Asia

"The man leading the daunting task of dealing with the Fukushima nuclear plant that sank into meltdowns in northeastern Japan warns with surprising candor: Nothing can be promised."

"Scientists say nuclear workers, village residents, and children living near mines and factories are falling ill after persistent exposure to unsafe radiation".

"A fire on an oil platform in the Caspian Sea burned on Monday for a fourth day, and the Azerbaijani company that operates the site warned that the fire could spread to the oil wells that feed the platform, heightening the risk of a spill."

"A Russian-flagged oil tanker has run aground off Nevelsk on the southwest coast of Sakhalin Island, spilling oil into the sea, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reports."

"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."