Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens warned Tuesday about the threats facing the world's plant kingdom in the first global report of its kind aimed at drawing attention to often-overlooked species.

The "State of the World's Plants" report was drawn up by botanists at the Kew Gardens research center in west London, which has one of the world's largest collections in its greenhouses and sprawling gardens.

Five islands have disappeared in the Pacific's Solomon Islands due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, according to an Australian study that scientists said Saturday could provide valuable insights for future research.

A further six reef islands have been severely eroded in the remote area of the Solomons, the study said, with one experiencing some 10 houses being swept into the sea between 2011 and 2014.

A molasses spill in a river in El Salvador from a sugarcane processing plant has triggered an alert by authorities worried about the effect on fish and people along the waterway.

The civil protection service issued the alert after 3.4 million liters (900,000 gallons) of sludgy, brown, hot molasses was released into La Magdalena river near the town of Chalchuapa, 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of the capital San Salvador.

Talks for a free trade deal between Europe and the US face a serious impasse with “irreconcilable” differences in some areas, according to leaked negotiating texts.

Nuclear war. Climate change. Pandemics that kill tens of millions.

The high-speed navy boat stopped on the moonlit waters of Mexico's Gulf of California as sailors looked through binoculars for small vessels conducting illegal activities under the cover of darkness.

While naval forces patrol the seas to thwart drug trafficking, the sailors were not searching for cocaine ships that night off the coast of San Felipe, a fishing town.

The Canadian city of Fort McMurray remained under threat from catastrophic wildfires Wednesday, authorities warned, after more than 80,000 residents were forced to flee the raging inferno sweeping through Alberta's oil sands region.

No casualties have been reported from the monster blaze, which lashed at residences and motor home parks, causing traffic chaos as people scrambled to safety.

Heaps of dead whales, salmon and sardines blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon have clogged Chile's Pacific beaches in recent months.

Last year, scientists were shocked when more than 300 whales turned up dead on remote bays of the southern coast, the first in a series of grim finds.

For the second time this year, New Delhi is attempting to unclog its choked roads by keeping half the city’s cars off the streets on weekdays based on whether their license plates end in an odd or even number. But the current two-week experiment has not gone well. Many drivers, reluctant to ride non-air-conditioned buses in the intense heat, have ignored the odd-even directive. And traffic jams created by breakdowns of decrepit public buses have counteracted the benefits of pulling cars off the roads. 

A similar experiment in January, initiated by New Delhi’s progressive chief minister, went somewhat more smoothly. But because public buses are crowded and unreliable, many commuters opted for mini-taxis or hopped on their old polluting scooters rather than take the bus — limiting the scheme’s impact on air quality and congestion. 

The UK government is to be sued in the high court over its air pollution plans, just a year after losing at the supreme court and being ordered to fulfil its legal duty to cut pollution rapidly.