SAO PAULO (AP) — Renowned Indigenous Chief Raoni Metuktire is receiving palliative care at home in the Brazilian heartland after being diagnosed with cancer at age 94, his institute said Monday. The Raoni Institute said the cancer diagnosis in the chief’s digestive system was confirmed after he was hospitalized in Sao Paulo in June due to a severe intestinal obstruction. He underwent surgery then and returned to the region of the city of Peixoto de Azevedo, in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. “At this moment, our priority is ensuring that Chief Raoni is well cared for, comfortable, and close to his family and his people. We wish to share this information transparently, but we also ask for respect regarding his privacy, his need for rest, and his family’s decisions,” the institute said in a statement. Raoni, one of the most renowned advocates for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and for Indigenous rights, traveled the world for decades to raise awareness about environmental preservation. Doctors opted for palliative care given Raoni’s advanced age, overall clinical condition, and the high risks associated with aggressive oncological treatments, the institute said. “Palliative care does not mean an absence of treatment. The goal is to control pain and other symptoms, prevent complications, and ensure nutrition, hydration, medical supervision, nursing care, physical therapy, and the best possible quality of life,” it added. Raoni is currently resting at home, surrounded by his family, community, and specialized health teams. The care plan also incorporates intercultural and spiritual support,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

PENAJAM PASER, Indonesia — Indonesia’s escalating wildfire crisis has reached the outskirts of Nusantara, the new capital city under construction as the world’s fourth-most-populous country seeks to transplant its political heartland from a flood plain in Java to the island of Borneo. Fires in mid-September burned 30 to 40 kilometers (19 to 25 miles) from the perimeter of government buildings. The fires were reported at Wonotirto, near the main toll road, and at Bukit Tengkorak in the Bukit Soeharto protected forest. These wildfires were in the outer zone designated for Nusantara, authorities in the new capital said, but had stopped short of the construction site of the government complex. “Hopefully, it won’t reoccur,” Danis H. Sumadilaga, Nusantara authority spokesperson, said in a Sept. 9 statement. “We will have to conduct monitoring and patrols to ensure this fire doesn’t happen again.” On Sept. 14, forestry minister Raja Juli Antoni traveled to inspect the fires, along with the head of Indonesia’s disaster management agency and the lead of Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN), the agency overseeing the new city, one of the world’s largest construction sites. Helicopters carrying giant buckets of water buzzed overhead as the officials surveyed the fragile landscape skirting the city. “It’s there again — where’s Manggala Agni?” the minister said, referring to the state fire brigade after spotting a suspected fire burning in the hills. “They need to get there, along with colleagues — there’s smoke again. “Please coordinate with the firefighters, army, police,” Raja Juli Antoni said on Sept. 14.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

A forested tiger reserve in southern India is home to a thriving population of spotted and sambar deer, nilgai antelopes, and wild pigs — all ideal prey for tigers. Yet the reserve has no resident tigers, reports contributor Nivedhika Krishnan for Mongabay India. Kawal Tiger Reserve in the state of Telangana connects key tiger populations in the reserves of Tadoba-Andhari, in Maharashtra state to the west, and Indravati, in Chhattisgarh state to the east. Since 2015, researchers have confirmed that only 15 tigers entered Kawal from Maharashtra. Of these, only two were females. Lead researcher Imran Siddiqui told Mongabay India that tigers traveling from Maharashtra to Kawal face heavy infrastructure throughout their journey. “The corridor is fragmented by open-cast coal mines, the Ada irrigation project, electrified farm fences, and the main Hyderabad-Nagpur railway line,” Siddiqui said. “National Highway 44 acts as the most formidable barrier of all with its heavy traffic and high fencing. It isn’t just one obstacle — it is a cumulative mosaic of risks that forces dispersing tigers to turn back.” He added that while male tigers dispersing from their birthplace are “bolder risk-takers” and can move long distances through human-dominated landscapes, female tigers are more risk-averse and “require quiet, undisturbed habitat to raise cubs.” “Crossing busy highways, railways, and mines poses a massive perceived threat to females,” Siddiqui said. “That is why males occasionally dodge traffic to reach Kawal, but females turn back. Without females, you simply cannot build a breeding population.” Anish Andheria, president and…This article was originally published on Mongabay

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action the agency said would remove more than $300 billion in costs for the industry and help “unleash” American energy. The rule change, first proposed last year, represents a fundamental shift from efforts by Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to address climate change and clean up industrial pollution. EPA officials said the change would allow utilities to make the best decisions for their ratepayers rather than be forced to close aging or inefficient plants. By Mathey Daly, Associated Press Banner image:  A barge on the Ohio River moves past the Mountaineer Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant near New Haven, W.Va., March 13, 2026. Image courtesy of Carolyn Kaster, Associated PressThis article was originally published on Mongabay

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region and used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states — Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota — went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the states and the groups, saying there was no real emergency under the law. The section of the Federal Power Act that allows emergency orders “is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop,” Appeals Court Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. By reversing the Campbell plant’s “long and carefully planned retirement … the results are disruptive,” Pillard wrote. There was “no ‘emergency’ within the meaning” of the statute, she added. The Michigan case is one several legal disputes that have emerged across the country as the Trump administration uses emergency powers to force a half-dozen coal-fired plants from closing. The orders are raising ratepayer bills, critics say, and adding air and water pollution that could otherwise have been avoided. Keeping the Michigan plant open cost at least $135 million in 2025 alone, officials said. Ted Kelly, U.S. clean energy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the court ruling rejected…This article was originally published on Mongabay