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An Indian tourist, who was rescued from a speedboat that capsized, receives treatment at a hospital in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, Saturday, July11, 2026. (Le Huy Hai/VNA via AP)

Vietnam police detain captain after speedboat capsizing kills 15 Indian tourists

Aniruddha Ghosal, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 4:07 AM CDT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese police detained Sunday the captain of a speedboat that capsized off southern Vietnam, killing 15 Indian tourists.

The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese crew members when it overturned less than half a kilometer (0.30 mile) from shore Saturday afternoon, shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai island near Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, authorities said.

The captain, Nguyen Hong Hai, 57, is under investigation for alleged violations of waterway transport safety regulations, state media reported.

Sixteen survivors of Saturday’s speedboat accident have been discharged from the hospital and are returning to India, the Indian Embassy in Hanoi said on social media Sunday. One remains in critical condition in a Vietnamese hospital.

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Environment

FILE - A shepherd watches livestock near Khi Solar One, a solar thermal plant that converts the sun's light energy into electricity, outside Upington, South Africa, in the Northern Cape province, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Focus turns to building stronger institutions in Africa to speed shift to renewable energy

By Allan Olingo, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Focus turns to building stronger institutions in Africa to speed shift to renewable energy

By Allan Olingo, The Associated Press 3 minute read 12:06 AM CDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa’s biggest clean energy challenge is shifting from building projects to building the institutions, markets and regulatory systems needed to deliver them at scale, experts say.

That challenge is emerging even as clean energy reaches a historic milestone globally. Renewables generated 34% of the world’s electricity in 2025, overtaking coal’s 33% share. Together with nuclear power, renewables are expected to provide half of global electricity by 2030.

As industrialization, artificial intelligence and electrification push demand higher, experts say the bottleneck in transitioning to cleaner energy has shifted from technology to the systems supporting it, including funding. Overcoming such obstacles is vital for securing access to power for the 600 million people in Africa who are yet to be connected.

“Clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels in virtually every part of the world,” former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said in late June while announcing a new $285 million Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative to strengthen clean energy industries in emerging and developing economies.

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12:06 AM CDT

Environment

FILE - Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar stands at the State Department in Washington, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Trinidad and Tobago signs agreements with US companies that pave the way for data centers

Anselm Gibbs, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Trinidad and Tobago signs agreements with US companies that pave the way for data centers

Anselm Gibbs, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:10 PM CDT

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Trinidad and Tobago has signed agreements paving the way for U.S. companies to begin groundwork for installing large data centers in the Caribbean nation, sparking concerns about potential energy consumption and environmental impacts.

The memorandums of understanding with the Florida-headquartered Hummingbird AI Holdings and New York-based Ernst and Young LLP were signed on Friday, according to a statement from the office of Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. These are the first such agreements with a Caribbean country.

The deal with Ernst and Young LLP will set out the framework for collaboration on developing large-scale data centers, with the company planning to “partner with third parties in the development" of a 300 megawatt data center, the statement said.

The agreement with Hummingbird AI Holdings sets up the framework for “preliminary cooperation, due diligence and coordination” for a proposed 150 MW AI infrastructure and data center facility.

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:10 PM CDT

Environment

FILE - Visitors use fans as as they wait to enter the Washington Monument, July 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner, File)

Dangerous heat wave threatens oppressive temperatures in much of the US

Patrick Whittle And Tammy Webber, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Dangerous heat wave threatens oppressive temperatures in much of the US

Patrick Whittle And Tammy Webber, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:49 PM CDT

A widespread and dangerous heat wave was building across the U.S. on Saturday, with triple-digit highs expected in the Southwest and Great Plains this weekend before spreading eastward under a dome of high pressure that meteorologists say could trap oppressive temperatures for a week or more.

Forecasters advised people to stay hydrated and find places to cool off, warning of temperatures 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 14 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal in many areas, including at night — especially bad for people's health because their bodies won't have a chance to recover. The heat dome was expected to affect as much as two-thirds of the continental United States.

“The heat doesn’t necessarily stop when it’s dark out,” said Josh Adam, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck, North Dakota, where temperatures will surpass 100 F (37 C) until Tuesday, a dramatic spike for a state where summer temperatures are typically in the 80s.

