Environmentalists hope UN talks tough on climate change

(CNN) -- You're probably not thinking about what you would like for Christmas yet. But ask any environmentalist for their ideal gift and you'll get a version of this answer: a binding agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December that is strong enough to match the science.

The talks are the latest in a line of climate conferences that began in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This year the focus will be on the details of a new global climate agreement for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The stakes are high.

The representatives of 192 national governments, along with countless lobbyists and special interest groups, will gather between 7-18 December against a backdrop of increasingly gloomy academic papers, all predicting dramatic and catastrophic changes to the world -- unless we act right now.

"The issues at stake are greater than any decisions made in human history," Tom Picken of Friends of the Earth International told CNN. "With unprecedented consequences for the ecosystems of the planet, the well-being of all humanity, the very survival of hundreds of millions, if not billions of people, and the ability of future generations to have and enjoy life on Earth."

According to Kofi Annan's Global Humanitarian Forum, there are already more than 300,000 deaths per year directly attributable to climate change. While hundreds of studies around the world have linked climate change to phenomena including the increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other storms, changing rainfall patterns, drought, coastal flooding, changing disease patterns and the migration of human populations.

As a result climate change is no longer just a "green" issue, with organizations now campaigning for action also including trade unions, humanitarian NGOs such as Oxfam, Christian Aid and the Red Cross; even civil groups, like the Women's Institute in the UK, are demanding action.

But, despite this broadening of the issue and what most experts argue is unequivocal scientific proof that we need to act immediately to avoid even more serious consequences, so far activists agree that the necessary changes aren't coming nearly fast enough.

"The political and economic responses to climate change so far are simply tinkering at the edges of what's needed in relation to what's at stake," says Picken.

"Climate science is becoming increasingly clear and [it is] widely agreed that we are on the verge of passing irreversible tipping points, whereby although catastrophic impacts might not be evident for some decades, delay in the atmospheric system could mean a point of no return is passed imminently.

"The best available science indicates we are now at that juncture... This means that political and economic decisions made in Copenhagen are vital if we are to have any reasonable chance of avoiding these tipping points."

Progress being made

On some levels there is no doubt progress has been made. Climate change is now part of the popular lexicon and an important political issue. However, the gulf between what is being done to address the problem, and what pressure groups argue needs to be done is growing wider.

With the clock ticking, Friends of the Earth believe that now is the time for radical change: "What we need to see in Copenhagen is genuine shifts toward making the cuts [in emissions] needed in developed countries, the commitment to the finance needed to support developing countries, and perhaps most of all, an abandonment of failed policies -- or false solutions.

"This boils down to ensuring [industrialized] countries commit to making at least 40 percent cuts by 2020 without recourse to offsetting within this range, mobilize the necessary international finance to support mitigation in developing countries and protect forests without using offset mechanisms to buy up tracks of rainforest at the expense of making real industrial emissions cuts at home." Watch how Japan is struggling to meet its emissions targets »

Kim Jong Il meets Hyundai official

CNN) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with Hyundai's chairwoman, who had come from South Korea seeking the release of an employee detained since March, South Korean media reported.


Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun arrives at the customs office in Paju, South Korea, on August 10.

Yonhap, South Korea's official news agency, said Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun traveled to North Korea on August 10 for what was planned as a three-day mission. Yu Seong-jin -- the employee detained since March -- was freed and returned home Thursday, Yonhap added.

Hyun stayed in Pyongyang longer than planned, as she waited for a meeting with Kim, who according to North Korean media had been out of town.

North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA said Kim met with the chairwoman "and her party on a visit to Pyongyang at the invitation of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee."

North Korea agreed to resume cross-border tourism, ease border controls and schedule a reunion for separated families across the Korean peninsula in early October, KCNA reported.

Officials also agreed to resume tourism of the historic border city of Kaesong and "energize the operation" of the jointly run industrial complex there, KCNA said.

