India may face a challenge from US for climate goals

Even though the Copenhagen accord is not legally binding, the United States would not only review its implementation by India and China, but also would challenge them if they do not meet the goals set by the agreement, the White House said.

“Now, China, India have set goals. We are going to be able to review what they are doing. We are going to be able to challenge them if they do not meet those goals,” David Axelrod, Senior White House Advisor told.

White House adviser, who is full of appreciation for the last-minute non-binding Copenhagen climate accord, called it as “a great step forward”.

“Because this was noted and accepted by the entire conference, the UN now has the ability to move forward on these things and to implement them,” he added.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the accord was “a good deal” for India.

Prime Minister’s Climate Envoy Shyam Saran has said that India did not have to compromise on any of its fundamental stands on the issue.

Approved after marathon negotiations last week between US, China India, Brazil and South Africa, the accord says greenhouse gases and other emissions by all nations must be reduced enough to prevent average global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius.

Disapproval led by Obama against the defiant N Korea

President Obama has led international disapproval of North Korea this morning after it launched an intercontinental rocket over Japan; disobeying weeks of warnings from world leaders and risking new sanctions and high level denunciation in the UN Security Council. Mr Obama called the launch “provocative” and a clear violation of UN Security Council rule

“The launch today of a Taepodong-2 missile was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind,” the US President said in a statement.

North Korea announced several weeks ago that it planned to send what it called an “experimental communications satellite” into space from the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east.

The three-stage rocket was fired at 11.30am (02.30GMT) from the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east of North Korea. It safely cleared northern Japan where batteries of Patriot missile interceptors and nervous local authorities were on standby in case of a misfiring or falling missile fragments.

North Korea says the launch is part of what it calls peaceful space development.

Al-Qaeda not a big threat for Obama

President Barack Obama has advised better use of Nato resources in Afghanistan, saying al-Qaeda is a greater threat to Europe than to the US. Speaking before a Nato summit co-hosted by France and Germany, he said the US wanted to see a stronger Europe.

However, Nato’s secretary general said members would be unwilling to send more troops if Afghanistan take on a new law seen as abusing the rights of women.

A huge French-German security operation is in place for the summit.

“It’s not just a matter of more resources, but more effectively using the resources we have,” Mr Obama said.

He thanked France for leadership regarding Afghanistan.

After he spoke, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered to a temporary increase in British troops helping in Afghanistan.

The UK currently has 8,300 soldiers in the country, the second-largest international conditional troops outside the US.

Later, President Obama told an audience in Strasbourg that the US and Europe had allowed the alliance to glide in the recent years.

$1 Trillion Stimulus Pack by G20

A new $1 trillion incentive to the world economy could come out from the G20 meeting in London’s Docklands. It will not be the co-ordinated economic injection that Gordon Brown and Barack Obama had been hopeful for when the summit was called last November.

On that there will be a strong promise to “do what is necessary” and a schedule for action on top of the $2 trillion boost already announced by governments.

The big surprise today will instead be the complete scale of the extra sums made available in new loans and other liquidity boosts, particularly to kick-start growth in the emerging markets of China and Latin America.

It is said that the money will come in three separate packages.

The first are new lines of credit worth more than $100 billion to cheer up countries to trade more.

The second is a possible tripling to $750 billion in the resources held by the International Monetary Fund to set free the struggling economies. The extra money will come from Japan, the EU, China and others.