Twenty-one protesters who were arrested at an anti-trade protest in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 15 were released on the 18th on conditions that they do not return to the protest lines. Authorities said they faced a variety of charges, including assaulting police, mischief and weapons-related offences. Protests against a Halifax conference to promote the "Atlantica" free trade zone proposal turned violent when about 50 yooung people dressed in black and wearing balaclavas broke away from the larger group. Running through downtown Halifax, the youth hurled paint-filled light bulbs, fire-crackers and rocks at police, businesses and journalists. Police used pepper spray and electric stun- guns to subdue the protesters. Some protesters said the break-away faction was provoked after police started using stun-guns on others. (Canadian Press, June 19)

From the AP, June 19:

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Tuesday issued a "Ten Commandments" for motorists to keep them on the road to salvation, warning drivers against the sins of road rage, abuse of alcohol or even simple rudeness.

From ZNet, June 12—George Monbiot's latest in his series of exchanges with Alexander Cockburn over the question of global warming:

The Conspiracy Widens
So at last, and after only seven requests, we have some references. And, to no gasps of surprise, they reveal that the "papers" on which Alexander Cockburn bases his claim that carbon dioxide doesn't cause global warming have not been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In fact they have not been published at all.

The EU's carbon trading scheme has increased electricity bills, given a windfall to power companies and failed to cut greenhouse gases, according to an investigation by BBC Radio 4's "File on 4" program. According to the consumer watchdog Energywatch, after two and half years the scheme has yet to cut in carbon dioxide emissions.

New satellite analysis shows that at least once in the past several years, masses of unusually warm air—up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit—pushed to within 300 miles of the South Pole, melting surface snow across an expanse the size of California. The warm spell, which occurred over one week in 2005, was detected by scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The findings were based on data from NASA's QuickSCAT satellite system which uses radar to distinguish the ice signatures of melting in the Antarctic snow. This is the first time melt zones have been detected so far inland. "It is too soon to know whether the warm spell was a fluke or a portent, said JPL scientist Son Nghiem. "It is vital we continue monitoring this region to determine if a long-term trend may be developing." (NYT, May 16)

George Monbiot writes on ZNet, May 12:

Request for Climate References
People who deny that manmade climate change is taking place have this in common: they do not answer their critics. They make what they say are definitive refutations of the science of climate change. When these refutations are shown to be nonsense, they do not seek to defend them. They simply repeat them as if nothing has changed, then move on to another line of attack.

Federal regulators have fined the operators of New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant $130,000 for failure to meet an April 15 deadline to install a new emergency siren system for the 10-mile evacuation zone around the plant. Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that the failure to get the replacement sirens working properly, even with a 75-day extension, was a "significant regulatory concern." NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said that Entergy Nuclear Northeast has 30 days to deliver a plan to get the new system online, the same amount of time company officials have to contest the fine.

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 April 2 that global warming is real, and that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts lost valuable shoreline because of its effects. Writing for the majority in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, Justice John Paul Stevens found: "A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."