MAZAR-e-SHARIF, Afghanistan, November 21, 2008 (ENS) Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan's second-largest city, are suffering from a polluted environment caused by urban expansion on land seized by warlords. A decades-old land grab has left Mazar-e-Sharif and much of the rest of Balkh province with little or no open areas or green spaces. While the government tries to cope with the nearly impossible task of reclaiming the land, residents are experiencing the ill effects of living in an environment devoid of trees and other vegetation. >>more

DOHA, Qatar, November 20, 2008 (ENS) Military experts from Australia, the Netherlands and the United States will help to save the ozone layer and fight global warming under a unique partnership between the United Nations, national governments and the armed services. The initiative was announced to more than 150 governments concluding a five-day meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. >>more

DUNEDIN, New Zealand, November 20, 2008 (ENS) A species of penguin that has been extinct for at least 500 years has been discovered and identified in New Zealand. Named the Waitaha penguin by a team of biologists from the University of Otago, University of Adelaide and Canterbury Museum, the newly identified penguin once lived on the shores of New Zealand's South Island. >>more

ROME, Italy, November 19, 2008 (ENS) Ships from the Netherlands and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are escorting food aid vessels from the UN's World Food Programme through the pirate-ridden waters off the coast of Somalia, where an Indian Navy warship last night blew up a pirate vessel that opened fire on it. More than two million Somalis would go hungry without these protective escorts, say World Food Programme officials. >>more

LOS ANGELES, California, November 18, 2008 (ENS) In Los Angeles today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger welcomed hundreds of attendees from more than 50 states, provinces and countries to the Governors' Global Climate Summit. At the end of their two-day meeting, participants are expected to sign a declaration outlining their plans for turning climate goals into action. >>more

By J.R. Pegg
WASHINGTON, DC, November 18, 2008 (ENS) The Bush administration finalized regulations to govern the commercial development of oil shale on federal lands on Monday, rebuffing concerns that the rules are premature and ignoring the serious environmental concerns about tapping the resource. >>more