Skimming low over the gleaming white glaciers on Greenland's coast in a modified 1940s plane, three NASA scientists, led by an Elvis-impersonating oceanographer, waited to drop a probe into the water beneath them.

Pope Francis on Sunday voiced concern for the Amazon rainforest, a "vital" lung for the planet, as the worst blazes in years have sparked a global outcry.

Hundreds of new fires are raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, official data showed Saturday, as thousands of troops were made available to help fight the worst blazes in years following a global outcry. 

The thousands of fires burning in the Amazon don't look like the major forest fires of Europe or North America -- instead, they are fueled mainly by branches, vegetation and other byproducts of deforestation in cleared areas, experts say.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday called the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest "an international crisis", ahead of a G7 summit that will hammer out a response to the issue.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he is considering deploying the army to help combat fires raging in the Amazon rainforest, as a growing global outcry over the blazes threatens to torpedo a huge trade deal. 

G7 leaders gathering in France this weekend plan to hammer out "concrete measures" in response to the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest, putting them on a collision course with Brazil's rightwing leader.

Rain and flash floods have killed 54 people in Sudan since the start of July and affected nearly 200,000, the United Nations said Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron believes his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro lied to him on Brazil's stance on climate change, and France will now block a trade deal between the EU and South American nations.

The fires raging in the Amazon rainforest amount to an "acute emergency" and Chancellor Angela Merkel believes it should be discussed by world leaders when they meet for this weekend's G7 summit, her spokesman said Friday.