Environment news

• OPEC sees further action if output 'freeze' deal holds

  22-02-2016 23:46
  OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri reiterated the group's readiness to work with non-OPEC producers to tackle a supply glut that has knocked prices to their lowest in over a decade. The rout in prices of more than 70 percent in 20 months, is not the same as oil's previous boom-bust cycles, he said.
  
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• Brazil police target Rousseff campaign chief in corruption probe

  22-02-2016 23:37
  By Caroline Stauffer and Pedro Fonseca SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian police said on Monday they obtained an arrest warrant for the architect of President Dilma Rousseff's electoral campaigns, complicating her fight to survive an investigation of her re-election in 2014 and stave off impeachment by Congress. The investigation of campaigner João Santana, known as "the maker of presidents" in Latin America, was part of Brazil's corruption investigation focussing on state-run
  
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• BHP Billiton slashes dividend, drops payout pledge

  22-02-2016 23:14
  Top global miner BHP Billiton slashed its interim dividend by 75 percent on Tuesday, cutting it for the first time since 1988 following a collapse in prices for oil, iron ore, coal and other raw materials. The world's biggest diversified miner reported a net loss of $5.67 billion (£4 billion) for the first half of the 2016 financial year, its first loss in more than 16 years, and cut its interim dividend to 16 cents. BHP also ditched its progressive dividend policy, which held that it woul
  
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• To Prevent Another Dust Bowl, the US Must Sow the Right Seeds

  22-02-2016 22:55
  
  Diane Banegas currently works in the area of science delivery for the research arm of the U.S. Forest Service. This is especially true if the land is in an arid region with less than 11 inches (28 centimeters) of annual precipitation.
  
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• Key moments in Brazil corruption probe

  22-02-2016 22:29
  By Caroline Stauffer (Reuters) - Brazilian police said on Monday they obtained an arrest warrant for the architect of President Dilma Rousseff's electoral campaigns, complicating her fight to survive an investigation into her 2014 re-election and stave off impeachment by Congress. The investigation of campaigner João Santana, known as "the maker of presidents" in Latin America, is part of Brazil's largest-ever corruption investigation, which focuses on state-run oil company Petroleo Brasi
  
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• Oil ends up 6 percent on lower shale output bet, equity rally

  22-02-2016 22:02
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil markets settled up as much as 6 percent on Monday as speculation about falling U.S. shale output and a rally in equities fed the notion that crude prices may be bottoming after a 20-month collapse. IEA executive director Fatih Birol told CERAWeek, an industry gathering in Houston, that crude oil at $80 a barrel would be good for both producers and consumers, although the agency said in a report a strong price rebound was unlikely under present market c
  
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• Seas are rising way faster than any time in past 2,800 years

  22-02-2016 21:02
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Sea levels on Earth are rising several times faster than they have in the past 2,800 years and are accelerating because of man-made global warming, according to new studies.
  
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• Gone batty: Israeli woman uses home to open shelter for bats – video

  22-02-2016 20:58
  
  Noura Lifschitz uses her home in Tel Aviv to open Israel’s first shelter for fruit bats. The bats are seen cuddling with teddy bears and being fed by various volunteers who’ve helped Lifschitz set up her home as a sanctuary. Lifschitz says it’s her life mission to save bats and release them back to the wild Continue reading...
  
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• Don’t moles have a right to life too? | Patrick Barkham

  22-02-2016 19:00
  
  John Clare’s ‘little hermit’ may be a hero of children’s literature, but adults happily use the cruellest methods to wipe out them outRecently I treated the neighbourhood chaffinches to a bag of RSPB sunflower seeds so tasty that my toddlers try to hang from the feeder to scoff the food.I bought it at the local garden centre, and next in the queue were a nice couple who were asking for “something to kill moles”. Between me and them, this perfectly illustrates
  
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• Oil soars 7 percent on bets of U.S. shale output falling, equity rally

