Environment news

• Butterfly migration mystery solved

  14-04-2016 23:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists solve the navigation mystery of one of nature's most famous journeys - the migration of monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico.
  
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• Climate change: website reveals which homes will be swamped by rising sea levels

  14-04-2016 22:53
  
  Coastal Risk Australia combines Google Maps with detailed tide and elevation data, as well as future sea level rise projectionsFor the first time, Australians can see on a map how rising sea levels will affect their house just by typing their address into a website. And they’ll soon be able to get an estimate of how much climate change will affect their property prices and insurance premiums, too.Launched on Friday, the website Coastal Risk Australia takes Google Maps and combines it with
  
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• Chinese state-owned firm, U.S. citizen charged in nuclear case -U.S

  14-04-2016 21:40
  A Chinese state-owned nuclear power company and a U.S. citizen were indicted on Thursday on charges of conspiracy to produce special nuclear material outside the United States without the required U.S. authorization, the Justice Department said. The China General Nuclear Power Company and Allen Ho, a naturalised U.S. citizen and a nuclear engineer, were charged in a two-count indictment in the Eastern District of Tennessee, the department said in a statement.
  
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• Six years after BP spill, U.S. sets new offshore oil safety rules

  14-04-2016 21:31
  By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled new oil well control rules to prevent the kind of blowout that happened six years ago on a BP Plc rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced the finalised regulations, which include more stringent design requirements and operational procedures for offshore oil and gas operations. The new standards come nearly six years after a deadly explosi
  
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• Global shares hit 2016 high, U.S. dollar holds recent gains

  14-04-2016 21:18
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks across the globe rose to their highest levels of 2016 on Thursday and the U.S. dollar gained for a third day as investors embraced risk ahead of top policymaker and oil producer meetings. Singapore's normally conservative central bank unexpectedly eased its exchange-rate based monetary policy, at a time when several hundred economists polled by Reuters said economic growth and inflation across the globe will lose further momentum this year despite ye
  
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• Oil eases amid growing concerns ahead of Doha meeting

  14-04-2016 21:09
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil markets closed lower after a choppy session on Thursday as the market processed a mixed report from the International Energy Agency and scepticism that an upcoming meeting of major producers would do much to tighten the supply demand balance. Activity in the market had been muted with no clear players, traders said, due to the uncertainty ahead of a keenly anticipated producers' meeting on Sunday in Doha, Qatar, of the world's biggest oil exporter
  
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• New US oil drilling regulations aim to prevent another Deepwater disaster

  14-04-2016 20:04
  
  Six years after the worst environmental catastrophe in US history, Department of the Interior has proposed mandatory standards for oil well infrastructureThe Obama administration has outlined new drilling regulations aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But the White House is set for a brawl with the oil industry, which claims the rules will cost billions of dollars and imperil thousands of jobs.Related: Louisiana five years after BP oil spil
  
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• Oil boost could help ECB medicine work

  14-04-2016 18:13
  By John O'Donnell and Francesco Canepa FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Is the spectre of deflation finally being lifted from Europe's economy, still struggling to get on its feet after the economic crisis? Add to that an emerging consensus that oil prices may have bottomed out and could even rise further -- a prospect that would in turn help the European Central Bank in its efforts to push inflation up to more normal levels and kickstart recovery with negative interest rates and mass stimulus. Some euro z
  
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• Rooftop solar panels could provide nearly half US power

  14-04-2016 17:36
  
  Rooftop panels could supply 40% of country’s power with open spaces such as parking lots offering further potential, study shows. Conservation magazine reportsTo take advantage of the sun’s energy to satisfy our ever-increasing need for electricity, Americans will have to take a fresh look at their roofs. A report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows that if all suitable roof areas in the United States were plastered with solar panels, they would generate about 1,
  
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• BP investors say 'No' to CEO Dudley's £14 million pay deal

