Climate deal sealed by US U-turn

Delegates at the UN summit in Bali have agreed a deal on curbing climate change after days of bitter wrangling.

Agreement was reached after a U-turn from the US (about bloody time-Ed), which had wanted firmer commitments from developing countries.

Earlier, the EU and US agreed that industrialised countries would not set firm emissions targets at this stage.

The "Bali roadmap" initiates a two-year process of negotiations designed to agree a new set of emissions targets to replace those in the Kyoto Protocol.

"I think we have come a long way here," said Paula Dobriansky, head of the US delegation.

"In this, the United States is very committed to this effort and just wants to really ensure we all act together."