Environment

29 June 2019; DW: Some 500 students linked hands and held a long red banner as they blocked the entrance of the Reichstag building that houses the German parliament in Berlin on Friday.

29 June 2019; DW: Leaders have agreed on a climate deal similar to the one struck in Argentina in 2018. The US has again refused to commit to tackling climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday said world leaders at the G20 summit would sign a climate change deal similar to that signed in Argentina last year.

"We will have a similar text to Argentina. A 19+1 declaration," Merkel told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Osaka.

OSAKA, Japan, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called upon all parties to honor their commitments and take concrete actions in tackling climate change at a trilateral meeting of China, France and the United Nations (UN) here on Saturday.

The meeting, held on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, was chaired by Wang and attended by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

28 June 2019; DW: Hundreds of firefighters are struggling to contain a wildfire that continues to spread over heavily forested hills in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia. Firefighters said Thursday that the blaze was not under control.

"We're at a moment when the blaze is getting bigger," Miquel Buch, the regional interior minister, told local media.

Kanpur: The Mayor's wrath was worth realizing at the water-logging in the city. She did not budge in condemning the officers' laxity in nullah cleaning work. The height of their inactiveness was that they were not ready to accept faults. Instead they were finding faults with one another. 

The Mayor Pramila Pandey said three executive engineers of Nagar Nigam and JAL Nigam were found irresponsible and she would recommend the state government for the transfer.

Gurgaon, Jun 25 (PTI) Two persons were allegedly assaulted by a mob in Haryana's Gurgaon district on Tuesday on the suspicion of smuggling cattle.

Two pickup vans were intercepted by a group of "cow protection unit" near Islampur village, 3 km from here, in the morning, said Savita Kataria -- the person who led the group.

Shathil Ahmad, a resident of Palwal district, and Tayaid were arrested and a search is on for two others who fled the spot, said Gurgaon police PRO Subhash Bokan.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will sweep across the continent to affect tens of millions of people and cause a spike in premature deaths.

That emerging reality is prompting people in cities and rural areas alike to prepare for another summer of sooty skies along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains — the regions widely expected to suffer most from blazes tied to dryer, warmer conditions.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has a plastic problem.

In a country where cleanliness and neat packaging have long been considered good service, almost everything, from single bananas to individual pieces of vegetables, pastries, pens and cosmetics is sold plastic-wrapped.

But as world leaders descend on Osaka for the two-day G-20 summit that starts Friday, Japan will attempt to become a leader in environmental policy at the same time it plays catch-up with countries that already have well-defined goals in place.

25 June 2019; DW: A searing heat wave has begun to spread across Europe, with Germany, France and Belgium likely to experience extreme temperatures in the coming days.

In Germany, temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, topping the country's previous June record of 38.2 degrees Celsius set in Frankfurt in 1947.

Fire fighters braced for busy week

PARIS (AP) — The sunset had an orange glow. So did the extreme weather warning for Paris.

Meteorologists placed more than half of France, including around the capital, on alert for high temperatures Monday as a heatwave was expected to spread across continental Europe this week.

National weather agency Meteo France predicted the hot weather could produce temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Ft) across the country just as the summer tourist season shifts into high gear.