COFFEE BREAK 179

+ updated at 11:26am ESDT on Friday, May 21, 2010

+ The Independent offers "Man-made climate change blamed for 'significant' rise in ocean temperature" by Steve Connor, Science Editor. It begins: "The world's oceans are warming up and the rise is both significant and real, according to one of the most comprehensive studies into marine temperature data gathered over the past two decades."

+ Toronto (Ecumenical News International) -- Eighty international religious leaders will gather in Canada in advance of the meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised countries to press governments to honour the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty. "Our hope is that we can speak with one voice … that we both encourage and challenge world leaders to really give serious attention to commitments they made since 2000," said Canadian Anglican Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who is heading the Canadian delegation to the faith leaders' 21-23 June meeting in Winnipeg. The G8 leaders are meeting in Huntsville, Ontario, from 25 to 26 June. This is to be followed by a meeting of the G20 - or Group of 20 leading economies of the world - in Toronto from 26 to 27 June. The G8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. The eight U.N. development goals adopted in 2000 range from halving extreme poverty to stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by 2015.