Tynika Smith of Bloomington, Minnesota, handed out frozen towels and wash cloths along with battery-operated fans at encampments of homeless people in nearby St. Paul and will continue next week, when temperatures are forecast to climb into the mid- to high 90s. The residents put the ice packs around their necks and on their heads.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:49 PM CDT

Environment

A view of a burnt area affected by wildfires in Bedar, near Almeria, Spain, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)

Hundreds of firefighters battle wildfire in southern Spain that killed at least 12

Sergio Rodrigo And Serge Cartwright, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Hundreds of firefighters battle wildfire in southern Spain that killed at least 12

Sergio Rodrigo And Serge Cartwright, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:45 PM CDT

BEDAR, Spain (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters backed by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft struggled on Saturday to contain one of Spain's deadliest wildfires that erupted earlier this week and killed a least 12 people.

The blazes, which also lashed France this week, came as parts of Western Europe are facing their third heat wave in six weeks. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

In Spain's Andalusia, a combination of light winds and high humidity are helping crews but the sheer size of the fire still poses challenges, Antonio Sanz, head of the region's emergency services, said. The fire has so far scorched some 66 square kilometers (25 square miles) of forest and farmland — about the size of Manhattan.

Sanz said fire crews carried out controlled burns overnight around the perimeter of the fire, which broke out late Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierre de Los Filabres mountains in in Almería province, just as Spain was sizzling.

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:45 PM CDT

Environment

FILE - Amazon Web Services data center is visible on Aug. 22, 2024, in Boardman, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

As gas plants rise to power AI, renewable energy allies are fighting for cleaner alternatives

Marc Levy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

As gas plants rise to power AI, renewable energy allies are fighting for cleaner alternatives

Marc Levy, The Associated Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:30 AM CDT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As the explosive energy demand of artificial intelligence spurs a renaissance for fossil fuels, renewable energy allies are trying to ensure that massive data centers will be powered by climate-friendly sources, too.

Lawmakers in states with stronger climate policies don't want data centers to hinder their goal of slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

In other states, environmental advocates and corporations with clean energy goals are working regulatory levers to push monopoly utilities that historically control the energy supply and grid access.

The problem clean energy proponents are confronting is that tech giants are demanding power at such speed and scale — some data centers consume more energy than a mid-size city — that the construction of wind and solar simply can't keep up.

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Yesterday at 6:30 AM CDT

Environment

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a security person cordons off the coastal area ahead of Typhoon Bavi's expected arrival in Shitang Town of Wenling City, eastern China's Zhejiang Province, Friday, July 10, 2026. (Xu Yu/Xinhua News Agency via AP)

Typhoon Bavi makes landfall in eastern China as more than 1 million are evacuated

The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Typhoon Bavi makes landfall in eastern China as more than 1 million are evacuated

The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:22 PM CDT

BEIJING (AP) — Typhoon Bavi made landfall in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang late on Saturday night and was expected to gradually weaken, according to China’s national weather center.

Bavi previously brought strong winds and rain to Japan’s southern islands and Taiwan. It was the second typhoon to impact China in just over a week’s time. The first, Maysak, made landfall in southern China on July 3.

Chinese authorities have evacuated more than 1.7 million people as of Saturday and issued high alerts while eastern China braced for Bavi, which had maximum sustained winds of 144 kph (89 mph) near its center.

After passing north of Taiwan on Saturday and making landfall in the coastal city of Yuhuan in Zhejiang, Bavi is expected to move northwestward inland, the National Meteorological Center said.

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:22 PM CDT

Environment

Firefighters watch as a helicopter drops water on the Summit Fire in Llano, CA. Friday, July 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Rapidly growing wildfire in Los Angeles County prompts evacuations in remote high desert

Jaimie Ding, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Rapidly growing wildfire in Los Angeles County prompts evacuations in remote high desert

Jaimie Ding, The Associated Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:02 AM CDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A fast-spreading blaze prompted evacuation orders Friday afternoon in a sparsely populated area of Los Angeles County.

The brush fire sparked around 1 p.m. under dry and scorching hot conditions in a remote high desert region about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of LA, according to the LA County Fire Department. Temperatures in the area soared to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

The fire reached about 2,700 acres (1,092 hectares) by evening, Angeles National Forest officials said on the social media platform X. It's unclear how many buildings are threatened by the blaze.

