Environment news

• Iraq halts exports through pipeline to pressure Kurds - Iraq Oil Report

  17-03-2016 23:57
  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's central government has stopped oil exports through the Kurdish region to pressure the local authorities to resume talks about an oil revenue sharing agreement, the Iraq Oil Report said, citing Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Iraq's state-run North Oil Company has stopped pumping crude produced at fields it operates in the Kirkuk area through a pipeline to Turkey, three sources told Reuters on March 14. North Oil normally exports 150,000 barrels a day through the p
  
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• Ed Miliband: Tories far too able to 'do wrong things' on climate change

  17-03-2016 23:31
  
  Former Labour leader deeply critical of government cuts to green policies, such as cancelling carbon capture and storage competitionDavid Cameron’s government is to blame for overseeing the fraying of the UK’s cross-party consensus for action on climate change, according to Ed Miliband.Related: UK cancels pioneering £1bn carbon capture and storage competitionContinue reading...
  
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• Welcome to the climate emergency. You’re about 20 years late | Graham Readfearn

  17-03-2016 21:00
  
  February 2016 saw global warming records tumble with new data suggesting more Australians think humans are the causeEverywhere you look right now, the Earth’s climate system seems to be breaking records. To choose the most inappropriate metaphor possible, February 2016 would have been enough to bring a lot of climate watchers out in a cold sweat. Continue reading...
  
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• World Court to draw up Nicaragua-Colombia maritime boundary

  17-03-2016 20:40
  AMSTERDAM/BOGOTA (Reuters) - The International Court of Justice on Thursday said it would consider a claim by Nicaragua to expand its maritime boundaries in a mineral-rich part of the Caribbean Sea toward Colombia, a ruling set to further strain relations between the two countries. The judgment, separate from a decision earlier on Thursday in which the United Nations court said it would rule on alleged violations of Nicaragua's sovereignty, means a maritime delineation case between the two count
  
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• Oil at 2016 high, U.S. crude above $40 on output freeze hopes

  17-03-2016 20:29
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices hit 2016 highs on Thursday, with U.S. crude surging 5 percent to pierce the $40 (28 pounds) barrier, on optimism that major producers will strike an output freeze deal next month amid rising crude exports and gasoline demand in the United States. A weaker dollar after a Federal Reserve policy decision on Wednesday that indicated two U.S. rate hikes this year instead of four also drew oil buyers using currencies such as the euro . Oil prices have
  
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• France agrees bailout for EDF to proceed with Hinkley Point C

  17-03-2016 20:26
  
  Money will be made available to help build nuclear plant, says economics minister, as union repeats call for project to be shelvedThe French government has promised a financial bailout for cash-strapped energy group EDF so that it can proceed with the £18bn plan to build the first nuclear reactors in Britain for 20 years.France’s economics minister, Emmanuel Macron, said it would be a mistake for the 85% state-owned company not to build a new Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset a
  
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• Protests mark Brazil's Lula swearing-in, judge tries to block appointment

  17-03-2016 19:34
  By Anthony Boadle and Leonardo Goy BRASILIA (Reuters) - Leftist former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff on Thursday amid a deepening crisis in Brazil as protests against his appointment continued for a second day and a judge sought to block the move. Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of opposition protesters who clashed with Lula's supporters outside the futuristic presidential palace in the capital Brasilia before his swearing-in
  
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• England's flood-hit towns and cities to benefit from funding boost

  17-03-2016 18:09
  
  £540m in new funding, announced in George Osborne’s budget, means flood defence projects left unbuilt due to previous cuts will now be able to go aheadEnglish cities and towns left without planned flood defences by government cuts will now get the projects after a surprise £540m boost in funding in Wednesday’s budget. The north of England, devastated by winter floods, will get at least £150m of the new money, giving better protection for thousands of homes. Continue
  
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• Al Gore urges world leaders to sign Paris climate deal

  17-03-2016 17:47
  
  ‘While the deal is not enough by itself, it is a major step forward,’ says former US vice president and climate campaigner during visit to PhilippinesWorld leaders must show their commitment to tackling global warming by signing the Paris climate agreement at a ceremony in April at the United Nations, climate change activist and former US vice president Al Gore said.Gore said there was a “tremendous push” for heads of government to formally ink the accord, to keep up mome
  
