‪#‎Obama‬ to unveil 'biggest step ever' in climate fight

President Barack Obama, walks on the South Lawn as he arrives the White House in Washington, from Camp David, Md Sunday, Aug. 2, 2015 

US President Barack Obama will Monday unveil what he called the "biggest, most important step we've ever taken" to fight climate change, a sensitive issue central to his legacy.

The White House will release the final version of America's Clean Power Plan, a set of environmental rules and regulations that will home in on the pollution from the nation's existing power plants, setting limits on power-plant carbon emissions for the first time.

Plants will have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

Laying out how climate change is a threat to the economy, health, wellbeing and security of America, and adding that time was of the essence, Obama said in a video released early Sunday: "Climate change is not a problem for another generation. Not any more."

"Power plants are the single biggest source of harmful carbon pollution that contributes to climate change," added Obama, who made the battle against climate change a core promise of his 2008 election campaign.

"But until now, there have been no federal limits to the amount of that pollution that those plants can dump into the air."

He added that without imposing the unprecedented limits, "existing power plants can still dump unlimited amounts of harmful carbon pollution into the air weekly".

"For the sake of our kids, for the health and safety of all Americans, that's about to change."

Power plants account for some 40 percent of US emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

In the coming months, Obama is expected to visit Alaska to highlight the impact of climate change and will host Pope Francis at the White House when they are expected to make a collective call for action.

With the end of his presidency drawing ever nearer, Obama argued that the plans will lead to lower energy bills in the future for everyday Americans, create jobs in the renewable energy sector and ensure more reliable energy services.

Quite simply, he said, the United States and the rest of the world need to act now to save the planet, ahead of a major meeting of world powers in Paris in December tasked with doing just that.

In its initial proposal a year ago, the Obama administration had set the target at 30 percent power plant reductions

The tough 32-percent collective reduction drew fierce opposition from the Republican Party, which described the measures as "overreach," "heavy-handed" and said they would have "devastating consequences for our economy."

Gina McCarthy, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, insisted the rules were "reasonable" and "achievable."

"They can cut carbon pollution in whatever way makes the most sense to them," he said. "No plant has to meet them alone or all at once, they have to meet them as part of the grid and over time."

Climate change is a hot-button issue in American politics, and cuts are politically sensitive because coal, among the dirtiest energy sources, remains a major US industry.

Even as natural gas gains in popularity, hundreds of coal-fired power plants dotted across the country provide about 37 percent of the US electricity supply, ahead of natural gas and nuclear energy.

In the video, Obama said that global warming and the reasons behind it were backed up by scientific data -- some Republican opponents dispute the existence of global warming and others cast doubt on whether humans are to blame for the phenomenon.

Hillary Clinton, the Democrat hoping to take over from Obama after the 2016 election welcomed the announcement as a "significant step forward."

#Obama urges #Gulf nations to help with chaos in #Libya

President Barack Obama urged Gulf nations to help calm the chaotic political situation in Libya, saying that outside military action would not be enough to help reduce tensions in the war-ravaged North African country.

After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the White House on Friday , Obama said a political solution was needed in the oil-rich Mediterranean state, where two rival governments are fighting for control.

"We're going to have to encourage some of the countries inside of the Gulf who have, I think, influence over the various factions inside of Libya to be more cooperative themselves," Obama told reporters.

"In some cases, you've seen them fan the flames of military conflict, rather than try to reduce them."

Obama is set to meet with leaders from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Washington on May 13 and 14 to discuss a host of crises in the Middle East.

Obama noted Islamic State militants, who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq, have also been active in Libya. The United States is leading a coalition fighting the group in Iraq and Syria.

"We are consistently looking where terrorist threats might emanate, and Libya, obviously, is an area of great concern," Obama said. He compared the situation to Somalia, where Washington has carried out drone strikes against suspected al Qaeda militants.

"We will not be able to solve the problem with just a few drone strikes or a few military operations," he said, adding that he and Renzi did not discuss the possible sale of U.S. drones to Italy, which some Italian media reports had expected.

The United States, Italy and their allies must combine counterterrorism efforts with a push for a political resolution, Obama said.

"The answer ultimately is to have a government that can control its own borders and work with us. That's going to take some time," he said.

Renzi agreed it was up to the Libyans themselves. "Peace in Libya: either the tribes do this, or no one is going to do this," he said. 

Exclusively In Photos : 24 hours around the world

Members of the media are hit with a snow gusts caused by the landing of Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. President Barack Obama is traveling to Detroit area to speak to workers at Ford automotive plant.

 

Parents gather to reunite with their children at Spartan Recreation Center in Shoreline, Washington, January 7, 2015. A Washington state school district near Seattle placed all of its schools on lockdown on Wednesday after reports of an armed man on the campus of an elementary school, the King County Sheriff's Office said.


 

Ice forms along the Lake Michigan shore, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Chicago. Subzero temperatures and high winds are expected in the area.


 

Wind blows snow off the North Avenue Beach along the Lake Michigan shore, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Chicago. Subzero temperatures and high winds are expected in the area.


