fuel efficient: South Korea will soon become the first nation to set a national greenhouse gas emissions target, though the country is not obliged to make mandatory emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. On March 24, it decided to freeze overall greenhouse gas emissions at 2005 levels until 2012. Under the plan, the government will also impose fuel efficiency ratings on all new vehicles beginning August this year. The ratings scheme will encourage car buyers to opt for fuel-saving and low-emission models, which will help raise the country's average fuel economy by 15 per cent by 2012 from 2004 levels.

ddt in china: Scientists traced cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Pearl River delta in south China. A study in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (Vol 27) says researchers also found residues of endocrine-disrupting organochlorine pesticides in the delta. One of the detected pesticides includes ddt which has been banned in China since 1983.