Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches, rescuers and penguin experts said Friday.

More than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state over the past two months, according to Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio.

More than 50 fire engines and 11 planes battled a large forest fire near the Greek capital Athens on Tuesday, as high winds threatened to drive the blaze towards a munitions dump, authorities said.

Some 280 fire fighters and three helicopters struggled to control the flames near the village of Inoi in the Parnitha mountains, 35 km (20 miles) northwest of Athens.

The range, one of the last woodland areas in the Attica region surrounding Athens, was severely scorched last year when Greece was gripped by the worst wildfires for decades, which killed 65 people.

Speakers at a one-day seminar titled

Eight out of ten factories and industrial parks in Vietnam breach environmental regulations, state media reported, citing a government study in the rapidly-industrialising country.

The survey of more than 400 enterprises found many "lacked even the most basic awareness of environmental issues,' said the deputy head of the Environmental Protection Department, Nguyen Hoa Binh, according to the state-run Vietnam News daily.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan, a non-governmental organisation, has highlighted serious flaws in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report concerning the extension of a multinational bottled-water company's purification plant at Sheikhupura.

The company has requested the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to let it extend its existing purification plant. It has submitted an EIA report to the EPA for approval in order to begin construction.

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Tuesday passed the Alternative Energy Development Board Bill 2010, approving the establishment of an Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) that will substitute the Alternative Energy Development Board Ordinance 2007.

KARACHI: Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Sharmila Farooqui on Sunday asked leaders of environment, social and community people organisations including International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and WWF-Pakistan to start new projects in collaboration with the Sindh government, particularly the Environment Department, based on mutual faith to save Karachi beaches and seawater from polluti

The United States will invest $1 billion in Pakistan

The federal government has decided to establish the National Safety Analysis Centre (NSAC) to provide technical support to the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) to ensure the safety of Chashma-3 and Chashma-4 nuclear power projects.

The first Pak-US Energy Dialogue is set to be held in Islamabad in October, where Pakistan is expected to receive Rs 28 billion from the US to help lifeline electricity consumers, official sources told Daily Times on Friday.

Members of the proposed US Energy Taskforce and Pakistani authorities would also discuss and finalise the modalities of energy cooperation between the two countries.