International

"The United Nations [Thursday] added 18 new sites to its global list of biosphere reserves, bringing the total to 581 in 114 countries."

'Internal emails seen by Guardian show PR campaign was launched to protect UK nuclear plans after tsunami in Japan.'

"Scripps scientists find plastic in 9.2% of lanternfish collected. The small fish are commonly eaten by larger species, and the plastic could end up in the food chain."

"For the planet as a whole, 2010 was one of the two warmest years on record, according to three independent datasets detailed in the latest State of the Climate report, released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society."

"It took farmer Ghulam Hussain almost a year to start re-building his house, destroyed last year in floods that left vast swathes of Pakistan underwater, and disrupted the lives of more than 18 million people. Now, his small, two-room mud and brick house -- just a few hundred meters from the Indus River -- is almost complete, but he is worried as to how long it will survive."

"The operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant met with angry shareholders on Tuesday, offering profuse apologies as hecklers shouted abuse from a rowdy floor. But a motion that would have forced the company to abandon its nuclear program was defeated."

"Near a nuclear power plant facing the Sea of Japan, a series of exhibitions in a large public relations building here extols the virtues of the energy source with some help from 'Alice in Wonderland.'"

"Global action to protect the nuclear industry against possible terrorist attacks is urgently needed, a leading expert said, as are safety steps to prevent any repeat of Japan's Fukushima accident."

"Agriculture ministers from the Group of 20 leading economies agreed Thursday on measures intended to lift global production and improve supplies of basic foods, while mitigating price swings."

"Wary of a new surge in gas prices, the Obama administration said Thursday it is selling off 30 million barrels of oil from the country’s emergency reserves as part of a broader international response to lost oil supplies caused by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly Libya."