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(Berlin) - Germany's ratification of the new treaty banning cluster munitions is an important step, Human Rights Watch said today. Germany deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions at the United Nations in New York, making it the 11th country to ratify the treaty. read more

Barack Obama said today there was still time to overcome cynicism and close the gap with developing powers on climate change, after slow progress towards an agreement on how to cut carbon emissions across the planet.World leaders are racing to meet a deadline of December when the UN climate talks in Copenhagen are due to conclude a crucial deal designed to set a carbon cutting framework to cover 2012-2050. At a meeting in L'Aquila, the G5 group of emerging economies - Brazil, India, China, Mexico and South Africa - refused to back a specific target for developing countries to cut emissions.In a small step forward yesterday 17 industrialised and developing countries, which account for about 80% of global emissions, agreed to set an aspiration that world temperatures should not rise by more than 2C on pre-industrial levels. It is the first time India, China and the US have agreed to such a goal.Obama said: 'We have made a good start, but I am the first to admit that progress is not goin

Hopes of significant progress at the Major Economies Forum were torpedoed by the lack of leadership shown by the G8 Heads of State yesterday. The onus to take the first critical and decisive step on making progress on climate action was clearly on the leaders of the world's most affluent developed countries: they failed to take that leadership.

President Obama and the other G-8 leaders meeting in Italy agreed to try to limit the global increase in temperature. But the developing countries refused to set a numerical target for limiting their own greenhouse gases. Experts say without cooperation from developing countries, no effort to fight climate change can succeed.

Babies on roller skates, breakdancing and weaving between bottles of water, impart an image of vitality and purity. At least that’s what Evian, a high-end producer of bottled water, would have you believe with its new hit advertisement. As the company’s worldwide director of brand, Michael Aidan, told MSNBC today, “In the majority of countries in recent years, our communication has been very fact-based. But consumers expect more from a big brand: emotion, dream.” [More]

In his petition, Sushil Kumar Kaushal said 'even animals don't indulge in such activities', adding that allowing gay sex would help spread HIV/Aids. The latest development indicated that despite a recent Delhi High Court ruling, gays in India still face a long battle to gain acceptance - social and legal - in this deeply conservative country where ...

Stockholm - The Swedish government decided Thursday to extradite an alleged Rwandan war criminal to the East African country, becoming one of the first countries in the European Union to make such a move. Rwanda has called for Sylvere Ahorugeze's ext...

Rich and developing countries agree only to 'substantially reduce' global emissions by 2050World leaders, including the developing nations, yesterday committed themselves only to 'substantially reducing global emissions by 2050', but failed to agree a specific target, according to a draft of the communique due to be issued later today.The draft states: 'We recognise the scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed two degrees centigrade.'The draft is due to be issued by the Major Economies Forum under the chairmanship of Barack Obama. The MEF contributes 80% of world emissions.The lack of a substantive agreement, other than the desire to keep global temperatures down, leaves world leaders facing daunting negotiations to reach agreement at the Copenhagen conference in December, which is due to set the entire climate change framework covering the period from 2012 to 2050.Developed nations, according to the draft, agree to

(New York) - The Mongolian minister of justice should overturn a state agency's decision to deny the official registration request of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center, a national nongovernmental organization, Human Rights Watch said in a public letter today. The center cannot operate in the country without this registration. read more

Jill Biden called community colleges America's best-kept secret this week while speaking in Paris to a Unesco conference on higher education. In his article, Matthew Saltmarsh quotes Biden as having said, 'Community colleges are the way of the future. Now with people losing their jobs, they?re a great place to go for new training.? Saltmarsh also includes these statistics: There are almost 1,200 community colleges among the 4,100 public and private higher-education institutions in the United States, serving almost 12 million students. The gist of Biden's speech was that America's community colleges are not only great places for Americans to get training for new jobs, but they're also a potential export to countries trying to develop institutions of higher education. Do you attend a community college? Did you? Share your experience with us.