Airlines 'must take initiative ahead of climate change [swindle] talks', warns BA boss Willie Walsh | Business | guardian.co.uk

UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation has failed to thrash out an emissions trading scheme for airlines

More complete idiocy: U.N. environment chief urges global ban on plastic bags | McClatchy

WASHINGTON — Single-use plastic bags, a staple of American life, have got to go, the United Nations' top environmental official said Monday.
...
"Single use plastic bags which choke marine life, should be banned or phased out rapidly everywhere. There is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme. His office advises U.N. member states on environmental policies.

Botswana: Cold Weather Forecast

Weather forecasters have warned that the country will be hit by severe winter and heavy down pours starting this week.
...
The South African authorities predicted very cold conditions that were to start on Saturday, over the high ground of the Western Cape and the southwestern part of Northern Cape. The severe conditions were expected to have spread to the high ground regions of Eastern Cape later on Saturday.

Australia: [Early] snow tipped for Ballarat region

BALLARAT is tipped to receive the year's first snow falls tomorrow as the cold snap continues.

It has not snowed this early in Ballarat since 2004, when there were reports of snowfalls at Ballan on June 14.

In most years, the city has received its first snowfalls in early to mid July.