California: SeaWorld clashes with Peta as Orca tanks approved

Animal rights activists and Sea World supporters faced off at the California Coastal Commission meeting on 8 October in Long Beach, California, where the Commission decided to allow SeaWorld San Diego to expand its killer whale tanks. The California Coastal Commission approved the $100m (£65.07m) expansion of the tanks, but it banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them. Oct 9, 2015

Vulnerable 20: Twenty nations vulnerable to climate change seek action

Twenty of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan to the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, formed a new group to press for tougher action to curb warming. Finance ministers from the 20 nations joined for the first time in Lima, Peru to form The Vulnerable 20, or V20. Oct 9, 2015