Asia

"As the Paris climate change summit kicks off, China, the world’s leading carbon-emitting country, is choked in pollution. The Ministry of Environmental Protection said Sunday that heavy smog had covered China’s north, including Beijing, for three days in a row."

"In recent remarks Robert E. Murray, the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, the largest privately held coal mining company in America, enthusiastically praised Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, for leading an investigation into prominent climate scientists and environmental officials."

"Deep in the Sundarbans, a vast mangrove maze where the Ganges and two other great rivers weave their way to the coast in India and Bangladesh, the big-cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz plays a video clip on his laptop for a cluster of men and women in an impoverished village where tigers — in one of their last big refuges — regularly kill or maim people scouring the shorelines for meager hauls of fish and crabs."

"One week ago, two members of a four-person team patrolling for illegal loggers and wildlife poachers in the Preah Vihear Protected Forest in northwestern Cambodia were shot and killed in their sleep, as Mongabay reported. Six men suspected in the murders, including a soldier, were arrested early in the week, but have been charged only with illegal logging for the moment as authorities continue to sift for evidence."

"China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has been dramatically underreporting the amount of coal it consumes each year, it has been claimed ahead of key climate talks in Paris."

"A Chinese development firm is buying oil fields in western Texas for more than $1 billion."

"GENEVA -- In what is turning out to be one of the hottest years on record, the warming temperatures pose an immediate threat to one of Pakistan’s most endangered creatures, the snow leopard."

"Loggers in China's southwest are destroying sanctuaries home to endangered giant pandas, environmental group Greenpeace said in a report on Wednesday, defying efforts by conservationists and tougher forestry regulations."

"JAKARTA, Indonesia – Fires started illegally to clear land for oil palm and acacia pulp plantations in Indonesia are sending thick smoke over the Southeast Asian region, making breathing painful, closing schools, canceling outdoor events and disrupting air traffic."

"KARACHI -- The sprawling megacity lies crumbling, desiccated by another deadly heatwave, its millions of inhabitants suffering life-threatening water shortages and unable to buy bread that has become too expensive to eat."