Rescuers hampered by mud and rain on Tuesday used their bare hands and shovels to search for survivors of landslides that smashed into villages in the central Philippines, as the death toll from tropical storm Megi rose to 42. 

More than 17,000 people fled their homes as the storm pummeled the disaster-prone region in recent days, flooding houses, severing roads and knocking out power.

Spain's Civil Guard says it is investigating a businessman in the eastern Valencia region who owned a private taxidermy collection with more than 1,000 stuffed animals, including just over 400 from protected species and at least one specimen of a North African oryx, already extinct.

The collection would fetch 29 million euros ($31.5 million) on the black market, the Civil Guard said Sunday in a statement, adding that its owner could be charged with trafficking and other crimes against the environment.

A German Cabinet minister has apologized for taking a long vacation shortly after devastating floods last year in the state where she was then a senior official, but it isn't clear whether the move will help relieve pressure on her.

Anne Spiegel became the minister for families and women in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Cabinet in December. Before that, she was the environment minister and deputy governor of Rhineland-Palatinate state — the region worst hit by floods in July that killed more than 180 people in Germany.

An unusually early heat wave brought more extreme temperatures Monday to a large swath of India's northwest, raising concerns that such weather conditions could become typical.

The India Meteorological Department forecast that the temperature in New Delhi would reach 41.8 degrees Celsius (107.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, nearly eight degrees above normal.

U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea has participated in the inauguration of the Hinterland Archaeological Heritage Project in Jabal Moussa, funded by the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the U.S. Embassy said on Monday.

UK climate activist group Extinction Rebellion shut down London's iconic Tower Bridge on Friday after two of its protesters abseiled over its sides.

The capital of the United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday it would start banning single-use plastic bags from June, the oil-rich country's latest move to advance its ambitious carbon reduction goals.

The statement from Abu Dhabi's government-run media office did not specify how the upcoming ban would be enforced, whether by fining businesses distributing the ubiquitous thin bags or charging people for their use. The emirate also said it plans to completely get rid of single-use Styrofoam cups, plates and food containers by 2024.

A group of financial donors committed to racial equity plans has secured at least $100 million annually to benefit minority groups that are disproportionately harmed by extreme weather events.

The group, the Donors of Color Network, also announced that 10 of the nation's top 40 donors to environment causes have now signed on to at least a portion of a pledge the network established last year. The Climate Funders Justice Pledge commits the donors to make their climate-related grants transparent and to direct at least 30% of their donations to groups that have Black, Indigenous or other people of color as their leaders.

Being outfoxed in Congress usually means losing a vote on an amended resolution or being too late for the donut line in the Senate cafeteria.

Individuals along with economy-wide efficiencies can make a major difference in the drive to avert the worst of global warming, U.N. climate experts say, estimating that sharp cuts to demand for energy-guzzling services could slash emissions up to 70 percent by 2050.   

Avoiding airplanes, eating less meat, insulating your home could all make a dent, particularly when broad swathes of societies embrace change, says the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.