Chinese weather forecasters on Monday warned several provinces to expect torrential rain and flash floods over the next two days as unrelenting downpours wreak havoc on the country.

More than three thousand people were evacuated in northwestern Hunan province over the weekend as heavy rain was unleashed on Sangzhi, Shimen and Yongshun counties, and Zhangjiajie City, according to state media.

Sangzhi recorded the heaviest rainfall this year, with maximum precipitation reaching 256 mm (10.07 inches) overnight from Saturday to Sunday, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

It was the most extensive and widespread rain in Sangzhi since 1998, CCTV said.

China has been gripped by weeks of rains and floods amid an unusually wet summer. In late July, storms from Typhoon Dokusri caused record rains to hit China in over a decade, with Beijing experiencing its heaviest rainfall in 140 years.

China’s government has called for more precautions against flooding as Typhoon Saola now makes it way across the South China Sea, with forecasts expecting it to land at Guangdong province as early as this Friday.

China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management organised a video conference this past Saturday, warning that heavy rainfall in many parts of the country may cause geological disasters including mountain torrents and floods in some small and medium-sized rivers, state media People’s Daily reported.

There is also uncertainty over Typhoon Saola’s path, said China Meteorological Administration, but it will bring heavy rainfall in the coastal areas including Fujian and Zhejiang provinces from Wednesday to Friday.

Fujian has launched an emergency response to Saola, ordering fishing boats in some waters to return to harbours in the vicinity and all personnel on board to evacuate ashore by Wednesday noon, local media reported on Monday.

Days ahead of the controversial expansion of London’s road charging scheme for the most polluting vehicles, businesses in the British capital remain wary despite the mayor unveiling further subsidies.

The extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to all of Greater London on Tuesday has sparked a wider public backlash as Britons grapple with a cost-of-living crisis fuelled by decades-high inflation and low economic growth.

Alongside that, a third of London businesses are concerned that the £12.50 ($16) daily toll set to be applied across the city will have a negative impact on their employees, according to the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Around 40 of those based in the suburbs — where the scheme is being expanded to — believe it will increase their costs, it found.

“We’ve been urging the mayor of London to do a lot more so that businesses, particularly small businesses, are not hammered,” James Watkins, of the LCCI, told AFP.

He said bosses were “relieved” after under-fire Labour mayor Sadiq Khan announced increased financial support for owners of more polluting vehicles affected by his ULEZ extension.

“It’s important because firms were worried for their workers,” Watkins added.

Under the new support measures, owners of older petrol or diesel vans — many thought to be self-employed and small-business operators — can receive £7,000 in scrappage reimbursement, compared with the previous £5,000.

Meanwhile, every Londoner will now be eligible for grants of up to £2,000 to scrap their non-compliant vehicle.

NASA is exploring the potential for a supersonic jet that could take commercial passengers from London to New York in 90 minutes.

The US space agency’s Quesst mission was launched in 2016, primarily to design an aircraft with technology that reduces the loudness of a sonic boom: that’s what we hear on the ground when a plane travels faster than sound.

They are so powerful that operating an aircraft capable of producing them above populated areas is banned.

NASA’s project has resulted in X-59, a Concorde-like research jet designed by defence contractor Lockheed Martin that can cruise at 937mph at an altitude of 55,000ft without generating an unacceptable noise level.

It hopes to run test flights over US cities in 2024 and gather data on locals’ response to the sound, with the hope it could inform changes to aviation rules.

This week, NASA’s Glenn Research Center revealed it had investigated the business case for supersonic travel, potentially allowing for a jet to zip over the Atlantic at between 1,500 and 3,000mph.

Today’s large airliners fly at roughly 600mph, and a London to New York flight takes around eight hours on average.

Now, companies including Boeing and Rolls-Royce have been contracted to come up with a potential roadmap for making such trips a reality – including design concepts for supersonic passenger planes.

Mary Jo Long-Davis, manager of NASA’s hypersonic technology project, said: “The design concepts and tech roadmaps are really important to have in our hands when the companies are finished.

“We are also conscious of the need to account for safety, efficiency, economic, and societal considerations.

“It’s important to innovate responsibly so we return benefits to travellers and do no harm to the environment.”

A new online tool that shows the locations and heights of more than 650,000 trees in Jersey has been launched by the government.

The Jersey Tree Map allows users to explore the island’s green canopy and learn about its benefits.

The map was created using aerial photographs and a LIDAR laser mapping survey taken in 2021.

Users can zoom in to see individual trees or get an estimate of the overall tree coverage in different areas.

The map, which covers trees more than 9ft (3m) tall, features other free map layers, such as recycling centres, school catchment areas and speed limits.

