Heavy monsoon rains killed at least 54 people in eastern Pakistan in 24 hours, bringing the total rain-related deaths in the country to 178 over the past three weeks, officials said Thursday.

Rainfall has triggered flash floods and inundated several villages as the country experiences 82% more rainfall this month compared to the same period in July 2024, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

The weather system moving across the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday was showing a greater chance of becoming a tropical depression as it moves toward the northern Gulf Coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The system has a 40% chance of becoming a tropical depression as it moves west over the Gulf toward southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, the federal agency said. The severity of its impact will depend on how far it travels offshore, where conditions are ripe for a tropical depression, before reaching Louisiana. The tropical weather will affect Alabama and Mississippi as well.

The 2026 World Cup being hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States is less than a year away and FIFA's protocols for matches affected by wildfire smoke remain unclear.

The 48-team World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Canada is hosting 13 matches — seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.

Some dolphins in Australia have a special technique to flush fish from the seafloor. They hunt with a sponge on their beak, like a clown nose.

Using the sponge to protect from sharp rocks, the dolphins swim with their beaks covered, shoveling through rubble at the bottom of sandy channels and stirring up barred sandperch for a meal.

Soccer had a fierce reckoning with heat at the recently concluded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States — a sweltering preview of what players and fans may face when the U.S. co-hosts the World Cup with Mexico and Canada next summer.

With temperatures rising worldwide, scientists warn that staging the World Cup and other soccer tournaments in the Northern Hemisphere summer is getting increasingly dangerous for both players and spectators. Some suggest that FIFA may have to consider adjusting the soccer calendar to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses.

Across a wide swath of Texas, the inundated rivers that ravaged communities also tore through farms and ranches.

In the town of Bend, about two hours north of Austin, Boyd Clark waded into rising waters to help one of his stranded ostrich hens. Matthew Ketterman spent several agonizing hours trapped on top of his truck amid coursing rapids after driving out to check the fences on his exotic game ranch outside Burnet, about an hour south of Bend. And the overflowing San Gabriel River knocked Christmas trees sideways and staff had to get petting zoo animals into a temporary pen at Sweet Eats Adventure Farm in Georgetown, about 65 miles east of Ketterman's ranch.

Each year from June to September, a series of heavy rains known as monsoons sweep through the Indian subcontinent, providing relief from heat, irrigating the country's farms and replenishing its rivers.

However, as global heat increases, the rain is becoming more erratic and intense, creating the conditions for deadly floods. Nearly 1,300 people died in India throughout 2024 due to heavy rain and floods. Hundreds of rain-related deaths have already occurred this year in the South Asian region, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives and Nepal.

Dozens of rescuers searched the banks of a mountain river Wednesday looking for people missing after monsoon floods swept away Nepal's main bridge connecting to the country to China and caused at least nine deaths.

Police said dozens of rescuers were already at the area and more are expected to join the rescue efforts. Nine dead bodies have been recovered from the river. Security forces have rescued 55 people, including four Indians and a Chinese person so far, according to the Rasuwa District Administration Office.

The mountain village of Ruidoso returned to the grim rituals of rebuilding after deadly flash flooding, just one year after other natural disasters — a wildfire and intense flooding — reshaped the popular vacation getaway.

Broken tree limbs, twisted metal, crumpled cars and muddy debris remained as crews worked to clear roads and culverts in the wake of Tuesday's flash flood that killed three people — including two children — and significantly damaged as many as 50 homes, with one home carried away entirely.

An unusual pest is ravaging crops and irking farmers in northeastern Italy: the flamingo.

Flocks of these relatively recent immigrants have set their hungry sights on the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna. The long-legged birds aren't interested in the seedlings; rather, flamingos use their webbed feet to stir up the soil and snatch mollusks, algae or insects from the shallow water.