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China has carried out a military exercise in the South China Sea, following a confrontation near a disputed shoal. The drill comes amid ongoing tensions between Beijing and rival claimant states, notably the Philippines, over access to contested reefs and waters. The exercise is being read as a demonstration of China's readiness to assert its claims in the region.

Local communities are mounting resistance to the construction of AI data centers in their areas, citing concerns over electricity and water use, noise, and limited local economic benefit. The debate is playing out across multiple regions as companies race to expand computing capacity for artificial intelligence, turning siting decisions into a contested political issue.

The America Times is examining how climate change is increasingly framed as a human rights issue, with rising temperatures, extreme weather and displacement affecting basic rights to housing, food, water and safety. The discussion reflects a growing push by advocates and institutions to treat climate impacts not just as environmental problems but as threats to fundamental human rights worldwide.

California is examining results from projects that place solar panels over irrigation canals, an approach meant to generate clean power while reducing water evaporation. The state is learning how the panels perform in practice and whether covering canals at scale could cut both water loss and emissions, drawing attention to a idea piloted in the Turlock Irrigation District's Project Nexus.

The US National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service is highlighting the outlook for a very strong El Nino in 2026-2027. The agency says an unusually warm tropical Pacific Ocean could reshape weather patterns worldwide, with potential effects on rainfall, droughts, storms and temperatures across multiple continents in the coming years.

The New York Times has published tracking maps following Typhoon Surigae, one of the strongest storms recorded early in the 2021 Pacific typhoon season. The maps chart the typhoon's position and projected movement across the western Pacific. Surigae intensified rapidly over open waters, drawing attention from meteorologists and residents monitoring its potential impact on islands in the region.

California is preparing for flooding and landslides as forecasters expect a super El Niño this year, a warming of equatorial Pacific waters that disrupts weather patterns worldwide. After years of coastal erosion, communities such as Pacifica, south of San Francisco, are already showing strain, and officials worry heavy winter storms could worsen damage to weakened cliffs and hillsides.

The European Union is moving to restrict the energy and water consumption of data centres, according to Euronews. The measures target the sector's growing resource footprint as demand for computing power expands across Europe. The proposal is drawing attention for its potential impact on tech companies and Europe's wider climate and resource-efficiency goals.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy says it seized a US Remus 600 autonomous underwater vehicle in the Strait of Hormuz and has released footage of the captured drone. The incident adds to a series of confrontations between Iranian and American forces in Gulf waters, where repeated seizures of unmanned vessels have raised tensions. The Palestine Chronicle highlighted the seizure and footage as evidence of Iran's assertive posture toward US military assets in the strategic waterway.

A powerful nor'easter is battering the Northeastern United States, causing coastal flooding and leaving more than 130,000 customers without power. High tides are threatening coastal communities as the storm pushes water onshore, with utilities working to restore service. Outlets including AP and Spectrum News are tracking flooding conditions and outage numbers as the storm continues.

Opposition to data center construction has emerged as an issue bringing together Americans from across the political spectrum. A 60 Minutes segment examined how communities on the left and right are pushing back against large-scale data center projects, citing concerns such as energy consumption, water use, noise and strain on local infrastructure, making it one of the few issues with broad cross-partisan agreement.

UNICEF is urging immediate measures to safeguard Iraq's rivers, linking the deteriorating state of the country's waterways to risks for children's health. The appeal highlights concerns over pollution and water scarcity affecting Iraqi communities, with the organization stressing that clean water is essential to protecting vulnerable children from disease.

Sudan has rejected an accusation from Ethiopia that it is backing armed groups. Khartoum denies providing any support to armed elements, rejecting the Ethiopian claim outright. The dispute adds to tensions between the two neighbouring countries, which have already clashed over border and water issues, and comes as Sudan remains mired in internal conflict.

A new analysis warns that environmental threats across the Himalayan region are growing severe, affecting glaciers, water supplies and the communities that depend on them. The piece examines the pressures facing one of the world's most fragile mountain ecosystems and the risks this poses to downstream populations across South Asia.

Bridgewater argues that the current surge in artificial intelligence capital expenditure can only be justified if enterprise and consumer adoption of AI scales rapidly enough to generate returns. The hedge fund's analysis adds to the debate over whether massive spending on data centres and chips by tech companies will pay off, or whether it resembles an investment bubble.

NASA's Perseverance rover has uncovered evidence that Jezero Crater on Mars was more complex than previously thought, indicating it was not simply an ancient lake. The finding suggests the crater experienced a richer and more varied geological history, with implications for understanding Mars' past water activity and its potential to have once supported life.

European policymakers are searching for new measures to tackle the deteriorating health of the Baltic Sea, one of the world's most polluted bodies of water. The sea suffers from eutrophication, agricultural runoff and other pressures affecting marine life and coastal communities across the region. Attention is turning to what prescription can restore its condition.

Researchers subjected water to light roughly 10 billion times more intense than sunlight, expecting evaporation to speed up dramatically. Instead, the water's evaporation rate barely changed, defying the straightforward expectation that more light energy means faster evaporation. The surprising result has drawn attention in physics circles, raising questions about how energy moves through water at extreme intensities and what invisible processes may be limiting evaporation.

Forbes reports that the profits of the first Avatar film exceeded the combined profits of Avatar: The Way of Water and the upcoming third installment. The claim highlights how, despite the sequels' enormous box-office grosses, the original 2009 film remains the franchise's financial high point, prompting discussion about rising production and marketing costs in big-budget filmmaking.

Singapore's national water agency PUB has urged the public to avoid several areas across the city-state because of flash flood risks. The advisory comes amid heavy rainfall, and residents are being told to stay clear of affected low-lying spots until conditions improve. The warning is drawing wide attention as floods can develop quickly during intense downpours in Singapore.