  22-02-2016 18:33
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil markets jumped as much as 7 percent on Monday as speculation about falling U.S. shale output and a rally in equities fed the notion that crude prices may be bottoming after their 20-month collapse. The markets began the week with a rebound in Asian trade, reacting to Friday's U.S. rig count data, which showed the number of oil drilling rigs in operation falling to a December 2009 low after nine straight weeks of cuts. Higher equity prices on Wall Stree
  
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• UK only days away from losing £125m EU flood fund aid, says Farron

  22-02-2016 18:08
  
  Lib Dem leader, whose Cumbrian constituency was badly hit by December’s floods, says government’s failure to apply for funds is ‘utter betrayal of victims’ The government has been accused of being too busy arguing about Europe instead of helping communities hit by flooding in the UK, after it emerged that it has only five days left to apply for a pot of at least £125m in EU funds to tackle natural disasters.The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, whose constituency
  
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• Monstrous fossils 'were armadillos'

  22-02-2016 18:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A study of 12,000-year-old DNA shows that the fearsome, car-sized, club-tailed glyptodonts were cousins of modern armadillos.
  
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• 295,000 US deaths may be prevented by 2030 with cuts to greenhouse gas

  22-02-2016 17:00
  
  New paper finds that Americans who would otherwise die from lung cancer, heart attacks or respiratory diseases would be saved by reduction in air pollutionAmerica’s international climate obligations carry a significant public health benefit, with new research finding that about 295,000 premature deaths could be prevented in the country by 2030 if deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are achieved.At a summit in Paris in December, 196 nations, including the US, agreed to limit global warmin
  
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• Islamic State rigs currency rates in Mosul to prop up finances

  22-02-2016 16:38
  By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State militants in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul are manipulating the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and Iraqi dinars to squeeze money out of local people as coalition bombers attack the group's finances.     The U.S-led coalition has said that in addition to attacking Islamic State's fighters and leaders it will go after financial infrastructure too.     Air strikes have reduced Islamic State's ability to extract, refine an
  
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• Oil rebounds after prediction of declining U.S. shale output

  22-02-2016 16:13
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose 7 percent on Monday after the world's oil consumer body said it expected U.S. shale production to fall this year and next, potentially reducing the glut in supplies that has cut prices by 70 percent in 18 months. International benchmark Brent crude futures were up $1.68, or 5.1 percent, at $34.69 a barrel at 1501 GMT, while U.S. crude futures surged through the $30 a barrel mark, trading up $2.05, or 6.9 percent, at $31.69 a barrel. The Intern
  
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• Shale fightback seen lifting U.S. oil output to record high by 2021

  22-02-2016 15:41
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil production in the United States will reach a record high by 2021 as efficiency gains help domestic producers to combat the low prices that are likely to force hefty output cuts this year and next, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday. After an initial dip this year and next, U.S. output is expected to climb to 14.2 million barrels per day (bpd), the IEA said in its medium-term outlook, citing the "free-for-all" that has come to characterise
  
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• Iraq plans 7 million bpd oil output over next five years, 6 million bpd exports

  22-02-2016 15:24
  Iraq plans to increase oil output to 7 million barrels per day over the next five years, and export 6 million of that, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said on Monday. In a statement on the oil ministry's website, Abdel Mahdi also said Iraq would use all its gas production to supply the electricity grid and industry, requiring investments of $300 billion over the next 15 years.
  
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• Brazil police sweep targets Odebrecht, Rousseff campaign chief

  22-02-2016 15:02
  By Caroline Stauffer and Pedro Fonseca SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Federal investigators on Monday launched a round of arrests and raids targeting the manager of President Dilma Rousseff's election campaigns and Brazil's largest engineering group in the latest stage of the nation's biggest corruption probe. Prosecutors said in a statement they were also looking into possible bribes paid off contracts signed by state-run oil company Petrobras and shipbuilder Sete Brasil with Keppel Fels,
  
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• Eating less beef key to meeting EU climate targets: study

  22-02-2016 14:59
  
  EU climate targets won't be met unless greenhouse gas emissions linked to beef and dairy consumption are dramatically reduced, a Swedish study published on Monday said.
  
