WASHINGTON _ With just over two weeks to go before global climate negotiations in Denmark, the United States has yet to decide whether it can meet international expectations and offer to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a certain amount in the next decade.

The success or failure of the talks in Copenhagen could hinge on whether the United States offers a concrete plan. Failure would mean a loss of momentum toward a treaty to reduce carbon emissions that includes all countries, which already has been delayed to next year. Moreover, other countries are unlikely to move forward to cut emissions if the United States doesn't pledge to make mandatory reductions.

Todd Stern, the U.S. negotiator, said that the U.S. hasn't decided whether it will say how much it intends to reduce emissions. » read more

WASHINGTON — America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Thursday.

"Others are catching up fast,'' said Marty Hauser, vice president for Washington operations at the Space Foundation, an advocacy organization headquarters in Colorado Springs. "Of particular note over the past decade is the emergence of China's human spaceflight capabilities.''

Russia now leads the world in space launches. China recently became the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to send its own astronauts out for a spacewalk. » read more