Environment news

• Brazil's Petrobras to pay $3.25 million to aid troubled Games

  31-08-2016 23:41
  By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Wednesday it will spend 10.5 million reais ($3.25 million/£2.4 million) to buy marketing rights to the financially troubled Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games. The decision allows Petrobras, as the state-controlled company is known, to become an official sponsor of the event about a week before it is set to begin on Sept. 7. Petrobras joins companies such as Toyota Motor Co , BP Plc , Visa and Samsun
  
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• Selenium status influence cancer risk

  31-08-2016 23:36 via feedproxy.google.com
  As a nutritional trace element, selenium forms an essential part of our diet. In collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer, researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have been able to show that high blood selenium levels are associated with a decreased risk of developing liver cancer. In addition to other risk factors, the study also examines in how far selenium levels may influence the development of other types of cancer. Results from this study
  
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• Sediments control methane release to the ocean

  31-08-2016 23:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  Methane is stored under the sea floor, concentrated in form of hydrates, crystalline ice structures that stay stable under high pressure and in low temperatures. Several studies suggest that as the ocean warms, the hydrates might melt and potentially release methane into the ocean waters and atmosphere.Several studies suggest that as the ocean warms, the hydrates might melt and potentially release methane into the ocean waters and atmosphere. This potent climate gas is profusely leaking from the
  
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• Shooting deaths of sea otters in California prompt investigation

  31-08-2016 22:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Bodies of four male sea otters, a federally protected animal whose killing can be punishable with jail time, washed up on beaches over course of eight daysFederal and state officials are investigating the shooting deaths of California sea otters, after the bodies of four male otters were found washed up on beaches near Santa Cruz.On Monday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for killing thr
  
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• Climate change has less impact on drought than previously expected

  31-08-2016 22:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  As a multiyear drought grinds on in the Southwestern United States, many wonder about the impact of global climate change on more frequent and longer dry spells. As humans emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, how will water supply for people, farms, and forests be affected?A new study from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Washington shows that water conserved by plants under high CO2 conditions compensates for much of the effect of warmer temperatures, ret
  
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• Gabon's President Bongo re-elected, parliament set on fire

  31-08-2016 22:20
  By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Demonstrators in Gabon clashed with police and set part of the parliament building on fire on Wednesday amid anger among opposition supporters over President Ali Bongo's re-election in polls that his main rival, Jean Ping, claimed to have won. Opposition members of the Central African oil producer's electoral commission rejected Saturday's first-past-the-post election result, which would see the Bongo family's nearly half-century in power exten
  
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• Oil tumbles on U.S. inventory builds; best month since April

  31-08-2016 21:12
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 3 percent or more on Wednesday, paring their big gains for August, after government data showed a large surprise weekly build in U.S. crude and distillate stockpiles and a smaller-than-expected drawdown in gasoline. Crude futures rose as much 11 percent in August, posting their best monthly return since April, helped by speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers might agree to curb output
  
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• Time for some honesty about the badger cull | Letters

  31-08-2016 19:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Most scientific experts agree that data from the initial trial badger culling areas in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Dorset do not justify further extension of culling (Scientists criticise badger cull extension, 31 August). In ignoring this advice, and extending culling to five new areas, the government risks not only wasting much money but also giving farmers false hope that the approach will contribute to reducing TB in cattle. The initial trial areas were set up to test whether free-range sh
  
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• Alzheimer's drug study gives 'tantalising' results

  31-08-2016 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A drug that destroys the characteristic protein plaques that build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's is showing "tantalising" promise, scientists say.
  
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• Wavy Greenland rock features 'are oldest fossils'

  31-08-2016 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some of the world’s earliest life forms may have been captured in squiggles found in ancient rocks from Greenland.
  
