World
Houston keeps buckling under storms like Beryl. The fixes aren't coming fast enough
HOUSTON (AP) — Sharon Carr is frustrated. Like many others who lost power after Hurricane Beryl slammed into the Texas coast earlier this week, she went to a cooling center in Houston to get relief from summer heat while the city’s utility company warned that restoring everyone’s electricity could take longer than they might hope.
“There’s too much wind, we don’t have power. It’s raining a long time, we don’t have power,” said Carr, who also went without electricity for a week in May when a destructive storm known as a derecho swept through the area.
Carr, who works for the city’s transportation and drainage department, thinks more could be done to keep the lights on — or at least restore them more quickly — if Houston and other urban areas prone to severe weather would stop focusing on immediate problems and look at the bigger picture, including climate change.
“This shouldn’t keep happening,” she said. “If it’s broke, let’s fix it.”
Hurricane Beryl is the latest in a long line of devastating storms to paralyze Houston, underscoring the city’s inability to sufficiently fortify itself against weather events brought on by climate change. Past storms such as Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Harvey in 2017 made clear that the city needed to remove trees, bolster its flood-plain protections and bury more power lines underground, but those efforts fell short or were completely overwhelmed by recent storms that have inundated the city and knocked out power to millions.
With climate change heating up ocean water, fueling storms that are more powerful and intensify much faster, experts say cities need to rethink how they prepare and respond to such events.
“It’s a totally different game that we’re playing today,” said Michelle Meyer, director of the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center at Texas A&M University. The old playbook, she said, “doesn’t work anymore.”
If we rebuild it, it will flood again
Where and how developers build is one obvious issue, said Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Barack Obama. He said that became evident to him 20 years ago while working in Florida, where four successive hurricanes were not enough to stop beachfront development.
“You’ve got to ask yourself, how many times do we need to rebuild something before we either build it back differently or we don’t build back in that same spot?” he said.
Fugate thinks taxpayers are increasingly shouldering the burden, supporting expensive insurance programs for at-risk areas when instead, developers could stop building in storm-prone areas and residents could move out of the floodplains.
“It is the hardest system to implement because people resist,” said Jim Blackburn, co-director of the severe storm center at Rice University. “People really like where they live, as a general proposition.”
Buyouts instead of insurance payments are one way to get people to move, but Fugate notes such programs often take too long to kick in after a storm hits. By the time such funds are ready, persuading someone to take a buyout is “almost impossible,” he said.
Problems with known solutions
In many cases, officials know what actions are needed to mitigate severe weather disasters, but find them hard to implement.
For instance, the city of Houston commissioned a report documenting how falling trees caused power outages after 2008’s Hurricane Ike. But no one wanted to cut down the trees that still stood. Today, utility officials note, they install underground electric lines for every new construction project.
Updating the city’s electrical infrastructure could also go a long way toward preventing power outages, Meyer said, noting that North Carolina did so after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
“They were really forward-thinking, like, ‘OK we’re not going to be in this situation again,’” she said.
CenterPoint Energy, which provides Houston’s power, has partially installed an “intelligent grid” system that automatically reroutes power to unaffected lines during an outage. A document on the utility’s website noted that 996 of the devices had been installed as of 2019 — less than half of the grid at the time. It’s not clear if more progress has been made since then. The company did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
A changing reality
With more storms like Beryl expected under climate change conditions, cities have to plan for the worst — and the worst is getting nastier.
“It’s all about learning to live with water,” Blackburn said.
After Hurricane Harvey — the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade when it slammed into the Texas coast in August 2017 — Houston passed a $2.5 billion bond measure to finance flood damage reduction projects in Harris County, which includes the city. The action resulted in “a lot of improvements,” Blackburn said, but was based on old flood projections.
In addition, a task force Republican Gov. Greg Abbott created in 2018 made dozens of recommendations in a nearly 200-page report, including investigating ways to harden utilities and creating an inventory of mitigation and resiliency projects that are needed across the state.
But with weather becoming more and more unpredictable, even cities that make improvements can be caught unprepared if they don’t plan with the future in mind. The “diabolical” component of climate change, Blackburn said, is that the goalposts keep moving: Just as cities adjust to a heightened risk, the risk escalates again.
