International

"DA NANG, Vietnam -- In the tropical climate of central Vietnam, weeds and shrubs seem to grow everywhere -- except here."

"In the Soviet playbook for all-out war with the United States, the wasting of U.S. cities by nuclear bombs was to be followed by something equally horrifying: waves of plagues to kill any survivors. Soviet scientists spent decades preparing for the second attack, concocting new kinds of biological weapons more lethal than any ever invented."

"LONDON -- The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands."

"The European Union and small island states criticized the United States on Tuesday for backing away from a U.N. goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F)."

"A gray whale baby boom appears to be under way along Alaska's arctic coast. Scientists tracking marine mammals in the Chukchi Sea report an unprecedented number of sightings of gray whale calves in July."

"It is too early to proclaim the 'ice sheet's future doom'" caused by climate change, lead author Kurt Kjaer of the University of Copenhagen wrote in a statement of the findings in Friday's edition of the journal Science."

As ethnobotanists meet in New York City, they offer reminders that obscure and endangered species should be preserved because they sometimes form the basis of miracle drugs.

"The earth is performing an enormous disposal service for the human race. About half of the carbon we are dumping into the atmosphere does not stay there and is instead taken up by the oceans and land. Were this not the case, scientists say, the earth would probably be warming far more rapidly. One of the biggest questions in climate science is: How long will that disposal service last?"

"With about a month and a half remaining in the Arctic melt season, sea ice cover continues to decline at a rapid pace, and is currently on par with where the 2007 record melt season stood at the same time of year."

"TOKYO -- The Japanese utility that operates the nuclear power plant sent into meltdown by last year's tsunami received a trillion yen ($12.8 billion) public bailout Tuesday, effectively putting it under government control."