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• Climate experts urge leading scientists' association: reject Exxon sponsorship

  22-02-2016 14:24
  
  James Hansen, Michael Mann and Kerry Emanuel among more than 100 researchers voicing concern over firm’s ‘complicity in climate denial’Leading researchers have called on the world’s largest association of earth and space scientists to reject sponsorship from ExxonMobil, because of the oil company’s record of funding climate denial.In a letter made available to the Guardian, climate scientists James Hansen (formerly of Nasa), Michael Mann (Penn State), Kerry Emanuel
  
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• Underwater Photographer of the Year 2016, in pictures

  22-02-2016 14:19
  
  In pics: Photo of a spiny seahorse wins annual underwater photography prize
  
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• How a cow's digestive system could revolutionise renewable energy

  22-02-2016 14:13
  
  A group of scientists believe that the key to effective biomass conversion lies in the stomachs of cows and elephants, with new research revealing that mimicking the digestive systems of these animals could create a streamlined and cost-effective biomass generator.
  
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• The impacts of a warming climate on Russian agriculture

  22-02-2016 14:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says last month was the warmest January on record. That sets off alarm bells for climate scientists, but for the average person living in a northern climate, it might not sound so bad.That's what many people are saying these days in Russia, where the expected icy winter has failed to materialize this year – to widespread joy. Of course, any climate scientist will tell you that an unusually warm month — or even a whole warm winter &m
  
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• Solar cars might be impressive. But vegan diets are better for the planet | Leilani Münter

  22-02-2016 13:15
  
  It is not enough to cut down on fossil fuel emissions. Its also important to think about how meat consumption harms the environment
  As a professional race car driver, I’m all too aware of the impact driving has on the planet. That’s why I don’t work with any fossil fuel companies and, since 2007, I have adopted an acre of rainforest for every race I run in order to offset the unavoidable emissions of my race car. But as much as that is making a difference, I know my vegan diet
  
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• Swimming pig colony is site to see in Bahamas

  22-02-2016 13:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  In the Bahamas, there is an uninhabited island called Big Major Cay, located in the Exuma district.Actually, that’s not exactly true. The island is uninhabited by humans, but considered the ‘Official Home of the Swimming Pigs.’Visitors to the island’s “Pig Beach,” as it is commonly called, get to feed and sometimes swim with the pig residents.
  
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• South Africa's Zuma to visit Iran on Sunday - statement

  22-02-2016 13:07
  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's President Jacob Zuma will visit Iran on Sunday and Monday to "strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries" the presidency said on Monday without elaborating. Pretoria is considering building an oil refinery that will process Iranian crude to bolster its petrol supply and reduce its dependence on foreign companies. South Africa's deputy president visited Iran in November to explore opportunities for co-operation in the energy sector. (Reporting
  
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• University of Chicago professors urge fossil fuel divestment over climate change fears

  22-02-2016 13:00
  
  More than 250 professors at the former home of Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders sign petition, but university resists over traditionMore than 250 professors at the University of Chicago have called on the school to fight climate change by ridding itself of fossil fuel holdings – a gesture that would have exceptional resonance from the former home of Barack Obama and alma mater of current presidential contender Bernie Sanders.In a symbolic show of solidarity with student activists, professor
  
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• Pictures of the day: 22 February 2016

  22-02-2016 13:00
  
  A dog's best friend, Boris gets on his bike and horse racing in snow
  
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• World's first bio plant for untreated waste set for Cheshire

  22-02-2016 12:47
  
  The world's first biogas plant that can handle unsorted and untreated household waste will be built in Northwich in Cheshire, offshore wind power and oil and gas exploration company DONG energy has announced today (22 February).
  
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• Chris Packham photographs the impact of litter - in pictures

  22-02-2016 12:44
  
  TV presenter Chris Packham has unveiled a series of images exploring the impact of litter on wildlife and the natural environment. The pictures were commissioned by the supermarket chain Lidl UK, which will be donating £500,000 from the proceeds of its single-use carrier bag charge to a new initiative with Keep Britain Tidy designed to inspire young people to reduce litter and waste and improve their local parks and green spaces Continue reading...
  
