Indian authorities on Friday shut factories and construction sites, restricted diesel-run vehicles and deployed water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to control haze and smog enveloping the skyline of the capital region.

The Delhi government closed primary schools and restricted outdoor activity for older students as the air quality index exceeded 470, considered "severe" and more than 10 times the global safety threshold, according to the state-run Central Pollution Control Board.

Thirty years ago there was hope that a warming world could clean up its act.

It didn't.

When world leaders, diplomats, campaigners and scientists descend on Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt next week for talks on tackling climate change, don't expect them to part the Red Sea or other miracles that would make huge steps in curbing global warming.

Each year there are high hopes for the two-week United Nations climate gathering and, almost inevitably, disappointment when it doesn't deliver another landmark pact like the one agreed 2015 in Paris.

Hundreds of animals, including elephants and endangered Grevy's zebras, have died in Kenyan widlife preserves during East Africa's worst drought in decades, according to a report released Friday.

The Kenya Wildlife Service and other bodies counted the deaths of 205 elephants, 512 wildebeests, 381 common zebras, 51 buffalos, 49 Grevy's zebras and 12 giraffes in the past nine months, the report states.

Shadia Ahmed panicked as rainwater flooded her shack one night, drenching her seven children. The next morning, the kids were seized by vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms.

After an aid group administered tests for cholera in Ahmed's Syrian refugee encampment in the northern Lebanese town of Bhanine, her youngest, 4-year-old Assil, tested positive.

Global shipping giant Maersk signed an agreement Thursday with the Spanish government to develop large-scale production of green fuel in Spain for its worldwide fleet.

The methanol project, which will involve private partners and European Union funding, will see an investment of nearly 10 billion euros ($9.75 billion), a government statement said.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday said he will attend this month's U.N. climate summit in Egypt, reversing a decision to skip it that had drawn criticism at home and abroad.

Sunak's office previously said he had to skip the gathering, known as COP27, which start on Sunday. It cited "pressing domestic commitments," including preparations for a major government budget statement scheduled for Nov. 17.

Schools and offices closed and some events were canceled in Hong Kong on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Nalgae swept south of the city, while a finance conference meant to restore Hong Kong's image as an international business center went ahead.

As the city braced itself, temporary shelters were opened and theme parks were closed. Afternoon trading was suspended in the stock market, and some ferry and bus services were halted. The Hong Kong Jockey Club scrapped the evening's horse races.

High demand for metals ranging from copper to cobalt is pushing the mining industry to explore the world's deepest oceans, a troubling development for scientists who warn that extracting minerals from critical ecosystems that help regulate climate could cause irreparable damage.

The issue will be in spotlight this week as dozens of scientists, lawyers and government officials gather in Jamaica to debate deep sea mining as part of a two-week conference organized by the International Seabed Authority, an independent body created by a United Nations treaty.

Sayed Abuel-Ezz has seen his crops wither from seawater before. As the Nile Delta farmer walks among his mango trees on his land not far from the Mediterranean Sea, he worries it will happen again despite spending the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars to prevent it.

"If it gets higher, the trees will die," Abuel-Ezz said, looking towards the sea.