Scientists are more equipped than ever before to make decisions about evacuations, development and other measures using computer systems that can predict the damage a certain storm will inflict, noted Shane Hubbard, a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin.
And yet, he added, all the computing power in the world can’t match the unpredictability of climate change. Warming oceans are driving rapidly intensifying weather events that defy models and quickly change conditions on the ground.
“That’s the thing I’m most concerned about” in the future, Hubbard said.
Complicating matters in Texas is that some leaders still don’t acknowledge climate change. The report issued by the governor’s task force in 2018 noted that powerful natural disasters in Texas would become more frequent because of a changing climate. But it made no mention of “climate change,” “global warming” or of curbing greenhouse gases in Texas, the nation’s oil-refining epicenter that leads the U.S. in carbon emissions. Texas is a state where politicians, at least publicly, are deeply skeptical about climate change.
Cities must be willing to face the scientific facts before their planning can truly improve, Blackburn says.
Asked whether coastal cities in general are prepared for climate change, Meyer said simply, “No.”
She said prevention and mitigation measures must evolve to the point that a Category 1 hurricane “will be no problem moving forward.”
A city like Houston “should not be touched by a Cat 1,” she said.
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Walling reported from Chicago. Associated Press/Report for America writer Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report. Follow Walling on X: @MelinaWalling.
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
July 1 (Reuters) – China’s covert military training of Russian forces last year was personally approved by President Vladimir Putin’s defense minister and directly involved at least four Russian and Chinese generals, according to two European officials and documents seen by Reuters.
The officials said the involvement of such high-ranking individuals in training linked to the Ukraine war signaled the importance for Russia and China of such cooperation, which has caused alarm in Europe even as Beijing has denied it took place.
A classified Russian document seen by Reuters directly referred to an internal decree issued by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov in August, 2025.
It said that, in accordance with a decision by Belousov, a delegation from Russia’s armed forces travelled to China to participate in training exercises at People’s Liberation Army (PLA) facilities.
Training in Radiological, Biological, Chemical Warfare
The same report detailed one of the training courses – a three-week session focused on radiological, chemical and biological protection at a military facility in Beijing in November.
The report and a second one described and displayed images of Russian soldiers being lectured by a Chinese instructor, looking at a model nuclear reactor, and being taught about “chemical reconnaissance”, “radiation reconnaissance” and protecting ventilation systems from contamination.
The inclusion of radiological, biological and chemical warfare training underlined the strategic nature of the exchanges, one of the European officials said, noting that the topic was particularly sensitive for militaries in general.
The defense ministries of Russia and China did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that its stance on the Ukraine crisis had remained consistent.
“The relevant allegations are entirely unfounded,” it added, referring to details contained in this report.
Beijing says it is neutral in Russia’s war with Ukraine, and presents itself as a peace mediator.
Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP
According to a Reuters report last month citing European intelligence agencies and military documents, China in November trained around 200 Russian military personnel, some of whom have since joined the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin declined to comment on that report, but complained about “false information” published in the West.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on June 15 that Brussels had confirmed through its own channels that the training had taken place and was now assessing the implications.
Beijing described her comments as “nothing but smears”.
EU Ponders Response To Trade Partner China
European powers, which have viewed Russia as their main security threat since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, have watched warily as ties have grown closer between Moscow and China, the world’s second largest economy and a key EU trade partner.
For the 27-member bloc, discussion behind closed doors centers around whether further measures are needed in response to the training, given the trade priorities that traditionally shape the relationship with Beijing.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on Chinese companies that it says support Russia’s war effort.
A third official, in Brussels, told Reuters the bloc had to stop viewing China primarily through an economic lens, but focus on what Kallas called its role as a “decisive enabler of Russia’s war”.
Both of the European officials, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the information, identified the signatories of a July 2 agreement underpinning the training as Russian Major General Rustam Khusainov and Chinese Senior Colonel Sun Dayun.
Andrei Kartapolov, a senior lawmaker who heads the Russian parliament’s defense committee, told Russia’s RTVI outlet that the report about the training was “complete nonsense” and that Russia’s military had nothing to learn from China.
China’s Lack Of Combat Experience
Russia has accrued extensive experience in more than four years of combat in Ukraine, while China, with a vast and technologically advanced military, has not fought a war in decades.
Internal Russian military reports seen by Reuters noted strengths and weaknesses in the training.
