AFP - The world should invest 10 billion dollars annually to halve deforestation in the fight against global warming, Nicholas Stern, the author of a key climate change report, said Friday.

Reuters - Global warming may be bad for asthma sufferers because of longer plant growing seasons and signs that weeds scattering vast amounts of pollen are conquering new territory, experts say.

AFP - The world's most high-risk earthquake zones should be considered lethal and policy makers need warning systems in place in case of a disaster like the 2004 Asian tsunami, a top geophysicist says.

Reuters - China's anti-satellite missile test in January sent a confusing message to the world about its military plans, the United States' top military officer said on Friday, urging Beijing to be more open.

Reuters - Rising sea levels and melting polar ice-sheets are at upper limits of projections, leaving some human population centers already unable to cope, top world scientists say as they analyze latest satellite data.

AP - Federal land managers trying to keep a rare butterfly off the list of endangered species have closed dozens of off-road vehicle trails at one of the largest sand dunes in the West.

AFP - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva eased rules on importing genetically modified agricultural organisms, the official news agency said.