"Both sides expressed will to improve the north-south relations," KCNA reported.

Kim has met with the Hyundai chief twice before in recent years, Yonhap reported.

Hyundai "pioneered cross-border business with North Korea about a decade ago," the Yonhap report said, adding that the company's "joint tourism ventures in North Korea hit a snag last year amid worsening political tensions."

The employee, Yu Seong-jin, was accused of "slandering the North's political system," Yonhap reported, noting that he was released days after North Korea freed two U.S. journalists after a meeting between Kim and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Japan's Economy Returns to Growth

TOKYO -- Japan's economy grew for the first time since early last year, pulling the world's second-largest economy out of its longest recession since World War II and offering the latest sign that the world is pulling out of its economic slump.

But the data showed Japan benefited from inventory adjustments and a rise in exports and government spending -- not natural domestic demand -- suggesting lingering structural problems that could undermine any Japanese recovery.

The nation's real gross domestic product grew 0.9% in the second quarter from the prior quarter, an annual pace of expansion of 3.7%, Cabinet Office data showed. That was slightly worse than the 1% on-quarter growth and 3.9% annualized expansion forecast by Tokyo-based economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires. It was Japan's first quarter of GDP growth since the quarter ended in March 2008.

A positive growth rate could help the ruling Liberal Democratic Party mitigate what political analysts expect to be a sharp defeat in Lower House general elections on Aug. 30 after more than 50 years of almost uninterrupted rule.

The results offered the latest sign that the world, with a significant push from Asia, is shrugging off its economic malaise. Strong exports, particularly to China and other parts of Asia, were a key driver of Japan's growth. China's massive $585 billion stimulus spending and loosened bank lending has accelerated slowing growth, giving the region a boost. Hong Kong last week said it pulled out of its recession in the most recent quarter, while Singapore and South Korea have posted strong improvements.

Europe is also pulling out of recession, with positive growth reported in the most recent quarters in Germany and France. That is in contrast to the U.S., where the recession has eased in severity but where domestic consumption remains weak.

While surging domestic demand has been a key part of Asia's recovery, Japan's data Monday highlighted long-term hindrances to growth at home that set the nation apart from faster-growing Asian economies. Much of Japan's economic performance in the second quarter came from exports and government spending rather than improving conditions at home.

At the same time, firms' capital expenditures declined, and economists were skeptical of the prospects for a rise in domestic consumption absent stimulus efforts. "Unless overseas demand keeps growing, a recovery in domestic demand and [corporate investment] should take more time," NLI Research Institute senior economist Taro Saito said.

Porsche shares surge after agreeing Volkswagen deal

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shares in Germany's Porsche SE surged over 10% Friday after Volkswagen agreed to buy a 42% stake in its core sports car business as the precursor to a full merger in 2011.

The deal follows a failed attempt by Porsche /quotes/comstock/11e!fpah3 (DE:PAH3 49.11, +4.41, +9.87%) to take over its bigger rival. Porsche amassed over 10 billion euros of debt after building a roughly 50% stake in Volkswagen and acquiring options on around another 20%.

But it was unable to sustain the high levels of debt and was eventually forced to seek help from Volkswagen.

Shares in Porsche jumped 10.7% in early trading Friday, while Volkswagen dropped 3.5%.

Porsche is negotiating to sell its remaining options on Volkswagen to investors in Qatar.

Volkswagen said Friday that the planned deal is conditional on the successful sale of those options, which would make Qatar the group's third biggest shareholder.

"Additional new growth opportunities will emerge for Porsche under the umbrella of the integrated group," said Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn in a statement.

"Following constructive talks, we have agreed a solution that reflects the interests of all parties. I am convinced that the outcome of this integration will be the best vehicles for our customers, secure jobs and the creation of long-term value for our shareholder," he added.

Porsche said late Thursday that Winterkorn will become its CEO with effect from Sept. 15 and that Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch will take over the top finance role at Porsche on the same date.

