Evacuees arrive at a temporary shelter after fleeing their village following the eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano in Alotenango on August 3, 2026. Authorities raised the emergency alert to the country's second-highest level on August 4 as Central America's most active volcano intensified, prompting the evacuation of nearby communities. (Pics/ AFP)

India recorded extremely high temperatures in various cities this year. But in the sweltering heat of India's Thar desert, where summer highs soar above 50 degrees Celsius, an architecturally striking school made with a combination of age-old techniques and modern design is an oasis of cool. The Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls' School uses the same yellow sandstone as the 12th-century fort in nearby Jaisalmer, in India's western state of Rajasthan. (Report and Pics: AFP)