One report on the training in Nanjing praised the standard of the equipment, the use of simulators and the instructors’ high theoretical knowledge while specifically noting China’s lack of combat experience.
Other documents named three generals who took part.
One Russian military document seen by Reuters listed the names of every participant in all of the courses – including those of senior officers – providing rank, date of birth, affiliation and level of security clearance in each case.
Colonel General Rustam Muradov, deputy commander-in-chief of Russia’s land forces, led the Russian delegation, according to the list and a second military document seen by Reuters.
According to the latter, Chinese Major General Li Jinsun, head of the PLA’s Military Academy of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, took part in the opening of one of the courses.
Russian Major General Vitaly Gerasimov took part in a course in Bengbu, according to the list.
(Editing by Mike Collett-White and Kevin Liffey)
World
State Department congratulates Keiko Fujimori as Peru’s president-elect following razor-thin vote count
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The State Department on Tuesday congratulated conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori after she was declared the winner of Peru’s presidential runoff election by a razor-thin margin.
The statement marked a significant milestone in Latin American relations, with Washington signaling it expects to work closely with Fujimori’s administration on shared priorities.
“The United States congratulates President-Elect Keiko Fujimori of Peru on her important electoral victory,” the department said.
“The Trump Administration looks forward to deepening collaboration with the Fujimori Administration to advance security cooperation and to strengthen bilateral cooperation on investment and trade in our region.”
TRUMP ADMIN WARNS PERU IT COULD LOSE SOVEREIGNTY AS CHINA TIGHTENS GRIP ON NATION
Peru’s presidential candidate for the Fuerza Popular party, Keiko Fujimori, waves to supporters during a closing campaign rally in Lima on June 4, 2026. (Anthony Nino de Guzman/AFP)
Her victory comes as Washington seeks to strengthen ties with pro-market allies in Latin America amid growing Chinese economic influence in the region.
Beijing recently completed the Chancay deepwater port in Peru — a $1.3 billion mega-project that serves as China’s key logistics hub on the Pacific coast.
Fujimori’s tough stance on organized crime also aligns with U.S. efforts to expand regional security and anti-trafficking cooperation.
BIDEN, XI TO MEET ON SATURDAY IN PERU, US OFFICIALS SAY
Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on during a ceremony at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi on May 23, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AFP)
Fujimori was declared the winner Monday by Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), the electoral authority responsible for reporting vote count results. The country’s final authority on election matters, the National Jury of Elections (JNE), has yet to issue its official proclamation, according to Reuters.
According to the ONPE, Fujimori secured 50.1% of the vote, winning by fewer than 50,000 votes out of roughly 18 million ballots cast.
Her victory over leftist challenger Roberto Sánchez marks her fourth presidential bid and makes her Peru’s first female president-elect.
The result caps a deeply divisive election cycle in a country that has gone through nine presidents in the past decade.
Fujimori is also the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who ruled the country during the 1990s.
TRUMP VICTORY BOOSTS CONSERVATIVES IN LATIN AMERICA, WAKE-UP CALL TO DICTATORS: ‘THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES’
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori waves outside his home in Santiago, Chile, on May 18, 2006. (Claudio Santana/AP Photo)
Fujimori’s presidency marks a return of her family’s political brand to Peru’s highest office — a movement that has long carried a complicated relationship with the United States.
While Washington once backed her father for his fight against communist guerrillas and economic reforms in the 1990s, the U.S. later condemned his government over the dismantling of democratic institutions and allegations of human rights abuses.
Keiko Fujimori has since spent more than two decades attempting to reshape “Fujimorismo” into a modern conservative, law-and-order political movement.
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Peruvians voted in favor of Fujimori amid a surge in violent crime, extortion and years of political instability.
Fujimori campaigned on an “iron fist” approach to security and a pledge to protect Peru’s free-market economy, while her opponent focused on rural economic grievances.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Gas imports from Russia into the European Union increased during the first months of 2026, a new report has revealed, even as the bloc formally begins a historic withdrawal from Russian natural gas.
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The EU banned Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from entering the bloc by the beginning of 2027 and mid-2027, albeit with exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which were allowed to tap Moscow’s gas in case of supply disruption given their landlocked position.
