ENERGY: Only Nuclear Dreams Mushrooming

The proposal by the Paris-based International Energy Agency for more than 1,400 nuclear power plants to be built over the next 40 years is unfeasible, environmental activists say.

FINANCE: Inflation to Overshadow Aid at G8 Talks

Inflation is to dominate two-day talks of wealthy nations' finance ministers despite warnings that millions of people face death because of a shortfall in development aid.

SPAIN: Truck Strike Continues, Despite Deal

Although the Spanish government reached an agreement with the main truckers’ unions, around 10 percent of drivers continued blocking roads Thursday on the fourth day of a strike over soaring oil prices.

ECONOMY: Global Woes Hit Developing Countries

The global credit crunch unleashed in the United States is combining with runaway food and fuel prices to put the squeeze on developing countries, according to the World Bank.

MIDEAST: Remark Raises Oil Price, and Temperatures

As Transportation Minister, one might have expected that Shaul Mofaz would have given greater consideration to the impact his comments would have on the already galloping price of a barrel of crude oil. Maybe he did. But with the scent of elections in the air in Israel, the international ramifications of his comments were apparently not uppermost on his mind. Far more narrow political calculations clearly were.

ENVIRONMENT-EUROPE: France and Germany Dilute the Green

The leaders of France and Germany, the European Union's two largest car-producing countries, appeared to take their cue from glossy vehicle advertisements this week. Just as such ads routinely seek to convey the impression that vehicles are ecologically benign, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to present an agreement they reached on carbon dioxide (CO2) limits from new cars as a boon for the environment.

INDIA: Forum Addresses Rural Energy Security

For poor rural women in India, access to energy connotes having the means to own a non-polluting stove and lantern that can help them cook, do household chores and earn a living. And yet even these basic needs are barely met - a majority of these women still spend much of their time and effort collecting firewood and cow dung for cooking and lighting.

ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: Banking on Wind Power

China plans to triple its wind power capacity over the next two years in line with the central government’s goal of promoting clean energy and more sustainable economic development, says a senior policy development official.

ENERGY: Indonesia Leaves OPEC, General Motors Downsizes

Indonesia pulled out of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) almost at the same time as U.S. automobile giant General Motors decided to build fewer pickup trucks and make an electric car.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Greens, Lawmakers Assail World Bank Funds

"Climate Investment Funds" to be run by the World Bank and backed by the George W. Bush administration are drawing fire from lawmakers and environmentalists who say the initiatives will accomplish little against global warming.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Summit Agrees Greater Liberalisation

The three-day world summit called by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation to respond to the food crisis ended with plans and pledges – and a new push to liberalisation.

ENVIRONMENT: Soaring Energy Costs May Force Low-CO2 Living

Climate change is a global problem but individuals and communities can take simple measures to cut their carbon emissions in half, experts said Thursday on World Environment Day.

ENVIRONMENT-SPAIN: Activists, Business Join Forces on Solar Energy

An environmental organisation, a private company and an international bank signed an agreement Thursday in the capital of Spain to promote, install, manage and sell power plants fuelled by renewable energy sources.

ENERGY: Green Standards Proposed for Biofuel Production

The adoption of international standards for the sustainable production of biofuels emerged as a controversial approach at the recent United Nations conference on biodiversity here.

RUSSIA: The Siberian Giant Is Waking Up

Ludmila Nikolovna, an ethnic Russian from Moldova, has no misgivings about her decision to come and study economics at Tomsk State University, even though she had to leave her two-month old daughter with her grandparents in Moscow.

BRAZIL: Climate Change Will Weaken Renewable Energy Sources

To Brazil's credit, 45 percent of its energy comes from renewable sources, three times as much as in industrialised countries, but for that very reason it will be more vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Critics Target U.S. Military Command

In just a few months, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) - Washington's latest military oversight structure for the continent - is expected to be fully operational.

UKRAINE: Nuclear Power Seen As the Answer to Russia

Ukraine is embarking on a costly and inefficient path of nuclear development, hoping it will halt its energy dependence on Russia.

Q&A: 'Biofuels Must Include the Poor'

Biofuels are being criticised for contributing to the rise in commodity prices, but their energy potential can be developed too, on condition "that the poor are part of the production chain."

ECONOMY-CAMBODIA: Resource Curse or Blessing?

Cambodia is facing a natural resource boom, prompting donors and non-government organisations (NGOs) to warn that without measures to improve financial transparency, promote better governance and curb corruption, the potential windfall could be squandered.

BIODIVERSITY: Nature Cannot Absorb This Growth

One day, Lucio Flores, a Brazilian Terena Indian, was travelling by truck through the Amazons region alongside a local landowner. Looking at the dense tropical forest around, the landowner said, "Look at this, there is nothing here."