Firefighters significantly slowed the spread of a smoky wildfire churning through forest near Yosemite National Park that has thousands of residents of remote mountain communities still under evacuation orders on Monday.

Crews "made good headway" against the Oak Fire, according to a Sunday night incident report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. "Fire activity was not as extreme as it has been in previous days."

Two forest fires that broke out in northwest France last week were caused by arson, prosecutors said Monday, taking to three the total of deliberately started blazes in recent weeks. 

The two fires in normally wet and blustery northwest Brittany came during a fierce heatwave that has scorched Europe over the last fortnight.

Greek firefighters on Monday battled a raging fire threatening the Dadia National Park, known for its black vulture colony, as the country scorched under a blistering heatwave.

The Mediterranean country is reeling under a heatwave that began on Saturday and is expected to last 10 days. Temperatures were set to rise to 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions and the country is battling three major wildfires.

Temperatures in the Middle East have risen far faster than the world's average in the past three decades. Precipitation has been decreasing, and experts predict droughts will come with greater frequency and severity.

The Middle East is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the impact of climate change — and already the effects are being seen.

Flooding in southern Iran has killed at least 17 people and left six others missing following heavy rainfall in the largely arid country, state media reported on Saturday.

Major wildfires in Europe are starting earlier in the year, becoming more frequent, doing more damage and getting harder to stop.

And, scientists say, they're probably going to get worse as climate change intensifies unless countermeasures are taken.

There are 40 percent more tigers in the wild than previously thought, but with a maximum of 5,578 on the prowl, they remain an endangered species, conservationists said Thursday.

The fires that have torched through Europe are on course to make 2022 a record year for forest loss on the continent, as scientists warn climate change is already contributing to ever fiercer blazes.

An artist's house is perched in a tree, shipping containers have been turned into homes and caravans house people who have been quicker to grow vegetables than build.

The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction Thursday, as scientists put the iconic orange-and-black insect on the endangered list because of its fast dwindling numbers.

"It's just a devastating decline," said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new listing. "This is one of the most recognizable butterflies in the world."