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• Chris Leyland obituary

  31-08-2016 18:43 via theguardian.com
  
  My friend Chris Leyland, who has died of cancer aged 62, was that rare breed – a farmer for whom people mattered as much as the livestock in his care. In his native Northumberland, his most recent achievement was securing a future for the unique, 800-year-old Chillingham breed of wild cattle. Appointed park manager at Chillingham Castle in 2005, Chris used his farming expertise to double the herd numbers to more than a hundred today, by reversing decades of decay in their habitat.But he wi
  
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• Gabon's President Bongo re-elected, opposition rejects result

  31-08-2016 18:36
  By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon's Ali Bongo has been re-elected as President, according to official results released on Wednesday, setting the stage for a potentially violent post-election showdown after his rival Jean Ping had already claimed victory. Opposition members of the Central African oil producer's electoral commission rejected Saturday's first-past-the-post election result, which could extend nearly 50 years of Bongo family rule. Bongo won 49.80 percent of vo
  
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• A car made from tequila? Ford Motor Co says it's good for the planet

  31-08-2016 18:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Ford plans to introduce a new type of bioplastic for some of its car parts using waste materials generated by Jose Cuervo, the tequila manufacturerWhen you put tequila and cars side-by-side, the story doesn’t usually end well. But Ford is trying to change the narrative.The car manufacturer has plans to introduce a new kind of plastic for some of its automobile parts using waste material generated by Jose Cuervo, the tequila manufacturer. Tequila is made by juicing the heart of an agave pla
  
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• Teenage farmer attacks National Trust over Lake District land purchase

  31-08-2016 18:22 via theguardian.com
  
  George Purcell, 15, joins local outcry after charity buys historic farm’s land and sheep, but not its farmhouse or outbuildingsA teenage farmer has accused the National Trust of endangering farming for future generations by acquiring a piece of land in the Lake District, which has sparked an outcry in the area over fears it could end an agricultural tradition going back thousands of years.Fifteen-year-old George Purcell, who began farming Herdwick sheep with his parents when he was 11, sai
  
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• Oil skids on U.S. crude, distillate build; still up on month

  31-08-2016 18:22
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 3 percent on Wednesday, paring their big gains for August, after government data showed a large surprise weekly build in U.S. crude and distillate stockpiles and a smaller-than-expected drawdown in gasoline. Crude futures remained on track for their best monthly return since April, rising as much as 11 percent, after speculation in recent weeks that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers could agree to
  
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• Labour urges Theresa May to speed up Paris climate deal ratification

  31-08-2016 17:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Barry Gardiner has warned the prime minister that any delay risks the UK being sidelined in influencing future action on climate changeLabour has warned Theresa May that the UK must hurry up and ratify the Paris climate deal before the year is out or risk being sidelined in influencing future action on global warming.
  Writing to the new prime minister, Barry Gardiner said that the Brexit vote in June meant it was also vital that the UK demonstrated its continued commitment to international effor
  
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• EDF representatives file legal challenge in France over Hinkley Point

  31-08-2016 17:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Five union members in France are seeking to annul decision on £18bn project to build nuclear reactorsTensions over Britain’s proposed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point have flared again in France as five worker representatives on the board of the French power company EDF filed a challenge to overturn the company’s controversial decision to build the nuclear reactors.
  The employee representatives believe EDF’s chief executive “did not communicate crucial informa
  
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• Gabon President Bongo wins re-election - interior minister

  31-08-2016 17:09
  LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon President Ali Bongo won re-election in a hotly contested weekend election with 49.80 percent of ballots cast, according to final results announced by Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya on Wednesday. Bongo's chief rival Jean Ping, who had already announced he won the vote, came second with 48.23 percent, Moubelet said, amid turnout of 59.46 percent of the oil producing country's roughly 600,000 voters. Election commission members from the opposition rejected th
  
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• UK plays leading role as European Union hits energy efficiency target six years early

  31-08-2016 17:08
  
  A 15% reduction in energy consumption in the UK has spearheaded a continental movement which has seen the European Union (EU) surpass a key energy efficiency target six years early, a new report has revealed.
  
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• Nigeria's main car plant idled as dollar crisis bites

  31-08-2016 16:33
  By Ulf Laessing NNEWI, Nigeria (Reuters) - At a factory in southeast Nigeria, dozens of new white buses stand at the end of the production line, apparently ready to take on some of Africa's toughest roads. Unfortunately for Nigeria's main domestic vehicle assembly firm they are going nowhere for now. In an economy starved of dollars because of the slump in oil prices, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) cannot buy imported components, leaving the buses without engines - a metaphor for the proble
  
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• Poaching drives huge 30% decline in Africa's savannah elephants

