Greenhouse-Gas Pledges by China, US May Drive UN Climate Deal 
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Pledges by China and the U.S. to setnumerical targets for their greenhouse-gas emissions through2020 may improve chances for a global climate agreement atnegotiations next month in Copenhagen.
China’s cabinet yesterday said it will cut output of carbondioxide per unit of gross domestic product by 40 percent to 45percent from 2005. A day earlier, the U.S. said it will proposea direct CO2 reduction in the same period of about 17 percent,provided the cut lines up with a new domestic climate law.
“The skies are clearing now,” Anders Turesson, Sweden’schief climate negotiator, speaking on behalf of the 27-nationEuropean Union, said in an interview. “We see more clearly nowwhat the negotiations in Copenhagen are going to be about.”
China vows to dramatically slow emissions growth
BEIJING — China promised Thursday to slow its carbon emissions, saying it would nearly halve the ratio of pollution to GDP over the next decade — a major move by the world's largest emitter, whose cooperation is crucial to any deal as a global climate summit approaches.
Beijing's voluntary pledge comes a day after President Barack Obama promised the U.S. would lay out plans at the summit to substantially cut its own greenhouse gas emissions. Together, the announcements are building momentum for next month's meeting in Copenhagen.
But environmental experts warned that China's plan does not commit it to reducing emissions — and that they will in fact continue to increase, though at a slower rate.
Rudd Echoes Obama in Push for Climate Deal Before Copenhagen
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Australian leader Kevin Rudd willtoday try to force through legislation aimed at reducing carbonemissions, days before he flies to Washington for talks withPresident Barack Obama on global warming.
Both men are struggling to honor election pledges to tackleclimate change, with legislation passing in the lower houses ofboth countries before stalling in the senate. Meeting Obama onNov. 30 “will help build momentum towards an ambitious globalagreement in Copenhagen,” Rudd said yesterday.
“Obama faces the exact same problem as Rudd, trying to getlegislation through the senate, which is heavily influenced byvested interests and lobby groups,” Peter Kenyon, professor ofeconomic policy at Curtin University’s Graduate School ofBusiness in Perth, said yesterday in an interview.
Mumbai commemorates anniversary of attacks
MUMBAI, India — Black-clad commandos rappelled down a building and Mumbai's police showed off their new gear Thursday in what was intended as a reassuring display of force a year after a terror attack across the city killed 166 people.
Activists fear the security upgrades are not enough to prevent a repeat of the attack that laid siege to luxury hotels, turned a train station into a scene of carnage and paralyzed India's commercial heart for 60 hours.
The anniversary of the attack was commemorated across Mumbai with candlelight vigils, prayer meetings, art projects, discussion groups, a blood drive, political speeches, music concerts and soul-searching newspaper articles.
ANALYSIS-Investors welcome new China, U.S. climate goals
* U.S., China climate targets raise Copenhagen hopes
* Will help boost "record" clean energy investment in 2010
European Union carbon boosted by China, U.S. pledges
LONDON (Reuters) - The benchmark contract for European Union emissions futures closed near 13 euros a tonne on Thursday, fueled by news of a U.S. commitment to emissions cuts and a Chinese pledge to reduce carbon intensity, traders said.
EU Allowances for December delivery closed 4 cents or 0.31 percent higher at 12.92 euros ($19.50) a tonne. Volume was heavy at 6,395 lots despite a U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. EUAs touched 13.22 euros in afternoon trade.
"There's a pick up in sentiment on the back of news that's broken over the last day or so," an emissions trader said.
Mumbai attack sites draw tourists, inspire comics
MUMBAI (Reuters Life!) - Fancy a painting depicting the horror of last November's attacks in Mumbai? How about a comic book with superheroes taking on the Islamist militants, or a coffee mug or music album as a tribute to the victims?
On the first anniversary of the attacks that killed 166 people, alongside the prayer meetings and candlelight vigils, are art shows, music launches, book deals and movies in the making, even tours of the sites by enterprising cab drivers and guides.
"Something changed, something was lost in those three days, and we wanted to capture that," said Jasmine Shah Varma, who curated an art exhibition titled "Nothing Will Ever Be The Same Again."
One year after, India remembers Mumbai attacks
(Adds details, quotes, colour throughout)
By Rina Chandran
MUMBAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Mumbai held tearful memorials and police staged a show of strength on Thursday as India's financial hub marked the first anniversary of militant raids that killed 166 people and ratcheted up tensions with Pakistan.
ANALYSIS-Investors welcome new China, us climate goals
* U.S., China climate targets raise Copenhagen hopes
* Will help boost "record" clean energy investment in 2010
A year after, India remembers Mumbai attacks
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Mumbai's police paraded past some of the city's landmarks in a show of strength as India's financial hub marked the first anniversary of militant raids that killed 166 people and ratched up tensions with Pakistan.
Onlookers waved Indian flags and banners with slogans like "End The Violence" as police commandoes, showing off new weapons and armored vehicles, tracked the route of ten militants who disembarked in Mumbai a year ago to rampage through the city. Other residents lit candles outside a Jewish center, one of several sites from luxury hotels to the city's biggest railway station targeted by the Pakistan-based gunmen for three days.
"We just wanted to show our support and show that we care," said Subir Kumar Singh, who was leaving a written message on a banner outside the Leopold cafe, a popular tourist spot that still has bullet marks from the attacks.
