Europe

"Spain's oldest nuclear plant Garona is shutting down on Sunday ahead of new taxes included in a government energy reform that would render the plant unviable."

"PARIS -- The French parliament voted Thursday to ban the use of bisphenol A, a chemical thought to have a toxic effect on the brain and nervous system, in baby food packaging next year and all food containers in 2015."

"VISAGINAS, Lithuania -- The parking lot outside the atomic power plant is weedy and potholed. Bus stops that once teemed with hundreds of workers are eerily empty."

"Money raised from carbon taxes on energy bills should be used to lift millions of households out of fuel poverty and boost the economy, it has been suggested."

"Britain is facing its worst ecological disaster in at least a generation, as a devastating fungus that has already wiped out most of continental Europe's ash trees, appears to have taken root in rural England, conservationists say."

"EU talks to agree tactics ahead of an international climate summit in Doha next month ended in disarray on Thursday, after coal-dependent Poland led opposition to more ambitious attempts to curb atmospheric pollution."

"Britain has delayed a plan to shoot thousands of badgers to stop the spread of tuberculosis in cattle in the face of overwhelming public opposition to the cull."

"L'AQUILA, Italy -- Six scientists and a government official were sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter by an Italian court on Monday for failing to give adequate warning of an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L"Aquila in 2009."

"MADRID -- Farmers drilling ever deeper wells over decades to water their crops likely contributed to a deadly earthquake in southern Spain last year, a new study suggests. The findings may add to concerns about the effects of new energy extraction and waste disposal technologies."