Arctic ice cover receded to near record lows this summer, opening elusive northern trade routes from Asia to the West, Russia's climate research agency said on Wednesday.
Six astronauts were forced to take refuge aboard the International Space Station's "lifeboat" crafts on Tuesday, bracing for the threat of a collision with floating space debris, the Russian space agency said.
"A situation arose linked to unidentified 'space trash' passing very close to the space station.
With just 3,200 left in the wild, tigers could become extinct within a decade unless countries step up efforts to halt poaching and deforestation, wildlife experts told a "tiger summit" in Russia this week.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao join world leaders on Tuesday to endorse a pledge to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.