  31-08-2016 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Ambitious Great Elephant Census finds nearly one-third of continent’s largest elephants were wiped out between 2007-14, largely due to poaching for ivoryPoaching has driven a huge decline in Africa’s savannah elephants with almost a third (30%) wiped out between 2007 and 2014, the first ever continent-wide survey of the species has found.Around 144,000 animals were lost over a seven-year period in 15 African countries, declining at a rate of 8% a year. The population across those cou
  
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• Poaching drives huge 30% decline in Africa's savanna elephants

  31-08-2016 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Ambitious Great Elephant Census finds nearly one-third of continent’s largest elephants were wiped out between 2007-14, largely due to poaching for ivoryPoaching has driven a huge decline in Africa’s savanna elephants with almost a third (30%) wiped out between 2007 and 2014, the first ever continent-wide survey of the species has found.Around 144,000 animals were lost over a seven-year period in 15 African countries, declining at a rate of 8% a year. The population across those coun
  
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• Fly economy class - even wealthy Qataris taste austerity

  31-08-2016 15:50
  By Tom Finn DOHA (Reuters) - Fly economy class, share an office, cancel journal subscriptions: these are some of the requests being put to government employees in Qatar, as low energy prices force austerity even among the world's wealthiest citizens. With huge offshore gas reserves, a small population and billions of dollars of foreign assets, Qatar has weathered the global oil price slump since mid-2014 better than many of its Gulf Arab neighbours.
  
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• New Pterosaur Species with Intact Skull Uncovered in Patagonia

  31-08-2016 15:13
  
  A new species of pterosaur named for its "ancient brain" has been found in Patagonia. "Allkaruen, from the middle lower Jurassic limit, shows an intermediate state in the brain evolution of pterosaurs and their adaptations to the aerial environment," study researcher Diego Pol, a paleontologist at the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Argentina, said in a statement. The new pterosaur was found in a bone bed that contains many pterosaur remains.
  
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• Smart energy revolution 'could help to avoid UK blackouts'

  31-08-2016 15:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A "smart energy" revolution could help ensure that the UK does not suffer blackouts, according to National Grid's new UK chief.
  
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• World Water Week – in pictures

  31-08-2016 14:51 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 30% of the water sources on our planet are being over-exploited, in many cases to near exhaustion. World Water Week brings together experts and innovators from around the world to develop solutions for a sustainable water future • This year World Water Week takes place in Stockholm, 28 Aug to 2 Sept, and takes the theme of Water for Sustainable Growth Continue reading...
  
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• Cleaning the world's water: 'We are now more polluted than we have ever been'

  31-08-2016 14:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Joan Rose, a microbiologist who has won the world’s most prestigious water prize, is both depressed and optimistic at progress to make water fit to drinkWorld Water Week - in picturesIn May 2000, around half of Walkerton’s 5,000 residents fell severely ill and seven people died when cow manure washed into a well. The extent of the water pollution in the small Canadian town was concealed from the public, people drank from their taps and the result was ruined lives.For academic microbi
  
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• Packaging industry urges EU to reinforce circular economy proposals

  31-08-2016 14:40
  
  The European Union (EU) has been urged to establish a long-term ambitious policy framework to ensure that the circular economy package preserves sustainable growth and enshrines a full life-cycle approach, in a list of policy recommendations set by 36 packaging value chain industry associations.
  
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• Study assesses climate change vulnerability in urban America

  31-08-2016 14:17 via feedproxy.google.com
  Flooding due to rising ocean levels. Debilitating heat waves that last longer and occur more frequently. Rising rates of diseases caused by ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes, such as Lyme disease, Chikungunya, and Zika. Increasing numbers of Emergency Room visits for asthma attacks due to higher levels of ground-level ozone. Impacts of climate change such as these will affect cities across the country.One of the first efforts to systematically assess how cities are preparing for climate change shows
  
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• PepsiCo exceeds water stewardship goals with 26% reduction

  31-08-2016 13:45
  
  During World Water Week, PepsiCo has revealed that its water stewardship efforts have led to a 26% reduction in operational water usage since 2006 - exceeding its initial 20% goal.
  
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• Cyclists: have you experienced an altercation like Jeremy Vine's?