  14-04-2016 17:05
  By Ron Bousso and Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - BP shareholders voted against Chief Executive Bob Dudley's £14.13 million ($20 million) pay deal for 2015, a rare investor revolt reflecting outrage after the British energy company recorded its biggest annual loss. Some 59 percent of shareholders on Thursday opposed the pay and benefits package, according to preliminary figures, in stark contrast with previous years when over 80 percent and sometimes as many as 90 percent voted in favour
  
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• Oil little changed after mixed IEA report ahead of Doha meeting

  14-04-2016 17:00
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Thursday after a mixed report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which said it was skeptical that an upcoming meeting of major producers would do much to tighten the supply demand balance. The IEA, which coordinates the energy policies of industrialized nations, trimmed its estimate for 2016 global demand growth from last month to 1.16 million barrels per day (bpd), but said a much-anticipated slide in produc
  
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• England's last golden eagle feared dead

  14-04-2016 16:50
  
  Wildlife experts say the bird likely died of natural causes after they fail to spot him at his usual haunts in the Lake DistrictEngland’s only resident golden eagle is likely to have died after failing to appear this spring, wildlife experts fear. The bird, which has been a resident at Riggindale near Haweswater, Cumbria, since 2001, has not seen by RSPB staff since last November, and would normally be seen at this time of year building a nest and displaying to attract a mate. Continue rea
  
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• Kingfisher shakes up sustainability department in Net Positive 'evolution'

  14-04-2016 16:12
  
  Two of Kingfisher's most senior sustainability executives have left the DIY retailer within the space of a month, as part of a radical restructuring of the group's management team to integrate CSR into the core of the business, edie can reveal.
  
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• Is it possible to reduce CO2 emissions and grow the global economy?

  14-04-2016 16:04
  
  Yale Environment 360: Surprising new statistics show that the world economy is expanding while global carbon emissions remain at the same level. Is it possible that the elusive ‘decoupling’ of emissions and economic growth could be happening?The statistic is startling. In the past two years, the global economy has grown by 6.5 percent, but carbon dioxide emissions from energy generation and transport have not grown at all, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported last month. CO
  
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• Carbon price needed to avoid economic disruption from Paris climate goals – analysis

  14-04-2016 16:01
  
  Climate Institute says regulations to phase out coal-fired generators and subsidies to encourage clean energy are neededAustralia faces significant economic disruption in 2030 to meet the Paris climate goals unless action is quickly taken, according to a new analysis.The analysis, for the Climate Institute, recommends implementing a carbon price and regulations to phase out coal-fired generators, and additional subsidies to encourage clean energy investment. Continue reading...
  
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• Palm oil giant to address 'serious issues' of alleged illegal sourcing

  14-04-2016 15:48
  
  The world's second largest palm oil plantation company has revealed that it is engaging with individual supplier mills which have allegedly been using 'tainted and illegal' palm oil sources, in an attempt to clarify revelations uncovered in a recent report.
  
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• Rory Stewart defends Government flood defence spending

  14-04-2016 15:42
  
  Environment Minister Rory Stewart has defended the Government's record on flood defence spending, following a succession of reports claiming that many of Britain's flood-risk households have suffered from insufficient protection.
  
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• Rhino shot dead by poachers in India hours after royal visit

  14-04-2016 15:38
  
  Animal is killed and its horn removed after Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s safari at Kaziranga national parkPoachers shot dead and de-horned a male rhino in India’s Kaziranga national park less than 10 hours after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a jeep safari there during a visit to highlight conservation, Indian media has reported.
  The royal couple visited Kaziranga in Assam and the nearby Centre of Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) on Wednesday, and were st
  
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• Russia seeking strategic investor to buy Rosneft stake -Putin

  14-04-2016 15:30
  President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the Russian government was searching for a strategic investor to buy a 19 percent stake in global top oil producer Rosneft as part of a privatisation plan. "We will be searching for a strategic partner who understands and knows that one should not be greedy while buying, let's say, 19 percent of shares in Rosneft," Putin told reporters after his annual televised phone-in. "If we find such a partner ... then we will take this step." State-controlled Rosne
  
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• Oil edges up on dollar retreat after mixed IEA report

  14-04-2016 15:17
  By Simon Falush LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose slightly on Thursday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its forecast for demand growth but said a fall in oil output in the United States was speeding up. U.S. crude was up 13 cents at $41.89 a barrel. The IEA trimmed its estimate for 2016 global demand growth from last month to 1.16 million barrels per day, but said a much-anticipated slide in production of light, tight oil in the United States was gathering pace.
  
