International

"Twenty-six countries Friday issued a joint statement putting diplomatic pressure on Iceland to abandon whaling. Icelandic whalers have killed more than 200 whales so far since June, including endangered 125 fin whales and 79 smaller and more abundant minke whales."

"Arab officials in the Persian Gulf strongly denied Tuesday a report that they're in secret talks to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies to price oil."

"Here on the endlessly rolling and tussocky terrain of northwest Canada, where man has hunted caribou since the Stone Age, the vast antlered herds are fast growing thin. And it's not just here."

"Half a century after Pacific walruses began recovering from industrial-scale hunting, marine biologists are growing worried that they face a mounting threat from global warming."

"Developing countries are standing their ground against demands by rich nations to add steps to curb carbon emissions into a formal registry or appendix as part a broader pact to fight climate change." Hopes dim for nations to reach a climate pact in Copenhagen in December.

"HONG KONG -- Companies that import solar panels to the United States are facing up to $70 million in unexpected tariffs."

"Dozens of red flags suggest that a wide range of pollutants are playing a role in millions of birth defects that strike worldwide every year. But little is being done to understand or control exposures."

"If birds hosting flu virus are exposed to the waterborne pollutant, they might develop drug-resistant strains, chemists worry."

"Solar photovoltaic module production world-wide almost doubled in 2008, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre's eighth Annual Photovoltaics Status Report."

"Green-technology firms attracted the largest share of venture capital in the third quarter, with global investments rising to $1.59 billion, according to a survey released Wednesday by Cleantech Group and Deloitte & Touche."