rule”.

In France, there has been “mounting criticism” of what many regard as the government’s “failure to prepare properly”, said David Chazan in The Times. “I do not underestimate the anger,” said President Emmanuel Macron, while seeking to defer criticism until after the worst of the fires. “The coming weeks will be tough and we have to hold out.”

What next?
Meteorologists expect another heatwave to arrive from midweek, raising fears that the already desperate firefighting efforts will become even more difficult.

What happened
A controversial US private equity company will now manage NHS patient records in a transfer that doctors, campaigners and experts say has taken place with little public scrutiny.

TPG has bought Optum UK, the healthcare technology business that owns EMIS – whose electronic patient record software is used by more than half of England’s GP practices – in a deal worth about £300 million.

Who said what
“Private equity now owns the plumbing of English general practice,” said a spokesperson for the campaign group Doctors’ Association UK. “The GP records of more than half the country sit on a system controlled by a firm whose business model is returns for investors, not care for patients.”

There are also concerns about “TPG’s track record”, said The Guardian. A report this year accused Kenyan hospitals backed by the firm of “pushing patients into poverty through excessive medical bills”. A spokesperson for TPG said it strongly disagreed “with the facts and characterisation” of the report’s allegations.

What next?
“Assertions that TPG could in any way access, control, maintain or utilise NHS patient records are entirely false,” said a spokesperson for TPG. Data security and patient privacy have “always been at the core of our operations”, supported by “rigorous controls”, “strict access requirements” and compliance with regulations, added a spokesperson for EMIS.

In a growing movement in India, young people have opted to trade alcohol and house music for chai and devotional music. Bhajan clubbing has brought Hindu tradition to the dance floor, providing a sober and spiritual nightlife experience.

Bhajans are a form of “devotional singing performed in temples, religious processions and community spaces across India”, said CNN. These centuries-old Hindu hymns have gotten a revamp all across India as there has been a rise in “ticketed events held in large venues, complete with smoke machines and giant LED screens”. Today’s social climate is likely the reason for Gen Z’s rise in spirituality. Living “under conditions of climate anxiety, economic precarity, digital hypervisibility and constant comparison, the desire for grounding is hardly surprising”, said Vogue India.

Critics of bhajan clubbing claim that it “raises uncomfortable questions about the commercialisation of faith”, said The Indian Sun. For those who grew up with Bhajans, turning “devotion into a party and calling it clubbing could be disrespectful, hurt certain sentiments and dilute the whole objective”, Nirvaan Birla, the founder of Sounds for the Soul and managing director of Birla Open Minds, told Vogue India.

Despite the criticism, supporters argue that the “gatherings represent a form of devotion untethered from rigid rituals and the gatekeeping normally associated with temples or religious processions”, added CNN. “Rather than rejecting Indian tradition,” said The Economic Times, “Gen Z is reshaping it in an innovative format.”