Environment news

• Oil ends up 3 percent as OPEC meets; volatility hits post-Doha high

  26-09-2016 22:24
  By Barani Krishnan and Amanda Cooper NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil settled up 3 percent on Monday as the world's largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support prices, with nervous trade driving volatility to its highest since a similar meeting to freeze output in April in Doha which failed. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers led by Russia are meeting informally on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Algeria from Sept.
  
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• Water spotted spurting from Jupiter's moon

  26-09-2016 22:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nasa says jets of water spotted spurting from Jupiter's moon, Europa, take them a step closer to finding out if there is life in space.
  
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• Japan navy chief urges resumption of China port visits

  26-09-2016 21:56
  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of Japan's navy on Monday repeated criticisms of China's pursuit of territorial claims in Asia but called for a resumption of port and personnel visits suspended for several years amid rising tensions between the two Asian powers. Admiral Tomohisa Takei said exchange visits by senior naval personnel and warships were effective in improving relationships between armed forces. "Our door is open."While criticizing China's for its actions in the Ea
  
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• Kea simply takes its share of nature’s bounty | Brief letters

  26-09-2016 20:24 via theguardian.com
  
  NZ parrots | iPhone 7 | Pictures of autumn | Eating dirt | Bootle accents | Welsh signageFrom your report (22 September) on the endangered New Zealand parrot the kea: “its destructive habits such as … attacking stock and habitually stealing food”. A wild creature has no concept of harm or property, so both “attacking” and “habitually stealing” are demonising anthropomorphism. The kea, like any other predator species, is simply and instinctively taking i
  
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• Saudi Arabia slashes ministers' pay, cuts public sector bonuses

  26-09-2016 20:23
  By Katie Paul and Noah Browning RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will cut ministers' salaries by 20 percent and scale back financial perks for public sector employees in one of the most drastic measures yet by the energy-rich kingdom to save money at a time of low oil prices. The measures, disclosed in a cabinet statement and royal decree broadcast on state-run Ekhbariya TV on Monday, constitute the first pay cuts for government employees, who make up about two-thirds of working Saudis. "Th
  
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• Europa moon 'spewing water jets'

  26-09-2016 20:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Further evidence has been obtained to show that Jupiter's icy moon Europa throws jets of water out into space.
  
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• Canada confirms second ship of doomed Franklin Arctic voyage found

  26-09-2016 19:15
  Canada confirmed on Monday it has found the wreck of HMS Terror, the second of two British ships lost in the disastrous Franklin Arctic voyage of 1845, and said the government will work closely with northern aboriginals on ownership of the artefacts. Parks Canada, a federal agency, said in a statement it will work on "joint ownership" of the wreckage from the journey through Canada's Northwest Passage. The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that the Arctic Research Foundation, a priv
  
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• Centrica in process of selling Canada oil and gas assets - spokesman

  26-09-2016 19:01
  By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Centrica , Britain's largest utility company, is in the process of selling all of its Canadian oil and gas assets and exiting operations in the country, a company spokesman said on Monday. Centrica and its joint venture partner, Qatar Petroleum, started the sales in process in July, spokesman Ross Davidson said, and will dispose of the natural gas assets purchased from Suncor Energy Inc in 2013 for C$1 billion (585.81 million pounds). North American n
  
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• Labour's pledge to ban fracking in the UK is 'madness', says GMB

  26-09-2016 18:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Party’s union donor says Britain would be forced to rely on ‘henchmen, hangmen and headchopper’ dictators for gasLabour’s third biggest union donor has attacked the party’s decision to pledge a ban on fracking in the UK as “nonsense” and “madness”.The GMB, which backed Owen Smith for the party leadership, criticised the move, saying it would force the UK to rely on foreign dictators – “henchman, hangmen and headchoppers” &nd
  
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• South Africa: 'Saving endangered species is the responsibility of everyone'

  26-09-2016 17:39 via theguardian.com
  
  As the 17th world wildlife conference opens, South Africa’s environment minister Edna Bomo Molewa explains the country’s commitment to protecting wildlife
  Over the next two weeks, South Africa will welcome an estimated 3,500 delegates to Cop17, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). Related: Saving Africa's elephants: 'Can you imagine them no longer existing?'Continue reading...
  
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• US not on track to meet 2025 carbon pollution cutting goal

  26-09-2016 17:37
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Unless it does more, the United States probably will fall short of goals set under last year's Paris agreement to dramatically reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases, according to a new study.
  
