LONGYEARBYEN, Norway, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - Carved into the permafrost of a remote Arctic mountain, a 'doomsday vault' housing samples of the world's most important seeds is taking shape to provide mankind with a Noah's Ark of food in the event of a global catastrophe.

At the end of a narrow gravel road in Norway's Arctic archipelago of Svalbard where, ironically, no crops grow, construction workers are toiling away on the top-security seed vault with six months to go before it opens.

STOCKHOLM, July 29, 2007 (AFP) - The enemy is silent but savage. Slithering out slowly -- very slowly -- into the humid nights it attacks, and despite its tiny size manages to lay waste to everything in its path.

Sweden's declared foe this rain-drenched summer is none other than the Spanish slug, which has invaded gardens and farms across the land.

In Scandinavia, these gluttonous gastropods have been nicknamed 'murder slugs' since, not content with simply devastating flowerbeds, they also gobble up each other.