Mainland Spain sizzled in its warmest September since records began in 1961, with exceptional heat effectively making it another summer month, national weather agency AEMET said on Friday.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday urged countries to condemn what he called "ecocide" in the Middle East caused by "wars of aggression".

Istanbul was battling on Thursday to recover from flooding caused by what officials described as the heaviest rainfall in at least 80 years, as the toll rose to three dead and four missing.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that the world was falling short of its pledges to protect nature as he launched a progress report ahead of next week's global biodiversity summit.

Eight endangered orangutans were released into a protected forest weeks after wildfires destroyed large swaths of their habitat in Indonesian Borneo, a conservation group said.

The orangutans, including three mothers with infants and two adolescent males, were rescued from areas in Ketapang and North Kayong regencies that were ravaged by fires between August and September.

The death toll from Hurricane Simon and the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel rose to six Tuesday after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides along Mexico's Pacific coast, authorities said.

Simon was a Category 1 storm before strengthening Tuesday night and was nearly a major hurricane again, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Off Mexico's Pacific coast, Simon was bringing heavy rain to Nayarit and Sinaloa states, where authorities remained on alert for rising rivers and flooding. Over the weekend, the hurricane brought heavy rain to the southern state of Guerrero, killing one person.

Climate activists picketed outside the African Energy Week conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday, calling for an end to new oil and gas exploration across the continent and accusing energy companies of prioritizing profits over people and the environment.

Greenpeace Africa and Extinction Rebellion campaigners challenged efforts to position Africa as a new frontier for fossil fuel development, arguing that further investment would worsen climate change and threaten communities already grappling with its effects.

Hurricane Simon pounded western Mexico with more wind and rain Monday after tropical weather systems caused five deaths and damage in Pacific coastal towns and resorts.

The eye of the Category 2 hurricane remained offshore as its outer bands of winds and rain slammed communities between the Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean near Puerto Vallarta.

Nepalese military rescuers on Monday reached villages hit by a flash flood the previous day, delivering aid and evacuating residents and tourists. At least five people are missing in an area popular with hikers and tourists

Helicopters and soldiers brought food and other relief supplies to communities along the Budhi Gandaki River in north-central Nepal. No deaths have been reported.

Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 3 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean.

The hurricane's center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Its maximum sustained winds weakened late Sunday to 115 mph (185 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, but it was still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane.