Environment news

• Canada wildfire evacuees get tentative return date

  18-05-2016 23:59
  By Nia Williams and Eric M. Johnson CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Evacuees who fled a wildfire in northern Alberta two weeks ago may be allowed to return home as soon as June 1, officials said on Wednesday, as the massive blaze kept oil production shuttered north of Fort McMurray. Poor air quality in the Alberta city still poses a serious threat, officials said, delaying the return of the more than 90,000 people who were evacuated from the region on May 3 and 4, as the uncontrolled wildfire breac
  
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• How fish adapt to warmer waters but not to extremes

  18-05-2016 22:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  Fish can adjust to warmer ocean temperatures, but heat waves can still kill them, a team of researchers from Sweden, Norway and Australia reports in an article published this week in Nature Communications. "A species might adapt and grow well (in warmer waters) but once you get strong heat spells, the water temperature might reach lethal temperatures and kill them," said Fredrik Jutfelt, an associate professor in biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology who was sen
  
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• Climate changes mean Canada to spend more on disasters - insurers

  18-05-2016 21:47
  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will have to set aside more money to deal with natural disasters like wildfires, storms and floods as climate change starts to bite, the head of the country's property insurance industry group said on Wednesday. A wildfire sweeping through the heavily forested oil sands region of Alberta near the town of Fort McMurray could eventually cost C$6 billion (£3.1 billion), according to one industry estimate. Don Forgeron, chief executive of the Insura
  
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• Canada fire evacuees to get tentative return date, output still hampered

  18-05-2016 21:46
  By Nia Williams and Eric M. Johnson CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Evacuees who fled a wildfire in northern Alberta two weeks ago will learn on Wednesday when they may be allowed to return home, as the blaze continued to shutter oil production north of Fort McMurray. More than 90,000 evacuated from Fort McMurray and the surrounding area on May 3 and 4 as a huge wildfire hit the city in the heart of Canada's oil sands region, destroying entire neighbourhoods. The fire was still burning around Fort
  
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• Oil falls as Fed rate hike speculation sends dollar surging

  18-05-2016 21:42
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices retreated from 2016 highs and snapped a two-day rally on Wednesday, hurt by a surge in the dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled it could raise interest rates next month. Brent and U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures had advanced closer to $50 (£34) a barrel on Wednesday after large gasoline and distillate drawdowns were announced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). "We think people really had a Ju
  
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• Germany asks Opel for more information in Zafira emissions probe

  18-05-2016 21:31
  By Paul Carrel BERLIN (Reuters) - General Motors' Opel division has admitted that its Zafira model has engine software that switches off exhaust treatment systems under certain circumstances but says this is legal, German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. A German investigating committee that met Opel officials on Wednesday asked them to provide it with more information to help with their investigations into carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from its cars, Dobrindt said after the meeting.
  
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• General Electric reaffirms forecast despite weaker growth

  18-05-2016 20:33
  By Alwyn Scott NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co expects to hit its 2016 earnings targets despite tough conditions in its oil and gas business, lower industrial margins and slower revenue growth, Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said on Wednesday. Immelt affirmed the diversified industrial company's target of $1.45 (0.9943 pounds) to $1.55 per share this year in a presentation at the Electrical Products Group conference in Florida.
  
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• Foxtons, Paddy Power Betfair investors back executive pay

  18-05-2016 20:13
  Shareholders of two London-listed companies approved their directors' pay on Wednesday, rejecting the recommendations of influential advisors in a sign that dissatisfaction over high salaries has yet to result in widespread change. A majority of shareholders in British estate agent Foxtons Group Plc and Irish gambling company Paddy Power Betfair Plc backed their 2015 director pay reports, voting results showed. This year, oil major BP Plc , medical equipment firm Smith & Nephew and oil equip
  
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• Put pedestrians first to tackle air pollution in this dirty mega-city | Letters

  18-05-2016 19:55
  
  London is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. We cannot keep this under wraps if we are to address the problem (Johnson ‘buried’ study linking toxic air and deprived schools, 17 May).The dangerously high pollution levels in the city are harmful to everyone – they’re associated with asthma, premature births, lung cancer and heart disease. For children though, the risk is even higher. Their exposure to air pollution is much greater than adults’, and studies sho
  
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• Church roofs, solar panels and climate change | Letters

  18-05-2016 19:54
  
  The Church of England’s Shrinking the Footprint campaign is encouraging dioceses, cathedrals and parishes to reduce energy bills and lower carbon emissions through practical steps, from installing energy-efficient lightbulbs to switching to renewable energy (Blessed be the solar roof installers, Letters, 17 May).More than 400 churches, church buildings and vicarages already have solar panels installed, with other developments including the first carbon-neutral churches. Other measures adop
  
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• What AI can learn from Tube passengers

  18-05-2016 19:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Neuroscientists find that when we navigate a train network, our brains split the task into a hierarchy of different jobs - a strategy that AI developers want to mimic.
  