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• World's scientists to join forces on major 1.5C climate change report

  14-04-2016 15:08
  
  Special UN report will offer comprehensive assessment of impacts of a 1.5C rise in global warming on sea level, coral bleaching and biodiversity Scientists from around the world will contribute to a major UN report on how global temperatures can be held to a rise of 1.5C and what the impact might be on sea level rises, the bleaching of corals and biodiversity.The special report, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will assess all the available peer-reviewed science along w
  
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• Bank clerk and beachgoers may save Italy's oil industry

  14-04-2016 14:46
  By Stephen Jewkes MILAN (Reuters) - It is people like 58-year-old bank clerk Silvio Doria who may save Italy's oil industry. Referring to a referendum on Sunday that will decide whether oil companies can continue to drill within 12 miles (20 km) of Italy's coastline, Doria said: "I'm not going to vote because I just don't know the issues well enough." For the referendum to succeed, more than 50 percent of Italians must cast a ballot. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says a "yes" vote against drilling
  
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• Study shows most US roofs can support a solar system

  14-04-2016 14:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  Most U.S. rooftops in good repair can take the weight of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. That’s the conclusion of a three-year study by a research team led by Sandia National Laboratories.“There is a misperception in the building industry that existing residential rooftops lack the strength to carry the weight load of rooftop solar photovoltaic installations,” said Sandia structural engineer Steve Dwyer. “Most existing well-built wooden rooftops can support PV system loa
  
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• 'Neglected' Green Deal failed on energy savings, report finds

  14-04-2016 14:31
  
  The UK Government's recently-folded Green Deal scheme to insulate and provide on-site renewable generation to homes delivered just 30% of what predecessor schemes achieved in terms of carbon reductions, a new report has found.
  
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• 'Rise of the Rocket Girls' Tells the Stories of NASA's Women Pioneers

  14-04-2016 14:15
  
  Missile and rocket technology from the California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has propelled American spaceflight for decades, and from the beginning that technology's success rested on a corps of expert mathematicians — women who crunched the numbers, plotted rocket trajectories and tested rocket designs, all on paper. At the same time, it shows the rise and evolution of female mathematicians and, eventually, engineers — and the changing cultures that working women had
  
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• Watch an Amazing Encounter Between Two Deadly Predators (Video)

  14-04-2016 14:13
  A new video, captured by a wildlife photographer, provides a nonlethal answer: The video shows a wolf approaching a lynx mom and her kittens in the snowy reaches of the Carpathian Mountains in Poland. Zenek Wojtas, the wildlife photographer who caught the rare encounter, viewed the exchange as a friendly overture from one top predator to another. Both creatures were once on the brink of extinction, though their numbers have rebounded in recent years as a result of intensive efforts to protect th
  
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• You probably have a drawer full of them – why can't we crack battery recycling?

  14-04-2016 13:58
  
  Research indicates up to half of all EU countries could fall short of this year’s target to recycle 45% of waste batteriesContinue reading...
  
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• Oil steady in choppy market ahead of output freeze meeting

  14-04-2016 13:57
  By Simon Falush LONDON (Reuters) - Oil steaded at around $44 per barrel on Thursday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its forecast for demand growth but said a fall in oil output in the United States was speeding up. Brent crude futures were up 12 cents from their last close at $44.30 a barrel by 1138 GMT. The IEA trimmed its estimates for 2016 global demand growth from last month to 1.16 million barrels per day, but said a much-anticipated slide in production of light, tight o
  
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• Environment Agency closes climate change advice service

  14-04-2016 13:48
  
  No replacement seems planned for service that helped UK councils and businesses adapt to effects of climate change, such as flooding, reports the ENDS ReportThe Environment Agency’s (EA) advice service, which helped councils and businesses prepare for flooding and other climate change impacts, has closed.Climate Ready shut in March, just before the Easter break, and no replacement service appears to be planned. Continue reading...
  