Minister for the Environment Deputy Jonathan Renouf said the map was a positive way to showcase Jersey’s “rich natural history” and its environmental future.

He added: “The Jersey Tree Map provides a benchmark against which we can measure how well we continue to protect and enhance Jersey’s natural heritage.”

The government said the map was more accurate for single trees in open spaces than for groups of trees or woodland, and that some manmade objects or larger shrubs might be incorrectly shown as trees.

President Joe Biden spoke with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday and approved an emergency declaration for the U.S. state as Tropical Storm Idalia approaches, the White House said.

The White House said Biden also expressed his support for the people of Jacksonville.

This was after a white guman shot and killed three Black people at a Dollar General store in the Florida city on Saturday.

Hawaiian Electric’s (HE.N) shares jumped more than 40% on Monday after the utility said its power lines in West Maui had been shut down for more than six hours before wildfires started in the area during the afternoon.

The company’s shares were trading at $13.55, after at least two trading halts since the markets opened on Monday. The stock has lost more than half its value since the Aug. 8 wildfires.

Hawaiian Electric said the lawsuit filed against it by the county of Maui was “factually and legally irresponsible,” pointing to the county’s responsibility in the Hawaii wildfires.

The county of Maui last week sued Hawaiian Electric, accusing the utility of acting negligently by failing to shut down its equipment despite warnings that hurricane winds could knock power lines down, sparking wildfires.

The county said downed power lines started the wildfires that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina earlier this month, killing at least 115 people and displacing hundreds more.

Hawaiian Electric said on Monday that a morning fire on Aug. 8 caused by power lines that fell in high winds was subsequently reported “100% contained” and later declared “extinguished” by the Maui County Fire Department.

The utility said another afternoon fire started in the same area more than six hours after all of its power lines in West Maui had been de-energized, which could not be contained by the fire department and spread out of control toward Lahaina.

“We were surprised and disappointed that the County of Maui rushed to court even before completing its own investigation,” said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric.

Hundreds of Greek firefighters were battling a huge blaze on Monday which has killed at least 20 people over the past ten days, Europe’s deadliest wildfire so far this summer as record-setting heatwaves unleash blazes across the continent.

The fire which began near the city of Alexandroupolis has raged uncontrolled in northeastern Greece’s Evros region, turbocharged by near-gale force winds and high temperatures. All but one of the victims killed so far were irregular migrants hiding in the forest.

“It is the definition of what we call a megafire,” Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told a regular briefing.

The European Union backed Copernicus Climate Change Service said the Evros blaze had burned more than 77,000 hectares of land, making it one of the biggest on European soil in years.

Lawmakers were expected to discuss the impact of the devastating fires and state preparedness in parliament on Thursday.

A wildfire on the outskirts of Athens which began last Tuesday had abated, the fire brigade said.

Scores of people have had to flee their homes across Greece as hundreds of wildfires erupted across the country in the second major fire outbreak of this summer.

In July, some 20,000 foreign tourists were evacuated from the island of Rhodes where a wildfire burned resorts and hotels.

The Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Alex Otti on Due Process, Dr Oluebube Chukwu, says that the Abia State Government has adopted private sector participation to build an efficient waste management system in the state.

Chukwu said this on Saturday, August 26, 2023, in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of this month’s environmental sanitation in Umuahia.

Abia State Government on June 23 invited bids from the  private sector operators for collaboration in its waste management initiative in Aba and Umuahia.

The governor’s aide said that the inclusion of the private sector in building a sustainable waste management system was aimed at creating a healthier environment and better life for the citizenry.

He said that the process of engaging the private sector participants would be in phases and that the first phase was concluded on Wednesday.

He said that the winners of the bids had been selected and grouped into  preferred, reserved and second reserved bidders categories.

He said: “The preferred bidders, being the winners, are currently receiving notifications to a meeting and their letters for engagement are under review and will be served on each of the six preferred bidders.

“In the new week, they will be getting those invitations to a meeting; where the offer letter will be shared and the service benchmark will be discussed with them.

“At the meeting, negotiations will be concluded so that they can commence work immediately.”

Chukwu further said that the Otti-led administration, upon assumption of office, declared a state of emergency in the environment sector, with emphasis on waste management in the state.

“The idea of this private sector participation is primarily meant to get water in public areas completely sorted, create employment for our people, boost the economy of the state and contribute to cleaner and healthier Abia,” he said.

Chukwu also said that the emergency task force created to handle waste disposal would cease to function in order for the private sector participants to take over and further drive the administration’s rebuilding agenda.

He urged the people of Abia to imbibe the culture of environmental cleanliness and support the programmes and policies evolved by the government to transform the state.