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• Germany asks Opel for more information in emissions probe

  18-05-2016 19:30
  BERLIN (Reuters) - German officials have asked representatives from General Motors' Opel division to provide them with more information to help with their investigations into carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from its cars, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. "The situation is that we have given the Opel representatives 14 days to provide us with the appropriate technical information," Dobrindt said after meeting Opel representatives on Wednesday. (Reporting by Paul Carrel; Editing by Victo
  
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• Pizzly or grolar bear: grizzly-polar hybrid is a new result of climate change

  18-05-2016 19:19
  
  Grizzly bears in Alaska and Canada are moving north as their environment warms, bringing them into contact with polar bears located on the coastlineClimate change is known for swelling the oceans and fueling extreme weather, but it may be also causing the curious emergence of a new type of bear in the Arctic.
  A bear shot in the frigid expanse of northern Canada is believed to be a grizzly-polar bear hybrid, a consequence of the increasing interactions between the two imposing bear species. Conti
  
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• Pizzly or grolar bear: grizzly-polar hybrid is a cute result of climate change

  18-05-2016 19:19
  
  Grizzly bears in Alaska and Canada are moving north as their environment warms, bringing them into contact with polar bears located on the coastlineClimate change is known for swelling the oceans and fueling extreme weather, but it may be also causing the curious emergence of a new type of bear in the Arctic.
  A bear shot in the frigid expanse of northern Canada is believed to be a grizzly-polar bear hybrid, a consequence of the increasing interactions between the two imposing bear species. Conti
  
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• Trump won't be able to derail Paris climate deal, says senior US official

  18-05-2016 19:17
  
  Country’s low emissions action plan cannot be undone even by a Donald Trump presidency, but it may put global cooperation on climate change at riskThe US would still meet its obligations under the Paris accord on climate change if Donald Trump were elected president, a senior US administration official has told the Guardian.He said the path of the US towards a lower-carbon economy was already set, and was dependent on market forces that would not easily succumb to political tinkering. Cont
  
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• Brazilian judge sentences Lula's ex-chief of staff to 23 years

  18-05-2016 18:23
  A one-time chief of staff for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday for corruption, money-laundering and conspiracy in a vast bribery scandal at the state-run oil company. Jose Dirceu, a top power broker in the leftist Workers Party that governed Brazil from 2003 until last week, previously had been sentenced separately by the Supreme Court to over 10 years in prison for running a congressional vote-buying operation. "Not even a con
  
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• Hot weather, winds fuel fire near Alberta oil sands

  18-05-2016 18:19
  By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Hot and dry weather and strong winds were expected to push a massive wildfire burning near Fort McMurray, Alberta eastward on Wednesday, threatening facilities and work camps in Canada's prized oil sands region. The fire, which began early this month, forced the evacuation of thousands of workers on Tuesday, prolonging a shutdown that has cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day. It destroyed a 665-room lodge for oil sands workers, then blaz
  
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• Brazil's Guarani Indians killing themselves over loss of ancestral land

  18-05-2016 18:18
  
  Arson attacks and eviction at gunpoint for plantations driving many to despair and take their own livesThe small Apy Ka’y community of around 150 Guarani Indians has lived in squalor by the side of Highway BR 463 in southern Brazil since 2009. Since then, they have been forced out three times by unknown gunmen, had their makeshift camp burned down twice by arsonists and three young people from the group have killed themselves.
  Each time they were intimidated they returned and reoccupied th
  
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• Burnt by oil price crash, Europe's oil majors warm up to green energy investments

