Dear reader,

The question of how to cope with rising heat has not spared the world's oldest sporting spectacular underway in Tokyo.

At least one athlete fainted in the stifling heat despite mitigation measures such as delayed start times and cooler venues for some events, as well as cooling vests and ice-cream for volunteers, reports correspondent Beh Lih Yi.

Climate experts say Olympics authorities will need to think way further out and change the shape of future summer Games.

"They have to start putting heat on the agenda. They're going to have to start thinking about the best time of the year and the best locations to have these events," said Mike Tipton at Britain's University of Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, a year after the deadly blast in Beirut that killed more than 200 people and wrecked swathes of the city, a series of eviction attempts - often targeting refugee and migrant tenants - and failed reconstruction efforts have hurt already vulnerable groups.

Without a strong state presence to enforce legal protections such as tenants' rights, and ensure that aid reaches everyone, marginalised groups face even greater exclusion now, reports correspondent Timour Azheri.

"It means people are left to their own devices and depend on social capital and their network to access aid. Those who don't have these networks are left behind," said Mona Harb, a professor of urban studies and politics at the American University of Beirut.

And in the United States, more Black communities that were forced to move in the 1950s and 1960s to make way for so-called urban renewal projects including freeways, could earn a "right to return" to the cities their families were uprooted from.

In Santa Monica, a new pilot programme will initially be open to 100 families, with approved applicants added to a preference list for affordable housing. Other U.S. cities are also looking into similar policies, reports Carey L. Biron.  

"This housing pilot doesn't fix everything, but it's one more tool in our toolkit of addressing racial justice issues in our community," said Natasha Guest Kingscote, Santa Monica's administrator. 

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