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What in the World, a free weekly newsletter from our foreign correspondents, is sent every Thursday. Below is an excerpt. Sign up to get the whole newsletter delivered to your inbox.

It’s almost summer in America but instead of sunshine and clear blue skies, millions of people in the country’s northeast woke up this morning to a reddish-grey haze blanketing their cities from wildfires in Canada.

From my rooftop in Washington’s bustling U Street district, the US Capitol Building and the Washington Monument are no longer visible in the distance, and the air is so thick it’s caused a slight tickle in the back of my throat.

Haze blankets over monuments on the National Mall in Washington, DC.Credit: AP

All outdoor activities in DC public schools have been cancelled, including recess, field trips and PE classes.

Things are even worse in New York where, by Wednesday morning (US time), the city was second only to India’s Delhi for the worst pollution out of 100 countries tracked by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.

And elsewhere in the East Coast, worsening air quality has prompted “code red” warnings across parts of Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which essentially means the air is so unhealthy that people with respiratory illnesses, older adults, children and teens are urged to stay inside.

The sun rises over a hazy New York City skyline.Credit: AP

The wildfires in Canada have been burning for weeks, but there are now hundreds of them across the country, from Quebec and Ontario, to Alberta and British Columbia.

But unlike the west coast of the US, where lingering smoke from fires is not an uncommon site, those of us on the east are not accustomed to such things, particular when the closest wildfire is hundreds of kilometres north in a different country.

“It looks like the end of days out there,” quipped one of my neighbours as she entered the elevator wearing an N95 mask this morning. “I wonder how long it’ll last?“

Meteorologists reckon it could be a while, particularly if the wind doesn’t change – and even if does, the smoke will simply blanket another part of the country.

A Man talks on his phone as he looks through the haze at the George Washington Bridge from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Credit: AP

After all, as authorities warned on Monday, Canada is on track for its worst-ever year of wildfire destruction, with warm and dry conditions expected to persist through to the end of the northern summer.

“If this rate continues, we could hit record levels for area burned this year,” said Michael Norton, a spokesperson for Canada’s natural resources ministry.

Fortunately, the hazy skies have so far done little to dampen what is otherwise a fairly bright time in Washington, which is currently in the midst of Pride Month.

This month is essentially a four-week celebration of the LGBTQ community and the 1969 Stonewall uprising that paved the way for the gay rights movement in America.

But while Pride parties, parades and picnics are taking place all over the US, there’s something particularly joyous about being in DC – a progressive city with the nation’s highest LGBTQ population per capita – to mark the occasion.

Last night, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw the first pitch at the annual Pride Night Out – the longest running Major League Baseball LGBTQ event in the country. (Sadly, the home team, Washington Nationals, lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks).

This weekend is the much-loved Capital Pride Parade, led by Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC government, followed by the annual Pride Festival along Pennsylvania Avenue.

But it was Australia’s very own former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who kicked things off in style last Thursday, hosting his first Pride shindig as a new ambassador to the US.

Guests at Rudd’s northwest residence included members of the Biden administration, community leaders, diplomats and selected media, who were treated to a Kylie-themed performance by DC drag queen Crystal Edge, with Australian DJ Kitty Glitter, an icon in Sydney’s gay club scene, behind the decks.

“Welcome to an average afternoon at the Australian embassy,” Rudd joked.

It was a memorable event, particularly at a time when America is so divided over trans rights and state legislatures have introduced hundreds of laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, from restricting drag performances to banning-gender affirming care for people under the age of 18

Just as Stonewall marked a pivotal moment for LGBTQ civil rights in the US, the country now faces another inflection point. And with an election less than 18 months away, it is likely to become even more divided.

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