MEXICO
The monarch butterfly is back. Thirteen months ago, a winter storm in Mexico killed more than 200 million soon after the butterfly鈥檚 annual migration from the US and Canada. But a census of this year鈥檚 migrators at their Mexican wintering grounds shows that the population has largely recovered.
ITALY
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Food irradiation may get the green light next month from international industry regulators. The Rome-based Codex Alimentarius Commission will consider raising or abolishing limits on absorbed radiation in food. Consumer unease over the use of radiation to kill pathogens peaked in the 1990s, but has since been eclipsed by concerns over GM food.
INDIA
Arsenic poisoning of wells in south Asia is spreading. On top of thousands of deaths in Bangladesh, a study published by the US National Institutes of Health has found that half of the village wells sampled in the state of Bihar in northern India also have dangerous levels of arsenic.
CAMBODIA
Fish stocks in many of the world鈥檚 largest rivers have declined by up to 90 per cent, say fisheries scientists from 40 countries meeting in Phnom Penh. They cite dams as the main reason for the decline. Some 40 per cent of the world鈥檚 fish live in rivers.
US
Senators will debate legislation for tax breaks to fast-track hydrogen-fuelled cars onto American roads. Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon says President Bush鈥檚 plan for a roll-out in 15 years, announced earlier this month, is too slow. He wants a 10-year deadline.
NETHERLANDS
A scandal over dioxin-contaminated animal feed has spread from Germany to the Netherlands. Some of the 250 tonnes of feed produced by a German company has been fed to Dutch cattle, raising fears that customers in both countries have bought tainted meat.