Largely preventable or treatable infections with viruses, bacteria and parasites cause about two million new cancer cases and 1.5 million cancer deaths each year, said a study published yesterday.

In a move to reduce dependence on highly priced Australian coking coal, India will acquire a mine in Mongolia and also set up the first steel plant in the quality coal rich country.

The Indian delegation comprising of Chairman of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) C.S. Verma and U.P. Singh, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Steel will go to Ulaanbaatar on Friday to sign a pact in this regard.

The government is set to enact a law to protect the rich biodiversity of the country and also to safeguard Indian agriculture from bio-terrorism and inflow of dangerous pests from outside. The proposed legislation, Agricultural Biosecurity Bill-2012, is high on the agenda of the Union Cabinet for its consideration, which will meet on Thursday.

Confirming this, sources in the government said, the proposed legislation would be on the lines of similar law in place in New Zealand, Australia and the US. The legislation seeks to establish an authority to replace existing plantation protection advisers.

Australia and New Zealand have missed a deadline to set post-2012 emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol, with both governments saying they will decide whether to continue to be legall

Peruvian authorities are still trying to unravel the mystery of why hundreds of dolphins ended up dead on beaches in the country over the past 2 1/2 months.

SYDNEY: Australia's Qantas on Friday launched the nation's first commercial flight using a mixture of refined cooking oil, saying it would not survive if it relied solely on traditional jet fuel.

The owners of a stricken container ship wrecked on a reef off a popular New Zealand holiday spot have been charged with causing the country's worst environmental disaster in decades, maritime offic

Environmental advocacy groups have been arguing for the expansion of protected areas in the world's seas and oceans.

Disasters led by the Japan earthquake cost the world a record figure of more than $380 billion last year, a UN official said Monday.

The captain and second officer of a ship that caused New Zealand's biggest sea pollution disaster pleaded guilty to criminal charges yesterday and could face lengthy jail terms, officials said.