A land mine-detecting rat in Cambodia who received a prestigious award for his life-saving duty has died in retirement, the charity for which he had worked has announced.

Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, passed away last weekend, said an announcement on the website of APOPO, a Belgium-headquartered non-profit group. The organization trains rats and dogs to sniff out land mines and tuberculosis.

A British skier crashes through wooden fencing on a downhill corner and slams into a pole, breaking his leg. An American hits an icy patch at the bottom of a hill and crashes into a fence, breaking one ski and twisting the other, also breaking his leg.

Another American, training before a biathlon race, slides out on an icy corner and flies off the trail into a tree, breaking ribs and a shoulder blade and punctures a lung.

Romania's president wants to add sections on climate change and environmental issues to the national school curriculum to enable students to learn more about the challenges the world faces from climate change.

President Klaus Iohannis has launched a public debate over a 141-page proposal and attended a meeting at the presidential palace on it with Prime Minister Nicolae Cuica, Romania's environment and education ministers, teachers, students and nongovernmental organizations.

Twin panda cubs made their first public appearance Wednesday before devoted fans in Tokyo, but they will be on display only briefly for now — over three days — due to a spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.

The twins, male cub Xiao Xiao and its sister Lei Lei, which were born at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in June, took their first steps as beaming fans held up their smartphones to film the cuddly pair as they played together.

Iran is now home to only a dozen Asiatic cheetahs, the deputy environment minister has said, describing the situation for the endangered species as "extremely critical".

"The measures we have taken to increase protection, reproduction, and the installation of road signs have not been enough to save this species," Hassan Akbari told Tasnim the news agency.

The tragic collapse of a cliff that left 10 dead in Brazil on Saturday was caused by torrential rains and more disasters could be on the way, meteorologist Estael Sias told AFP.

Two months of downpours have caused deadly flooding in several Brazilian states, including Bahia in the northeast and Minas Gerais in the southeast, where a huge column of rock crashed down on tourists boats on Furnas Lake.

China's automobiles sales grew for the first time since 2018 last year, a trade association said on Tuesday, as demand for new energy vehicles continues to rise.

Cybersecurity and space are emerging risks to the global economy, adding to existing challenges posed by climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum said in a report Tuesday.

The Global Risks Report is usually released ahead of the annual elite winter gathering of CEOs and world leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, but the event has been postponed for a second year in a row because of COVID-19. The World Economic Forum still plans some virtual sessions next week.

Germany's new climate minister said Tuesday that the country faces a "gigantic" task if it wants to achieve its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring sufficient energy for its energy-hungry industry.

Robert Habeck, a member of the environmentalist Greens, told reporters in Berlin that Germany is on track to halve its emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — far off the government's target of 65%.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's fourth coalition government took office on Monday a record 10 months after elections, with pledges to spend big on climate change and coronavirus.

The new government, formed after grueling negotiations, has earmarked a frugality-busting 35 billion euros ($40 billion) over the next 10 years for climate measures.