Who would have expected a toilet to one day filter water, charge a cellphone or create charcoal to combat climate change?

These are lofty ambitions beyond what most of the world's 2.5 billion people with no access to modern sanitation would expect. Yet, scientists and toilet innovators around the world say these are exactly the sort of goals needed to improve global public health amid challenges such as poverty, water scarcity and urban growth.

Organised crime gangs in East Africa are generating staggering profits smuggling ivory and rhino horn with impunity, experts say, threatening both an irreplaceable wildlife heritage and key tourism industries.

Kenyan and Tanzanian ports are the "primary gateway" for ivory smuggled to Asia, where demand is fuelled by increasingly affluent markets, especially in China, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warns.

Top climate scientists are gathering in Japan this week to finish up a report on the impact of global warming. And they say if you think climate change is only faced by some far-off polar bear decades from now, well, you're mistaken.

In fact, they will say, the dangers of a warming Earth are immediate and very human.

The United States said Friday it was planning to begin negotiations with other leading trading countries for a deal to cut tariffs for green goods like solar panels.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it had officially notified Congress of the plan to open talks for a new pact on environmental goods under the World Trade Organization.

Waters polluted by sewage off the coast of Rio remain a concern for organizers of the 2016 Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee insisted Friday that the sea will be safe for competition.

Guanabara Bay, which will host the sailing at the Games, has caused consternation amongst some athletes with the water quality condemned as "disgusting" by one sailor.

While the United States and Russia traded sanctions this week in a burgeoning crisis over Crimea, astronauts from both nations rose above the discord in their sanctuary hundreds of miles from Earth.

Experts say mounting political and economic tensions between the old Cold War foes are unlikely to upset cooperation in space at the moment -- something which would be damaging to both sides.

Furious ten-meter waves and icy, tempestuous gales await those intrepid enough to navigate Drake Passage, the crossing from the tip of South America to Antarctica seen by seafarers as one of the world's most dangerous voyages.

After an interminable 43-hours trip negotiating waters that leave even experienced sailors queasy, the crew and a gaggle of reporters aboard the Brazilian icebreaker and oceanographic research vessel Ary Rongel finally spot land.

The first day of spring? Some people in Maine were shoveling 6 inches of new snow. And in Michigan, college students couldn't even burn a snowman.

OK, so it was a fake snowman. But it was real snow that got in the way.

France's winter wheat harvest could shrink by over a tenth if farmers meet targets to halve pesticide use, said a study Thursday highlighting the challenge of feeding Earth's growing population.

The estimates come from field trials where scientists compared yields to cuts in pesticide use.

Surging populations and economies in the developing world will cause a double crunch in demand for water and energy in the coming decades, the U.N. said Friday.

In a report published on the eve of World Water Day, it said the cravings for clean water and electricity were intertwined and could badly strain Earth's limited resources.