Lakas victory in House fresh mandate for GMA

PARIS (AFP) - The prospect looms of a major clash between the United States and its G8 partners over global warming, with Washington's view threatening to block agreement at next month's summit of the leading industrial nations.

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel Saturday criticized the US climate policy in a newspaper interview, saying it "was going to difficult to achieve success" at the June 6-8 session hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has made climate change a priority during Germany's presidency of the Group of Eight.

The environmental protection group Greenpeace Saturday published a leaked document showing that the United States had raised serious new objections to a proposed global warming declaration prepared by the German hosts.

It looked to observers as though US objections in the form of amendments had drained the substance from the German statement.