Japan will launch its latest rocket early Friday morning, carrying a hi-tech satellite to monitor global rainfall and help meteorologists forecast big storms.

The H-IIA rocket will blast off from a southern Japanese island at 3:37 am on Friday, (1837 GMT Thursday) with the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory aboard, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.

Scientists investigating a graveyard of marine mammal fossils near Chile's northern coast say toxins generated by algae blooms most likely poisoned the animals millions of years ago.

The study by a team of Chilean and Smithsonian Institution scientists was published Wednesday in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Militant environmental group Sea Shepherd on Wednesday said it is seeking a Supreme Court injunction to halt a controversial shark culling policy in Western Australia.

The group, best known for battling Japanese whalers in the Antarctic, has teamed up with Sharon Burden, the mother of a shark attack victim, to apply for a judicial review of the decision, claiming it involves the unlawful killing of a protected species.

China's biggest online face-mask sellers were running out of stock Wednesday as consumers rushed to protect themselves from smog that has shrouded large swathes of northern China for an entire week.

Beijing's official reading for PM 2.5 -- small airborne particles which easily penetrate the lungs and have been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths -- stood at 501 micro grams per cubic metre on Wednesday afternoon. The World Health Organisation's recommended safe limit is 25.

Chateau Paradise or Chateau Rotgut?

Why is it that one wine can be exquisitely smooth, and another stomach-turningly tart?

Environmental group Greenpeace on Wednesday accused U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble of responsibility for the destruction of Indonesian rain-forests and the habitat of endangered orangutans and tigers.

In an extensive new report, Greenpeace said the company was using Indonesian palm oil from suppliers with links to the destruction of ancient rain-forest, haze-inducing forest fires and an orangutan "graveyard".

A Burgundy winemaker who has defied a government order to use pesticides in his organic vineyard said Monday he was being treated like a healthy person forced to undergo chemotherapy.

Emmanuel Giboulot, whose case has become a cause celebre among environmentalists, theoretically risked a six-month prison term and a fine of up to 30,000 euros ($41,000) as he appeared in court on Monday.

The U.S. government defended its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants before the Supreme Court on Monday, after coming under attack from industry and Republicans alike.

The top court is not expected to rule until June on the policy, which requires new power plants, factories and other stationary industrial sites to use the latest energy-efficient technologies.

Wildlife authorities said Tuesday they had seized nearly 100 exotic animals that had been smuggled into the southern Philippines in the second such haul in just two weeks.

Among the creatures confiscated were 66 wild birds including a rare Pesquet's parrot as well as assorted reptiles and mammals such as a long-beaked echidna, a Malayan box turtle and 10 sugar gliders -- squirrel-like animals that can glide from tree to tree.

Pollution-weary residents of smog-hit Beijing turned to black humor to help cope with grueling conditions Tuesday as a large swathe of China was covered by a thick blanket of haze for a sixth consecutive day.

Meanwhile President Xi Jinping was pictured taking a walk on a Beijing street, in the latest instance of Chinese authorities seeking to portray themselves as close to ordinary citizens.