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.

Heavy rains lashed much of central Vietnam on Friday and caused flooding in parts of the historic city of Hue, a day after floods and landslides hit the coastal port city of Danang. Troops were mobilized and amphibious armored vehicles readied for rescue operations, state media reported.

More rainfall was forecast through Sunday morning and authorities warned that continued downpours could trigger flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in low-lying communities.

Heavy rains drenched Chile's capital and the surrounding region Thursday, triggering mudslides that swept cars through streets, flooded homes, forced residents to evacuate and injured at least six people, authorities said.

President José Antonio Kast declared a state of emergency for Las Condes, a wealthy suburb east of Santiago, giving government agencies more power to respond as torrential rains turned key roads into impassable waterways. The district's mayor, Catalina San Martín, said 14.4 centimeters (5.7 inches) of rain had fallen in recent days — about nine times the average October rainfall — leaving the area "totally saturated."

The super El Niño has been a nonstop machine cranking out tropical storms that have seemingly rolled through the Pacific region like rush-hour traffic. Now, it's the U.S. Gulf Coast's turn.

One of the strongest El Niño years on record meant a quiet first four months of the Atlantic hurricane season, but that's no longer the case. Tropical Storm Isaias, which formed Wednesday, is expected to gain hurricane strength by Thursday before moving onshore. If that happens, it would tie a 121-year-old record for the latest-forming initial hurricane of the Atlantic season. That mark was set on Oct. 8, 1905, according to the National Weather Service.

When the decades-long civil war that forced Samantha Pushpakumara from his village in north-central Sri Lanka ended, he was finally able to return home to a life of farming that he thought would give his family a stable future. That was until the rains didn't come.

Sri Lanka has been mired in drought for months, leading to severe water shortages that have left reservoirs dry and strained farming communities that depend on seasonal monsoons. Making matters worse, temperatures in many parts of the country have been higher than usual and high humidity has exacerbated the heat stress.