Earth News, Earth Sciences, Energy and Environment. 20-NOV-09 en-us Tokyo (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Japanese whaling ships left port Thursday for Antarctic waters for their annual hunt of the ocean giants, Greenpeace said, setting the stage for high-seas confrontations with anti-whaling activists.]]> London (UPI) Nov 19, 2009 - The British government said Thursday that all state primary schools will be required to teach evolution as a science subject starting in September 2011.]]> New Delhi (UPI) Nov 19, 2009 - Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Thursday said his country would never agree to legally binding emissions and downplayed expectations for the climate-change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month.]]> Beijing (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Although US President Barack Obama raised the thorny issue of human rights during his first visit to China this week, he left many political dissidents -- those who were not locked up -- disappointed.]]> Beijing (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Beijing authorities have moved to quash rumours fuelled by bogus text messages that the city would suspend swine flu vaccinations amid safety concerns after two people died following inoculations.]]> Jakarta (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Hollywood's latest doomsday offering "2012" has caused a storm in Indonesia, with conservative clerics condemning it Thursday as a "provocation against Islam".]]> Manhattan, Kan. (UPI) Nov 19, 2009 - U.S. scientists say they've studied fecal matter from thousands of cattle across the nation to determine the possible effects of climate change on livestock.]]> Greenbelt, Md. (UPI) Nov 19, 2009 - NASA says its Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite measured last week's heavy rainfall that drenched the U.S. east coast.]]> New York (UPI) Nov 19, 2009 - Two conservation groups say they have jointly produced the first atlas of the Patagonian Sea -- a South American marine ecosystem.]]> Harare (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Zimbabwe's government and a Chinese investment company have signed an eight billion dollars investment deal, the biggest since the unity government was set up, state media reported on Thursday.]]> Beijing (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - A student leader of China's 1989 Tiananmen Square protests who was a long-time US resident was put on trial Thursday for fraud, his lawyer said, just a day after a visit by US President Barack Obama.]]> United Nations (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - Efforts to craft a comprehensive climate treaty in Copenhagen next month will certainly "yield a success," the UN's top climate official pledged on Thursday.]]> Washington (AFP) Nov 19, 2009 - The United States is "deeply concerned" by reports that South African "military instructors" are training militiamen backed by the ruling junta in Guinea, a US official said Thursday.]]>