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• George Osborne will soon be forced to show his hand on climate change | Michael Jacobs

  17-03-2016 17:24
  
  The chancellor’s budget was notable for its silence on green issues but the approaching ‘fifth carbon budget’ signals crunch time for the Tories’ climate policiesAny climate change activists listening to the chancellor’sbudget speech must have perked up when George Osborne said: “I am not prepared to look back at my time here in this parliament ... and say to my children’s generation: I’m sorry. We knew there was a problem … but we ducked th
  
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• U.S. crude at 2016 high as oil rallies for second day on producer meet

  17-03-2016 17:07
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude hit 2016 highs on Thursday as oil markets rallied for a second straight day on optimism major producers will strike an output freeze deal in Qatar next month amid soaring gasoline demand in the United States. A weaker dollar after a Federal Reserve policy decision on Wednesday that indicated two U.S. rate hikes this year instead of four also drew oil buyers using currencies such as the euro. Oil prices have rallied about 50 percent from 12-year
  
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• VW seeks comprehensive deal on emissions with U.S. regulators - source

  17-03-2016 16:47
  Volkswagen aims to agree a deal with U.S. authorities that resolves as many issues related to its emissions cheating scandal as possible at once, a senior manager at the German carmaker told Reuters. "It must be our goal to negotiate a comprehensive solution, which could also include the lion's share of expected penalties," the person, who asked not to be named because talks with U.S. authorities were confidential, said on Thursday. Almost six months after it admitted to installing test-rigging
  
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• Brazil's Lula sworn-in amid protests, judge tries to block appointment

  17-03-2016 16:43
  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff on Thursday amid a deepening political crisis as protests against his appointment continued for a second day and a judge sought to block the move. Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the federal judge in Brasilia issued an injunction to suspend the appointment on the grounds it prevented "the free exercise of justice." Prosecutors have charged Lula with money
  
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• Live Q&A: What are the steps to ending water pollution in Latin America?

  17-03-2016 16:40
  
  Join an expert panel from 3-5pm GMT on 24 March to discuss how to turn the region’s contaminated lakes, rivers and dams into clean waterwaysLatin Americans are not necessarily affected by water scarcity, but clean water scarcity. While the region’s water resources could provide each person with around 34,000 cubic metres of water every year, the average person only has access to just over 300 cubic metres.
  Across the continent, garbage, mining effluent, and industrial and agricultura
  
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• Shut old nuclear reactors, says unprecedented alliance of EU cities

  17-03-2016 16:16
  
  Communities and campaigners in Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg lobby for closure of two ageing 40-year old Belgian nuclear reactors close to bordersAn unprecedented alliance of 30 major cities and districts from three countries has joined forces to try to shut down two ageing Belgian nuclear reactors close to their borders.Cologne and Dusseldorf in Germany, Luxembourg City and Maastricht in the Netherlands are among the cities co-funding a lawsuit to close one reactor – Tihange 2 &
  
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• Brazil judge issues injuction to suspend Lula's appointment

  17-03-2016 16:14
  A federal judge in Brasilia issued an injunction on Thursday suspending the appointment of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as minister, citing the risk that his taking office would derail a judicial investigation. Prosecutors have charged Lula with money laundering and fraud as part of a sweeping graft probe centred on state oil company Petrobras . "In light of the risk of harming the free exercise of judicial power...I grant the request for an injunction to suspend the nomination of
  
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• Blame Methane Blasts for Sea Craters, But Not for the Bermuda Triangle

  17-03-2016 16:12
  
  A number of media outlets took that to mean that similar explosive methane activity in the Bermuda Triangle region of the Atlantic Ocean could be blamed for unexplained disappearances. Since the inexplicable 1945 disappearance of "Flight 19" — five U.S. military aircraft — a number of ships and airplanes containing hundreds of people have been reported missing after passing through or over waters in the Triangle, which is bounded by points in Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico. In an a
  
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• SeaWorld announces an end to its killer whale breeding program – video

  17-03-2016 16:07
  
  SeaWorld announced that it will end its practice of breeding killer whales, or orcas, for entertainment, stating that its current stable of 29 whales will be the last. The company has come under increasing pressure over its treatment of the animals following the 2013 documentary Blackfish, which told the story of Tilkum, a male orca that lived in captivity and was involved in the deaths of several people Continue reading...
  
