A wildfire raged through a small Northern California forest town Tuesday, burning dozens of homes as dangerously dry and windy weather also continued to fuel other massive blazes and prompted the nation's largest utility to begin shutting off power to 51,000 customers.

The Caldor fire in the northern Sierra Nevada had burned an estimated 50 homes in and around Grizzly Flats, a town of about 1,200 people, fire officials said at a community meeting.

During last week's heatwaves in Italy and Spain, meteorologists in both countries announced provisional data suggesting temperature records had been set there.

But such claims need to be verified by the United Nations before being confirmed or rejected -- a process that can take months of careful scientific checking.

Five suspected poachers have been arrested over the beheading of an endangered Sumatran elephant, Indonesian authorities said Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian archipelago's battle with wildlife crime continues.

Hundreds of Portuguese firefighters on Tuesday struggled to control a blistering blaze that broke out in southern Portugal the day before, forcing the evacuation of around 60 people. 

Hundreds of French firefighters battled a raging blaze near the Mediterranean resort of Saint-Tropez on Tuesday, with thousands of residents and holidaymakers forced to evacuate. 

Roughly 750 firefighters using high-pressure hoses and water-dropping aircraft were attempting to control the flames, which began racing through a nature reserve on Monday evening.

Israeli firefighters battled flames for a second day in the hills west of Jerusalem, forcing the evacuation of five communities and prompting the government to ask for international help.

"The Greek foreign minister already said he will help as much as possible," Foreign Minister Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter.

At least 21 people died as heavy downpours struck central China's Hubei province, authorities said Friday, weeks after record floods wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in a neighboring province.

China has been battered by unprecedented rains in recent months, extreme weather that experts say is increasingly common due to global warming.

At least 2,000 people were evacuated on Friday after a massive landslide in India's ecologically fragile Himalayan north blocked a major river, officials said.

The people were evacuated from 13 villages in the Lahaul area of Himachal Pradesh state as a "preventative measure" in case of flash floods, a senior district official told AFP.

Fires burning for over a week that caused Greece's worst ecological disaster in decades were finally placed under control Friday, the fire department said.

"As of yesterday, there is no major active front, just scattered pockets," a fire department spokesman told AFP.

They are best known for bike-riding, but the climate-vulnerable Dutch are leading the way for electric cars with the largest number of charging stations in Europe.

Teslas and other vehicles can be seen plugged in on practically every street corner thanks to a network of some 75,000 stations -- nearly a third of the entire EU total.