The EU Commission is considering a tax or a ban on plastic bags as it tries to cut down on their use and fight pollution.

The Commission called for suggestions on Wednesday on how to deal with the billions of bags used in the European Union each year, but which take hundreds of years to decompose.

"Fifty years ago, the single-use plastic bag was almost unheard of.

A solar energy plane made the world's first international flight powered by the sun on Friday to show the potential for pollution-free air travel.

The Solar Impulse took off from an airfield at Payerne in western Switzerland on Friday morning and landed at Brussels airport after a 13-hour flight.

"The objective is to demonstrate what we can do with existing technology in terms of renewable e