Tens of thousands of people sweltering through a brutal heatwave in southern Australia were left without power Friday, as the grid struggled with surging demand.

How close is human civilization to destroying the planet? The symbolic Doomsday Clock is still two minutes to midnight, as close as it has ever been, said the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Thursday.

The clock did not budge from last year, but that "should not be taken as a sign of stability," said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group of scholars and international experts in security, nuclear, environmental and science fields.

Heavy rains and flooding have killed at least four people in northern Spain and forced authorities to evacuate a hospital and close schools, local emergency services said Thursday.

The world is "losing the race" against climate change, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres warned Thursday, demanding bolder action from governments to arrest runaway warming.

Temperatures in southern Australian neared 48 degrees on Thursday, shattering previous records as sizzling citizens received free beer to help weather heatwave of historic proportions.

The Bureau of Meteorology reported temperatures of 47.9 Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) north of Adelaide, while inside the city temperatures reached 46.2 Celsius, a fraction above a record that had stood since 1939.

China's slowdown and Brexit took center-stage Wednesday at the Davos forum of the world's business elite, but the unlikely star was shaping up to be a Swedish teenager whose demands for climate action are inspiring schoolchildren across the world.

A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumba on Tuesday, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.

Future generations face an environmental "time bomb" as the world's groundwater systems take decades to respond to the present day impact of climate change, scientists warned on Monday. 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Pacific charm offensive went off course on Friday when he was forced to defend Fiji's accusations of inaction over climate change. 

A Japanese volcano erupted on Thursday, spewing ash and smoke six kilometers into the air over a small southern island.