Across Africa, centuries-old cultural traditions are being foregone in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen governments impose restrictions on gatherings and other practices around death and burial. Francesca Lynagh reports.

With its season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, one of Austria's most popular glacial ski resorts covered its glacier in protective fabric earlier than usual this year to help preserve it for a still uncertain reopening.

Syria's government allowed mosques to open on Friday for worshipers willing to perform prayers. The mosque had remained closed as part of the measures taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Los Angeles' downtown flower market saw a brisk trade on Thursday morning (May 7) after California Governor Gavin Newsom gave the green light to retail florist stores to begin opening on Friday (May 8), ahead of Mother's Day in the U.S.

Storks are famous in folklore for delivering human babies to their parents. Conservationists are looking to return the favour with the imminent hatching of several white stork eggs on a 'rewilding' estate in southern England - as the coronavirus outbreak provides a noticeable boost for some wildlife.

Piper Sandler senior technical analyst Craig Johnson says the S&P 500 may trade in a narrow range through the summer before breaking north.

Singapore unveiled a four-legged canine-like robot on Friday (May 8) to remind park goers to maintain social distancing.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, the wife of one of President Donald Trump's senior advisors, has tested positive for the coronavirus, the second White House staffer to be diagnosed with the illness. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

A campaign in Mexico City to get residents to wear face masks is now reinforced with a new secret weapon: clowns. They're telling metro riders, 'Wear a face mask -- don't be a clown!' as they spray riders' hands with disinfectant. Gavino Garay has more.

A king kobra is spotted near a train station in Singapore, animal rescuers were alerted to catch it.

Police in India's western Aurangabad district have returned the bodies of 16 migrants killed by a train on Friday, to their home towns. Ciara Lee reports

Artist Ryu Jong-dae experiments with various cornstarch-based bioplastic in the bid to protect the Earth. Rosanna Philpott reports.

CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite hosted a special broadcast on the very first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 to report on the nationwide protests that took place that day.

Scientists have solved a lingering mystery about koala behavior. A new study describes the animal's drinking habit in the wild for the first time.

Sorry. A short dip in carbon emissions won’t save the planet after all. Things may even get worse, say the experts.

Storks are famous in folklore for delivering human babies to their parents. Conservationists are looking to return the favour with the imminent hatching of several white stork eggs on a 'rewilding' estate in southern England - as the coronavirus outbreak provides a noticeable boost for some wildlife.

May 25 - A bed sensor developed by an Israeli team is proving to be an effective and more reliable alternative to conventional patient monitoring technology. The sensor is designed to unobtrusively monitor a patient's vital signs from beneath their mattress and is less prone to sending out false alarms to nursing staff. Tara Cleary reports.

June 15 - A community in East Java, Indonesia, is turning methane from the local garbage dump into gas for more than 400 homes. Local authorities have set up a system where methane produced by rotting waste is extracted and pumped to villages nearby, turning greenhouse gas emissions into useful energy. Tara Cleary reports.

An Englishwoman proves it is possible to manage a business in 21st century Britain and make a modest living, without the use of modern-day technology. Hayley Platt looks at Dani Church's ferry business on the Suffolk coast, which has been in her family for 125 years.

Greece's organization for medium and small businesses says the country risks product shortages as early as May, as businesses face liquidity problems and foreign suppliers will only accept cash for imports. Ciara Lee reports.

The minimum wage in Portland could increase to $15.52 an hour, and $13.50 an hour in the rest of the state, according to a plan unveiled by Oregon Governor, Kate Brown. Jillian Kitchen reports.

The mummified remains of a duck-billed dinosaur contain a grey pigment, suggesting it was grey, although other pigments may have been lost during fossilisation

Mulberry, a book celebrating the marvellous tree, goes beyond its ancient links to silk production to explore its role in everything from the oldest banknotes to modern drugs

Beautiful close-ups of endangered big cats make real catwalk look tame

Olivia Colman and Helen Mirren have teamed up with the creators of Wallace & Gromit in a film called Turtle Journey to raise awareness about climate change and ocean pollution

Wolf pups have been seen playing fetch with humans, a behaviour we thought was unique to domesticated dogs

The extinct shark Edestus used its teeth like saw blades, sliding them past each other like a power tool to slice through the soft flesh of its prey

Artist Ken Rinaldo encourages the bacteria on banknotes to grow and spread to explore colonialism in his touring show, Borderless Bacteria/Colonialist Cash

When asteroid Armageddon is upon us, we can't just call Bruce Willis. Meet the people who really do watch the skies – and make detailed plans for our survival

Sauropod dinosaurs grew to 25 metres or more in length and weighed several tonnes – but footprints in Texas seem to suggest they sometimes walked on just two legs

Genetically modified diamondback moths designed to replace pesticides by wiping out female moths have been released in New York state

Climate change has significantly increased the likelihood of bumblebees being driven to extinction in certain regions across North America and Europe

The genomes of 2514 new viruses have been identified in DNA recovered from human and animal cells, many of them belonging to wholly new families

With the help of their webs, spiders are capable of foresight, planning, learning and other smarts that indicate they may possess consciousness

The dense, bristly hairs on the skins shed by tarantulas when they moult are naturally efficient sponges and could be used to soak up ocean oil spills

Most tadpoles breathe air but they are too weak to break the elastic "skin" on top of ponds created by water tension – so they suck air bubbles from the surface

A number of ant species produce acid in a poison gland in their abdomen to spray at enemies, and now it seems they also drink it to kill pathogens in their food

The earliest cave-dwelling animal identified from the dinosaur era is a ghostly white cockroach with tiny eyes and wings that was preserved in amber

Seagulls are known for aggressively attempting to swipe people's food, and it seems that when given the choice between identical meals, they favour the one handled by humans

A worm-like creature from 518 million years ago evolved to lose its back legs, the earliest known example of an animal losing body parts it no longer needed

Watching brain activity in fish as they try to “swim” in virtual reality helps us understand their perception abilities and how they interact with other animals

Silver has an antibacterial effect by stopping the motors that bacteria use to move around from working properly and making them move more slowly

The bell of an upside-down jellyfish has structures that can provide a scaffold for growing human skin cells, which could be used to help repair wounds after surgery or a bad burn

Desert ants zigzag around the searing sand at high speed but they always manage to find their way home. A new book explains their amazing abilities

This pink manta ray, nicknamed Clouseau, has resurfaced off Australia’s coast. No one knows why it has a bubble-gum pink underside or if there are others out there

Some bacteria sacrifice themselves when their colony is attacked by rivals, to save their relatives and make sure their shared genes are passed on

A new species of dinosaur has been named from a skull measuring only 1.4 centimetres across. The dinosaur was smaller than any living bird today

Book Wildhood explores the idea that penguins, hyenas, whales and wolves all experience a similar period of adolescence and what this could mean for all animals

A 2000-year-old skeleton found in Spain belonged to a lapdog that may have been born thousands of kilometres to the east and traded during Roman times

The highest dwelling mammal – a mouse – has been discovered at 6700 metres above sea level, where conditions are so harsh they have been compared to Mars