AP - Thousands of adventurers have been drawn to Mount Everest by the challenge of climbing to the top of the world. Jeff Clapp was drawn by the trash they leave behind.
AP - When Canada and the United States approved the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972, the running joke in Cleveland was that anyone unlucky enough to fall into the Cuyahoga River would decay rather than drown.
AFP - The European Union breathed a sigh of relief after Russia and Belarus ended a row over oil trading arrangements that cut Russian supplies to Europe earlier this week.
AFP - Italy recorded its warmest December last month since records began in 1860, with an average temperature of 6.9 Celsius (44.4 Fahrenheit), Italian media said, quoting meteorologists at the university of Modena.
AFP - A powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake has rocked the northern Pacific, prompting warnings for thousands of Japanese to flee for higher ground before tsunami fears eased as only small waves hit the coast.
AFP - Tsunami fears have eased in Japan after a massive 8.3-magnitude Pacific Ocean earthquake as only minor waves hit the country's north and the United States cancelled its tidal wave alert.
