More severe storms were expected to roll across the central U.S. this week following the weather-related deaths of more than two dozen people and a devastating Kentucky tornado.

The National Weather Service said a "multitude of hazardous weather" would impact the U.S. over the next several days — from thunderstorms and potentially baseball-sized hail on the Plains, to heavy mountain snow in the West and dangerous heat in the South.

An environment conference opened in Nepal on Friday to discuss global climate change, including the impact on the highest Himalayan peaks where snow and ice are melting.

The three-day conference in Kathmandu titled, "Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity," is expected to include discussions of critical climate issues.

Thai officials said Wednesday they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they've found this year.

The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned out to be circuit boards mixed in a huge pile of metal scrap, said Theeraj Athanavanich, director-general of the Customs Department. It was found Tuesday in a random inspection.

The bishop sat quietly near the front row, hands folded, listening as Indigenous leaders and church workers spoke about the threats to Peru's northern forests, a part of the Amazon rain forest. It was 2016, a year after Laudato Si, Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment.

When he was up to speak, the bishop didn't preach though he was in his city of Chiclayo as host of a regional gathering. Instead, he reflected on things he had seen.

For 20-year-old Mayank Yadav, riding a crowded bus in the summer months in this western Indian city can be like sitting in an oven. That makes it a treat when he steps off and into a bus stop outfitted with sprinklers that bathe overheated commuters in a cooling mist.

"Everyone is suffering from the heat," Yadav said. "I hope they do more of this across the city."

The unofficial national fruit of New Zealand isn't native to the country – it's South American. It isn't exclusively found in New Zealand. And it's not, perhaps surprisingly, the kiwi. It's the feijoa.

Known as pineapple guava elsewhere, the fruit — a green perfumed oval with a polarizing taste — can be purchased in California or Canberra. Yet no country has embraced the feijoa with quite the fervor or the fixation of New Zealanders.

Sweltering heat more commonly seen in the throes of summer than in the spring was making an unwelcome visit this week to a large portion of the U.S. – from the Dakotas to Texas and other parts of the South – and putting millions of Americans on alert for potentially dangerous temperatures.

In Austin, forecasters warned that the early heat wave could break a century-old record for May of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Europe's largest "green" methanol plant opened in Denmark on Tuesday, boosting the continent's emissions reduction efforts -- with customers ranging from shipping giant Maersk to toymaker Lego and pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.

The city of Copenhagen will offer special rebates and freebies to eco-friendly tourists this summer, including free bike rentals to those arriving by train and staying more than four days.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will no longer track the cost of climate change-fueled weather disasters, including floods, heat waves, wildfires and more. It is the latest example of changes to the agency and the Trump administration limiting federal government resources on climate change.