- Syrians protest after video of attack on Alawite shrine
- Russian state owner says cargo ship blast was 'terrorist attack'
- 38 dead as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Crisis-hit Valencia hire West Brom's Corberan as new boss
- Suriname ex-dictator and fugitive Desi Bouterse dead at 79
- 35 feared dead as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' in Christmas appeal
- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Japan FM raises 'serious concerns' over China military buildup
- Pope's sombre message in Christmas under shadow of war
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
Judge tosses California children's pollution suit against US govt
A federal lawsuit brought by a group of California children who claimed the US government was harming them by failing to clamp down on pollution has been tossed out by a judge.
The case was one of a series of legal actions taken around the world by young people worried about the effects of climate change.
The youths, aged between eight and 17, had claimed the US Environmental Protection Agency "intentionally allows life-threatening climate pollution to be emitted by the fossil fuel sources of greenhouse gases it regulates, harming children's health and welfare."
The suit, filed on December 10, asked the federal court to declare the EPA had violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to equal protection under the law and their fundamental right to life.
But a federal judge on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit, saying the children could not make their case.
"Here, plaintiffs' claimed injuries include 'a lifetime of harms and hardship,'" said US District Judge Michael Fitzgerald in his ruling in Los Angeles.
But they "have failed to demonstrate how a declaration regarding plaintiffs' rights under the Constitution and the legality of defendants' conduct, on its own, is likely to remedy these alleged injuries."
Our Children's Trust, a non-profit that helped bring the case, slammed the judge's decision as "unjust and dangerous."
"When presented with a constitutional violation, there is no reason for a federal judge to throw up his hands and say nothing can be done," said the organization's co-executive director Mat dos Santos.
"In doing just that, this order tells children that judges have no power to hear their complaints.
"Courts do, in fact, have that power. Courts have a responsibility to hear constitutional violations, as they've done in many important cases in our nation's history."
Dos Santos said Our Children's Trust would file an amended complaint.
The case in California comes after the European Court of Human Rights in September began hearing a complaint brought by six Portuguese youths against 32 nations they accused of not doing enough to stop global warming.
In August, a court in the US state of Montana ruled in favor of a group of youths who accused the state of violating their rights to a clean environment.
That case, which also involved Our Children's Trust, is being appealed by Montana's attorney general.
Our Children's Trust has previously also launched cases in Hawaii, Utah, Virginia and Oregon.
O.Norris--AMWN