To allow people to better prepare for upcoming weather, the Japan Meteorological Agency will begin next month offering temperature forecasts for 12 days ahead instead of the current seven.
Heavy rain further swamped southwestern Japan's Kyushu region on Monday after stranding more than 300 people on a Yakushima Island mountain over the weekend.
A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Papua New Guinea on Tuesday at a depth of 127 kilometers (80 miles), officials said, although there were no immediate reports of damage.
An intense drought related to this year's El Nino phenomenon has precipitously lowered the level of Panama's Gatun Lake, forcing the country's Canal Authority to impose draft limits this week on ships moving through the waterway's recently expanded locks.
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