Reuters

US and European wheat prices rallied on Tuesday as Australia slashed the size of its drought-hit crop by a staggering 31 percent, but gains were pared as some investors cashed out profits.

"Since the 2004 Peace Prize was given to an environmentalist (Maathai) it may not be repeated this year," said Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights lawyer who won the Nobel Prize in 2003.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday his country had to prepare for the possibility of war against Iran over its nuclear program, but he did not believe any such action was imminent.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday rejected former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's statement that the Iraq war "is largely about oil." By Thomas Ferraro

The tiny Pacific island state of Tuvalu on Thursday urged the rest of the world to do more to combat global warming before it sinks beneath the ocean.

The health of about 2 billion of the world's poor is being damaged because they lack access to clean energy, like electricity, and face exposure to smoke from open fires, scientists said on Thursday.

Climate change could have global security implications on a par with nuclear war unless urgent action is taken, a report said on Wednesday. By Jeremy Lovell

The United States on Wednesday said it agreed to a nuclear science exchange with Vietnam to share up-to-date nuclear safety and nonproliferation practices with the communist nation's civilian power program. By David Morgan

Soldiers in motor boats rescued thousands of marooned people and helicopters air-dropped food as the number of people made homeless after some of the worst flooding in years in India's northeast rose to 3.5 million. By Biswajyoti Das

Paraguay declared a state of emergency in three northeastern provinces on Tuesday due to forest fires that have ravaged thousands of hectares (acres) of forests, crops and grazing pasture.

The world will probably exceed a global warming limit which the European Union calls dangerous, scientists at Britain's MetOffice Hadley Centre said on Tuesday, presenting a new, 5-year research programme. By Gerard Wynn

Australia's wheat crop could be 2 million tonnes lower than even the most pessimistic forecasts after searing winds scorched the country's bread basket this week, Western Australia's agriculture minister told Reuters. By Sambit Mohanty

Africa will suffer the most if the world fails to reduce global warming, with parts of the impoverished continent becoming uncultivable or uninhabitable, top British government scientists said on Wednesday. By Paul Simao

China plans to invest 2 trillion yuan (US$265 billion) in renewable energy by 2020, most of it corporate cash, to wean itself off polluting coal as it aims for cleaner growth, a top energy planner said on Tuesday. By Emma Graham-Harrison

A U.S. bomber mistakenly flew with at least five nuclear warheads over the United States last week, but the Air Force on Wednesday said the flight never threatened public safety. By Kristin Roberts

The U.S. military is building a mobile courtroom complex on an unused runway at the Guantanamo Bay naval base and plans to be ready by March to conduct as many as three terrorism trials at a time. By Jane Sutton

A thin winter green carpets Australia's southeast hills and plains, camouflaging the onset of a drought catastrophe in the nation's food bowl. By Rob Taylor

A hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has appeared earlier than usual in 2007, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday.

The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said. By Laura MacInnis

Infectious diseases are emerging more quickly around the globe, spreading faster and becoming increasingly difficult to treat, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. By Laura MacInnis

Rivers from Nebraska east to Ohio climbed out of their banks on Wednesday, swollen from thunderstorms that soaked the central United States for days and killed at least eight people.

Western U.S. states and Canadian provinces on Wednesday agreed to cut greenhouse emissions 15 percent by 2020 in the latest regional pact to regulate the gases, an approach opposed by U.S. President George W. Bush. By Adam Tanner

A U.S.-based workers' rights group said it found "brutal conditions" and labor violations at eight Chinese plants that make toys for big multinationals, and called on the companies to take steps for better standards.

Hurricane Dean raced through Mexico's southern Gulf on Wednesday, whipping up wild seas around oil platforms, but forecasters did not expect it to intensify sharply before hitting land again. By Tomas Sarmiento

Previously unknown islands are appearing as Arctic summer sea ice shrinks to record lows, raising questions about whether global warming is outpacing U.N. projections, experts said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for an end to presidential term limits on Wednesday to extend his rule and consolidate a self-styled socialist revolution in the OPEC nation. By Brian Ellsworth

Germany's solar companies are driving up capacity to meet strong demand for renewable energy, while access to silicon remained the make-or-break factor for their second-quarter results on Tuesday. By Eva Kuehnen

A report questioning climate change and calling global warming a "natural phenomenon" on Monday led to accusations Australia's Prime Minister John Howard was a climate skeptic, possibly denting his re-election hopes. By Rob Taylor

Russian bombers are flying more missions than normal near U.S. territory, including Alaska, demonstrating their long-range strike capability, U.S. and Canadian officials said on Monday. By Kristin Roberts

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter is headed to the Arctic this week on a mapping mission to determine whether part of this area can be considered U.S. territory, after recent polar forays by Russia and Canada. By Deborah Zabarenko