Top story: EU leaders have agreed to contribute $10.6 billion dollars over the next three years to help poor countries adapt to the threat of climate change. The announcement came at the conclusion of a two-day summit in Brussels and is intended to add momentum to the discussions in Copenhagen. All 27 EU member states are reportedly contributing, with Britain spending the most ($800 million per year) according to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Meanwhile in Copenhagen, a draft of the U.N. text -- the first official attempt at a final proposal, as opposed to the earlier leaked drafts prepared by delegates -- proposes global greenhouse cuts of at least 50 percent by 2050 over 1990s levels. Industrialized nations would be asked to cut emissions 25 percent by 2020. There would be no binding commitments for developing countries, including China, India, and Brazil.
Revolving door: Kai Eide, the top UN official in Afghanistan, is planning to leave his job soon.
Asia
- The five young Americans detained in Pakistan on terrorism charges will likely be deported.
- The Indian government agreed to carve a separate state out of the southern province of Andhra Pradesh after days of protests.
- North Korea said its talks with envoy Stephen Bosworth "narrowed" its differences with the United States.
Middle East
- In Iraq's second major auction of oil contracts, Royal Dutch Shell and Malaysia's Petronas won the right to develop the world's largest untapped oil field.
- The King of Jordan has appointed a former aide as the new prime minister.
- West Bank settlers are suspected in the vandalizing of a Palestinian mosque.
Americas
- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says he will leave the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa by Jan. 27.
- Seven policeman and one civilian were killed in separate attacks by gunmen in Mexico's Mihoacan state on Thursday.
- Ecuador's government says the U.S. helped plan a cross border raid by Colombian troops targeting FARC rebels last year.
Europe
- Romania's constitutional court ordered a reexamination of ballots from last weekend's presidential election amid allegations of fraud.
- EU leaders are urging the IMF to institute a tax on international bank transactions.
- A Russian policeman has been sentenced to two years in jail for killing a Kremlin critic.
Africa
- Gunmen in Darfur shot and killed a member of the Sudanese parliament.
- Uganda's parliament passed a law outlawing female genital mutilation.
- A Greek ship hijacked by Somali pirates over six months ago has finally been released along with its crew.
GERARD CERLES/AFP/Getty Images
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