Yet according to the report from the EU’s agency of energy regulators (ACER), which was published on Wednesday, Russian gas imports have increased rather than declined during the reporting period, with pipeline imports rising 7 percent year-on-year compared to 2025 and LNG imports growing by 11 percent.
LNG imports accelerated further after the ban took effect in March, rising 17 percent against the same period in 2025.
The new release is ACER’s first monitoring report since the law was adopted in March. The agency attributed a rise in imports to companies accelerating deliveries under existing contracts before stricter prohibitions take effect, rather than to a reversal of EU rules.
“LNG authorised contracts for deliveries into the EU account for 20 to 32 billion cubic metres (bcm), entering the EU at the external borders of four member states: Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In turn, long-term contracts for Russian pipeline gas remain authorised in Hungary, Slovakia and Greece,” reads the report.
New Russian gas contracts have effectively been prohibited since March 2026, while older long-term agreements are being allowed to expire gradually through 2027 to avoid market disruption.
For now, authorised contracts still represent between 45 and 55 bcm of annual supply capacity, ACER said, down from the 150-157 bcm that Moscow used to export to the EU prior to the war in Ukraine.
Not a sanctions failure
ACER argues that this trend does not indicate a growing dependence on Russia, and nor does it mean that the bloc’s sanctions against Russia are failing.
Instead, importers appear to be maximising deliveries before future restrictions and responding to global supply uncertainty after disruptions caused by the war between Israel, the US and Iran affected Middle Eastern LNG trade.
The ban on transhipments of Russian LNG via the EU to other destinations also seems to have contributed, the energy regulators argue, as some of the Russian LNG that had previously been transshipped at selected EU ports until March 2025 may have remained within the EU market.
Ronald Pinto, an LNG analyst at the market intelligence firm Kpler, endorsed ACER’s assessment, noting that Russian LNG imports into the EU reached record highs in both April and May.
“Faced with disruptions to global LNG supply, European market participants relied on other available sources of LNG, likely making full use of the flexibility available within their existing contractual volumes,” Pinto told Euronews.
However, Pinto also pointed out a slight year-on-year decline in Russian pipeline imports into the EU following maintenance in early June, suggesting a commercial reaction to the 17 June deadline banning imports of Russian pipeline gas under short-term contracts.
“This could indicate that market participants are beginning to reduce their exposure in light of the phase-out regulation,” the analyst said.
Remaining dependencies
While Russian gas now accounts for roughly 12 percent of EU gas demand, ACER says that dependence is no longer evenly spread across Europe.
Most EU countries have sharply reduced purchases since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, except for Hungary, Slovakia and Greece.
These countries, particularly Hungary and Slovakia, continue to receive Russian pipeline gas primarily through the TurkStream corridor and face the greatest challenge in replacing supplies before the 2027 deadline.
“In 2024, Hungary and Slovakia are estimated to source approximately 70–80 percent of their gas from Russia, while Russian gas is deemed representing approximately 50-55 percent of Greek gas imports,” reads the report.
The principal remaining challenge is not overall gas availability, ACEA said, but ensuring sufficient infrastructure to deliver alternative supplies into landlocked Central European markets.
“The remaining dependence on Russian gas remains unevenly distributed across member states; while most countries have significantly reduced their exposure, a small number of countries continue,” reads ACER’s report.
Diversification and new challenges
ACER concludes that Europe is significantly better prepared than during the 2022 energy crisis due to profound diversification in the gas market.
However, such diversification comes at a new cost, as the bloc has developed new dependencies, particularly with the US, Algeria, and Qatar, the latter having suffered a loss in production due to the war against Iran.
These countries are currently pressuring the EU to scrap its methane rules, which would require oil and gas producers to pay for the pollution linked to their production, with the US suggesting that the EU could lose imports.
“If things (methane rules) stay as they are today, they’re almost certain to reduce the energy flows from the United States to Europe,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at a press briefing on 25 June. “I think this leads to very significant problems in the EU, which already suffers from much higher than global average energy prices.”
The EU is also counting on more gas from planned Romanian Black Sea production and increasing imports through Azerbaijan’s Southern Gas Corridor.
Overall, ACER concludes that the real economic consequences of ditching Russian gas have yet to arrive, pointing instead to the complete ban on LNG imports from January 2027 and the end of pipeline imports in September 2027 as the real tests.
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