• Ruling against 12 states, three cities, and many environmental groups, the US Court of Appeals decided recently that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not obliged to regulate CO2 emissions from automobiles. The plaintiffs' lawyers decried the judgement's call for "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" on issues of public health and climate change.
• Joining a growing list of suspicious countries, Ghana has rejected both the import and cultivation of genetically modified (GM) products. The country's food and agriculture minister said Ghana will do so "without hesitation", even if it meant extending the country's current famine. The move seems to signal an end to years of conflict in Ghana -- having long been pulled between the US, which promotes GM usage, and the EU, which has sharply curbed GM products.
• India was chosen on August 3, 2005, to chair the UN-backed Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG), looking after the implementation of a tsunami early warning system for Indian Ocean countries. Indonesia and Mauritius will vice-chair the group. The warning system is expected to be ready by July 2006; it will benefit 27 countries.
• The US is facing a major heat wave this year. At least 13 people have died in Phoenix. It isn't just the country's southwest that is hot; California, Nevada, New York...all are suffering.
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