Freezing weather at the Winter Olympics threatens to force some athletes and staff to pull out of Friday's opening ceremony as Pyeongchang shivers in temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

At least one person died and several were injured after Moscow experienced its heaviest day of snowfall since records began, the city's mayor and agencies said Sunday.

Bundle up America, the world's furriest weather forecaster says six more weeks of winter are in store.

The Iraqi capital's decrepit water network will be overhauled under a $210 million World Bank project aimed at tackling chronic supply shortages and outbreaks of disease.

A powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan Wednesday, the USGS said, sending people in Kabul rushing into the streets with tremors felt as far away as Islamabad and New Delhi.

The European Union on Tuesday gave France, Germany, Britain and six other polluting member states until next week to meet the bloc's air quality standards or face legal action. 

The number of Filipinos fleeing from the erupting Mayon volcano to safe zones has swelled to nearly 90,000, officials said Monday, worsening a sanitation crisis in the already stretched relief camps.

The swollen Seine peaked Monday at more than four metres above its normal level, leaving a lengthy mop-up job for Parisians after days of rising waters that have put the soggy city on alert.  

The river rose to 5.84 metres (19.2 feet) early Monday, causing continued headaches for commuters as well as people living near its overflowing banks.

Millions of tonnes of ash and rocks from an erupting Philippine volcano could bury nearby communities due to heavy rain, authorities said Saturday, as tens of thousands flee over fears of a deadly explosion.

Paris was on high alert Saturday as the swollen Seine continued to creep higher, with forecasters warning the river could stay high throughout next week, especially if more rain is dumped on France.