A magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley on Saturday, the worst quake in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years.

The world's strongest earthquakes since 1900:

May 22, 1960: A magnitude-9.5 earthquake in southern Chile and ensuing tsunami kill at least 1,716 people.

March 28, 1964: A magnitude-9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, kills 131 people, including 128 from a tsunami.

Dec. 26, 2004: A magnitude-9.1 quake in Indonesia triggers an Indian Ocean tsunami, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

A six year old boy was attacked by a panther when he was sleeping outside his house in Sadadiya Kua village of Manawar tehsil in Dhar district on Thursday night. He was rushed to the community health centre in Manawar where he was given medical treatment and his condition is now out of danger.

Manawar SDO (Police) Dhiraj Babbar told that Arjun, a six year old boy, a resident of Sadadiya Kua village was sleeping outside his house when the panther picked him up. When Arjun cried loudly, other members of the family shouted on the animal and ran after him, on which it left the child and fled into the jungle. Arjun received injuries in his neck and cheeks as the panther had gripped its jaws on his neck while attacked his face with its paws.

Dhar Divisional Forest Officer Gaurav Chowdhry reached Sadadiya Kua village on Friday afternoon to take a stock of the situation and discussed the issue with the local villagers. Later, on why the man- animal conflicts have increased drastically in the last few years, he said that the habitat of the wild animals has been widely destroyed due to encroachment into forest land and large scale allotment of lease certificates under Forest Rights Act. Due to these two aspects, along with their habitat, fauna is also lost, due to which small animals are not available for the carnivores and they enter into the human settlements in search of cattle for food.

Sometimes, they try to take the human babies also.

A wild deer has allegedly attacked and injured five people in Polasara block of Ganjam district in Odisha.

One of these injured Ramchandra Nahak of Kokabandha village had to be admitted in Polasara Community Health Centre (CHC). Four others of the area have also been injured by this wild deer.

Ramchandra was attacked when he had come out of his home early morning to attend to nature's call. Inhabitants of Sana-Ichhapur have also complained to the forest department about this stray wild deer which is attacking humans.

According to forest officials, this deer may be injured and attacking humans that come close to it. Forest officials have started tracking the deer to capture it and release it in jungle away from human habitats

A 55-year-old labourer in a coffee plantation was seriously injured when a deer attacked her in Hadya village of Alur taluk on Sunday morning.

Channamma who was working in the estate was injured in the face, stomach, shoulders and chest.

Fellow workers shifted her to the government hospital in Hassan.

The coffee estate belongs to Koloso of Kenchammannana Hoskote in the taluk, said officials.

Forest department officials visited the spot and the hospital and assured that they would pay compensation to the victim.

A 7-year-old boy was flown to Nationwide Children's Hospital after he was viciously bitten in the face by a dog Sunday night, according to Lancaster police.

"He's a strong little boy and he's going to be fine," said Ashley Robinson, the boy's mother, on Monday.

Police reported that the boy, identified as Cole Robinson, looked down at the dog and it bit him on his face around 7:15 p.m. Sunday. Police responded to an apartment in the 400 block of O'Gara Avenue where the attack occurred, and a helicopter landed in Miller Park to fly the boy to Columbus for treatment.

Robinson said her son has had two surgeries and is doing well. Hospital officials said Cole is in fair condition.

Robinson said Cole could be released in the next couple of days and he is in better condition than people have rumored. One of the rumors, Robinson said, is that Cole lost his eye from the attack, but that isn't true. She said the surgeries were meant to fix the cuts he sustained on his face.

We occasionally hear stories of the Great Dustbowl in America's grain-rich Midwest during the Great Depression of the 1930's when prolonged drought became so extreme as strong winds, drought and clouds of dust plagued nearly 75 percent of the United States. The Dust Bowl lasted for eight years from 1931 to 1939. Yet we hear little, especially in US national media of a new dust bowl which threatens to literally dry up the nation's most populous state, California.

The origins of the 1930's Dust Bowl went back to the introduction of large-scale mechanized agriculture across the Midwest prairie lands. In the early 1920's the Federal Reserve interest rate policies triggered a deep recession and to survive, farmers turned to mechanization and the new Ford tractors and other equipment. Between 1925 and 1930 more than 5 million acres of previously unfarmed land were plowed. US farmers as a result produced record crops during the 1931 season just in time to coincide with the collapse of living standards of the Great Depression. The result was severe overproduction of wheat that led to severely reduced market prices. The wheat market was flooded, and people were too poor to buy. In a desperate bid, farmers went into debt those who were able and expanded their fields in an effort to turn a profit, much as is taking place across the shale oilfields of North Dakota and Texas today for oil. The result was that they covered the prairie with wheat in place of the natural drought-resistant grasses and left unused fields bare.

Picture of a black blizzard of soil during the Midwest Dust Bowl in the 1930s

The new plow-based farming in the Midwest region caused loss of fertile topsoil that literally blew away in the winds, leaving the land vulnerable to drought. Then the rains stopped. By 1932, 14 dust storms, known as black blizzards were reported, and in just one year, the number increased to nearly 40, forcing millions of people to flee the region. It wasn't until 1939 when the rain returned that relief came.

Residents experience power outages, dig out from 30 centimeters of snow

Power has been restored for most of Saskatoon and city crews were out in force clearing streets following this weekend's record-breaking snowfall.

Saskatoon received 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snow, the most of any region between Outlook and Melfort that saw snow over the weekend. The previous records for April 25 and 26 were 9.4 centimeters in 1954 and 7.6 centimeters in 1945 respectively.

Ağrı -Iran Transit Road Closed Due to Snowstorm

Lots of snow on the Silk Pass between Ağrı, Doğubayazıt and Diyadin county causing vehicles to be stuck on the road and forcing closure of roads to the Iranian border, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

A rescue operation was launched for stranded vehicles.

Highway 123 Branch Chief Fuat Öztürk, said in a statement to reporters that the snow came suddenly, due to a heavy blizzard and storm. The Silk Gateway road is closed to traffic of trucks that are caught in the spur because he stated that they wear summer tires.

Snow has hit the North-east today with temperatures in the region dropping below freezing.

The Met Office said Aberdeen will see "flashes" of snow showers throughout tonight.

A yellow warning for ice in Aberdeenshire and Moray was issued this evening and the alert is valid until 7am tomorrow.

And other areas, such as Aboyne, are expected to see the most snowfall.

A Met Office spokesman today said temperatures could drop to as low as -2C (19F) in some parts of rural Aberdeenshire later this evening.

Proper snow up at #Turriff :( this is not fun pic.twitter.com/liAPC4CTde

— Kirstie Ross (@EEkirstie) April 26, 2015

Birdwatchers believe a funnel of air caused them to overshoot France and land in Ireland

If you think you spotted an unusual pink bird with zebra-patterned wings in recent weeks, you are not alone.

The hoopoe, so called because of the sound it makes, has come to these shores in unexpectedly large numbers this year, with at least 50 being spotted, according to Birdwatch Ireland's head of operations, Oran O'Sullivan. It is 50 years since so many hoopoes have been spotted here.

Usually, fewer than 10 are recorded in early spring or late autumn when migrating birds stray off course.

Mr O'Sullivan said the exotic birds, about the size of a starling or thrush, were a Mediterranean species, typically nesting in trees and olive groves.

"They have very big wings and when they take off you see a flash of black and white. When they land they throw up this crest, like an Indian chief's head dress. They are exotic all the way."

He said the birds wintered in Africa and could fly as far as northern France. "Even a few breed in the very far south of England. They come up in good weather and in spring they can overshoot France and hit Wexford."