The president of the ACF, Peter Garrett, says Australia played a leading role in setting the tenor of the talks. The Climate Action Network, which represents 30 Australian environmental groups, says Australia has failed to show any leadership during the conference. The network's spokeswoman, Anna Reynolds, says the outcome is a disaster for the environment. Even though we walked away from the Kyoto protocol meeting three years ago with the right to increase our greenhouse gas emissions that wasn't good enough. We have been looking for more loopholes and weak rules and many nations of the world frankly said to those governments that is not good enough and that's why the talks have broken down.
Asthma medications face tests.
A renewed tension between India and Pakistan has developed after US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged both parties to show restraint. Having struck agreements with Nauru and Papua New Guinea to off-load asylum seekers heading for Australia, the Federal Government has turned its attention to Fiji as the next destination for unauthorised arrivals. Scientists have discovered eight new planets outside our solar system.