The US steel industry, hard hit by the global recession, urged Washington Monday to enforce trade laws against foreign dumping and warned THAT climate change legislation will further hurt domestic steelmakers.

"We need to make Washington stand tough on trade laws," said James Wainscott, chairman, president and chief executive of AK Steel Holdings.

Tromso (Norway), May 3: Russia is planning to build a fleet of floating and submersible nuclear power stations to exploit Arctic oil and gas reserves.

This is causing widespread alarm among environmentalists, reports the Guardian.

The major nations meeting for discussions on climate change in Washington on Monday and Tuesday each have different goals for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.

China, the United States, the European Union, Russia and India are top world emitters. Targets they set will go a long way to decide the ambition of a new U.N. deal to fight global warming due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

Science and ICT Ministry is now waiting for the go-ahead from the Prime Minister's Office to sign two agreements with Russia to advance with the conceived nuclear power-plant projects.

The Arctic Council, a forum for climate issues and environmental protection, agreed on close and increased cooperation in carrying out research on the Arctic and identified a number of measures, including a binding guideline for ship operation and revising the guidelines for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.

Arctic nations agreed on Wednesday to crack down on soot that is darkening ice around the North Pole and hastening a thaw that they also blamed on global warming.

European fishing fleets will gain new access to Russia's Baltic Sea waters and vice-versa after the European Union signed a six-year fisheries deal with Moscow on Tuesday, the EU's Czech presidency said.

The accord also aims to protect fish stocks in the Baltic, where EU vessels bring in around 500 million euros ($650 million) a year.

A fast melt of ice from the Andes to the Arctic should be a wake-up call for governments to work out a strong new United Nations treaty this year to fight climate change, Norway said on Tuesday.

The United States hosts a meeting of major economies on Monday and Tuesday in Washington to relaunch a process it hopes will help lead to an international pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Below are the players and possible outcomes from the event:

PLAYERS

The major nations meeting for discussions on climate change in Washington on Monday and Tuesday each have different goals for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.

China, the United States, the European Union, Russia and India are top world emitters. Targets they set will go a long way to decide the ambition of a new UN deal to fight global warming due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.