  31-08-2016 13:14 via theguardian.com
  
  BBC presenter uploaded footage on Facebook showing an incident with a driver - has something similar happened to you?Jeremy Vine’s video of an alleged road rage incident in a west London street is upsetting, but not surprising to regular cycle commuters.Bike users in London and elsewhere shared many similar stories on social media, including those of drivers getting out of their cars to physically threaten cyclists over perceived indiscretions. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Hibernating' Astronauts May Be Key to Mars Colonization

  31-08-2016 12:59
  
  Researchers are working on ways to induce a hibernation-like torpor state in astronauts — a breakthrough they say would slash costs and make the long journey to the Red Planet safer and far less taxing for crewmembers. "That reduces the need for consumables in both nutrition and hydration, [and] oxygen demand," he said during the NIAC talk.
  
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• British weather paves way for spectacular autumn colour, experts say

  31-08-2016 12:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Wet spring and sunny conditions pave the way for a spectacular display of colour, according to the Forestry CommissionAutumn could come as early as mid-September as a wet spring and sunny conditions pave the way for a spectacular display of colour, the Forestry Commission has said.
  England’s wet spring saw rainfall 30% above average in the east and the south, data from the Met Office shows. Continue reading...
  
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• From big oil to big data - inside Indian tycoon Ambani's $20 billion start-up

  31-08-2016 12:37
  By Promit Mukherjee MUMBAI (Reuters) - At the vast open-plan headquarters of Indian telecoms start-up Jio, billionaire oil tycoon Mukesh Ambani stands in short sleeves beneath a digital tracker that logs every new subscriber to his service. The 59-year-old is India's richest man, and his Reliance Industries oil & gas group is the country's most profitable. The ambitious Jio project could make Reliance the most comprehensive provider of telecom and internet services across India - and give it
  
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• Angus MacNeil: Government must reverse 'restrictive' energy policies of 2015

  31-08-2016 12:24
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The UK Government must reverse the cumbersome green policy decisions it made last year to enable businesses to benefit from a generation of cost-effective, low-carbon energy technologies, the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECC) chairman has claimed.
  
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• Oil price outlook cut as doubts grow over output freeze - poll

  31-08-2016 12:20
  Oil analysts have cut their price forecasts for the first time since February, as the prospect of the world's largest producers agreeing to freeze output dims and U.S. production shows signs of gradually picking up. Oil's weakness over the last two years has eroded the budgets of even wealthy producers such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar and forced companies around the world to cut thousands of jobs. "A decision (to freeze output) would be no more than lip service, as Russia and Saudi Arabia are produ
  
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• Oil slips on dollar strength, still set for monthly gain

  31-08-2016 11:03
  Brent crude oil futures were trading at $48 per barrel at 0829 GMT, down 37 cents from the previous close, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 21 cents at $46.14. Oil prices had rallied by more than 20 percent from the beginning of August on hopes that producers were reviving talks on a possible output freeze, setting prices on course for their largest monthly gains since April. "The market is getting tired of those headlines," Olivier Jakob, managing director of Swi
  
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• Australia needs two emissions trading schemes, Climate Change Authority says

  31-08-2016 10:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Special review recommending steps needed to strengthen climate policies receives a mixed responseThe Climate Change Authority has advised the Australian government to institute two emissions trading schemes and strengthen regulations in order to meet Australia’s 2030 emission reduction targets and to allow it to lift those targets in line with international climate change obligations.The move is expected to put pressure on the new environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, to streng
  
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• Russian oil privatisation saga points to limits of Putin's power

  31-08-2016 10:47
  By Vladimir Soldatkin, Oksana Kobzeva and Katya Golubkova MOSCOW/UFA, Russia (Reuters) - Russia's decision to postpone the privatisation of a mid-sized oil company has sent a message to investors: for all his power, President Vladimir Putin has failed to stop political infighting getting in the way of business. Opposing him are economic liberals in the government who believe Bashneft should be in private hands.Putin has avoided taking sides, the sources said.
  
