Ayo Rock Formations are unusual monolithic rock boulders which are located near Ayo village, on the Caribbean Island Aruba.

For such a relatively flat, sandy island, the presence of the unusual hills and huge monolithic boulders that dot the countryside are truly an enigma.

These remarkable geological formations add aesthetics to the landscape as well as provide excellent vantage points from which to better view the island.

As the earliest settlers on the island, the Arawak people, visited the formations, they carved paintings in rocks which are called petroglyphs while performing religious rites.

The most famous of these formations is the Casibari Boulders, which are tonalite rocks, with reddish brown color that are rising above the desert landscape giving a panoramic view of the island.

Not just this formation, but every single one weighs several tons and feature peculiar forms.

There are several walking trails that are leading to and around the rock formations which allow every one willing to see them in person, to even climb on them.

Ayo Rock Formations, placed in such close proximity and in unusual designs, combined with the tranquil environment of Ayo, create a sense of awe and an understanding of why the area was once considered a sacred site by the island’s original inhabitants. Truly alluring and beautiful landscape.

Indonesian Authorities will this week send aid to remote areas of the eastern Papua region, where thousands are facing hunger brought on by drought, the chief of the country’s disaster agency said on Monday.

Six have died since June in the mountainous Puncak district in Central Papua due to a snowy season that was immediately followed by a prolonged dry season that hit crops.

Access to the region is hampered by difficult terrain and threats posed by armed separatists, authorities said.

Suharyanto, chief of Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a statement authorities would send food, milk and other aid to the region on Wednesday. The area is only accessible via two-wheeled vehicles and helicopters.

Earlier on Monday, he told a news conference that Puncak residents suffer from drought every year “but this year it’s more extreme”, to the extent that some have died of hunger.

He told Reuters that four died of hunger last year in the same region, adding the drought was caused by climate change.

President Joko Widodo on Monday instructed authorities to resolve the problem in Central Papua, adding “that is a specific area that during snow season … no crops can grow.”

Puncak is near the highest mountain in Indonesia, one of the rare spots where snow falls in the country.

Though rich in gold, copper, timber and natural gas, Papua is one of the poorest, most underdeveloped in Indonesia.

A low level, but increasingly deadly, battle for independence has been waged in resource-rich Papua ever since it was controversially brought under Indonesian control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.

Indonesia is expecting a severe dry season from the impact of the El Nino weather pattern this year, threatening harvests and raising the risk of forest fires, the country’s weather agency said last month.

Sailing coaches at the Youth World Championships in Volos, Greece have been lauded for helping rescue 130 people stranded on a beach after fires blocked exits from the area to the mainland, according to a statement from World Sailing on Monday.

The blazes, fanned by rising temperatures and strong winds, have killed five people, destroyed homes, farms and factories and scorched swathes of forest land since July 17.

As events concluded on Sunday at the sailing championships, coaches spotted the trapped people and boarded motorised support boats to head toward a village nearby to evacuate the residents as well as to help native wildlife that were similarly stranded, the statement said.

As many as 60 boats were involved in the operation, saving more than 130 people who were ferried back to Volos.

“When we got the call for help from the coast guard, I knew we had the right people and equipment for the job,” Labis Tsoukalas, president of the Nautical Club of Volos and Argonauts, said in the statement.

“It’s a credit to (the coaches) that we were able carry out the rescue successfully.”

An evacuation order for the Canadian town of Osoyoos and its surrounding district in the province of British Columbia had been issued late Saturday night due to an out-of-control wildfire that has crossed the border from the U.S. state of Washington.

The wildfire, called Eagle Bluff, is approximately 4 kilometres (2.49 miles) from Osoyoos and is currently estimated to be 885 hectares (2,200 acres) in size on the Canadian side of the border, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service.

It was estimated to be around 2,000 hectares in size on the U.S. side by the BC Wildfire Service.

Osoyoos has an area population of about 6,700, according to an Osoyoos economic development website.

“There are Initial Attack crew personnel, several single resources, two helicopters, structure protection personnel and heavy equipment responding to the incident,” BC Wildfire Service said on Sunday.

The evacuation order covers the area north of the Canada-United States border to the intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 3, as well as west and north along Highway 3.

Regional district of Okanagan-Similkameen information officer Erick Thompson said at a press briefing on Sunday afternoon that nothing much had changed in terms of the situation, adding they are focusing on resources on the eastern flank of the fire.

“A total of 732 properties have been under evacuation order and 2,094 are under evacuation alerts. One hundred thirty-two people have sought emergency support,” he said.

Six giant wind turbines were hoisted into position by a huge crane in the Swiss town of Sainte-Croix on the French border on Monday to increase the country’s supply of renewable energy, which has struggled to overcome local opposition.

