GUDJON HELGASON t and PAISLEY DODDS
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND

A volcano in southern Iceland has erupted for the first time in almost 200 years, raising concerns that it could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at a volatile volcano nearby.

REYKJAVIK (Iceland): Authorities evacuated hundreds of people after a volcano erupted beside a glacier in southern Iceland, Iceland's civil protection agency said on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Washington: India ranks 123rd in 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), while Iceland leads the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges, the latest EPI index has revealed.

A new ranking of the world

Conservationists are looking to the United States to help re-establish the authority of the International Whaling Commission after IWC delegates this week failed to reach a deal to regulate global whaling.

The 85-nation International Whaling Commission (IWC) is holding its annual meeting from June 22-26 on the Portuguese island of Madeira to review whale hunts.

Whaling nations Japan, Norway and Iceland have been pushing for years for reforms to approve the hunts. Many nations and conservationists say harpooning the giant mammals is cruel and unnecessary and want a 1986 moratorium extended.

Arctic nations agreed on Wednesday to crack down on soot that is darkening ice around the North Pole and hastening a thaw that they also blamed on global warming.

Environment and Natural Resources Minister, Champika Ranawaka said yesterday that the level of development of a nation cannot be gauged through its levels of Gross Domestic Production (GDP) or Human Development Index (HDI) but more so through environmental factors.