PARIS (Reuters) - Hot, dry weather over the past two months has damaged European Union maize (corn) crops and this year's harvest is now expected to be almost as bad as in 2015 when production was also hit by drought.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa remains in the grip of a drought that is not expected to ease soon, a government task team said on Thursday, putting pressure on inflation as the cost of staple foods soars.

LUSAKA, Sept 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Lower harvests of maize, wheat and sugarcane as a result of severe weather in the region are pushing up prices for Zambia's staple foods, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture.

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - At least nine people died and two people were missing from a small town near Guatemala City on Wednesday after intense rains the night before caused a mudslide, emergency workers said.

ATHENS (Reuters) - At least four people died in widespread flash floods caused by heavy rains which lashed Greece overnight, the country's fire brigade said on Wednesday.

LUSAKA, Sept 7 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Repeated failed crops caused by worsening drought have forced Christine Mwenda, a small-scale farmer in Zambia's central Mumbwa region, to do what was previously unthinkable.

BAMA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's military has liberated large swathes of land from Boko Haram but a ride with an army convoy, all guns firing for fear of ambush, shows how far the northeast is from normality after a brutal Islamist insurgency that has displaced millions.

SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Newton barreled across Mexico's Baja California peninsula tourist haven on Tuesday, dumping heavy rain and killing at least two people, officials said.

OSLO (Reuters) - The amount of coal-fired power generation under development worldwide has shrunk by 14 percent this year, driven down by China as it struggles with oversupply and tries to promote cleaner energy, a study showed on Wednesday.