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• Hubble telescope spies 'land of giants'

  17-03-2016 16:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronomers use the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate a clutch of monster stars on the edge of our Milky Way Galaxy.
  
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• SeaWorld decides to stop killer whale breeding program

  17-03-2016 15:52
  
  Animal rights activists welcomed announcement, which would be effective immediately, after years of criticism over theme park’s treatment of captive orcasSeaWorld will stop breeding orca whales in captivity, the company announced on Thursday, a move applauded by animal rights activists who have been calling for an end to the public exhibition of the animals altogether for years.“By making this the last generation of orcas in our care and reimagining how guests will experience these b
  
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• Congo's entrenched Sassou Nguesso seeks to extend presidency in poll

  17-03-2016 15:26
  By Aaron Ross and Christian Elion BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso will seek to extend his long years of rule in polls on Sunday, falling back on his stranglehold over national institutions and his image as a stabilising force to fend off festering discontent. Sassou Nguesso pushed through changes to the constitution in a referendum last September, altering the term and age limits that would have barred the 72-year-old from standing for another five-year mand
  
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• Arctic research vessel to spend entire year studying sea ice decline

  17-03-2016 15:14
  
  Scientists hope monitoring the ice through winter, as well as summer, will give insight into the effect of winds, clouds, snow and sun on melt ratesA research ship will spend an entire year adrift with the ice floes of the Arctic to better understand the disappearance of the polar ice cap.Scientists meeting in Fairbanks for the Arctic Science Summit warned this week that the area covered by this winter’s Arctic sea ice could be the lowest ever recorded, after three months of extremely warm
  
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• Winter storms strongest to hit western Europe since 1948, study shows

  17-03-2016 14:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  The repeated storms which battered Europe's Atlantic coastline during the winter of 2013/14 were the most energetic in almost seven decades, new research has shown.And they were part of a growing trend in stormy conditions which scientists say has the potential to dramatically change the equilibrium state of beaches along the western side of the continent, leading to permanent changes in beach gradient, coastal alignment and nearshore bar position.In a study accepted for publication in Geop
  
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• Shell, Aramco U.S. refining breakup lets both pursue ambitious goals

  17-03-2016 14:38
  By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - The breakup of Royal Dutch Shell's and Saudi Aramco's giant U.S. refining joint venture draws a line under an often rocky relationship and allows Aramco to accelerate an ambitious public offering and Shell to push ahead with a large asset sale. Refineries have recently enjoyed a boom time as a near 70 percent plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 spurred demand for gasoline from around the world, helping many oil companies recover revenue lost from oil production.
  
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• Meteor sighting reports across Britain

  17-03-2016 14:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A meteor has been sighted above Britain in the early hours with witnesses describing seeing a green flash.
  
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• Budget weakens recycling targets days after report highlights coffee cup waste

  17-03-2016 14:11
  
  Campaigners criticise UK government for watering down targets on plastic packaging recycling despite recent reports showing that millions of coffee cups end up in landfill every yearThe government is watering down statutory plastic packaging recycling targets just days after high street coffee chains came under fire for allowing millions of coffee cups to end up in landfill.
  Campaigners said the announcement - buried in the small print of the Budget on Wednesday - showed that protecting the envi
  
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• Tick disease dog 'lucky to be alive'

  17-03-2016 13:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A dog owner says her pet is "lucky to be alive" after contracting a deadly tick-borne disease that is expected to spread around the UK.
  
