Iraq's environment minister blamed Monday the use of depleted uranium weapons by U.S. forces during the 2003 Operation Shock and Awe for the current surge in cancer cases across Iraq.

No Air Samples Test Positive for Asbestos in New York City Explosion, Clean-Up Plan for Debris and Equipment That Tested Positive for Asbestos Began Overnight.

The governor of the southern U.S. state of Florida has signed some of the nation's toughest laws aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports that environmentalists are urging Florida and other states to craft their own environmental policies because they say federal officials have been slow to act.

Did Live Earth make a difference? While international media seem undecided about the lasting effects of July 7's worldwide event aimed at educating the public about climate change, individual participants are coming under scrutiny.

The Defense Department’s program to provide land buffers near its bases has been effective in relieving military training and testing operations from encroachment pressures, but the program’s funding and activities should be accelerated before land development hinders future buffering opportunities, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today.

David H. Ingbar MD, president of the American Thoracic Society, today called the proposed standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency for ozone pollution-commonly known as smog-"unhealthy for America's kids, unhealthy for America's seniors, and unhealthy for America."

Leaders of the eight largest industrialized nations - or G-8 - agreed last week in Heilingendamm, Germany, to join forces to make "substantial" - but unspecified - cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. At President Bush's insistence, the G-8 did not impose binding targets for the reductions.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says it is essential that leaders at the G8 plus five summit in Germany this week forge a common strategy on climate change. As Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing, the former head of the United Nations says both developed countries, and fast-developing nations such as China, share responsibility for slowing the effects of global warming.

Conservationists are in the northern Amazon nation of Suriname today calling for better environmental protections from illegal mining and other threats.

Since California was made the first state to limit greenhouse gases, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been signing agreements with other state and foreign governments to address global warming.

Report Lays Out Steps to Address 'The Next Industrial Revolution'

Officials from China's top environmental watchdog have told the state news agency some of the country's most polluted rivers and lakes are not getting any cleaner. VOA's Joseph Popiolkowski reports from Hong Kong.