Germany’s Enercon assembled the turbines that measure 139 metres (456 feet) from the base to the tip of their blades before the crane raised them from the ground.

They will be operated by Swiss utility Romande Energie (REHN.S) and can meet the energy needs of 6,100 households – or the entire energy consumption of Sainte-Croix, including its industries.

Suisse Eole, an association promoting wind energy, said the energy form was essential to the nation’s energy security, which has been weakened by the impact of the Ukraine war on gas supplies to Europe, as well as lower hydropower production because of reduced water levels linked to climate change.

The association said Switzerland last year had only 41 wind turbines in operation, with many projects obstructed by groups that say they degrade the countryside and drive down property values.

It’s been just over three weeks since China increased checks on Japanese food imports over radiation concerns, but Kazuyuki Tanioka is already fearful for the future of his upscale Beijing sushi restaurant.

Like most restaurants in China, Tanioka’s eight-year-old Toya has struggled with years of COVID-19 restrictions, which only began to ease late last year.

Now it is facing a shortage of both customers and seafood ahead of Japan’s plans to empty into the sea treated radioactive water from its disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.

“I’m very worried about whether we can continue,” said the 49-year-old chef-restaurateur from Kumamoto, southern Japan. “The inability to import food ingredients is truly a life or death situation for us.”

China is the biggest importer of Japanese seafood. Shortly after the 2011 tsunami and earthquake damaged the Fukushima plant, it banned the import of food and agricultural products from five Japanese prefectures.

China later widened its ban, which now covers 10 out of Japan’s total of 47.

The latest import restrictions were imposed this month after the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog approved Japan’s plans to discharge the treated water.

China has sharply criticised the move, which has also faced opposition at home, saying the discharge endangers marine life and human health.

In Beijing’s western suburbs, cars were swept away on Monday as relentless rain since the weekend transformed roads into rivers, killing at least two and trapping hundreds, despite an overnight evacuation of tens of thousands from their homes.

Hundreds of roads have become flooded in China’s capital, with videos posted by state media showing half-submerged vehicles in Mentougou district pulled along by fast-moving torrents as the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri dumped record rainfall on the city of nearly 22 million.

Two bodies were found in a river during an emergency patrol in Mentougou as rescuers pulled hundreds to safety in other parts of the city.

Besides Beijing, heavy rain continued to soak the neighbouring city of Tianjin as well as Hebei province in a region nearly the size of Britain in the wake of Doksuri, which was downgraded to a tropical depression on the weekend.

Three of the five rivers that make up the Hai river basin rose to dangerous levels on Monday. Some houses were washed into the Yongding river, and nearly 55,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Baoding city, state media reported.

Doksuri was one of the strongest storms to hit China in years and caused widespread flooding over the weekend in the southern province of Fujian, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Average rainfall in Beijing reached 176.9 mm (7 inches) between Saturday night and Monday afternoon, with the maximum recorded rainfall in at a weather station in Mentougou hitting 580.9 mm (23 inches), according to state media.

The Beijing observatory kept a red alert – the highest warning – for heavy rainfall in place, while Beijing Hydrology Station upgraded its flood warning with more rain and river flooding forecast.

Incessant rainfall over the weekend until Monday morning has broken daily precipitation records at 14 weather stations in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces.

More than 31,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Beijing, work at more than 4,000 construction sites was halted, almost 20,000 buildings were inspected for damage, and scenic spots in the city were closed, media reported.

Both airports in the capital cancelled more than 200 flights on Monday afternoon, with close to 600 delayed, according to flight tracking app Flight Master.

Railway authorities dispatched workers to send food including instant noodles, eggs and ham, and drinking water to train passengers who were stuck overnight.

As many as 358 roads in Beijing were affected by the rain as of Monday.

Britain on Monday committed to granting hundreds of licences for North Sea oil and gas extraction as part of efforts to become more energy independent, drawing criticism from environmental campaigners.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed plans for more than 100 such licences, which attracted bids earlier this year and said hundreds of future licenses could also be granted.

He also announced fresh support for two carbon capture and storage (CCS) clusters in Scotland and northern England.

Britain has a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said even by this date the country is expected to get more than a quarter of its energy from oil and gas.

He said new domestic fossil fuels would help to improve energy security and reduce reliance on states such as Russia.

British efforts to reach the net-zero target have become a sharp dividing line between the governing Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party ahead of an election expected next year, with Sunak saying it should be met in a “pragmatic” way that does not add to household bills.

Sunak, who will visit an energy infrastructure site in Scotland on Monday, said the new CCS clusters would also help support thousands of jobs.

Britain aims to use CCS technology, which involves capturing planet-warming carbon from industrial smokestacks before it hits the atmosphere and storing it underground, to hold 20 million to 30 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030.