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• Pelicans get up close and personal with the camera on Lake Kerkini, in pictures

  17-03-2016 13:28
  
  In pics: A flock of hungry Dalmation pelicans gather for fish and photos
  
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• Climate Change Redistributes Global Water Resources

  17-03-2016 13:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Rising temperatures worldwide are changing not only weather systems, but - just as importantly - the distribution of water around the globe, according to a study published today (March 14, 2016) in the journal, "Scientific Reports."Analysis of more than 40 years of water samples archived at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in New Hampshire tells a vivid tale of how the sources of precipitation have changed. Over the years, there has been a dramatic increase, especially during the win
  
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• Insight - Iran tycoon's death sentence feeds perceptions of high-level corruption

  17-03-2016 13:10
  By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran's planned execution of billionaire Babak Zanjani for corruption will mask the identity of senior officials who supported him, say the president and two lawmakers independently assessing a case that has fuelled public cynicism about political graft. Hundreds of Iranians have taken to social media to vent their frustration about the opaque nature and outcome of the judicial proceedings against the businessman, who says he was backed by powerful offici
  
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• IRENA: Doubling renewable energy by 2030 will put world on track for Paris goals

  17-03-2016 12:48
  
  An international accelerated push to double the share of renewables in the global energy mix by 2030 would lead to annual savings of $4.2trn and limit temperature rise to the crucial 2C target established at the Paris climate change conference, new research has claimed.
  
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• SeaWorld to stop breeding killer whales

  17-03-2016 12:46
  
  Orcas currently at operator’s theme parks will be the last, after strong criticism of captivity depicted in Blackfish filmTheme park operator SeaWorld Entertainment has said it will stop breeding killer whales, and those currently at its parks will be the last. Orlando-based SeaWorld has faced falling visitor numbers and years of criticism over its treatment of the captive marine mammals as well as pressure from animal rights activists to end the public exhibition of killer whales.Continue
  
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• The Kids Twiga Tally: creating young conservation scientists in Kenya

  17-03-2016 12:29
  
  Paula Kahumbu: Counting giraffes, using the latest image identification software, fires children’s interest in science and wildlife conservation
  In 1984, E.O. Wilson wrote about ‘biophilia’, the notion that humans have an instinctive bond with other living systems and vice versa. It explains why nature tourism is such a rapidly growing global business, and why millions of people around the world raised a huge public outcry after the killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe and Sat
  
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• Nefertiti hunt 'finds organic material'

  17-03-2016 12:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A search for pharaonic Queen Nefertiti's resting place finds possible "organic material" inside spaces behind walls in Tutankhamun's tomb, Egypt says.
  
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• On wings of waste: Plane fuelled by recycled plastic wins Attenborough's approval

  17-03-2016 11:45
  
  A plan to fly across America in a plane powered by recycled plastic has been welcomed by legendary broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough as a "sign of hope in a very depressing world".
  
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• Pictures of the day: 17th March 2016

  17-03-2016 11:33
  
  Today: A hippo opens wide, a pelican in flight and dancing foxes
  
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• Doubling global renewables by 2030 could save $4.2tn – research

  17-03-2016 11:05
  
  Doubling the share of clean energy in the global energy mix would create more jobs, save millions of lives and limit global warming, say researchersDoubling the share of renewables in the global energy mix to 36% by 2030 could save the world economy up to $4.2tn a year, research by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) showed on Wednesday. Renewable sources, such as wind and solar, accounted for around 18% of global energy consumption in 2014. Under existing national policies, the sh
  
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• EnQuest predicts UK tax relief to spur North Sea oil deals

  17-03-2016 10:58
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - A change in UK legislation giving oilfield operators tax relief on decommissioning costs when they sell an asset will speed up such deals in the North Sea, producer EnQuest said on Thursday. Chancellor George Osborne announced the change on Wednesday to attract more buyers to squeeze as much oil and gas as possible out of old fields in the North Sea. EnQuest expects to benefit as other groups will see cost advantages in selling it late-life oil and gas fields
  
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• China to push Myanmar's new government on stalled dam

  17-03-2016 10:14
  By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - China signalled on Thursday that it will push Myanmar's new government to resume a controversial stalled dam project in the Southeast Asian country, saying the contract was still valid. Outgoing Myanmar President Thein Sein angered Beijing in 2011 by suspending the $3.6 billion, Chinese-invested Myitsone dam project, some 90 percent of whose power would have gone to China. Other Chinese projects in the former Burma have proved controversial too, including the
  
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• 'I wasn't contributing anything to saving our beautiful planet': from consumer magazine editor to frog conservationist

  17-03-2016 09:42
  
  No longer happy working in media and advertising, Mea Trenor gave it all up to go back to school for zoology. Now she’s racing to save an endangered frog from extinction – if only she can find it first.
  Last December, Mea Trenor found herself at dusk in South Africa’s Natal highlands picking through undergrowth desperately trying to find a frog. Not just any frog, but a cryptic, endangered amphibian that pretty much no one has ever heard of: the mistbelt chirping frog. Trenor,
  
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• Coca-Cola calls on policymakers to take circular economy 'leap of faith'

  17-03-2016 09:30
  
  Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has called on global governments and regulators to ignite a 'cultural shift' towards closed-loop business models - a transition that will only be possible if policymakers take a 'leap of faith' to back the circular economy.
  
