D Tuesday, December 8, 2009 METRO Ready when you aRe, chief Children under 12 from Dublin were yesterday rewarded for designing the artwork for the 2010 Community Fire Safety Calendar. The artwork depicted fire hazards and fire safety measures in the home and community. Chief Fire Officer Hugh ONeill was on hand to take some youngsters for a spin Picture: Fennells By JOHN HIGGINSON america comes clean over greenhouse gases AMERICA yesterday admitted that greenhouse gases endanger human health as the climate change confer- ence opened in Copenhagen yester- day. Scientific evidence showed that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of the American people, the Environmental Protec- tion Agency ruled. Pollutants mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels should be regulated under the Clean Air Act, it added. These long-overdue findings ce- ment 2009s place in history as the year when the United States govern- ment began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution, said ad- ministrator Lisa Jackson. The announcement means president Barack Obama can push through emissions regulations without the need for backing from Congress, where negotiations have stalled. Mr Obama met with former vice president and green campaigner Al Gore at the White House yesterday ahead of going to Copenhagen today. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, added: The evidence is now overwhelming. Representatives of 192 countries are trying to agree to plans of how to keep world temperature rises below 2C. Climate activists competed to high- light their campaigns on deforesta- tion, clean energy and low-carbon growth. Leah Wickham, a 24-year-old from Fiji, wept as she handed a petition from 10million people Im on the front lines of climate change, she said. Time To meeT challenge FRIENDS of the Earth Ireland claims without more substantial cuts in emissions from developed countries, the chances of achieving a just and effective agreement are slim. We need to start putting adequate targets on the table and committing to the urgent cuts in emissions that are required to prevent catastrophic climate change, it said. Director Oisn Coghlan added: Its time for Ireland to finally step up on climate change. Minister [John] Gormley has promised to outline the Governments climate change law in the Carbon Budget later this week, before he heads to Copenhagen. The biggest contribution Ireland can make to the international negotiations is to publish a strong draft law that commits us to urgently decarbonising our economy. Hillary Clinton: Willing to talk Rome denies uS rift over Knox verdict ANXIOUS Italian politicians yesterday tried to quash suggestions of an escalating diplomatic rift with the US over the conviction of Amanda Knox for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Foreign minister Franco Frattini denied US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had criticised the court decision as politicians from Knoxs home state in Washington hit out at anti-American bias in the trial. The row came amid growing anger in the US over the guilty verdict, which saw Knox, 22, and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, jailed for 26 and 25 years respectively. They were convicted of sexually assaulting and killing Kercher in Italy in November 2007. The verdict was greeted by shock from Knoxs supporters, many of whom accused the Italian court system of being flawed. Ms Clinton said that, while she had not looked into the case, she would meet with anyone who had concerns. Breast cancer risk higher in the lonely STRESS and loneliness may play a role in triggering breast cancer, a new study suggests. Scientists studying cancer-prone rats found animals kept on their own grew 84 times more tumours than those who suffered cancer while living in groups. They were also afflicted with more aggressive and deadly forms of the disease. Although the study was on rats, University of Chicago researchers believe the findings, published in the National Academy of Sciences journal, are relevant to humans as biological mechanisms leading to breast cancer are similar in both species. Front line: Leah Wickham cries index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html