The sports care group's former CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and finance chief Holger Haerter both stepped down late last month.

Consumer Prices Flat From June

WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumer prices fell last month at their fastest annual pace since 1950, an indication that inflation isn't a threat to the economy or the Federal Reserve.

The consumer price index was unchanged on a monthly basis in July from June, the Labor Department said Friday, matching economist expectations, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.1%, which was also in line with expectations.

Unrounded, the CPI posted no change last month. The core CPI advanced 0.091% unrounded.

Consumer prices plunged 2.1% compared to one year ago, the largest 12-month decline since January 1950. Most Fed officials think a positive inflation rate around 2% is consistent with their dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment.

While energy and commodity prices have risen recently, "substantial resource slack is likely to dampen cost pressures, and the Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time," the Fed said in a policy statement Wednesday. That view appears supported by Friday's CPI report.

With inflation under control and the economy still quite sluggish -- even if the worst of the downturn appears to be over -- the Fed is expected to hold interest rates near zero into 2010.

Annual inflation was above 5% as recently as August 2008, before last year's energy and commodity price drops kicked in and the global recession eased pressure on import prices.

But annual inflation rates should start turning positive later this year given the rise in energy prices earlier in 2009 and an apparent resumption in global growth.

Meanwhile, the less-volatile core CPI index was up 1.5% in July from one year ago, which is more in line with the Fed's objectives.

According to Friday's CPI report, energy prices fell 0.4% in July from June, and were down 28.1% over the last 12 months. Gasoline prices fell 0.8% last month, while food prices slid 0.3%.

Transportation prices, meanwhile, increased 0.2%. Airline fares increased 2.1%, while new vehicle prices rose 0.5%.

Housing, which accounts for 40% of the CPI index, fell 0.2%. Rents were unchanged, as was owners' equivalent rent. Household fuels and utilities prices slid 0.1%. Lodging away from home fell 2.1%.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said the average weekly earnings of U.S. workers, adjusted for inflation, rose 0.4% in July from June.

Lockerbie bomber drops appeal, Scotland mulls move

By BEN McCONVILLE (AP)

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Lawyers for the man serving a life sentence for the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie said Friday he intends to drop his appeal against conviction, as Scottish officials consider his request for transfer to Libya.

British broadcasters this week said without citing sources that Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi would be released early from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. He is terminally ill with cancer.

The Scottish government said it has yet to decide on his motion for early release. They are also considering a motion to allow him to serve the rest of his sentence in Libya.

Earlier this year, al-Megrahi was told he must drop his appeal against his conviction before he could be considered for a prison transfer to Libya. No transfer can occur while legal proceedings are ongoing.

He would not have to drop his appeal, however, to be freed on compassionate grounds.

The Libyan government applied in May to have al-Megrahi repatriated under a prison transfer agreement it has with Britain.

Separately, al-Megrahi applied in July for release on compassionate grounds, claiming he is terminally ill with prostate cancer.

The former Libyan secret service agent is the sole person convicted for the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 that killed 270 people — most of them Americans.

He was arrested in 1991 and held under house arrest in Libya until handed over in 1998 to Britain. He was convicted in 2001 by a special Scottish court set held at Kamp van Zeist in the Netherlands. The current legal action is his second appeal.

Dr. Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died on Flight 103, said Thursday his greatest fear was that the appeal would be dropped and therefore the truth about the bombing would never be known.

US Lawmaker Arrives in Burma to Meet Top Military Leader

U.S. Senator Jim Webb has arrived in Burma's administrative capital for talks with the country's military leaders. The Democrat senator from Virginia will be the first high-ranking U.S. official to meet with General Than Shwe.

The visit comes just days after the United States and other Western nations condemned the military government's order to extend the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is not known what specific issues will be covered during the talks Saturday, but the White House said Senator Webb would convey "strong" U.S. views on Burma's political path.

