Near the beginning of August, Europe sweltered in intense heat with temperatures hitting near-record highs of 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) in Portugal, while elsewhere high temperatures melted the asphalt or saw police dogs fitted with shoes. In Portugal,…

“Millions of pounds are being spent on the project, titled Unblinking Eye, that uses cutting edge identification scanners to track and monitor individuals who are deemed a security threat. The cutting-edge system… will analyse human behaviour and make appropriate decisions…

“British Columbia has declared a province-wide state of emergency on August 15, 2018, due to raging wildfires. Although 2018 is already the 4th worst season on record, it’s still far behind record-breaking 2017. Previous declarations were in 1996, 2003 and 2017, which lasted…

“The largest fire in California history continued to grow… while firefighters worked to protect threatened communities. Crews are on especially high alert this week after a firefighter who traveled from Draper City, Utah, to help battle the blaze died… while…

“A law criminalizing religious conversions and the ‘hurting of religious feelings’ went into effect in Nepal, a year after the bill was passed… Nepal’s Christian minority fears the new law will be abused by those seeking to settle scores — as…

“Germany is a step closer to allowing its citizens to legally identify as a third gender — instead of male or female — on official documents in which they will be designated as ‘diverse.’ “The measure was approved Wednesday in compliance with…

The desolation was different than usual. “Mature trees stood barren, lifeless and with half of their bark stripped off. There wasn’t any soil, just hard-packed dirt. He saw flipped-over cars and shipping containers. Broken power lines. A gas pipe wrapped…