Deaths from last week's catastrophic floods and landslides in parts of Asia surged past 1,500 Thursday as rescue teams raced to reach survivors isolated by the disaster with hundreds of people still unaccounted for across the region.

The tragedy of so much death and destruction was compounded by warnings that decades of deforestation caused by unchecked development, mining and palm oil plantations may have worsened the devastation. Calls grew for the government to act.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a reset of Joe Biden's fuel-economy standards, arguing it will lower U.S. car prices -- but critics warned it would worsen climate change and leave drivers paying more at the pump.

Trump was flanked in the Oval Office by the CEOs of Ford and Stellantis and a senior General Motors official, a show of buy-in from Detroit's "Big Three."

Parts of Asia were reeling after torrents of rain unleashed catastrophic floods and landslides last week, killing more than 1,400 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia. The disaster has also laid bare stark economic disparities in the region.

Indonesia has borne the heaviest blow, recording at least 753 deaths, followed by Sri Lanka with 465. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said it's too early to determine the exact number of dead in his country. At least 185 people in Thailand and three in Malaysia have also been confirmed dead.

Southeast Asia is being pummeled by unusually severe floods this year, as late-arriving storms and relentless rains wreak havoc that has caught many places off guard.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Hamish Cowell and Minister of Environment Tamara al-Zein have inaugurated the “King Charles III Cedar Trail”, a new reforestation and eco-tourism initiative in the Shouf Biosphere Reserve.

The event was attended by Noura Jumblat, the mayors and makhateer of Ain Zahalta, Bmahray and Mokhtara, the head of the reserve committee Faisal Abu Ezzeddine, and the reserve's staff.

The death toll from flooding in southern Thailand has reached at least 145, officials said Friday, as receding waters started to reveal devastating damage across the region.

More than 1.2 million households and 3.6 million people have been affected by floods triggered by heavy rains in 12 southern provinces, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said Friday.

Rescuers were hampered by damaged bridges and roads and a lack of heavy equipment Friday after flash floods and landslides on Indonesia's Sumatra island left 79 people dead and dozens missing.

Rescuers searched Thursday in rivers and the rubble of villages for bodies and possible survivors after flash floods and landslides on Indonesia's Sumatra island left 69 people dead and 59 missing.

Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks in North Sumatra province Tuesday. The deluge tore through mountainside village, swept away people and submerged more than 2,000 houses and buildings, the National Disaster Management Agency said. Nearly 5,000 residents fled to government shelters.

Sri Lanka stopped passenger trains and closed roads in some parts of the country where landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains have caused more than 40 deaths, officials said Thursday.

The government's disaster management center said 25 of the reported deaths occurred in the mountainous tea-growing regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya in the country's central province about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.

A pair of snowy owls spotted along a Lake Michigan beach has drawn curious crowds and sparked happy speculation about how long the Arctic birds of prey will call Chicago home.

Word of the two owls has circulated on birder forums in the nation's third-largest city for about a week, according to the Chicago Ornithological Society. While snowy owls aren't rare in Chicago, their frequency varies widely each winter. Generally, a handful are reported around December, but sometimes there aren't any.