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• Moose on the loose as Alaska warms

  14-04-2016 13:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rising temperatures and longer summers have helped the iconic Alaskan moose conquer vast new stretches of the frozen tundra.
  
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• Emissions from new cars sold in Europe fell 3% last year

  14-04-2016 13:10
  
  Figures show average carbon dioxide levels from new vehicles sold in 2015 met EU targets but data is based on outdated official testsAverage carbon dioxide emissions from new cars sold in the European Union fell 3% last year, meeting EU targets for 2015 as part of efforts to slow climate change, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said on Thursday. The agency’s research guides EU policymakers, who are reviewing proposals by the European commission to tighten laws on air quality, emission
  
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• Underground herb farm surfaces to strengthen London's food supplies

  14-04-2016 12:49
  
  Garlic chives, wasabi mustard and salad rocket - produced in a former World War II bunker in Clapham - are ready to be delivered to nearby homes, as London's first underground herb farm officially opens full production services.
  
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• Underground herb farm surfaces to strengthen London food supplies

  14-04-2016 12:49
  
  Herbs ranging from garlic chives, wasabi mustard and salad rocket - produced in a former World War II bunker in Clapham - are ready to be delivered to nearby homes, after London's first underground farm officially opened full production services.
  
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• Qatar says mood positive ahead of oil producers meeting

  14-04-2016 11:57
  The atmosphere among oil producers is positive ahead of the meeting in Doha on April 17 to discuss an output freeze designed to prop up prices, Qatar's energy ministry said in a brief statement on Thursday. "The growing number of oil producers who have officially confirmed participation in Sunday’s oil producers meeting in Doha has generated a positive feeling that an agreement to restore stability to the global oil market was imminent," the statement said.
  
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• Insight - How Saudi Arabia plans to shake up its economy

  14-04-2016 11:47
  By Katie Paul, Marwa Rashad and Andrew Torchia RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) - In late February, several hundred Saudi officials, company executives and foreign consultants gathered in a luxury Riyadh hotel to discuss how Saudi Arabia's economy could survive an era of cheap oil. One company manager at the event told Reuters that officials from about 30 Saudi government bodies manned booths in which they described their challenges. "It was like a private sector version of a national parliament." The wor
  
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• England's only golden eagle feared dead

  14-04-2016 11:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  England's only resident golden eagle is feared to have died, Lake District wildlife chiefs say.
  
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• Premier Oil slims down board as three members leave

  14-04-2016 11:18
  Premier Oil said on Thursday that three board members would stand down over the coming months and not be replaced as the North Sea-focused oil producer slims its leadership and trims costs. Falkland Islands and Southeast Asia Director Neil Hawkings will step down on June 30 but will continue working for Premier Oil as a consultant, the company said. Non-executive directors David Bamford and Michel Romieu will leave following the firm's annual general meeting on May 11.
  
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• Malaysia destroys 9.5 tonne hoard of ivory

  14-04-2016 10:53
  
  Authorities hope the country’s first ivory destruction will help deter smugglers who use the country as a key transit pointMalaysia has destroyed 9.5 tonnes of elephant ivory that it had seized over the years, in a move authorities hope will help deter smugglers who have long used the country as a transshipment point.The huge pile of African elephant tusks, estimated to be worth $20m (£14m), was first fed into in an industrial crusher to be pulverised, and then incinerated in a giant
  
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• Latrobe coalmines not paying enough for cleanup: Hazelwood fire inquiry

