Environment news

• Obama at Yosemite attacks 'lip service' to natural beauty amid climate inaction

  18-06-2016 22:18 via theguardian.com
  
  President extols national parks on visit to Yosemite Obama says climate change ‘no longer a threat, it’s a reality’
  Biggest US coal company funded groups questioning climate changeBarack Obama warned on Saturday that climate change could ravage many of America’s vaunted national parks, criticizing political opponents who “pay lip service” to areas of natural beauty while opposing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Related: Donald Trump would allow Keys
  
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• UK astronaut Tim Peake returns to Earth

  18-06-2016 17:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK astronaut Tim Peake is safely back on Earth after a historic mission to the International Space Station.
  
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• Angolan activist calls for president's daughter to step down as oil firm chief

  18-06-2016 16:38
  Human rights activist Rafael Marques has asked Angola's Attorney General to revoke the appointment of Isabel dos Santos as head of Sonangol, accusing the president of acting unconstitutionally by putting his daughter in charge of the state energy firm. Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who came to power in 1979, appointed his billionaire businesswoman daughter as head of Sonangol in June by presidential decree in a shake-up that cements his dynastic grip on power in the oil exporter. "W
  
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• Brazil plans emergency funds for Rio ahead of Olympics - source

  18-06-2016 16:34
  By Alonso Soto BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian government plans to transfer 2.9 billion reais (592 million pounds) in emergency funds to the state of Rio de Janeiro to pay for infrastructure and security during the Olympic Games, a government official told Reuters on Saturday. A day earlier the governor of Rio declared a state of financial emergency as a drop in revenues caused by a crippling recession and a slump in oil prices has left state coffers depleted ahead of the games that start on
  
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• Colorado mother fights off mountain lion that attacked five-year-old son

  18-06-2016 15:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Boy playing outside home suffers injuries to face, head and neckLion killed as presumed to be ‘either injured or very ill’, authorities sayAuthorities say a mother fought off a mountain lion that attacked her five-year-old son in Colorado on Friday night.Related: Disney World to post alligator warning signs in wake of child's deathContinue reading...
  
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• Watch SpaceX Nearly Pull Off Its 4th Straight Rocket Landing at Sea (Video)

  18-06-2016 13:03
  
  A new video shows just how close SpaceX came to acing its fourth consecutive rocket landing at sea this week. "Looks like early liquid-oxygen depletion caused engine shutdown just above the deck," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said via Twitter Thursday (June 16) in a post describing the video, which he also posted to the social networking site. "Turns out the landing was not as fast [as] we thought, but still hard enough to destroy the primary airframe and accordion the engines," Musk added i
  
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• Yemen's warring sides swap 194 prisoners in Taiz

  18-06-2016 11:31
  Houthi and pro-government forces exchanged nearly 200 prisoners in Taiz in central Yemen on Saturday, the largest such swap to take place in the embattled city since the beginning of a civil war last year, local sources said. The exchange of 118 Houthis and 76 pro-government fighters, will raise hopes that a ceasefire declared in April may be taking hold in Yemen's third largest city after repeated violations by both sides. Islamic State militants appear to be behind a rapid uptick in suicide at
  
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• Final handshakes in space station

  18-06-2016 10:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  British astronaut Tim Peake has boarded the spacecraft that will return him to Earth following an historic six-month mission to the space station.
  
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• Curiosity rewarded in a New Forest clearing

  18-06-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Knightwood Inclosure, New Forest This clearance was done so long ago that many of the stumps dotting the area are punctured with holes made by wood-boring larvaeWe crossed the ditch together into the clear-felled area of this inclosure. At once, she dropped at my feet and disappeared into the heather. She didn’t budge as I gently pulled the stems apart to find her, and no doubt would have been more active on a warmer and less overcast day. The common heath moth Ematurga atomaria atomaria c
  
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• Brazil fines Samarco 142 million reais for damages to protected areas

  18-06-2016 03:23
  Brazil's Environment Ministry fined mining company Samarco 142 million reais (28.98 million pounds) for damages to three protected areas resulting from a tailings dam burst in November, the ministry said on Friday. The ministry said in a statement the three areas on the coast of Espirito Santo state were contaminated by metals such as lead, coper and cadmium. The metals spilled from the dam and were carried all the way from Minas Gerais through the Doce River to the ocean.
  
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