  18-05-2016 18:14
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's biggest oil companies, reeling from losing billions in the two-year oil market rout, are intensifying their push into renewable energy as they hunt for new sources of future revenue. Shell, Eni, Total and Statoil have announced green energy investments with a combined value of around $2.5 billion in recent weeks in a bid to diversify away from their core oil and gas markets. French oil major Total, which has said it wants to become a "leader" in rene
  
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• Oil advances on U.S. refined fuel drawdown; Brent near $50 per barrel

  18-05-2016 18:11
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Wednesday, hitting new 2016 highs, as the market focused on large drawdowns in U.S. refined fuel inventories and ignored a surprise build in crude stockpiles. Brent and U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures advanced closer to the $50 a barrel target after the mixed supply-demand data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. crude inventories rose 1.3 million barrels in the week to May 13, c
  
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• Queen's Speech: UK will be at 'forefront' of climate action and green transport

  18-05-2016 17:36
  
  The Queen's Speech today (18 May) underlined Government commitments to tackle climate change and unveiled plans to boost new forms of low-carbon transport - including "pioneer driverless cars".
  
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• With women at the top, UN climate body has chance for real change

  18-05-2016 17:02
  
  Women now hold six of the most influential positions at global climate talks, but can they make a difference on the ground? Climate Home reportsWhisper it quietly, but a gender revolution is taking place at the global climate change negotiations.As of 17 May, the six most influential positions within the UN process are all held by women, a significant increase on last year’s total of two. Continue reading...
  
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• This land is our land: is it the end of the line for the great American west?

  18-05-2016 17:00
  
  Thanks to the great western commons, which the Bundys and their legislative champions would like to dismantle, all Americans still enjoy the freedom to roam on some of the most spectacular lands on the planetIt goes without saying that in a democracy, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions. The trouble starts when people think they are also entitled to their own facts.
  Away out west, on the hundreds of millions of acres of public lands that most Americans take for granted (if they are a
  
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• Imagine the fate of a global climate treaty without the EU

  18-05-2016 16:59
  
  The ability to cooperate and coordinate will mean the difference between looking forward with hope to the future or facing catastrophic climate changeIn 1972 the law was passed that allowed the UK to join what was then called the European Economic Community (EEC). Despite Europe’s current crises, it’s unchanging, fundamental challenge was expressed that year by Sicco Mansholt, then president of the European commission, probably better than by any of the current voices in the referend
  
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• Agricultural emissions 'reality check'

  18-05-2016 16:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A new report says that global agricultural emissions must be slashed to prevent the planet warming by more than 2C over the next century.
  
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• Oil holds steady as market focuses on U.S. gasoline drawdown

  18-05-2016 16:43
  (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Wednesday as investors focused on a large gasoline drawdown in U.S. government oil inventory data, ignoring a surprise build in crude stockpiles. The front-month in U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 5 cents at $48.36 a barrel by 10:38 a.m. EDT (1438 GMT). Brent crude futures' front-month was up 3 cents at $49.31 a barrel. (Reporting By Barani Krishnan; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
  
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• Internet of Things 'can unlock huge range of circular economy opportunities'

  18-05-2016 16:38
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon will play a "critical role" in creating efficient reverse logistics within supply chains, with big players such as Samsung, eBay and UPS already recognising its potential, the UK trade association for the technology sector has said.
  
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• How does the fracking debate affect you? Share your experiences

  18-05-2016 16:31
  
  Whether you are taking part in protests or live in an area threatened by proposals we’d like to hear from youResidents of Kirby Misperton in north Yorkshire wait in anticipation to hear whether a planning application to frack a well near the village will be approved or not. Related: In the timeless Yorkshire moors of my childhood, the frackers are poised to start drillingContinue reading...
  
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• India eyes oil-for-drugs deal with Venezuela to recoup pharma cash

  18-05-2016 16:25
  By Zeba Siddiqui and Manoj Kumar MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian officials say they have proposed an oil-for-drugs barter plan with cash-strapped Venezuela to recoup millions of dollars in payments owed to some of India's largest pharmaceutical companies. Several of India's generics producers, led by the country's second-largest player Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, bet heavily on Venezuela as they sought emerging market alternatives to slower-growing economies such as the United States. Dr Re
  
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• Special Report - In North Dakota's oil patch, a humbling comedown

  18-05-2016 16:15
  By Ernest Scheyder WILLISTON, N.D. (Reuters) - Dave Van Assche didn't fret too much when oil prices started to slide in late 2014. The postal services business he had built over three short years was thriving, catering to the tens of thousands of people who, like him, had streamed into North Dakota to strike it rich during an unprecedented oil boom. Within a year, oil prices were down more than 70 percent, and North Dakota's oil rush stalled.
  