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• The eco guide to cleaner cotton | Lucy Siegle

  22-02-2016 12:43
  
  Growing cotton is a dirty business, but it’s not the only option in a more eco-conscious marketCotton seems spotless. It grows as a fluffy white plant and is processed into towels and flannels – clean stuff. Upsettingly, it has a lengthy ecological rap sheet that means it is the filthiest of all fibres. While it covers just 2.5% of the planet’s total agricultural area, the cotton crop uses 7% of all pesticides and 16% of all insecticides. There are entire chemical companies mak
  
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• Indoor and outdoor air pollution 'claiming at least 40,000 UK lives a year'

  22-02-2016 12:25
  
  Report finds air pollution inside and outside the home is costing £20bn a year as well as causing tens of thousands of deathsAir pollution both inside and outside the home causes at least 40,000 deaths a year in the UK, according to new report, which estimates the cost of the damage at £20bn.The major health impact of outdoor air pollution is relatively well known but the report, from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, also highligh
  
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• Fossil fuel funded report denies the expert global warming consensus | John Abraham

  22-02-2016 12:00
  
  The infamous Heartland Institute has distributed to elected officials a nonsense, non-science report full of denial
  We all know about the various organizations that fund or support the climate-change denial industry. Perhaps the best known is the Heartland Institute, which actually puts on climate “conferences” and publishes materials that appear at first glance to be scientifically sound. We who work and follow the climate change science and public discussions know enough to be skep
  
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• DECC and Defra unveil 'ambitious' five-year plans

  22-02-2016 11:37
  
  The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have published new departmental plans, detailing the UK's energy and environmental policy priorities from 2015-2020.
  
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• Oil prices rise on low U.S. rig count, firmer stock markets

  22-02-2016 11:22
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday as a fall in U.S. oil drilling rig numbers lifted the prospect of lower crude production and a bounce in stock markets encouraged buying sentiment. U.S. crude futures rose above $30 a barrel, gaining 95 cents to $30.59 a barrel by 0956 GMT, or 3.2 percent. Global stock markets extended last week's gains, bringing a more upbeat tone to commodity markets.
  
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• General Motors re-brands engineering arm to reflect era of EVs

  22-02-2016 11:17
  
  General Motors (GM) is dedicating more than 4,000 employees to the development of new fuel cell and battery technologies as part of a manufacturing shift towards hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs).
  
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• China to close more than 1,000 coal mines in 2016 - energy bureau

  22-02-2016 11:07
  China will aim to close more than 1,000 coal mines over this year, with a total production capacity of 60 million tonnes, as part of its plans to tackle a price-sapping supply glut in the sector, the country's energy regulator said. China is the world's top coal consumer but demand has been on the wane as economic growth slows and the country shifts away from fossil fuels in order to curb pollution. In a notice posted on its website on Monday, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said the cl
  
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• China signals no South China Sea backdown as foreign minister goes to U.S.

  22-02-2016 10:38
  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China's South China Sea military deployments are no different from U.S. deployments on Hawaii, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday, striking a combative tone ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the United States this week. The United States last week accused China of raising tensions in the South China Sea by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island, a move China has neither confirmed nor denied.
  
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• EnQuest, Cairn buy First Oil's stake in North Sea Kraken field

  22-02-2016 10:36
  Two partners in the North Sea Kraken oilfield, one of the few new fields expected to start up in the basin in the next 18 months, have taken over First Oil's stake in the field after the company put its assets up for sale. EnQuest and Cairn Energy said on Monday they had acquired an additional 10.5 percent and 4.5 percent stake in the field, respectively. EnQuest, whose interest in the field has now risen to 70.5 percent, said it expected to spend another $90 million (£63 million) before i
  
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• Natural soil treatment 'could help trees resist ash dieback'

  22-02-2016 10:29
  
  Trees could be protected from the devastating ash dieback disease with the help of a natural soil treatment, researchers have claimedA newly developed “enriched biochar”, which combines a purified form of charcoal with fungi, seaweed and worm casts could help ash trees resist the Chalara disease, according to research by tree and shrub care company Bartlett Tree Experts.
  A study by the company’s research labs on 2,000 established ash trees over three years in Essex found that w
  
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• Libya's NOC warns of more Islamic State attacks on oil facilities

  22-02-2016 10:24
  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - More attacks on Libya's oil facilities are likely unless a United Nations-backed unity government is approved, and militants hit one oilfield just last week, the head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Monday. Mustafa Sanalla told Reuters that suspected Islamic State militants had staged their latest attack against Libya's oil infrastructure on late Thursday or Friday, setting fire to one production tank and damaging another at the Fida oil field. ...
  
