RIYADH (Reuters) - OPEC will back the fight against global warming at a heads of state meeting this weekend and affirm its commitment to "stable, competitive" oil prices, according to the summit's draft declaration.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Military ships and helicopters were trying on Saturday to reach thousands of survivors of a super cyclone that killed more than 1,600 people and pummeled impoverished Bangladesh with mighty winds and waves.

There is a strong sense of déjà vu in the bleak picture that the International Energy Agency (IEA) –– sometimes described as "the rich world's energy watchdog" –– painted last week of likely global energy consumption over the next two decades, and its consequences for climate change.

In the early 1970s, open conflict between the Arab states and Israel set oil prices skyrocketing. Simultaneously, the Club of Rome and other organisations warned that the world risked running out of many key natural resources. Both led to widespread calls for massive investment in alternative renewable-energy sources, and for new, non-energy-intensive lifestyles.

VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) - Governments must do more to fight global warming, spurred by a new U.N. scientific report and damage to nature that is already as frightening as science fiction, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's whaling fleet is set to depart on Sunday for an annual hunt that this year for the first time will take humpback whales -- a perennial favorite among whale-watchers -- sparking protests from activists.

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Midwest U.S. states signed agreements on Thursday designed to cut greenhouse gases, promote energy conservation and fight global warming.

The third such pact between U.S. states means that nearly half of Americans will be living in areas covered by agreements designed to combat global warming, according to the Washington-based World Resources Institute.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new and virulent strain of adenovirus, which frequently causes the common cold, killed 10 people in parts of the United States earlier this year and put dozens into hospitals, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report detailed cases of people ill in May of 2006 and from March to June of 2007 with a strain of the virus called adenovirus 14 in New York, Oregon, Washington state and Texas.

The comet and its expanding ball of dust have become the biggest object in the solar system, with a diameter appearing even bigger than the sun, according to astronomers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.

DHAKA (Reuters) - A severe cyclone has killed more than 500 people in Bangladesh and left thousands injured or missing, triggering an international relief effort on Friday to help the army-backed interim government cope with the disaster.

Local officials and Red Crescent workers said 508 deaths have been confirmed. Hundreds more were injured or missing after Cyclone Sidr struck overnight packing winds of 250 kph (155 mph).

Decades of heavy industrialization have made water from some of China's lakes and rivers so polluted it is no longer usable, with untreated waste from factories and other enterprises pumped directly into water sources.

As they weigh deals, companies are adjusting their criteria for the impact of greenhouse gases, said David Nastro, managing director and co-head of global power and utilities at Morgan Stanley.

Democrats have been pushing for an energy policy rewrite since they took majority control of Congress this year.

VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) - Delegates at crucial U.N. talks on the causes and effects of global climate change are making slow progress with an agreement still some way off, sources close to the discussions said on Thursday.

"The same governments which are usually hostile to binding emissions reductions, and especially the Kyoto Protocol, are also those who are blocking progress on agreeing to sound science as the basis for future action," said Stephan Singer, a climate expert at the WWF conservation group.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday ordered the federal highway commission to formulate new fuel economy standards for upcoming models of light trucks to take into account the environmental impact of their emissions.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to close a loophole allowing SUVs and other light trucks to satisfy lower fuel efficiency standards than cars.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc released a report on Thursday outlining the progress it is making in meeting its so-called "sustainability" goals, such as cutting waste and reducing energy at the discount retailer's stores.

Wal-Mart, which began the environmental push in 2005, has set a goal of one day using only renewable energy and creating zero waste.

In that effort, the company has constructed experimental stores to test different ways to conserve water or electricity while also cutting waste.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A fuel oil spill from a Russian tanker into the Black Sea is killing dolphins and the nearby Sea of Azov may suffer heavy pollution if urgent measures are not taken, Russia's environment watchdog said on Thursday.

A storm on Sunday broke up the tanker and sank at least four freighters while crippling other vessels in the narrow Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Four seamen were drowned and four others are missing.

The quake, near the coast and Chile's border with Peru, was just 4.3 miles below the surface, the USGS said.

The epicenter was 41 miles north-northwest of Antofagasta, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

"We will give $300 million for research into helping the environment," he said in a speech during a summit of OPEC heads of state which is taking place in the Saudi capital.