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• Portugal runs for four days straight on renewable energy alone

  18-05-2016 15:59
  
  Zero emission milestone reached as Iberian country is powered by just wind, solar and hydro-generated electricity for 107 hoursPortugal kept its lights on with renewable energy alone for four consecutive days last week in a clean energy milestone revealed by data analysis of national energy network figures.Electricity consumption in the Iberian country was fully covered by solar, wind and hydro power in an extraordinary 107-hour run that lasted from 6.45am on Saturday 7 May until 5.45pm the foll
  
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• Primark signals intention to join WRAP in war on fashion waste

  18-05-2016 15:40
  
  EXCLUSIVE: High street retailer Primark plans to ramp up its ambitions to drive resource efficiency within the fashion sector, after revealing clear intentions to sign up to WRAP's Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) and the European Clothing Action Plan (ECAP) initiatives.
  
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• The sea monsters are coming to tell us how little we know of nature | Philip Hoare

  18-05-2016 15:31
  
  Even eco-protesters show by their actions the disconnection between humanity and the rest of the animate world – which just wants us to leave it aloneThis spring is proving to be spectacular when it comes to its quota of sea monsters. As if reports of a sea serpent in the Thames and the Loch Ness monster being “found” weren’t enough, reality bites back with some true-life beasts beyond all expectation.A bizarre beaked whale washes up on an Australian beach like a primeval
  
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• Hot weather, winds complicate battle to control Alberta wildfire

  18-05-2016 15:23
  By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Hot and dry weather and strong winds were expected to push a massive wildfire near Fort McMurray, Alberta eastward on Wednesday, threatening facilities and work camps in the prized oil sands region. It destroyed a 665-room lodge for oil sands workers, then blazed eastward towards other camps. "We expect the fire to spread on the easterly side," Alberta wildfire manager Chad Morrison said on a Tuesday call.
  
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• How do trees sleep?

  18-05-2016 14:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Most living organisms adapt their behavior to the rhythm of day and night. Plants are no exception: flowers open in the morning, some tree leaves close during the night. Researchers have been studying the day and night cycle in plants for a long time: Linnaeus observed that flowers in a dark cellar continued to open and close, and Darwin recorded the overnight movement of plant leaves and stalks and called it "sleep". But even to this day, such studies have only been done with small plants grown
  
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• VIDEO: China's new deep sea submarine

  18-05-2016 14:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Look inside a life-size model of a submarine which the Chinese hope will take humans to the very bottom of the ocean - the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific.
  
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• Zika virus may reach Europe this summer

  18-05-2016 14:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Zika virus could spread to Europe this summer, although the likelihood of an outbreak is low to moderate according to the World Health Organization.
  
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• VIDEO: Hunting universe's strangest particles

  18-05-2016 13:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Deep underground, beneath Daya Bay in the south of China, scientists are hunting for the oddest particles in the cosmos - neutrinos.
  
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• Boris's remarks on 'buried' air pollution report leave unanswered questions

  18-05-2016 13:45
  
  London’s former mayor says he knew about the report showing deprived schools were disproportionately affected by air pollution, so why wasn’t it made public?The former mayor of London’s response to claims he buried a report on how toxic air disproportionately affects deprived schools was trademark Boris Johnson bluster. To allege there was a cover-up was “absurd” and “risible”, he said. Of course he hadn’t hid the impact of dirty air.But in defendi
  
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• Total CEO - oil demand strong, year end too early for rebalancing

  18-05-2016 13:25
  Oil demand in 2016 will stay strong, supporting prices, but the market is unlikely to rebalance by the year end, the Chief Executive of French oil and gas major Total, said on Wednesday. Patrick Pouyanne told a French Senate committee that oil demand rose sharply in 2015 to 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), increasing at about 2 percent in a single year. "This year, experts see demand at about 1.2 million barrels per day," Pouyanne said.
  
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• Satellite pictures 'clear skies' Africa

  18-05-2016 13:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The EU's new Sentinel-2a satellite builds a cloud-free view of Africa as it moves towards full capacity mapping.
  