The American Red Cross opened a shelter at a YMCA in Los Angeles County.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:02 AM CDT

Environment

Banners of former President George Washington and President Donald Trump hang above an entrance to the Department of the Interior, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Trump administration rolls back a key protection for imperiled wildlife

Wufei Yu And Matthew Brown, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Trump administration rolls back a key protection for imperiled wildlife

Wufei Yu And Matthew Brown, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

PHOENIX (AP) — The Trump administration finalized a rule Friday that changes how agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act and eliminates a key protection for imperiled wildlife against logging, oil drilling and other activities.

The administration narrowed the definition of “harm” under the landmark law — a change with broad implications.

For decades, the government defined harm broadly to include encroachments on places with threatened and endangered animals. The change announced Friday would allow oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and and other development on critical wildlife habitats so long as the animals themselves aren’t killed or injured.

Environmentalists warned the move could cause some species to go extinct by opening the door to habitat destruction. Industry representatives and their Republican allies have long argued the landmark 1973 environmental law is wielded too broadly, to the detriment of economic growth.

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Environment

FILE - Colombia's Environmental Minister Irene Vélez Torres talks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Botanical Garden Jose Celestino Mutis in Bogota, Colombia, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

Outgoing Colombia minister warns climate gains could be at risk under new government

Steven Grattan, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Outgoing Colombia minister warns climate gains could be at risk under new government

Steven Grattan, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia ’s outgoing environment minister warned Friday that the incoming government could reverse recent climate and conservation gains, pointing to its support for fracking and fossil fuel development and what she described as climate skepticism among some officials.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said she fears Colombia could lose ground on climate action at a time when the country is already confronting increasingly severe environmental challenges, including El Nino, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that can disrupt rainfall patterns and trigger droughts, floods and extreme heat.

“Arriving with an attitude of climate denialism is absolutely dangerous,” Vélez said.

The comments come weeks before President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella takes office on Aug. 7 following a narrow election victory that marked a sharp political shift in Colombia after four years under President Gustavo Petro. The outgoing administration sought to position Colombia as a global leader on climate diplomacy, Amazon protection and a transition away from fossil fuels.

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Environment

This image made from video provided by KTVI shows flash flooding in Lesterville, Mo., Friday, July 10, 2026. (KTVI via AP)

Missouri flooding leaves one dead, while rescuers helicopter more than 200 to safety at summer camp

Hallie Golden And Kristin Hall, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Missouri flooding leaves one dead, while rescuers helicopter more than 200 to safety at summer camp

Hallie Golden And Kristin Hall, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:16 PM CDT

A woman was found dead in Missouri on Saturday after heavy rainfall battered parts of the state the previous day, forcing numerous emergency rescues and evacuations, including at a summer camp with more than 200 children.

Several other states also faced the potential for severe thunderstorms and flash flooding as the slow moving storms moved southward.

The National Weather Service said the severe weather impacted a wide region stretching from the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri eastward into much of the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys.

The service said the storms could bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall and scattered flash flooding to the multistate region, with some places seeing impacts into Sunday. In eastern Tennessee, flooding closed some roads and downed power lines, and authorities from Kentucky to West Virginia told people to be ready to seek higher ground.

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Updated: Yesterday at 6:16 PM CDT

Environment

Part of a levee system is seen along the Rio Grande near Presidio, Texas, April 15, 2026. (Mary Cantrell/Marfa Public Radio via AP)

Trump admin responds to border wall lawsuit by waiving a law at the center of the case

Mary Cantrell/marfa Public Radio, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Trump admin responds to border wall lawsuit by waiving a law at the center of the case

Mary Cantrell/marfa Public Radio, The Associated Press 7 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Two weeks after the Trump administration was sued over its plan for a border wall through the Big Bend region of West Texas, with plaintiffs claiming the plan violated a federal law, the administration responded by waiving that law entirely for the wall project.

The lawsuit was filed last month by the Presidio Municipal Development District, a local economic development group. PMDD claims that potential flooding, and the border wall in general, will harm the entity’s property and initiatives. The group is asking a federal judge to issue an injunction that would effectively stop construction of the wall in the region while the case plays out in court.

In the lawsuit, the district claims that border agencies are not coordinating as legally required with other arms of the government in potentially altering a local levee to build the border wall, which the group has said could lead to “deadly” flooding in the area.

“The levees protect the entire City of Presidio and its residents, and flooding would threaten lives, homes, businesses, and infrastructure,” the lawsuit said.