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• Laying the groundwork: how the chicken rose to define Anthropocene

  31-08-2016 10:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Over the past 70 years, the bird has become a global staple, and could be the key fossil evidence for human-influenced epochThe domestic chicken is set to play an epoch-defining role for humanity, as its bones could become the key fossil evidence for the dawn of the age in which humankind came to dominate the planet.On Monday, an expert group announced that a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, should be declared. But the key to defining a geological age is finding global physical evidence o
  
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• How the domestic chicken rose to define the Anthropocene

  31-08-2016 10:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Over the past 70 years, the bird has become a global staple, and could be the key fossil evidence for human-influenced epochThe domestic chicken is set to play an epoch-defining role for humanity, as its bones could become the key fossil evidence for the dawn of the age in which humankind came to dominate the planet.On Monday, an expert group announced that a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, should be declared. But the key to defining a geological age is finding global physical evidence o
  
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• Green Climate Fund needs ideas with low-carbon wow factor - ex-head

  31-08-2016 10:16
  By Megan Rowling BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Green Climate Fund, which aims to channel billions of dollars to help poorer nations tackle global warming, is not yet backing the right kind of projects to bring about a sea change in low-carbon development, said its recently departed executive director. Héla Cheikhrouhou, who was appointed as Tunisia's minister for energy, mining and renewables in its new government on Friday, urged the $10.3-billion fund to provide clearer g
  
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• African forest elephants may ​face extinction sooner than thought: study

  31-08-2016 09:51 via theguardian.com
  
  New study finds poaching has helped shrink population by 60% since 2002 – and eventually may be responsible for eradicating one of the largest creatures leftForest-dwelling elephants are likely to face extinction far more quickly than previously assumed because their sluggish reproduction rate cannot keep pace with rampant poaching and habitat loss, a new study has found.The first comprehensive research into forest elephant demographics found that even if poaching was curbed, it will take
  
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• VW could agree U.S. large-car diesel emissions settlement by October - Audi exec

  31-08-2016 09:02
  By Farah Master HONG KONG (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG could reach a "final" settlement with U.S. authorities as early as October over its large-engine diesel cars found to have cheated emissions tests in a global scandal, the sales chief of its premium Audi brand said. Dietmar Voggenreiter, head of sales and marketing worldwide for Audi , told Reuters in an interview in Hong Kong on Wednesday that negotiations related to 3.0-litre engine VW and Audi cars were progressing well. "(We're) in really g
  
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• Can 'wonky veg' unite consumers and supermarkets in the food waste battle?

  31-08-2016 09:00
  
  With UK supermarkets struggling to meet impending food waste targets, a new questionnaire reveals that retailers believe consumers are more than willing to turn to wonky veg as a sustainable solution that would be a "clear benefit to all".
  
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• Oil dips on stronger dollar, rise in U.S. crude inventories

  31-08-2016 08:59
  By Mark Tay SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Crude oil futures dipped on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar held around three-week highs and industry stocks data indicated a build in U.S. crude inventories. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $48.30 per barrel at 0652 GMT, down 7 cents from their previous close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 7 cents at $46.28 a barrel.
  
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• Another big predator in Southeast Asia faces extinction

  31-08-2016 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  At best, just 2,500 Indochinese leopards survive today across Southeast Asia. They have been eradicated from 93% of their historic habitat by snares, poachers, deforestation and declines in prey. Can conservationists stop the bleeding before its too late?Conservationists have long known that it’s hard – and in some cases – nearly impossible to survive as a tiger in Southeast Asia. Burning forests, high human populations and unflagging demand for tiger blood, tiger skin and crus
  
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• Another big predator in Southeast Asia faces down extinction

  31-08-2016 08:15 via theguardian.com
  
  At best, just 2,500 Indochinese leopards survive today across Southeast Asia. They have been eradicated from 93% of their historic habitat by snares, poachers, deforestation and declines in prey. Can conservationists stop the bleeding before its too late?Conservationists have long known that it’s hard – and in some cases – nearly impossible to survive as a tiger in Southeast Asia. Burning forests, high human populations and unflagging demand for tiger blood, tiger skin and crus
  
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• 'Oldest' pink cockatoo dies at 83

  31-08-2016 07:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A pink cockatoo, thought to be the oldest bird of its kind in captivity, has died at a US zoo.
  
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• VW could agree U.S. large-car diesel fix by October - Audi exec

  31-08-2016 07:13
  By Farah Master Hong Kong (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG's global Audi sales chief said on Wednesday that talks with U.S. authorities over large-engined diesel cars found to have cheated emissions tests are progressing well and a technical and financial settlement could be agreed as soon as October. "(We're) in really good discussions with U.S. authorities," said Dietmar Voggenreiter, head of sales and marketing worldwide at VW premium brand Audi , speaking in an interview with Reuters in Hong Kong.
  
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