The Flat Earth Society Is Alive and Doing Well In Saudi Arabia

By Ghassan Karam
As the world express concern and even regret over the failure of the Conference at Copenhagen to come to a meaningful conclusion the Saudi Arabian chief negotiator at the talks expressed glee and satisfaction

Information Minister Mitri briefed the press on cabinet meeting

Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri briefed the press on the cabinet meeting that took place Monday at the Baabda palace

Climate change agreement reached in Copenhagen

Key states have reached what they call a “meaningful agreement” at the Copenhagen climate summit. A US government official said the deal was a “historic step forward” but was not enough to prevent dangerous climate change in the future.
US President Barack Obama said the deal would be a foundation for global action but there was “much further to go”. Source: BBC

US aid offer boosts deal at UN climate talks

Large pieces of a climate deal fell into place Thursday with new offers from the U.S. and China, but other tough issues remained before President Barack Obama and other leaders can sign off on a political accord to contain the threat of an overheated world.

An announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would contribute to a climate change fund amounting to $100 billion a year by 2020 was quickly followed by an offer from China to open its books on carbon emissions to international review. AP

Iran blames US for Climate Change in Copenhagen

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed the United States on Thursday at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen as an oil-addicted warmonger and insisted every nation have access to “clean and renewable energy sources”, including nuclear.

“All countries must gain access to new technologies to diversify their energy sources and be able to use clean and renewable energy such as wind, solar, sea tide, geothermal and nuclear energies,” Ahmadinejad said.

He added that oil has constituted the basic and strategic components of US security foreign policy, adding that oil-rich regions of the world became the theatres of wars and military adventurism that led to foreign domination on their energy resources.

The US, he said, gobbled up a quarter of the world’s oil and energy supplies yet had only five percent of the world’s population.

The attack was centerpiece of an argument, whereby Ahmadinejad declared that climate change was caused by capitalism and the rush to exploit cheap and plentiful fossil fuels.

Among solutions, he said “all countries” should be able to gain access to nuclear power to help ease the greenhouse-gas emissions that stoke global warming.

Source: Now Lebanon

UN chief tells Hariri: The UN is always ready to support Lebanon

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said following his takes met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen “the UN is always ready to support Lebanon in all fields.”
Ban congratulated Hariri on the formation of the Lebanese cabinet and voiced hope that the government “would be able to achieve progress, prosperity and security.” Source: Dalati & Nohra

Hariri will visit Syria after returning from Copenhagen

NBN TV has reported that Lebanon’s prime Minister Saad Hariri returns tomorrow to Beirut from the Saudi capital Riyadh and will visit Syria after his return from Copenhagen.
There was a lot of speculation about which country he will visit first after returning from Riyadh Denmark or Syria.
Hariri is expected to head to Copenhagen on Tuesday to participate in the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference

Over 900 hundred detained in Copenhagen protests

Thousands of protesters took to the streets and hundreds were detained Saturday in Copenhagen as they demanded a climate-change agreement that would curb greenhouse gas emissions and aid developing countries harmed by pollution.
They marched to the Bella Center in the Danish capital, where the global climate change summit is being held.
More than 900 protesters were detained, police told CNN, but nearly all were released. Only five were charged and will go to court Sunday, police said.
Countries are expected to end negotiations in Copenhagen on an ambitious new climate deal by next Friday, the end of the two-week summit.

Divisions run deep in Copenhagen

The Copenhagen climate talks have opened with a declaration that the 12 days of negotiations represent an historic opportunity for the world, but deep divisions between delegates have already emerged.
The representative of the developing world says the amount of money set aside to help poor nations adapt to climate change is an insult, and Saudi Arabia’s chief negotiator has raised issues about the validity of the scientific research used to justify claims that global warming is man-made. Source: ABC

Copenhagen climate talks kick off

Thousands of officials, environmental campaigners, politicians and journalists are in the Danish capital for the bid to strike a political deal on curbing emissions and providing finance to support poor countries in the fight against climate change. Lebanon’s PM Saad Hariri is planning to head to Copenhagen later in the week following the vote of confidence
Source: Telegraph.uk.com