Around 700 firefighters backed by aircraft were on Friday battling a massive blaze in France's southern Gard region that had already burned 600 hectares (1,500 acres) overnight.

The operation "is continuing, but the fire is advancing more slowly and fortunately is no longer threatening any homes," a spokesman for the local fire service told AFP early Friday, adding that several fire fronts remained "inaccessible".

Portugal is bracing for a heat wave, with temperatures in some areas forecast to climb as high as 43 C (109 F) this weekend just as a severe drought grips the country.

The Civil Protection Agency, a Portuguese government body that coordinates official responses to emergencies, said Thursday it is placing crews on high alert because of the risk of wildfires. About a third of the country faces an extreme risk of forest fires, authorities say.

The European Union's executive warned on Thursday that the continent is facing one of its toughest years when it comes to natural disasters like droughts and wildfires because of increasing climate change.

With extremely dry weather hitting several Mediterranean nations, EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told legislators on Thursday that "the present drought in Europe could become the worst ever." Fires ravaging huge swaths of countryside only acerbate the climate crisis, he said.

"Tuna is not for everyone," lamented 65-year-old Chapoka Miongo, a handline fisher on Kenya's south coast, from his dugout canoe.

He's one of many artisanal fishers in Shimoni, a bustling coastal town 82 kilometers (51 miles) south of Mombasa, dotted with dhows, dugout boats, outrigger canoes and skiffs anchored on the beach landing site. Scores of fishmongers, processors and traders line the shoreline awaiting the fisherfolk to return.

Floodwaters were receding in Sydney and its surrounding area Thursday as heavy rain threatened to inundate towns north of Australia's largest city.

Evacuation orders and official warnings to prepare to abandon homes were given to 60,000 people by Thursday, down from 85,000 on Wednesday, New South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

German lawmakers on Thursday approved a major package of reforms aimed at boosting the production of renewable power, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the country has for too long relied on energy supplies from Russia.

The government unveiled its 600-page "Easter package" in April, less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine escalated the simmering energy crisis between Moscow and western European neighbors, many of which were buyers of Russian fossil fuels.

Rescuers used thermal drones Monday to search for possible survivors trapped under ice after an avalanche set off by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps killed at least six people and injured eight others.

Authorities said they did not know how many climbers were hit when the glacier gave way Sunday on Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Italian Dolomites.

More than 30,000 residents of Sydney and its surrounds were told to evacuate or prepare to abandon their homes Monday as Australia's largest city faces its fourth, and possibly worst, round of flooding in less than a year and a half.

Days of torrential rain caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks, bringing a new flood emergency to parts of the city of 5 million people.

A fourth crew member has been rescued Monday after a storm sunk an engineering vessel two days earlier, according to Chinese authorities.

The crew member was rescued by a navy ship Monday morning and is in stable condition, according to a statement by Guangdong maritime authorities. Rescue work is still ongoing.

The United Nations said Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curbs regulators' power to limit greenhouse gas emissions had dealt a blow to the fight against global warming.