Also, thousands are fleeing South Sedan oil city ahead of ceasefire talks. The two sides appear to be deadlocked over the government's imprisonment of 11 alleged coup plotters. With at least 1,000 people dead in the conflict, nearly 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in the fighting.
In the UK, flood defenses are attempting to hold back more water from the homes not already flooded after weeks of rain and high tides.
On the Portuguese coast, residents of Foz de Douro, Porto watched stormy Atlantic waves roll into the bay on Monday, when one huge wave crashed over the sea wall, flooding the street and causing pandemonium. Waves of up to 60ft (18 metres) have been recorded along the Portuguese coast this week from tidal surges.
In another news item, two separate teams of geologists have spotted triggers for apocalyptic 'super eruptions'. Volcanic super eruptions are extremely rare but could bury cities under ash and cool the planet by 10C for a decade. Among the most catastrophic natural disasters on Earth, second only in destructive power to an asteroid impact that could ensure humanity meets the same fate as the dinosaurs. Blasting enough material into the air to bury large cities beneath mountains of ash, Volcanic super eruptions send enough particles into the sky to cool the planet for years.
Until now, the forces that drive them have never been understood. However, now two independent teams of researchers have converged on the same scientific conclusion, which is way too complicated to talk about here. The Guardian's report tells it all.
The four novels of my co-written Higher Ground series (pictured on the right) are based on the premise of world catastrophe. The people in Britland's future don't really know what happened but a memory of 'get to higher ground' lingers in their consciousness. Some say a star fell to Earth, some say a giant crack formed in the ground and the land shifted, and some recall their forebears talking about smoke in the sky.
Last night, my husband and I were talking about the recent weather. I'm so sorry for the people who are experiencing such deep cold in 50 states of America. He said, "There's something they're not telling us." But I don't thing they know. How can mankind control the weather?