Dozens of large German companies have urged the country's next government to put in place ambitious policies to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The 69 companies said in an open letter Monday that the next government needs to put Germany "on a clear and reliable path to climate neutrality" with a plan for doing so within its first 100 days in office.

Hundreds of protesters from climate activist group Extinction Rebellion blocked a busy intersection Monday near the temporary home of the Netherlands' parliament, marking the start of a week of protests the group plans in The Hague before a U.N. climate conference that opens on Oct. 31.

The demonstration started when protesters wheeled a yellow boat emblazoned with the Dutch words meaning "citizens decide" into the middle the road. Other activists walked to another nearby intersection and began sitting or lying down in the road as police looked on.

Authorities on the Greek island of Evia said Monday that more than 200 homes were damaged by weekend flooding, with most of the affected areas left unprotected in the wake of huge summer wildfires.

The floods also damaged roads in the north of the island, and also caused damage on nearby areas of the central Greek mainland. Authorities are racing to clear the damage, using earthmovers to clear riverbed blockages, before more severe weather expected later this week.

Three weeks since its eruption upended the lives of thousands, the volcano on Spain's La Palma island is still spewing out endless streams of lava with no signs of ceasing.

Authorities on Sunday monitored a new stream of molten rock that has added to the destruction of over 1,100 buildings. Anything in the path of the lava — homes, farms, swimming pools and industrial buildings in the largely agricultural area — has been consumed.

Several reported tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma late Sunday into early Monday morning, causing damage but no immediate word of deaths or injuries.

The severe weather system also brought heavy rain, lightning and wind to parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas, and more stormy weather is predicted for later this week in parts of the central U.S.

A bus fell into a river in northern China on Monday, leaving at least three people dead and 11 others missing after flooding from heavy rains destroyed homes and covered farmland.

Video posted online showed people on top of an almost submerged bus in a rushing river flowing over a nearby bridge outside the city of Shijiazhuang, about 265 kilometers (165 miles) southwest of Beijing.

The Vatican said Friday that Pope Francis does not plan to attend the upcoming U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

Francis has made care for the environment a hallmark of his papacy, and he said in a recent interview that he intended to participate in the Oct. 12-Nov. 12 event and had a speech being drafted. Scotland's bishops also were preparing for a visit.

The mustard-colored apartments built as public housing more than half a century ago are among the hottest spots in Phoenix, with only a few scrawny trees and metal clothesline poles offering shade in dusty courtyards.

The two-story stucco structures in Edison-Eastlake, a historically Black neighborhood that has become majority Latino, are among the last still standing halfway through a six-year redevelopment project that aims to better protect residents from extreme heat amid a mega drought in the West.

A flood-hit riverside restaurant in Thailand has become an unlikely dining hotspot after fun-loving foodies began flocking to its waterlogged deck to eat amid the lapping tide.

Now, instead of empty chairs and vacant tables, the Chaopraya Antique Café is as full as ever, offering an experience the canny owner calls "hot-pot surfing."

The United Arab Emirates, one of the world's biggest oil exporters, has launched a "strategic initiative" targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, ahead of a U.N. climate conference late this month.