Australia signed on Sunday the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol which means the country will become a full member of the protocol early next year. It was incoming Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd first official act of his new government.
On the tenth anniversary of the landmark international anti-mine treaty this Tuesday December 3, Ban Ki-moon urged the world's peoples and governments to continue the fight to abolish anti-personnel landmines.
The largest ever conference on climate change has opened on the Indonesian island of Bali with more than 10.000 delegates from 192 countries attending. The two weeks of United Nations led talks are intended to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which expires 2012.
Oil prices rebounded Monday as speculation grew that OPEC may decide to leave output unchanged at a meeting this week in Abu Dhabi. New York's light sweet crude for January delivery, closed at 89.31 dollars per barrel and in London Brent North Sea crude jumped 1.54 dollars to settle at 89.80 dollars.
The European Central Bank announced Friday it would continue to supply markets with sufficient liquidity until the end of the year to keep short term interest rates the closest possible to the reference rate.
Activists and global leaders used World AIDS Day Saturday to warn against complacency in fighting the disease and called on governments to fill a multi-billion-dollar funding gap.
”I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Indonesian government for its generous invitation to host the thirteenth United Nations Climate Change Conference on the island of Bali 3 – 14 December. I also extend a warm welcome to the international community who will join us at this major event said Yvo de Boer UNFCCC Executive Secretary
South Korea is expected to edge past Hong Kong to become the 11th largest trading nation in the world this year, the Seoul government agency Yonhap reported on Friday.
The number of container units handled by China's mainland ports this year hit 100 million this week, highlighting the country's position as a major player in the industry worldwide, reports China's Daily.
Chinese stocks made a big comeback on Thursday to edge just over 5,000 points again, recovering part of the more than 20% losses in less than two months reports China's Daily.