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Washington Post: In this nation that embraced one of the world's most aggressive campaigns against global warming, the Pokropp family can almost hear the cha-ching when switching off their lights. A kilowatt of electricity costs three times as much here as it does in the United States, supercharged with high taxes to discourage use and to help fund renewable energy development. Meanwhile, a 50 percent "eco-tax" has sent the price of gasoline soaring to $8 a gallon. To manage costs, the family of three ...

The News: Poverty stricken people, living in the rural and coastal areas of Pakistan, are more prone to the devastating effects of climate change. It has been noted in various studies and researches that people linked to agriculture and fishing may be the worst hit by global warming and food security issues. The rising temperature and non-consistent precipitation are feared to affect them, resulting in falling agricultural produce and rising sea levels. Cognisant of the situation arising ...

Australian: IT was a weekend of extremes. Melbourne copped a month's worth of rain in just 17 hours, NSW grappled with "catastrophic" bushfire conditions and record November temperatures -- and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong linked the unpredictable weather patterns to the effects of global warming. Sydney's average maximum temperature was a little more than 40C yesterday, making it the city's hottest November day in 27 years, while crews in Melbourne were still mopping up last night after a ...

Guardian: Hundreds of rescuers in northern China are battling to reach 21 miners trapped after a huge gas explosion early yesterday killed at least 87 of their colleagues. But the prospects of finding more survivors of the deadliest blast in almost two years are rapidly diminishing. The workers are thought to be about a third of a mile underground in the pit in Heilongjiang province, near the Russian border. China's mining industry is the deadliest in the world, with more than 3,000 ...

Guardian: Thousands of jobs that were to have been created in Britain to build the next generation of nuclear power plants could be heading overseas instead, after Westinghouse, the nuclear company sold by the government three years ago to Toshiba, chose one of its largest shareholders as the lead contractor to build reactors. Westinghouse is expected to confirm this week that it has appointed US-based Shaw Group to head up its £10bn nuclear programme, passing over the favourite for the ...

Al Jazeera: Billions of people around the world are facing political instability as a result of climate change, and international negotiations are failing to address the issue, a prominent peace-building organisation has said. In a report entitled Climate Change, Conflict and Fragility due to be released this week, International Alert says that poorer, badly governed countries are at risk of falling victim to climate related conflict. "Effects of climate change such as more frequent ...

Sydney Morning Herald: As the world struggles to come up with a climate change deal, India's Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, has challenged it to follow the example of millions in his country and refuse to eat beef in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mr Ramesh, a vegetarian, says those who refrain from eating beef are helping to fight climate change. "The single most important measure that can be taken in the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to stop eating beef," he ...

Business Mirror: PRESIDENT Arroyo plans to push for a "binding and legal" agreement that would save the world from catastrophic climate change should she attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15) next month, Malacañang announced on Sunday. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said, "She doesn't want mere promises without any commitments. So that is the Philippine and personal position." It may just be a forlorn effort. He added the President's possible participation in ...

Guardian: The government is refusing to provide details on five separate security breaches at Britain's nuclear power stations last year. The breaches have prompted accusations that ministers are suppressing damaging information at a time when they are attempting to sell the idea of more nuclear power stations. Earlier this month, 10 new sites in England and Wales were approved. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told MPs that nuclear was a "proven and reliable" energy source. But the ...

Guardian: Music, dancing and smiling platitudes greeted the royal guest in the fishing village of Samochima, northern Botswana. But cutting through the convivial mood was a cry of anguish – and a plea for a way of life threatened by tourism in the world's largest inland delta. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway had arrived as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). While addressing an audience in the shade of some fig trees, he was confronted by a local fisherman, ...

Guardian: Large tracts of the south and west of Ireland stood submerged last night as 300 Irish troops, backed up by helicopters and boats, were on standby to rescue more people caught up in floods. As more than 18,000 homes in Cork prepared to start the week without water supplies after flooding damaged a pumping station in the city, the overall cost of the damage was being calculated. Experts were estimating the extreme weather could cost the country up to EUR100m, breaking the EUR98m record ...

Guardian: President Barack Obama is considering setting a provisional target for cutting America's huge greenhouse gas emissions, removing the greatest single obstacle to a landmark global agreement to fight climate change. The Observer has learnt that administration officials have been consulting international negotiators and key players on Capitol Hill about signing up to a provisional target at the UN global warming summit in Copenhagen, now less than three weeks away. Todd Stern, the ...

Guardian: They began the search at midday, just as the new rains came. Teams of RAF personnel were ordered to search flood-hit Cockermouth and check its streets for signs of life. The men knocked loudly on the doors of homes whose ground floors had hours earlier been under water and shouted for replies at empty buildings. Early reports indicated that some residents were still stranded at the Old Mill homes just outside the town, but that a police boat team had managed to feed them the night ...