Reuters

Canada pressed its Arctic sovereignty claim on Friday, announcing plans for a port, a training facility and to modernize the part-time paramilitary force that now patrols the area.

The fight to save the planet from climate change is attracting a glut of new funds and money-raising as investors look for companies expected to profit from global warming and climate policies.

The first U.N. special session on climate change focused on the world's rich countries on Tuesday, as policy-makers urged long-standing polluters to shoulder much of the burden for cutting greenhouse gases.

Russia's youths admire Soviet dictator Josef Stalin -- who presided over the deaths of millions of people -- and want to kick immigrants out of Russia, according to a poll released on Wednesday

Calling for the impeachment of U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Cindy Sheehan and 45 fellow Iraq war protesters were arrested on Monday after they refused to leave a U.S. lawmaker's office and adjoining hallway, authorities said. By Thomas Ferraro

Green groups said they filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to stop a U.S. government office from funding the building of a coal-fired power station until it discloses the global warming impacts of the plant. By Timothy Gardner

Storms are expected to batter large swathes of China again on Monday after floods, landslides and lightning killed more than 150 people last week alone, state media said.

The French area sown with genetically modified maize could continue increasing fourfold annually because it resists insect attacks and boosts yields, growers said on Thursday. By Sybille de La Hamaide

More than 50 people were killed and 20 injured in Sudan's worst floods in living memory which have partially or completely destroyed 18,000 homes, the head of civil defence said on Thursday. By Opheera McDoom

Don't worry too much, for now, about rising seas caused by melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica. The big threat this century could come from small thawing glaciers, researchers reported on Thursday. By Deborah Zabarenko

Hungary's maize crop may be halved due to drought and a record heat wave which is forecast to continue next week, the Hungarian Grain Growers' Association said on Thursday.

Weeks of heavy rain show no sign of let-up in China where another round of storms hit an eastern city, killing 31 people and injuring 171. The Health Ministry warned citizens that drinking water supplies were under threat.

Berlin police said on Tuesday that the tyres of some 50 luxury cars were damaged overnight by unknown assailants who left leaflets with pro-environment messages on the cars' windscreens.

The British-led NATO force in Afghanistan does not have enough troops to carry out its mission and the Taliban show worrying signs of growing stronger, a report by Britain's parliament has found. By Luke Baker

Chinese officials have denied media reports that truckloads of live rats rounded up near a flooded lake in eastern China were ending up in local markets and on restaurant menus in the south.

New York City may seem like an unlikely place to leave bicycles out for people to ride for free, but some activists are hoping residents can learn to share bikes like Europeans to ease congestion and pollution. By Karen Brettell

The European Climate Exchange, Europe's largest carbon market, has traded more than one billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) credits since its inception, it said on Wednesday.

The global Live Earth pop extravaganza fell flat for television viewers in the United States and Britain, drawing far smaller audiences than the Princess Diana tribute concert a week earlier.

President George W. Bush has no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq now, the White House said on Monday, despite increasing pressure from members of his own Republican party for a change in war strategy. By Tabassum Zakaria and Susan Cornwell

The head of the U.N. Environment Program said on Wednesday Cuban leader Fidel Castro and others are justified in raising concern about the potential for ethanol production to threaten food supplies for the poor. By Anthony Boadle

About 460,000 Chinese die prematurely each year from breathing polluted air and drinking dirty water, according to a World Bank study.

An increase in summertime heat waves from global warming could mean more deaths among Americans each year, a study by Harvard researchers suggests. By Amy Norton

The world must start building nuclear power plants at the unprecedented rate of four a month from now on if nuclear energy is to play a serious part in fighting global warming, a leading think-tank said on Wednesday. By Jeremy Lovell

Drought in China's northeast, the country's top corn and soybean region, is likely to last for another week at least and could seriously undermine grains production, agricultural officials said on Wednesday.

A heatwave that has killed more than 30 people in parts of southeast Europe has hit wildlife and crops, from the humble toad in Greek lagoons to grain across the region, while fruit is ripening weeks early in Italy. By Karolos Grohmann

NATO's secretary-general mounted a stout defense of Washington's missile shield plan on Monday, the day before meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin when the issue is likely to top the agenda.

Global warming is such a threat to security that military planners must build it into their calculations, the head of Britain's armed forces said on Monday. By Jeremy Lovell

Solar energy is fast closing the price gap with conventional U.S. power sources and is likely to drop to near even in cost in many regions in the next few years, industry sources said this week. By Rebekah Kebede

A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole.

If rising sea levels force the people of the Maldive Islands to seek new homes, who will look after them in a world already turning warier of refugees? By Alistair Lyon