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• GKP says still owed $178 million by Iraqi Kurdistan

  17-03-2016 09:14
  Gulf Keystone Petroleum said on Thursday it was still owed $178 million (125 million pounds) by the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government for oil exports and costs related to the Shaikan oil field. The oil producer reported a 2015 loss of $135 million versus a loss of $248 million a year earlier. Gulf Keystone said output from its Shaikan field may start declining this year if it fails to find $71-88 million to invest in the field and if its partners and the government do not approve the plan quic
  
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• Data collection for agricultural supply chains set for streamlined upgrade

  17-03-2016 09:00
  
  A host of big brand food producers including Mondelez, PepsiCo and Marks & Spencer will have their agricultural supply chain data collection and management streamlined through a new platform partnership between Sedex and the Sustainable Agricultural Initiative (SAI).
  
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• Heathrow unveils online platform to tackle freight fleet emissions

  17-03-2016 08:30
  
  Heathrow's pledge to become the most sustainable airport hub in the world has been bolstered by a new emissions reduction blueprint that puts an emphasis on tackling freight emissions through an online data portal.
  
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• 'If you want cycling improvements, you have to keep fighting for them' | Andrew Gilligan

  17-03-2016 08:00
  
  London’s Swiss Cottage to West End superhighway is the latest scheme to face opposition. For improvements such as this to succeed, continued public support is vital otherwise a naysaying minority will be the only voice heardWhat is it about cycling that destroys some people’s sense of proportion? As London fractionally reduces space for cars, and fractionally increases space for cyclists and pedestrians, some influential figures have quite seriously compared it to world war two. Lord
  
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• Frost, the great synchroniser

  17-03-2016 06:29
  
  Crook, County Durham Each frozen dawn shortens the fuse that releases the explosion of growth when spring arrivesIt was a dawn that almost made me wish that winter might last a little longer. The sun was rising over frosted grass into a cloudless sky. A crystalline morning beckoned, payback for those mildest-on-record months with their grey skies and rain that lasted from daybreak until dusk.I shielded my eyes against shafts of sunlight that speared through the hawthorns and highlighted the
  
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• Brazilians protest after Lula named chief of staff, gains immunity

  17-03-2016 05:41
  By Anthony Boadle and Caroline Stauffer BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Protests erupted in several Brazilian cities on Wednesday after President Dilma Rousseff named her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva chief of staff and a taped conversation fed opposition claims the move was meant to shield Lula from prosecution. Thousands more demonstrators packed the main Avenue Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial hub, which was the center of national protests on Sunday that drew more than 1 milli
  
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• Oil rises 2 percent, adds to gains after supplier meeting agreed

  17-03-2016 03:42
  Oil producers including Gulf OPEC members support holding talks next month on a deal to keep production at current levels even if Iran declines to participate, OPEC sources said on Wednesday, increasing the likelihood of the first global supply deal in 15 years. U.S. crude oil stocks rose last week to record highs for a fifth straight week, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
  
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• Saudi Aramco, Shell plan to break up Motiva, divide up assets

  17-03-2016 03:07
  By Kristen Hays and Erwin Seba HOUSTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco announced plans on Wednesday to break up Motiva Enterprises LLC in a deal that ends a partnership of nearly two decades and hands control of the biggest U.S. refinery to the Saudi state oil giant. News that the two energy companies will divide assets in their oil refining and marketing joint venture had been expected by many as they navigated an often-frayed relationship where their respective interests sometim
  
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• Supercomputer copies human blood flow

  17-03-2016 02:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Physicists say a supercomputer simulation of blood flow around the entire human body is showing promise, based on an experimental test.
  
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