US President Donald Trump is poised to pull the country out of the Paris climate accord, US media report, quoting senior officials.
The American leader refused to reaffirm his country's commitment to the accord at a G7 summit in Italy on Saturday.
He said he would make up his mind after returning to the US.
Mr Trump, who has called climate change a "hoax" on occasion, has reportedly indicated this is still his position to key members of his inner circle.
News that Mr Trump was moving towards quitting the agreement was reported by the Axios news website and ABC News.
In response, German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: "Like you I've seen the reports but I don't have any information beyond that.
"So I can only reiterate the well-known position that the German government unequivocally supports the Paris climate agreement and is campaigning for it to be quickly implemented and hopes the USA remains committed to this agreement."
BBC
Why St Nicholas works wonders forRussians
The Soviet Union turned its back on religion but modern Russia, under Vladimir Putin - the former KGB officer - has made religion, nationalism, patriotism and conservatism cornerstones of the Russian state, reports BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg.
One hundred years ago, the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin dismissed religion as an "abomination".
"Any religious idea, any flirtation with a god," he wrote, "is the most inexpressible foulness, the most shameful infection."
Ironically, after Lenin's death, his successors turned him into a god-like figure, with Lenin portraits and statues, and his embalmed body enthroned in a temple-like mausoleum on Red Square.
Encouraged by this dizzying personality cult, for decades Soviet citizens flocked to Moscow from across the USSR to pay homage to the late great Bolshevik. They would spend up to eight hours queuing outside the mausoleum, waiting for their chance to file past Lenin's wax-like corpse.
I wonder what Mr Lenin would make of events this week in Moscow?
Once again Russians have been queuing for hours. But this time, not to get into the mausoleum. They've been lining up outside Christ the Saviour, the cathedral that the Communists once destroyed, but which was rebuilt from scratch after the collapse of the USSR. The queues have stretched for more than a mile.
It's here that I meet pensioner Natalya. It's taken her six hours to reach the front of the queue. Natalya clearly has the patience of a saint. Which is just as well, for it is a saint she has come here to see - and to venerate.
Saint Nicholas the Wonder Worker was a Greek bishop in Asia Minor in the 4th Century. He was famous for his kindness to children and would later inspire the legend of Santa Claus. He is the patron saint of children, sailors, and of prisoners who've been wrongly condemned. And he is the saint most cherished by Russian hearts. For according to the Church here, it is Nicholas who has saved Russia many times from catastrophe.
For more than 900 years, his bones have lain in a crypt in the Italian city of Bari. But now, after an historic agreement between the Catholic Pope and the Orthodox Patriarch, one of St Nicholas' ribs is on loan to Russia.
"I am so excited," Natalya tells me, "I have butterflies in my stomach. St Nicholas means so much to us."
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In the cathedral, I spot the golden ark, which was transported here from Italy amid great pomp and ceremony. The rib is inside, and I can see it through the glass cover. A long line of Orthodox believers is filing past. As the visitors approach, they make the sign of the cross and bend over the ark. Some place their foreheads on the casket's transparent top, then kiss the glass and move on.
As they walk away, they're handed free mini icons of St Nicholas, which have been blessed by the Russian Patriarch himself. Many of the visitors are here with babies and young children. I watch one woman lay her daughter down ever so carefully on her back on top of the ark - as if the mother is hoping that St Nicholas' miraculous powers will seep into the child's body from head to toe.
Image captionSvetlana with baby Vanya, who has been brought from hospital
Svetlana is with her little son Vanya, who is rather poorly right now. His arm is hurting. "I've brought Vanya here from the hospital," Svetlana tells me. "I want to give this a chance. Because I really believe in miracles."
And so, it seems, does Russia's president. For Vladimir Putin, too, has visited Christ the Saviour this week to venerate the relics of St Nicholas.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionPresident Putin approaches the ark
The Kremlin leader placed his forehead on to the glass, then, rising, crossed himself three times.
It is remarkable to think that back in Soviet times President Putin worked for an organisation - the KGB - which tried to suppress religion and which persecuted the religious. And yet, today, the Kremlin leader very openly embraces Russian Orthodoxy. He is said to have his own spiritual adviser, Father Tikhon.
What's more, under Vladimir Putin's rule, the Orthodox Church in Russia has grown in power and influence. That's partly because the loyal Church has helped to strengthen the Russian state and those in power. And, partly, because the Kremlin knows that people need something in which to believe. For a time, that was communism and socialism, but those ideas proved shortlived.
