The United States said Friday it was planning to begin negotiations with other leading trading countries for a deal to cut tariffs for green goods like solar panels.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it had officially notified Congress of the plan to open talks for a new pact on environmental goods under the World Trade Organization.

Waters polluted by sewage off the coast of Rio remain a concern for organizers of the 2016 Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee insisted Friday that the sea will be safe for competition.

Guanabara Bay, which will host the sailing at the Games, has caused consternation amongst some athletes with the water quality condemned as "disgusting" by one sailor.

While the United States and Russia traded sanctions this week in a burgeoning crisis over Crimea, astronauts from both nations rose above the discord in their sanctuary hundreds of miles from Earth.

Experts say mounting political and economic tensions between the old Cold War foes are unlikely to upset cooperation in space at the moment -- something which would be damaging to both sides.

Furious ten-meter waves and icy, tempestuous gales await those intrepid enough to navigate Drake Passage, the crossing from the tip of South America to Antarctica seen by seafarers as one of the world's most dangerous voyages.

After an interminable 43-hours trip negotiating waters that leave even experienced sailors queasy, the crew and a gaggle of reporters aboard the Brazilian icebreaker and oceanographic research vessel Ary Rongel finally spot land.

The first day of spring? Some people in Maine were shoveling 6 inches of new snow. And in Michigan, college students couldn't even burn a snowman.

OK, so it was a fake snowman. But it was real snow that got in the way.

France's winter wheat harvest could shrink by over a tenth if farmers meet targets to halve pesticide use, said a study Thursday highlighting the challenge of feeding Earth's growing population.

The estimates come from field trials where scientists compared yields to cuts in pesticide use.

Surging populations and economies in the developing world will cause a double crunch in demand for water and energy in the coming decades, the U.N. said Friday.

In a report published on the eve of World Water Day, it said the cravings for clean water and electricity were intertwined and could badly strain Earth's limited resources.

Scientists have hit on a new way to combat one of Australia's worst pests -- create a male-only line.

The eight millimeter-long Queensland fruit fly is so prevalent and adept at destroying crops it is threatening the nation's Aus$6.9 billion (US$6.2 billion) horticultural industry.

A court in Tanzania jailed on Wednesday a Chinese ivory smuggler for 20 years amid a crackdown to stem a surge in poaching.

Yu Bo, 45, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of 81 elephant tusks and the skins of two pangolins, which are also known as scaly anteaters, lawyers said.

Undated handout photo obtained on March 19, 2014 shows the Malaysian false gharial female crocodile which was killed during mating at a zoo in Amsterdam

A very rare and endangered female crocodile has died of suffocation in a Dutch zoo during attempted mating with a "dominant" male partner, the zoo said on Wednesday.