 

A view of the top of the Unicredit Tower at the Porta Nuova Garibaldi business district in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan.7, 2015. The UniCredit Tower complex, designed by architect Cesar Pelli, consists of three towers, respectively of 230 meters (754 feet), 100 meters (328 feet), and 50 meters (164 feet). With its 230 meters height, including the Sipre, an 80 meters (262 feet) steel and glass spire shaped structure that completes the tower, the UniCredit Tower is one of the tallest buildings in Italy. Milan is the host city of the upcoming Expo 2015 that opens in May and is expected to draw 20 million people. The theme of the Expo 2015 is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".


 

Water puddles surround tents where displaced Syrians are taking shelter during a winter storm in Jabal al-Zawiya in the southern countryside of Idlib January 7, 2015. A storm buffeted the Middle East with blizzards, rain and strong winds on Wednesday, keeping people at home across the region and raising concerns for Syrian refugees facing freezing temperatures in flimsy shelters.


 

A woman walks along a frozen beach at Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois, January 7, 2015.


 

Gunmen flee the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in this still image taken from amateur video shot on January 7, 2015, and obtained by Reuters. Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades.


 

Steam from one of the city's heating power plants rises in the cold air as the sun sets at dusk in Bucharest January 7, 2015. The National Weather Administration has issued a warning for extremely cold weather, frost and strong winds until the end of the week, according to local media.


 

Persons hold placards which read "I am Charlie" to pay tribute during a gathering in Strasbourg January 7, 2015, following a shooting by gunmen at the offices of weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, renowned for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades. The French President headed to the scene of the attack and the government said it was raising France's security level to the highest notch.

 

 

Hassan Kassab, of Dedham, Mass., fuels up a vehicle at a gas station where regular unleaded was listed for a cash price of $1.99 per gallon, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Boston.

#US #troops in #Iraq 's #Anbar as anti- #ISIS #campaign expands

Iraqi security forces take part in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in the town of Amriyat al-Falluja in Anbar province, November 9, 2014

A team of US troops was on the ground in Iraq's Anbar province on Tuesday as Washington steps up efforts to help Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State jihadist group.

The Pentagon confirmed about 50 military personnel were at Al-Asad air base to assess it for the possible deployment of a larger contingent of advisers and trainers to assist Iraqi security forces.

President Barack Obama has announced plans to double the number of American troops in Iraq to up to 3,100 as US-led efforts against the jihadists enter what he called a "new phase".

Parts of mainly Sunni Anbar province have become a stronghold for IS, which has seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria, and some of Baghdad's forces who were hard-pressed by the jihadists fell back to Al-Asad air base.

The sprawling desert airfield was hub for US forces from 2003 until 2011, when it was transferred back to Iraqi control.

The 50 American military personnel assessing the base were not in evidence on Tuesday, but a slew of English-language signs and the colourful Easter decorations still hanging in a dining hall pointed to the former US presence.

A string of battlefield defeats for Iraqi forces in Anbar has led to warnings that the province, which stretches from borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the western approach to Baghdad, could fall entirely.

Some of Anbar's powerful tribes are battling the Sunni extremist group, and have played an important role in keeping more of the province from falling.

Parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi visited Anbar tribal leaders at Al-Asad on Tuesday to "raise morale" and appeal for "weapons and equipment to face the danger of terrorism," he told AFP.

Sheikh Ashur Jabr Hamadi, one of the tribal leaders at Al-Asad, said the lack of ammunition was a problem, but the "most important thing we need is air cover".

Washington has forged an alliance of Western and Arab nations to take on IS, and launched a barrage of air strikes against it in Syria and Iraq.

Strikes on Friday were said to have targeted a gathering of IS leaders, but there has been no confirmation of reports IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed or wounded.

US officials have insisted American troops will not engage in combat and are instead pushing for local forces to tackle IS on the ground.

For Syria, the United States has approved plans to train 5,000 recruits from among rebel forces battling President Bashar al-Assad, but Washington came under fire Tuesday for having a "confused" strategy.

"The coalition is fighting the symptom of the problem, which is (IS), without addressing the main cause, which is the (Syrian) regime," said Hadi al-Bahra, leader of the opposition National Coalition.

"The whole operation has been confused. Air strikes will not be able to win the battle against extremism. You have to defeat (IS) on the ground," he told .

"And you have to deal with the main cause and source of extremism, which is the regime itself."

After meeting Bahra on Monday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond promised "a significant contribution" to equip and train the moderate opposition.

Kurds fighting IS in Kobane made advances Tuesday in the south of the Syrian town bordering Turkey, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian Kurdish chief Saleh Muslim said his forces were advancing "street by street" and would "recapture the town in a very short time".

The battle against IS has overshadowed the civil war in Syria, where more than 195,000 people have been killed since the start of an uprising in March 2011.

The UN is now pushing a plan for what envoy Staffan de Mistura calls a fighting "freeze" in limited areas.

Assad has said he is ready to consider such a plan for Syria's second city Aleppo, and de Mistura said Damascus had shown "constructive interest".

But the rebel Free Syrian Army effectively rejected the freeze, setting virtually impossible-to-achieve conditions.

The UN refugee agency said meanwhile it had been forced to slash the number of people it can help prepare for winter in Syria and Iraq for lack of funds.