AFP - Polar bears, the global mascot in the fight against climate change, were denied a reprieve Thursday when a UN body shot down a US proposal to ban cross-border trade in the animals or their parts.

AP - Beijing needs to take seriously American concerns about the value of the Chinese currency, but bilateral disputes should not impede cooperation on global issues such as climate change and Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing said Thursday.

AFP - After running at loggerheads with the West over climate change, human rights and nuclear proliferation, China is now on a collision course with the international community on the value of its currency.

Reuters - The Senate is close to wrapping up talks ahead of introducing a compromise climate change bill, said a top Democratic lawmaker who discussed ideas with industry groups on Wednesday.

AFP - The climate change debate should be reframed in economic and security terms ahead of a year-end UN summit in Mexico seeking a binding climate deal, the president of the Maldives said Wednesday.

AFP - Advertising watchdog has banned two government adverts for overstating the threat from climate change, it said on Wednesday.

AFP - An alternative "people's conference" on climate change in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba in April will seek to advance an international global warming referendum, organizers said.

AFP - Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi pledged Tuesday to work together to strengthen ties after the two nations clashed over human rights, climate change and Iran's nuclear drive.

AFP - Adding iron to the world's oceans to capture carbon and fight global warming could do more harm than good, as the mineral appears to boost the growth of a plankton that produces a deadly neurotoxin, a study published Monday shows.

AFP - Australia's top science body said on Monday temperatures had risen about 0.7 degrees Celsius (0.44 Fahrenheit) in the last 50 years, describing the finding as "significant evidence" of climate change.