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Environment

EPA inks clean-up agreement with Montana aluminum plant

Amanda Eggert/montana Free Press, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

The owner of a sprawling, long-shuttered aluminum plant in Columbia Falls has agreed to pay $57.6 million to mitigate pollution associated with decades of aluminum smelting.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a statement Tuesday applauding an agreement with Columbia Falls Aluminum Company that outlines the cleanup objectives for one of northwestern Montana’s largest industrial sites.

The agreement comes nearly a decade after the EPA added the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company site to the National Priorities List, also known as the Superfund list. Under the agreement, CFAC will be responsible for mitigating toxic byproducts such as arsenic, fluoride and cyanide at the site, which was Flathead County’s largest employer in its 1970s heyday. Much of the waste will be consolidated at the site and capped with material designed to prevent pollutants from contaminating the surrounding soil and water.

Cyrus Western, the former Wyoming legislator who now oversees EPA’s Region 8 office headquartered in Denver, described the development as a “significant milestone” that will facilitate site redevelopment.

Environment

FILE - Mickelina Papotto, of Salem, Ore., left, and Lorie Odegaard, of Gaithersburg, Md., fan themselves while waiting in line for the ferris wheel at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, July 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Meteorologists warn week ahead in US will have dangerous temps: ‘Heat is not to be played with’

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Meteorologists warn week ahead in US will have dangerous temps: ‘Heat is not to be played with’

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Most of America's Lower 48 states are about to swelter under an unusually large, strong and long-lasting heat dome that will spike temperatures in a way that the National Weather Service calls “significant and dangerous.”

The heat wave will start this weekend and last at least a week, with some areas feeling its effects until the end of the month, meteorologists said. Temperatures will be 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 14 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal in many areas, including at night, they said. Hotter nighttime temperatures are especially bad for both human health and efforts to tamp down an already active wildfire season.

“This upcoming heat wave does look pretty remarkable,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. “This is going to be a long duration, widespread and high-intensity heat event that’s going to affect millions of people for over a week.”

Trapping hot air, threatening records

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Environment

FILE - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., arrives on stage at the inaugural Make America Healthy Again summit, Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)

EPA promised a Make America Healthy Again agenda. It has yet to materialize, frustrating activists

Matthew Daly And Ali Swenson, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

EPA promised a Make America Healthy Again agenda. It has yet to materialize, frustrating activists

Matthew Daly And Ali Swenson, The Associated Press 7 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last December, after Make America Healthy Again activists drew up a petition to get him fired, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release a formal agenda of MAHA priorities that his agency would pursue, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns.

But eight months after its first mention and after repeated promises it was being drafted, the so-called MAHA agenda is nowhere to be found. When asked for a status update this week, an EPA spokesperson said MAHA is an ongoing effort, not a single report.

The apparent reversal on the release of a formal environmental health agenda is the latest in a cascade of disappointments for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA movement, who say they've lost faith that the Trump administration will take any significant action on pesticides, chemicals or other issues they view as key to address America's chronic disease epidemic. It also reflects the EPA's relentless rollback of environmental regulations even in the face of pressure from an important voting bloc that has supported President Donald Trump.

“I had really hoped that there would be specific steps that were taken through a MAHA agenda,” said activist Kelly Ryerson, whose social media account “Glyphosate Girl” focuses on nontoxic food systems. “We haven’t had any of the wins that we were requesting.”

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

Environment

An Axopar 37 vessel with hull number AB5965789 sits docked at Steveston Harbour in Richmond, on Thursday, July 9, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Second boat was with B.C. charter before fatal sinking, raising rescue questions

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Second boat was with B.C. charter before fatal sinking, raising rescue questions

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

RICHMOND - Top Vancouver Fishing Charter company took to social media on June 28 to brag about how its two vessels had gone out together and would head back to port with a haul of fish.

"This is what makes fishing in Vancouver so addictive — every trip brings a surprise, and we always head home with a full haul," read the post on Chinese-language social media platform Red Note, posted at 12:24 p.m. with a video showing happy scenes from the company's 11-metre sport fishing boat.

But the company's other boat, the nine-metre Top Ocean, had sunk about two hours earlier. 

Six people were lost at sea — now feared drowned — and a rescue operation was underway that saved four others, including a Chinese woman who later died in hospital.

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

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