New Zealand officially banned single-use plastic shopping bags Monday, introducing hefty fines for businesses that continue to provide them.

Europe was bracing itself for a sweltering Saturday as the heatwave continued across the continent. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that the G20 would sign a similar deal on climate change to that agreed at the last meeting in Argentina, where the United States was isolated.

"We will have a similar text to Argentina. A 19+1 declaration," Merkel told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Osaka.

Temperatures in France are expected to reach a record-breaking high on Friday, as Europe continues to endure a sweltering heatwave which sparked an out-of-control wildfire in Spain. 

Governments warned citizens to take extra precautions, with the week-long heatwave causing a build-up of pollution and fears of an increase in emergency calls across Europe. 

Europe's record-breaking heatwave was forecast to intensify  Thursday, with authorities on alert as temperatures threaten to surpass 40 degrees Celsius in some regions.

German police cautioned a man riding naked on a moped while topless sunbathers sparked a row in Munich, as temperatures were to soar to record highs in several European countries Wednesday.

As Europe started to sizzle Tuesday at the start of a heatwave that could break records, drivers on Germany's famously-speedy motorways were ordered to slow down and fans at the women's World Cup were showered in health warnings.

Scores of people have fallen ill and hundreds of schools have been closed in Malaysia due to toxic fumes believed to have come from a chemical factory, authorities said Tuesday. 

As Europe braces for a heatwave this week, a Dutchman is swimming the route of the country's most famed ice skating race -- which has not been held for two decades as climate change bites.

Pistachios are a staple of the vaunted French aperitif, but the nuts come from thousands of miles away -- a situation a handful of farmers in the southern Provence region hope to change.