The worst drought Italy has faced in 70 years is thirsting paddy fields in the river Po valley and jeopardizing the harvest of the premium rice used for risotto.

Italy's largest river is turning into a long stretch of sand due to the lack of rain, leaving the Lomellina rice flats — nestled between the river Po and the Alps — without the necessary water to flood the paddies.

European Union countries reached a deal following hard-fought talks that dragged into early Wednesday to back stricter climate rules that would eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035.

The 27 EU members found agreement on draft legislation aimed at slashing EU greenhouse gases by at least 55% in 2030 compared with 1990 rather than by a previously agreed 40%.

Leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations on Tuesday watered down a key pledge on ending fossil fuel financing abroad, as the need to tackle global warming clashed with fears over energy shortages.

Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip are rediscovering the pleasures of the Mediterranean Sea, after authorities declared the end of a long period of hazardous marine pollution.

Heat waves and drought gripping California highlight the urgency to slash fossil fuel use and remove planet-warming emissions from the air, a top state official said during discussions of a new plan for the state to reach its climate goals.

"I think every single Californian today knows that we're living through a climate emergency," said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Water-dropping aircraft from Azerbaijan and Qatar on Friday joined the fight against a wind-stoked wildfire that burned for a fourth day near a popular resort in southwestern Turkey.

Turkey's forestry minister, meanwhile, said the fire may be close to being contained but the wind still poses a risk.

Israel has dispatched two water-dropping aircraft to help battle a large wildfire that has scorched at least 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of forest in the foothills of the Pentadaktylos mountain range in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus.

The two Israeli aircraft joined another two planes and a helicopter that the Cyprus government sent to fight the blaze following a request from breakaway Turkish Cypriot authorities made through the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, or UNFICYP, on the island nation.

Leaders of Commonwealth nations are calling for increased climate action at a meeting in Rwanda this week, ahead of the United Nations climate change summit in the seaside resort of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt later this year.

Climate change is a major concern for the 54-nation bloc that includes small island countries facing growing threats amid global warming. Recent weather events and longer climate term trends, including heat waves, extreme temperatures, droughts, cyclones, floods and rising sea levels, afflict most of the Commonwealth's member states.

Thousands of farmers gathered in the central Netherlands Wednesday to protest against the Dutch government's plans to rein in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia, driving their tractors across the Netherlands and snarling traffic on major highways.

The protest was organized earlier this month after the government published nationwide targets for reducing emissions, sparking anger from farmers who claim their livelihoods — and those of thousands of people who work in the agricultural service industry — are on the line.

Scientists say climate change is a factor behind the erratic and early rains that triggered unprecedented floods in Bangladesh and northeastern India, killing dozens and making lives miserable for millions of others.

Although the region is no stranger to flooding, it typically takes place later in the year when monsoon rains are well underway.