Environment

2010 was one of the worst years on record for natural disasters over the past two decades, leaving nearly 297,000 people dead, research for the United Nations showed on Monday.

To most Westerners, the idea of paying someone to stick little scoops and tweezers into their ears is downright unnerving. To Vietnamese, it's an art.

Vietnamese police have rescued dozens of weasels, porcupines and snakes destined for restaurant tables as part of a crackdown on the trafficking of rare animals, an officer said Monday.

Despite being listed as threatened or endangered species, trade in marine turtle products still exists in many countries, including Vietnam and it’s neighbours.

This year’s record prolonged drought - setting a century record - could leave Vietnam’s crops high and dry.

The UN's World Meteorological Organisation said Thursday that 2010 was the warmest year on record.

Starting February 15, it is illegal to play music or make loud noise recording over 70dBA in residential areas.

US President Barack Obama said Wednesday that Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed with him on the need to fight climate change by moving ahead in international negotiations.

Greenpeace praised China for setting new pollution targets but said the measures fell well short of what was needed to curb the country's world-beating carbon emissions.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called on Monday for a clean energy revolution that would make energy available for everyone, at a summit in Abu Dhabi.

Nguyen Phi Cuong shakes the iron box several times and more than 300 pigeons from different corners of the Notre Dame Cathedral swoop down to eat the rice grains he has scattered on the ground.

More than 40 Chinese animal rights groups hit out at Canada for turning China into a "dumping ground" for its seal meat and oils.

World agriculture is in trouble because it's the biggest consumer of ever scarcer water and a huge producer of greenhouse gas emissions, a new report said Wednesday.

Australia braced for a rapidly rising death toll Tuesday after flash floods killed eight and left 72 missing, as a quickly spreading flood disaster forced evacuations in central Brisbane.

Authorities in the central Nghe An Province are trying to persuade a local fisherman to release a giant endangered green turtle he caught last Monday back into the sea.

The number of violations of environmental law increased by 43 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Ever since the Duong Lam Village was listed as “ancient” and thus subject to preservation, locals have been complaining they cannot renovate houses nor construct tall buildings.

Australian residents fled their homes as a major town was threatened by a worsening flood disaster which unleashed a plague of snakes and crocodiles.

As makers roll out slim versions of Playstation, smart phones, TVs and everything state-of-the-art, Hanoi boasts many slim houses just less than 2m wide but towering sky-high.