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• Zika virus may spread to Europe in coming months, WHO warns

  18-05-2016 12:17
  By Kate Kelland LONDON, (Reuters) - The Zika virus, an infectious disease linked to severe birth defects in babies, may spread into Europe as the weather gets warmer, although the risk is low, health officials said on Wednesday. In its first assessment of the threat Zika poses to the region, the World Health Organization's European office said the overall risk was small to moderate. It is highest in areas where Aedes mosquitoes thrive, in particular on the island of Madeira and the north-eastern
  
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• The fabulous fossils of Messel - a colourful world of birds and beetles

  18-05-2016 12:12
  
  Fossil oil shales open a window into the early diversity of mammals and the radiation of birds with spectacular fossilsThe fossil record is crap. The chances of an organism becoming fossilised are small, and the chance of us finding said fossil are even smaller. More often than not, the fossils that we do find consist of mere fragments of an organism, rather than complete and intact animals or plants. These tattered specimens provide us with a tiny, cracked peephole through which we attempt to v
  
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• Last stand for Europe's remaining ancient forest as loggers prepare to move in

  18-05-2016 11:40
  
  Government plans to fell Poland’s Białowieża forest have divided families, led to death threats against green campaigners and allegations of an ‘environmental coup’ by government and state timber interests Europe’s last primeval forest is facing what campaigners call its last stand as loggers prepare to start clear-cutting trees, following the dismissal of dozens of scientists and conservation experts opposed to the plan.
  Poland’s new far right government
  
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• Business as usual approach pushing the world past its environmental boundary, says IEMA

  18-05-2016 11:05
  
  Companies operating with a "business as usual" approach are driving the planet past its environmental and social boundaries and will need to adapt to address the combined force of global megatrends, a new IEMA report has revealed.
  
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• Iran's May oil exports set to surge nearly 60 percent from a year ago - source

  18-05-2016 09:02
  By Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori TOKYO (Reuters) - Iran's oil exports are set to surge in May, climbing nearly 60 percent from a year ago, with European shipments recovering to about half of pre-sanction levels, according to a source with knowledge of the country's crude lifting plans. This shows Tehran is regaining market share at a faster pace than analysts had projected as it battles with Saudi Arabia for customers by cutting its prices. April loadings at 2.3 million barrels per day (bp
  
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• Locked up review – yellow is the new orange in this women-in-prison drama

  18-05-2016 08:20
  
  It’s gripping and gritty, but by far the most menacing thing about this show is the Spanish swearing. Plus, David Attenborough’s Zoo Quest in Colour and Peggy Mitchell bows out of EastEndersA blond woman in a high-rise apartment removes a bright yellow canary from a cage, opens the window and sets it free. In the voiceover – and subtitles – the woman is on the phone telling her mother she’s going away on a lovely sailing trip. But really, she’s going to j
  
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• Environmental groups demand end to logging of Australia’s native forests

  18-05-2016 08:15
  
  More than 30 green groups sign statement after damning report says extending regional forestry agreements ‘would constitute an irrational decision on environmental, economic and social grounds’More than 30 environmental groups have signed a statement demanding that agreements allowing the logging of Australian native forests not be renewed.Australia’s 10 regional forestry agreements (RFAs) were signed between 1997 and 2001, each running for 20 years, with the first two expiring
  
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• UK government criticised for ongoing delay in farm poisoning case

  18-05-2016 07:00
  
  Campaigners are seeking an explanation from officials on their level of knowledge about the dangers of a chemical mandated for sheep dippingGovernment officials have been criticised for an ongoing delay in explaining what they knew about the serious health risks to farmers of using a mandatory chemical treatment.As the Guardian revealed last year, at least 500 farmers across the UK were left with debilitating health problems after using organophosphate-based (OP) chemicals to protect their sheep
  
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• Spring comes to an Exmoor village

  18-05-2016 06:30
  
  Parracombe, Exmoor From the greenery sounds the first cuckoo, so I follow tradition and run about to ensure the luck of liveliness for the rest of the yearOn the northern side of Exmoor luminous beech hedges thread upland fields and mark the onset of spring; regularly flailed banks flaunt drapes of fresh leaves, and sturdy trunks are topped with diaphanous crowns. Swallows, which have just arrived, twitter and swoop around a sheltered farmstead; mud has dried up and dusty ways are edged in uncur
  
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