Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.Jurors accepted defence [...] continue reading world news

USDA Cuts US Corn, Soy Estimates; Grain Mkts Up (2nd UPDATE)

(Updates with closing grain prices; additional analyst comments)CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday cut its projections for 2008 U.S. corn and soybean production, keeping supplies of the commodities tight and helping lift grain prices.The reduction in crop size, which was the result of poor growing weather in August, could be the start [...] continue reading world news

After Powerful Hurricane, Rescuers Scour Ravaged Areas

HOUSTON - Emergency officials pursued their rescue efforts on Sunday after Hurricane Ike barreled across a wide swath of Texas, deluging the city of Galveston with a wall of water, flooding coastal towns and leaving extensive damage across metropolitan Houston.Across the Gulf Coast, rescue workers scoured waterlogged neighborhoods and struggled to race down streets that [...] continue reading world news

L.A. County sees an upward trend in West Nile infections

The year is shaping up to be the worst in Southern California since 2004.Jack Austin doesn’t remember a mosquito biting him. The 72-year-old Duarte resident also doesn’t remember the nine days he spent in the hospital in July or much of the 20 days he spent in rehab in August, recovering from West Nile neuroinvasive [...] continue reading world news

Chicago seeks aid after worst rain in at least 137 years

Chicago received more than 6 inches of rain Saturday, breaking a 1987 record.CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Chicago authorities asked Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to issue a disaster declaration after rainfall Saturday in the Windy City broke a single-day record that had stood for more than two decades.The deluge flooded streets and stranded residents in their [...] continue reading world news

Controlled drugs dumped uncontrolled into water

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - In a frustrating quirk in government policy, the most tightly controlled drugs - like painkilling narcotics prone to abuse - are the ones that most often elude environmental regulation when they become waste.Federal narcotics regulators impose strict rules meant to keep controlled pharmaceuticals out of the wrong hands. Yet those rules also [...] continue reading world news

FDA Criticized Over Plastic Chemical

Groups Raise Questions About the Safety of Bisphenol AReviewed by Louise Chang, MDSept. 16, 2008 — Researchers and environmental groups attacked the FDA for concluding that a widely used plastic ingredient is safe for humans, saying the agency ignored critical studies showing potential ill health effects.The comments came at a hearing called by the FDA [...] continue reading world news