Tasmania as cold as ice: Temperatures plummet eight below average

Bitterly cold weather has been gripping Tasmania as temperatures plummet as much as eight below average.
...
Some valley locations, such as Bushy Park and Ouse, which dipped to minus four on Wednesday morning, failed to get within seven degrees of the average maximum. Bushy Park only reached three degrees and Ouse four. Fog and a lack of wind were the main culprits, hampering any warmth from the sun. For Bushy park this is likely to be its coldest day in more than two years and coldest July day in at least eight years.

G8 fails to get emerging powers to agree on climate change goals | International | Reuters

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 8 (Reuters) - G8 leaders have failed to get emerging powers to agree climate change goals for 2050 and conclusions from their summit will not directly refer to a sensitive debate about the domination of the dollar.

Draft documents seen by Reuters on Wednesday ahead of the G8 summit and Thursday's meeting of the 17-nation Major Economies Forum showed the currency debate pushed by China being played down and hopes for a climate breakthrough had been overstated.
...
Berlusconi spoke of meeting Chinese "resistance" and the G8 appeared to have failed to persuade China and India to agree to a goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
...
Chinese President Hu Jintao pulled out at the last minute because of unrest in northwestern China in which 156 people have been killed. His departure may complicate climate change talks.

The Canadian Press: Activists stage protests on climate change across Italy as G-8 summit starts

In Rome, activists from charity group Oxfam International put on masks of world leaders and dressed up as chefs, stirring a mock Earth in a pot representing the planet's rising temperature.