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• Astronaut's tribute to 'Winkle' Brown

  22-02-2016 09:18 via bbc.co.uk
  Astronaut Tim Peake pays tribute to Capt Eric "Winkle" Brown, who died at the age of 97, saying he was "the greatest test pilot who ever lived".
  
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• Is organic food healthier?

  22-02-2016 08:40
  
  A new study has suggested that organic milk might contain higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better for you After publishing a study showing organic milk has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than ordinarily farmed products, Professor Chris Seal braced himself for the backlash. There is nothing like a study highlighting the benefits, or lack thereof, of organic food, to cause a spat. And Seal’s study in the British Journal of Nutriti
  
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• DBS books fourth-quarter profit jump, says to keep bad debt provisions in check

  22-02-2016 07:25
  By Saeed Azhar SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's DBS Group Holdings booked a 20 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit and said it expected to keep bad debt charges in check this year despite headwinds from China and a rout in oil prices. Southeast Asia's biggest bank by assets has seen its shares tumble 18 percent this year, underperforming rival lenders, on worries that earnings could suffer due to its significant exposure to China through its Hong Kong unit and tough times for the oil and gas
  
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• IMF says confident Gulf oil exporters can adjust

  22-02-2016 06:58
  The International Monetary Fund is confident that Gulf Cooperation Council economies can make the large fiscal adjustments they need to cope with a period of low oil prices, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Monday. "Oil prices have fallen by two-thirds from their most recent peak but supply and demand-side factors suggest they are likely to stay low for an extended period," Lagarde told a conference of Arab economic officials. "The size and likely persistence of this external shoc
  
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• A twittering troupe of acrobats

  22-02-2016 06:30
  
  Haslington Trail, Cheshire An excitable flock gather in a leafless tree, flitting between the branches, chasing one another, tumbling and somersaulting. “They look like flying teaspoons,” I sayIt is early morning. Birds are singing. The air is chilly but the sun is bright. I pause to watch a wren darting between the stones of a wall. Then continue walking along Primrose Avenue, a hotchpotch of bungalows and houses, with parents taking children to school. I turn to stroll through a co
  
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• Oil prices rise on lower U.S. rig count, but glut weighs

  22-02-2016 05:19
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices recovered on Monday following steep losses in the previous session, supported by a fall in the number of U.S. rigs in use, but analysts said general oversupply was keeping the market weak. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose nearly half a dollar from their last settlement to above $30 per barrel, trading at $30.11 at 0413 GMT. A falling rig count in the United States which is expected to lead to a decline in 2016 production
  
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• VIDEO: Fighting Zika using reggae dancehall

  22-02-2016 03:49 via bbc.co.uk
  Will one of Jamaica's most popular music forms help to keep Zika at bay?
  
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• Oil prices stabilise on lower U.S. rig count, but global glut still weighs

  22-02-2016 03:35
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices partly recovered on Monday following steep losses in the previous session, supported by a fall in the number of U.S. production rigs in use, but analysts said general oversupply was keeping the market weak. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $29.90 per barrel at 0213 GMT, up 26 cents from their last settlement. A falling rig count in the United States which is expected to lead to a decline in 2016 production help
  
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• Beijing raises 'red alert' threshold for air pollution warning

  22-02-2016 02:50
  
  From March, China’s capital will bring in new sliding scale for air quality, after issuing its first ever ‘red alert’ for the city in DecemberBeijing is to raise the thresholds for issuing its highest air pollution warnings, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, two months after acrid smog triggered the city’s first ever “red alert”.Related: Beijing's 'airpocalypse': city shuts down amid three-day smog red alertContinue reading...
  
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