SCIENCE

Salt crusts crackle underfoot as Habibullah Khatti walks to his mother's grave to say a final goodbye before he abandons his parched island village on Pakistan's Indus delta.

Hundreds of thousands of young faithful cheered Pope Leo XIV Saturday as he arrived by helicopter for an open-air prayer vigil outside Rome, in a rock star welcome for the new head of the Catholic Church.

After a two-year around-the-world ocean voyage inspired by Charles Darwin, scientists and crew sailed home on a historic vessel into Rotterdam Thursday bearing a warning about climate change -- but also a message of hope.

A heatwave scorching Europe had barely subsided in early July when scientists published estimates that 2,300 people may have died across a dozen major cities during the extreme, climate-fuelled episode.

The spur to build Toronto's billion-dollar-plus flood prevention project dates back to a devastating hurricane in 1954, but planners say its urgency was reinforced by the recent tragic flooding in Texas.

Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called "Big George."

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and the EU must deepen trust in a turbulent world, as he hosted the European bloc's bosses for a summit in Beijing on Thursday.

The world's top court will Wednesday deliver a landmark ruling laying out what legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change and whether polluters should pay up for the consequences.

A 1,000-tonne ship is exploring the far-flung South Pacific for riches buried beneath the waves, spearheading efforts to dredge the tropical waters for industrial deep-sea mining.

The International Court of Justice is preparing to hand down its first-ever opinion on climate change, seen by many as a historic moment in international law.

It's a pretty risky business trying to take a blood sample from a polar bear -- one of the most dangerous predators on the planet -- on an Arctic ice floe.

In a small, refrigerated room at a Brussels university, parka-wearing scientists chop up Antarctic ice cores tens of thousands of years old in search of clues to our planet's changing climate.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed more than 40 Palestinians, including at a market and a water distribution point, as talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stalled.

Workmen plant electricity poles in the rust-orange earth of the Navajo Nation and run cables to Christine Shorty's house -- finally giving her power against the searing Arizona desert heat.

The reported suicide of Russia's transport minister hours after he was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin, sparking speculation he would be arrested on corruption charges, has shaken the country's elite.

In the basement of a Jakarta housing complex, surrounded by the silver piping of the air-conditioning system, Indonesian technician Ari Sobaruddin is doing his part to tackle climate change.

One of the US Senate's leading climate advocates says President Donald Trump's administration no longer governs -- it "occupies" the nation on behalf of Big Oil.

Fears grew Wednesday that the death toll of 110 in the Texas floods could still surge as hopes fade of finding survivors among the many reported still missing several days after the disaster.

Waist-deep in a rain-swollen river, Christer Kristoffersen cast his line, landed it gently on the water, and caught ... nothing.

K-pop's BTS are grossed out by them. Even K-pop BTS idol RM is seen seemingly cursing upon spotting the insects in a viral video, with fellow bandmember Jin separately seen casually blowing a lovebug out of his way mid-performance.

Western Europe sweltered through its hottest June on record last month, as "extreme" temperatures blasted the region in punishing back-to-back heatwaves, the EU climate monitor Copernicus said Wednesday.

Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 78 people, with forecasters warning of new deluges.

Rescuers were on Saturday searching for more than 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp in the US state of Texas, after torrential rains caused devastating flooding that killed 24 people -- with more rain on the way.

The River Seine reopened to swimmers in Paris on Saturday morning, marking the first time since 1923 that bathers could take a dip in the iconic waterway following a years-long cleanup effort.

Rescuers were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said Friday, after torrential rains caused a "catastrophic" flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas.

BRICS leaders will meet in Rio de Janeiro from Sunday, with the bloc depleted by the absence of China's Xi Jinping, who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years.

Paris was on red alert for high temperatures on Tuesday, with the top of the Eiffel Tower shut, polluting traffic banned and speed restrictions in place as a searing heatwave gripped Europe.

Spain and Portugal reported record temperatures Monday as Italy and France braced for several more days of a punishing heatwave that has gripped southern Europe and Britain, sparking health and wildfire warnings.

With "Britpop" bands Oasis and Pulp topping the charts and filling concert halls, a 90s vibe is floating over the UK this summer amid nostalgia for a "cooler" time when people seemed "happier".