Some 40,000 people have been evacuated in southwestern France due to a wildfire that has ravaged more than 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres), Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told AFP, calling the blaze "the largest fire of the season".

"As I speak, gradually, 40,000 people have either been evacuated or are currently being evacuated," he added, stressing that there have been no reported casualties so far. "A total of 80 homes have burnt, around 50 of which have been completely destroyed."

Spain's government declared a national emergency Friday after multiple wildfires forced the evacuation of some 10,000 people in the central region of Madrid.

The measure means that Spain's interior ministry, which control police and security forces, has taken charge of overseeing the firefighting efforts by Spain's regions.

Flooding in India's northeastern Assam state has killed at least 50 people and displaced 700,000 after days of heavy monsoon rain that overflowed the Brahmaputra River, officials said Friday.

The river, one of Asia's largest that originates in China's Tibet region and flows about 900 kilometers (560 miles) through Assam, flooded villages, swept away homes and forced nearly 300,000 people into government-run relief camps, officials said.

Firefighters in central Spain battled a wildfire on Wednesday that has burned over 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) in one of the country's largest blazes on record.

The fire in rural Guadalajara comes less than two weeks after a deadly blaze devastated a small expat community in southern Spain. That small but extremely virulent fire killed 13 people, including several foreigners, in one of the southern European country's deadliest wildfires.

Japanese cities are experiencing "cruelly hot days", a new meteorological term devised this year to warn people of intense heat above 40C, with emergency officials describing the soaring temperatures on Wednesday as "a disaster".

Infants, toddlers and young children need outdoor activity to build strong bodies and minds, but they also require extra care in the heat.

In the summer months, those twin imperatives can make parents anxious. How long should kids be out? How do I know they're OK? What should I avoid?

A team of international scientists sets sail Thursday from Britain for Greenland to study its rapidly melting ice using drones, mini-submarines and autonomous swimming robots.

France is experiencing a "very worrying" drought that has spurred a record number of water restrictions for the time of year, the ecology minister said on Wednesday.

Deaths in Germany spiked 32 percent during a record heatwave in June compared to levels in the previous four years, official data showed Tuesday.

Hundreds of French firefighters aided by water bombers on Tuesday battled to control wildfires that have ravaged a hugely popular forest outside Paris as another scorching heatwave keeps the capital in its grip.