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a fellow at the Institute of Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, says the meeting appears to signal Burma's willingness to engage with the United States. The U.S. and other Western nations have long imposed sanctions on the government, which he says have not worked.

"I think this is something we all can look forward to…. I think peer pressure and persuasion are the twin elements that could bring about results in a more desirable way in Naypyidaw," said Chowdhury.

The military has ruled Burma for more than 40 years. In 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won elections but the military never allowed it to govern. In September 2007, it brutally quashed peaceful protest by Buddhist monks.

On Tuesday, Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted of violating her house arrest following an incident in May when an American entered her lakeside home uninvited. She was ordered to remain under house arrest for another one and a half years - a sentence that human rights groups and foreign governments say was aimed at preventing her from participating in next year's elections. The Nobel Peace laureate has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years.

A few members of the NLD have been asked to travel to Naypyidaw, the country's capital, while Webb is there, but it is not clear if they are to meet with the senator. Nor is known if Webb will be able to see Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.

The senator is the first U.S. member of Congress to visit Burma in more than a decade. He arrived in Naypyidaw from Laos, as part of a five-nation tour of Asia as the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He was formerly as the Secretary of the Navy and served as a Marine in Vietnam.

Michael Jackson's mother given custody of children

Michael Jackson's mother was granted permanent custody of the singer's three children Monday, ending one of the court battles that had been brewing since the pop star's death.Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved the agreement reached last week by attorneys for Katherine Jackson and Debbie Rowe, mother of the two older children, in which the children will be raised by their grandmother and Rowe keeps visitation and legal parental rights. The late pop icon had said in his 2002 will that his mother should care for Prince Michael Jr., 12, and Paris Michael Katherine, 11, and his youngest child, Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket, who was carried by a surrogate. Beckloff made the appointment over a last-minute bid by Jackson's dermatologist to get involved in the case.

The judge ruled that Dr. Arnold Klein, who treated Jackson for nearly 25 years, had no legal standing. An attorney for the doctor said his client had concerns about the children's welfare, but did not specify. Rowe met Jackson while working in Klein's office.Moving through a long list of issues before him at the day's hearing, Beckloff also approved undisclosed monthly allowances for the singer's mother and children. Katherine Jackson's attorneys filed papers last month asking for the payments, saying their client had no source of income other than Social Security, and that her son had provided for her when he was alive.

Beckloff granted Katherine Jackson the full amount she requested for herself, but reduced the sum that attorneys requested for the children, saying some of it appeared unnecessary. The matter of Jackson's estate, on the other hand, still seemed contentious.

Attorneys for Katherine Jackson and the special administrators named in Jackson's will met for 90 minutes during the morning hearing to discuss a settlement, but came back and told the judge they were unable to reach one. Katherine Jackson, in papers filed last week, accused the temporary administrators -- music executive John McClain and entertainment attorney John Branca -- of keeping her in the dark about the estate's affairs.

Beckloff on Monday extended the temporary powers of the administrators for an additional 60 days.

Adam Lambert Out and About

Once the hoopla surrounding Adam Lambert's runner-up finish on the 8th season of "American Idol" subsided, the glam rocker put the gay rumors to rest when he confirmed his sexual orientation in a Rolling Stone cover article.

Michael Douglas' son in NYC drug arrest

NEW YORK - Law enforcement officials say the son of Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas has been arrested on a drug charge at an upscale New York City hotel.
Two people familiar with the investigation say 30-year-old Cameron Douglas was arrested July 28 on a methamphetamine-dealing charge at the Hotel Gansevoort (GANZ'-uh-vawt) in Manhattan. They spoke Monday on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Cameron Douglas has acted in movies including 2003's "It Runs in the Family," starring his father and grandfather Kirk Douglas.

He also was arrested in California in 2007 on cocaine possession charges. His attorney then said the arresting officer didn't do his job properly.

There's no telephone listing for him. It's unclear whether he has a new attorney.

Michael Douglas' publicist and agent haven't returned calls.

The hotel says it has no comment.