A new study reveals that 25 countries, home to a quarter of the world's population, are facing extremely high water stress. Most are located in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

Repeated droughts around the world are depleting water tables and leading to water stress, in other words, demand for water is outstripping available resources. And the situation is not about to improve. By 2050, almost 60% of the world's population could be facing extremely high water stress for at least one month of the year. Such are the alarming findings of the World Resources Institute (WRI), which recently published data from its Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, detailing the countries most at risk of water shortages. It names the five most water-stressed countries as Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman. "The water stress in these countries is mostly driven by low supply, paired with demand from domestic, agricultural and industrial use," the WRI notes.

Hurricane Hilary strengthened into a major storm Thursday evening off Mexico's Pacific coast, and it could bring heavy rain to the southwestern U.S. by the weekend.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hilary's maximum sustained winds had risen to 120 mph (195 kph), making it a Category 3 hurricane.

Outdoor alert sirens on Maui stayed silent as a ferocious fire devastated the seaside community of Lahaina last week. The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency said he had no regrets about not deploying the system as a warning to people on the island.

A day after making that statement, Administrator Herman Andaya resigned Thursday. Andaya had said he feared blaring the sirens during the blaze could have caused people to go "mauka," using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian.

Firefighters battled overnight to try to bring under control the worst wildfire in decades on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, a major tourist destination, officials said Friday.

The fire in the north of the island, which started late Tuesday, has forced the evacuation or confinement of nearly 8,000 people in eight municipalities.

Thousands of residents fled the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories ahead of an approaching wildfire Thursday, some driving hundreds of miles to safety and others waiting in long lines for emergency flights, the latest chapter in Canada's worst fire season on record.

The fire, boosted by strong winds, was within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of Yellowknife's northern edge, and people in the four areas at highest risk were told to leave as soon as possible, Fire Information Officer Mike Westwick said.

Sunday Abiodun, carrying a sword in one hand and balancing a musket over his other shoulder, cleared weeds on a footpath leading to a cluster of new trees.

Until recently, it had been a spot to grow cocoa, one of several plots that Abiodun and his fellow forest rangers destroyed after farmers cut down trees to make way for the crop used to make chocolate — driving away birds in the process.

Days of relentless rain in India's Himalayan region have killed at least 72 people this week, a government official said Thursday, as a heavy monsoon triggered landslides and flash floods that have submerged roads, washed away buildings and left residents scrambling for safety.

Rescuers in the mountainous Himachal Pradesh state have been working through challenging weather conditions to save people trapped under mud and debris from the rains that struck over the weekend. India's weather department has put the state on high alert and expects the downpours to continue over the next few days.

Hawaii's governor vowed to protect local landowners from being "victimized" by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds from a deadly wildfire that incinerated a historic island community and killed more than 100 people.

Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday that he had instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina. He acknowledged the move will likely face legal challenges.

Heavy rain in parts of Germany caused flooding and led to dozens of flight cancellations at Frankfurt Airport, the country's busiest and a major European hub, authorities said Thursday.

The airport said large quantities of water accumulated on the tarmac Wednesday evening and ground handling was suspended for more than two hours, German news agency dpa reported.

Vacationers were mostly able to return to their campsites Tuesday after a wildfire ripped through 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of land near the seaside resort of Argeles-sur-Mer in southern France, close to the border with Spain, authorities said.

Up to 3,000 vacationers on four campsites had been evacuated on Monday evening as a precaution. Authorities said Tuesday that the fire was contained overnight but remains under close surveillance.