An Arctic air mass blamed for the deaths of more than 20 people in the U.S. began moving out to sea Friday, easing its grip on about a dozen states that have endured days of record-breaking cold.

And in an extreme but mostly welcome swing in the weather, forecasters were predicting that this week's deep freeze will be replaced by almost spring-like temperatures by the weekend.

Tens of millions of people in the United States are bracing for a potentially life-threatening deep arctic chill forecast to hit swaths of the country on Wednesday.

Toxic smog forced Bangkok authorities to issue an unprecedented order to shut nearly 450 schools on Wednesday, as authorities struggle to manage a pollution crisis that has stirred widespread concern.

The EU approved on Tuesday the import of U.S. soya beans for use as biofuels, a gesture that helps strengthen a fragile trade truce with U.S. President Donald Trump.

To defeat the intertwined pandemics of obesity, hunger and climate change, governments must curb the political influence of major corporations, said a major report Monday calling for a 'global treaty' similar to one for tobacco control.

Sybille Tetsch returned to the German village of Proschim to set up a restaurant four years ago, in an attempt to save her birthplace from mining excavators and heal a deep rift there over the future of coal.

Indian foresters have begun relocating around 300 crocodiles to allow a seaplane service for visitors to the world's tallest statue, the newly erected 182-meter (597-feet) Statue of Unity.

The last four years have been the world's hottest since record-keeping began, with 2018 the fourth warmest on record, according to data published Thursday by US research group Berkeley Earth. 

Tens of thousands of people sweltering through a brutal heatwave in southern Australia were left without power Friday, as the grid struggled with surging demand.

How close is human civilization to destroying the planet? The symbolic Doomsday Clock is still two minutes to midnight, as close as it has ever been, said the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Thursday.

The clock did not budge from last year, but that "should not be taken as a sign of stability," said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group of scholars and international experts in security, nuclear, environmental and science fields.