A smaller carbon footprint, less waste and more environmentally friendly -- this year's pilgrimage to Mecca, dramatically scaled down due to coronavirus, has opened up the prospect of a "green hajj".

Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out power and caused flooding and small landslides across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic on Thursday, then strengthened into a hurricane late in the night while moving toward the Bahamas and U.S. East Coast.

The storm's rain turned several streets into fast-flowing rivers and toppled trees and some telephone and electrical cables in Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from previous hurricanes and earthquakes. The National Guard rescued at least 35 people, including two newborns. Authorities in the northwest town of Rincon reported a woman missing after floodwaters swept her away when she tried to drive across a bridge.

At least 212 environmental campaigners worldwide were murdered in 2019, making last year the deadliest on record for frontline activists battling  the destruction of Nature, watchdog group Global Witness reported Wednesday.

Nearly 45 million people in 13 countries in southern Africa are food-insecure as a result of drought and flood and the impact of coronavirus, the region's bloc said Tuesday.

Lost in the countryside of western Germany, the innocuously named L277 road has become a central battleground in a bitter fight over the country's plan to ditch coal. 

Norway's Arctic archipelago Svalbard on Saturday recorded its highest-ever temperature, the country's meteorological institute reported.

Bangladesh has opened a complex of 20 housing blocks to house some of the growing numbers of people to have lost their homes to rising seas and ever-more-frequent storms.

Europe has been struck by more frequent and widespread flooding in recent decades than at any other time in the past 500 years, according to a sweeping analysis of the continent's flood history.

A powerful 7.8 earthquake has struck the Alaska Peninsula and a tsunami warning has been issued.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 7.8 magnitude quake struck Tuesday at about 11:12 p.m. PST. It had a depth of 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) and was centered 60 miles (96 kilometers) south-southeast of Perryville, Alaska.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg was on Monday awarded a Portuguese rights award and promptly pledged the million-euro prize to groups working to protect the environment and halt climate change.