Long live the emperor: Emperor penguins, the only penguin variety that breed during the harsh Antarctic winters, are headed towards extinction, said a research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. If climate change continues to melt ice at rates published in the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the population of penguins would decline to 600 breeding pairs by 2100 AD, said researchers in the US. Their extinction would affect the food chain balance.

Unemployed youth: The global economic meltdown could render up to 50 million people unemployed in 2009 and sub-Saharan Africa will be the hardest hit, said ILO