So, today, the authorities here are constructing a new ideology for Russia - it's a mixture of nationalism and patriotism, conservatism and loyalty to the state - and all of it underpinned by religious belief.
Which brings us back to St Nicholas and his rib. By displaying this bone in Moscow, Russia is not only honouring its most beloved saint. It is trying to excite and enthuse and unite the tens of millions of Orthodox Christians in Russia behind a common idea.
SOURCE :- BBC
Sri Lanka floods: Residents afraid as more rain forecast
Sri Lankans recovering from devastating floods are bracing themselves for more rain as emergency teams rush to deliver aid.
Floodwaters receded on Sunday but many villages were still inundated.
At least 146 people have been killed and nearly 500,000 displaced in the flooding and mudslides triggered by heavy rains on Friday.
Another 112 people are still missing, officials said. Military boats and helicopters are helping rescuers. Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror newspaper said asecond Indian naval ship, the INS Shardul, had arrived in Colombo with relief supplies and inflatable boats.The INS Kirch arrived on Saturday.Correspondents say rescue workers are using a break in the weather to deliver much-needed aid to the worst-hit areas. The flooding is believed to be the worst since May 2003 when a similarly powerful monsoon from the southwest destroyed 10,000 homes and killed 250 people.
We're now in Weyangala village in the southern Kalutara district. The village is inundated after Friday's flood, with water levels well above homes, shops, places of worship and schools. Over 50 people died in this district, one of the worst affected.
The roads are completely under water.
Residents rely on boat services to get to their homes or source supplies. We see families and children waiting for supplies.
Thousands here have been displaced and are cut off from basic services. In addition to severe flooding, this village witnessed a mudslide that claimed seven lives, including those of six children.
Water levels are gradually receding in many areas but with more rain predicted on Monday residents are scared.
At least five mudslides were reported in Kalutara district and residents of the town of Baduraliya said it had been badly affected.
"Water came to our house. It's very bad for us because we can't go to school, tuition classes, and we can't go to the town. and many people face this situation. Many houses are flooded," Devindi Dissanayake told Reuters news agency.
Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC) also issued evacuation notices to residents along the Kelani river, which flows through the capital Colombo, as water levels were rising rapidly.
SOURCE BBC
Does this moment, we need help
Please.. Please.. Please ..Please...help srilanka
Captured here are images of flooding caused by adverse weather in the island taken from the Galle and Kalutara district.
Images below are from Kalutara
Images below, taken from Neluwa in the Galle District
Images from Galle Town
Disaster update: DMC says 91 dead, 110 missing
The death toll from the floods and landslides have risen to 91 with 110 others reported missing, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said a short while ago. Eight people have also been reported injured.
According to figures made available by the DMC this evening, 53, 000 persons in 14 districts have been affected. The districts of Kalutara, Ratnapura, Galle, Matara and Kegalle have been the worst hit.
About 300 houses have been fully damaged.
There is no final number of displaced due to the adverse weather at present as reports are still coming in and more people are being evacuated to safer areas, the DMC stressed.
Sri Lanka floods: Scores die as monsoon triggers mudslides
Flooding and mudslides triggered by monsoon rains have left at least 91 people dead and more than 100 missing in Sri Lanka, officials say.
About 20,000 have been forced from their homes in the south and west of the country, rescue agencies said.
Military boats and helicopters have been sent to help rescue operations.
The flooding is believed to be the worst since May 2003 when a similarly powerful south-west monsoon destroyed 10,000 homes and killed 250 people.
Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the death toll was rising as reports filtered in from outlying areas.
"The south-west monsoon began with very intense rain," Dunesh Gankanda, deputy minister for disaster management, told reporters in the capital, Colombo.
"There are some areas where we are unable to reach, but relief operations are under way."
One of the worst affected areas is reported to be the south-western district of Kalutara. Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said at least five mudslides had been reported there.
The DMC issued evacuation notices to residents along the Kelani river, which flows through Colombo, amid fears that it was about to burst its banks.
"Residents who are living along the Kelani should evacuate to high ground within six hours," the agency said.
As the death toll rose, the government appealed to the UN and to neighbouring countries for assistance.
"The (foreign) ministry will continue to monitor the flood situation and seek assistance as required in consultation with the ministry of disaster management," the government said in a statement.
