Text messages will be sent to mobile phones in South Africa to encourage people to be tested and treated for HIV/AIDS.

After eight years of near-zero growth in atmospheric methane concentrations, levels have again started to rise.

"This is not good news for future global warming," says CSIRO's Dr Paul Fraser, who co-authored a paper to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Asbestos, the highly toxic fire retarding mineral, will not be placed on a global blacklist and will be freely traded for at least the next three years, a Canadian parliamentarian said on Thursday.

Pressure from major producer Canada and several developing country importers will prevent diplomats meeting in Rome this week from adding chrysotile asbestos to a list of substances recognized as particularly hazardous, Pat Martin told Reuters.