AP - In a cramped, humid laboratory in London, mosquitoes swarming in stacked, net-covered cages are being scrutinized for keys to controlling malaria. Scientists have genetically modified hundreds of them, hoping to stop them from spreading the killer disease.

Reuters - Eight-cylinder luxury cars will rumble along Jeddah's highways guzzling cheap Saudi gasoline as energy powers hold emergency talks in the Red Sea port this weekend to brake the free-wheeling rise in oil prices.

AFP - Japanese police on Friday arrested two Greenpeace members who had alleged corruption in the country's controversial whaling programme, accusing the activists of stealing whale meat.

AFP - The French-US oceanographic monitoring satellite Jason 2 was successfully launched Friday from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Delta 2 rocket, NASA TV showed.

AP - An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.

AP - Japanese police arrested two Greenpeace activists on Friday on suspicion of stealing about 50 pounds of whale meat that the environmentalists said had been illegally siphoned by whalers from government-backed hunts.

AP - Officials on Thursday abruptly canceled a state program to spray chemicals to combat crop-eating moth in urban areas after months of public uproar over its unclear effects on the environment and human health.

AP - Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic, the mission's principal investigator said Thursday.

AFP - A British minister came under attack from environmentalists Thursday after suggesting that genetically-modified crops could help ease the global food crisis.

AFP - Oil prices slumped on Thursday after Saudi Arabia said it planned to boost daily output by 200,000 barrels to help cool record-breaking energy costs which are hurting consumers globally.

Reuters - Iranian and Western wildlife experts are working together to save rare cheetahs from extinction in this arid, mountainous region, despite a nuclear row between their governments.