Thousands of firefighters, backed by US troops and crews from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, made progress Wednesday in their battle with California's biggest wildfire on record -- but the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not promising, officials said.

A crippling drought is ravaging vast tracts of Australia's pastoral heartlands, decimating herds and putting desperate farmers under intense financial and emotional strain, with little relief in sight.

Tens of thousands of firefighters on Tuesday were battling relentless flames ripping across California, as the death toll from a series of infernos that first erupted last month hit 11.

Europe's scorching heatwave has killed nine people in a week in Spain, health authorities said Tuesday, as stifling temperatures kindled wildfires in the country and neighboring Portugal where a ferocious blaze encircled a resort town.

Europe baked in near-record temperatures on Monday but some respite was on the horizon after weeks of nonstop sunshine as people come to terms with what may prove to be the region's new normal in an era of climate change.

Here is a roundup of recent developments:

Two blazes mercilessly charring northern California have grown so rapidly that they became the US state's largest in recorded history Monday, authorities said.

Europe baked in near-record temperatures on Monday but hopes were for some respite after weeks of non-stop sunshine as people come to terms with what may prove to be the new normal in climate change Europe.

U.S. regulators have ended a two-year investigation into how Exxon Mobil accounted for oil and gas prices and the risks climate change posed to its business, the company said Friday.

Officials in Japan have urged men to buck local gender stereotypes and carry parasols to protect themselves from the sun in the midst of a deadly national heatwave.

Firefighters aided by calmer winds were gaining control  on Thursday of a wildfire near Spain's famous Estrecho natural park in the southwest of the country, an official said.