  14-04-2016 10:41
  
  The Victorian government’s failure to raise the three mines’ rehabilitation bonds would expose taxpayers to a ‘significant proportion of the cost’ in case of defaultThe fourth and final report into Victoria’s Hazelwood coalmine fire in 2014 has highlighted a looming national problem: the huge cost of rehabilitating mines when they close.
  The mine fire inquiry found rehabilitation bonds paid by the three open-cut coalmines in the Latrobe valley, east of Melbourne, we
  
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• IEA expects limited impact from oil output freeze at Doha

  14-04-2016 10:15
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - A deal to freeze oil production by OPEC and non-OPEC producers will have a limited impact on global supply and markets are unlikely to rebalance before 2017, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. The IEA, which oversees the energy policies of industrialised nations, said even though the decline in U.S. output was gathering pace and Iran was not adding as many barrels as expected, the world would still produce more oil than it consumes thr
  
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• Russia says respected all safety rules in passes near U.S. warship - Ifax

  14-04-2016 10:12
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The crews of the Russian Su-24 bombers which flew near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday respected all safety rules, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying on Thursday. The U.S. military said that the warplanes had simulated attack passes near the USS Donald Cook, with one official describing them as one of the most aggressive interactions in recent memory. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Dmi
  
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• VIDEO: Schools plant seeds sent from space

  14-04-2016 10:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Schools in the UK are to receive seeds that British astronaut Tim Peake has sent back from the International Space Station.
  
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• Russia's Ruspetro to leave LSE and become private

  14-04-2016 09:56
  Russian oil producer Ruspetro plans to delist on the London Stock Exchange from June 6 to become a private company, it said on Thursday. The decision to be become a private company, which has yet to be approved by its shareholders, was prompted by declining oil prices, weaker interest from institutional investors and low liquidity, Ruspetro said in a statement.
  
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• Apple ranked as highest scoring corporation for climate influence

  14-04-2016 09:31
  
  Tech giant Apple's continuous drive to champion renewable energy has seen it top a list of more than 150 companies - including rivals Microsoft and Google - to receive the first 'A+ grade' from a sustainability analysis group.
  
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• Apple ranked as highest scoring company for sustainability agenda

  14-04-2016 09:31
  
  Tech giant Apple's continuous drive to champion renewable energy has seen them top more than 150 companies, including rivals Microsoft and Google, to receive the first "A+" grade from an analysis portal researching climate policy.
  
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• UK's £3 billion green home scheme not value for money – watchdog

  14-04-2016 09:17
  A British government scheme costing energy firms 3 billion pounds to help people save money on their bills and cut greenhouse gas emissions has not provided value for money, a parliamentary watchdog said. The report, by the National Audit Office (NAO), said "neither we nor the Department (of Energy and Climate Change) can determine the impact of the schemes on fuel poverty", while the average cost of cutting just one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) was around 94 pounds, almost three times the cost
  
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• Bat-sound library tracks biodiversity

  14-04-2016 09:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have put together the biggest known library of bat sounds in an effort to identify and conserve rare species in Mexico.
  
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• UK's 3-billion-pound green home scheme not value for money

  14-04-2016 08:27
  A British government scheme costing energy firms 3 billion pounds to help people save money on their bills and cut greenhouse gas emissions has not provided value for money, a parliamentary watchdog said. The report, by the National Audit Office (NAO), said "neither we nor the Department (of Energy and Climate Change) can determine the impact of the schemes on fuel poverty", while the average cost of cutting just one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) was around 94 pounds, almost three times the cost
  
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• Space seeds on their way to schools

  14-04-2016 08:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thousands of schools in the UK will be receiving seeds that have been in space with British astronaut Tim Peake.
  
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• Who's the most cycling-friendly London mayoral candidate?

  14-04-2016 08:00
  
  We put Tory, Labour, Lib Dem, Green and Ukip candidates to the test, to see what London’s next potential mayor will do for cycling in the capitalIn exactly three weeks’ time, London voters will be electing a new mayor to replace Boris Johnson. Despite the prominence of the job there are relatively few areas in which the mayor can enact real change. Transport, however, is one of them - not least through cycling.Whatever you think of Johnson’s overall record, he has ended his eig
  
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