International

"The first round of UN climate talks since December's bitter Copenhagen summit opens in Bonn on Friday with the future of the process uncertain."

"The United States will host a meeting of major economies on April 18-19 in Washington to advance talks on a global deal to fight climate change, the top U.S. climate negotiator said on Wednesday."

"The United States will abstain today when the World Bank directors vote to loan South Africa $3.75 billion for a coal-fired power plant, sources told ClimateWire."

As the World Bank prepares to vote on to vote on a $3.75 billion loan to help South Africa build a 4,800-megawatt coal-fired power plant, the U.S. is under pressure to vote no.
 

"Nitrous oxide stemming from thawing permafrost poses a more serious global warming threat than previously realized, according to a new study published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience."

"Oil prices hovered near 18-month highs above $86 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as traders mulled whether a recovering U.S. economy warranted further gains. ... Oil has jumped 24 percent since early February."

"TOKYO -- Prosecutors Friday indicted an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand for illegally boarding a Japanese harpoon boat as part of a protest against the ship's whale hunting expedition in Antarctic seas in February."

"Oil consumption has fallen, demand from U.S. motorists for gasoline is flat at best and refiners that turn crude into fuel are operating well below capacity. Yet oil prices keep marching toward $90 a barrel, pushing gasoline toward $3 a gallon in many markets, and prompting American drivers to ask, 'What gives?'"

"Exposure to certain chemicals and pollutants before a woman reaches her mid-30s could treble her risk of developing breast cancer after the menopause, Canadian scientists said on Thursday."