China will ban all ivory trade and processing by the end of 2017, the government said, in a move hailed by conservationists as a "game changer" for African elephants.

A top Swedish court on Friday allowed the hunting of 24 wolves early next year in a decision slammed by environmental campaigners who fear a shooting spree could put the species at risk. 

Madrid on Thursday lifted an unprecedented ban on half of most private cars as pollution in the Spanish capital eased up.

Madrid's city hall announced Wednesday it had ordered half of most private cars off the roads to fight a particularly bad bout of pollution, a first in Spain.

Russian investigators said Tuesday they were looking into a disturbing video of a bear being crushed to death by a group of men riding in off-road vehicles over Siberian tundra.

A powerful typhoon left three dead and threatened to bring heavy rains and winds to the heavily-populated Philippine capital as it dragged its way across the archipelago on Monday, spoiling the Christmas holidays.

Typhoon Nock-Ten, which made landfall on the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Sunday, is forecast to move westward towards the country's heartland, packing winds of 215 kilometres (134 miles) per hour.

Heavy snow in northern Japan caused transport chaos over the holiday weekend, with flights and train services canceled and thousands of passengers forced to camp out at a regional airport for three straight nights.

China on Thursday launched a satellite to monitor carbon dioxide levels, state media said, making the Asian giant the third country to track the potent contributor to global warming from space.

China's smoggiest city closed schools Wednesday, as the country suffered through its sixth day under an oppressive haze, provoking public anger about the slow response to the threat to children's health.

Since Friday, a choking miasma has covered a large swathe of northeastern China, leaving more than 460 million gasping for breath.

An underwater robot has captured a rare glimpse beneath the Antarctic sea ice, revealing a colourful world filled with coconut-shaped sponges, dandelion-like worms, pink algae and spidery starfish.