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• Oil up 4 percent as OPEC meets, volatility hits post-Doha high

  26-09-2016 17:34
  By Barani Krishnan and Amanda Cooper NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil jumped nearly 4 percent on Monday as the world's largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support prices, with nervous trade driving volatility to its highest since a similar meeting to freeze output in April in Doha which failed. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other exporters led by No. 1 producer Russia are meeting informally on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Alge
  
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• Acidity in atmosphere minimized to preindustrial levels

  26-09-2016 17:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research shows that human pollution of the atmosphere with acid is now almost back to the level that it was before the pollution started with industrialization in the 1930s. The results come from studies of the Greenland ice sheet and are published in the scientific journal, Environmental Science and Technology.The Greenland ice sheet is a unique archive of the climate and atmospheric composition far back in time. The ice sheet is made up of snow that falls and never melts, but rather remain
  
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• US emissions set to miss 2025 target in Paris climate change deal, research finds

  26-09-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Even if US implements emissions-cutting proposals it could still overshoot target by nearly 1bn tonnes of greenhouse gases, according to scientific studyThe US is on course to miss its emissions reduction target agreed in the Paris climate accord nine months ago, with new research finding that the world’s largest historical emitter doesn’t currently have the policies in place to meet its pledge.
  Even if the US implements a range of emissions-slashing proposals that have yet to be int
  
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• Wild campers should be tamed, not banned | Patrick Barkham

  26-09-2016 16:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Scotland has maintained a health culture of enjoying nature – and pitching your tent where you liked was part of this. Better education is the way forwardIn Scotland over the weekend, a keen canoeist mentioned a ban on wild camping in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, which comes into force next spring.During a previous visit this summer, I befriended a couple of young roofers from Glasgow who also said how upset they were about this ban, which prevents camping on about 150km of loch shore, t
  
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• Brazil police arrest ex-finance minister Palocci in graft probe

  26-09-2016 16:54
  By Pedro Fonseca RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian police on Monday arrested Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister and presidential chief of staff in recent Workers Party governments, as a sweeping anti-corruption probe reached ever closer to the heart of the left-leaning party. Prosecutors said in a statement on Monday that Palocci acted as a liaison between the Workers Party and Latin America's largest engineering and construction conglomerate, Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL], between 2006 and
  
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• Unilever retains top spot in Fit for Purpose Index

  26-09-2016 16:31
  
  Consumer goods company Unilever tops the list of the world's most purposeful companies in Radley Yeldar's (RY) 2016 Fit for Purpose 2016 Index for the second consecutive year, with the likes of Philips and Nestle making up the top 10.
  
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• Azerbaijan holds referendum to extend president's term

  26-09-2016 16:10
  By Nailia Bagirova BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan held a referendum on Monday on extending the presidential term from five to seven years, a step that a European democracy watchdog said would hand unprecedented power to President Ilham Aliyev. The authorities argue that a longer presidential term will make for more continuity in decision-making, which they describe as vital after a slump in world oil prices halted Azerbaijan's long run of economic growth. "One of the main tasks of the referendum is
  
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• Exclusive - Russian oil majors raise output of hard-to-recover crude

  26-09-2016 15:59
  By Katya Golubkova and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian oil majors Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are raising the share of production from hard-to-recover reserves, to counter declining conventional output, showing the complexities facing producer nations seeking to tackle a global oversupply of crude. Top Russian producer Rosneft expects the share of hard-to-recover oil production to rise to 11 percent of its total crude output by 2020, from 7 percent this year, it told Reuters by email in
  
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• Animal trafficking: the $23bn criminal industry policed by a toothless regulator

  26-09-2016 15:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species finds itself confronting powerful networks, but has no detectives, police powers or firearmsThe illegal trade in wildlife is a most attractive crime. But it is highly destructive, and its scale is threatening the extinction of some of the world’s most iconic species.It is also grotesquely cruel: poachers slice off the faces of live rhinos to steal their horns; militia groups use helicopters to shoot down elephants for their tusks; fac
  
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• Early Cats Traveled with Vikings and Farmers

  26-09-2016 15:47
  
  The early origins of domesticated cats are shrouded in mystery, but a new genetic analysis suggests that felines traveled the world with farmers and Vikings. The News section of Nature reports that the broadest genetic analysis to date of ancient cats reveals two waves of cat expansion. The second wave of expansion started in Egypt — where cats had religious significance and were often mummified — and spread by sea to Eurasia and Africa.
  
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• Paleo Construction Worker? Ancient Reptile Wore a 'Hard Hat'

  26-09-2016 15:45
  
  Some 230 million years ago, an alligator-size reptile was crawling around what is now Texas with what looked like a hard hat on its head. The ancient reptile, Triopticus primus, had this fashion sense a good 100 million years before pachycephalosaurs emerged on Earth. It's anyone's guess why both T. primus and the pachycephalosaur developed thick, domed skulls, said lead study researcher Michelle Stocker, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, add
  
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• No sign of oil freeze at home as Russia meets OPEC

  26-09-2016 15:25
  By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - As Russian energy minister Alexander Novak flies to Algeria this week for talks with OPEC on output cuts, developments at home indicate non-OPEC Russia is not preparing for any coordinated production action. Five leading Russian oil companies, responsible for three quarters of output in the world's largest producer, all say they will be boosting output next year after reaching record levels in recent months. No doubt, all these companies would obey if Pre
  
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• Is 'imperfect' ETS a better option for aviation emissions than a voluntary ICAO draft?

  26-09-2016 14:47
  
  As nations meet today (26 September) to edge a global aviation deal closer, new analysis has suggested that the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is still "superior" to the drafted proposal offered by the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
  
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• SpaceX 'Mars' rocket engine tested

  26-09-2016 14:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Private company SpaceX has carried out its first test of the Raptor rocket engine designed to send humans to Mars.
  
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• The crime family at the centre of Asia's animal trafficking network

  26-09-2016 14:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Bach brothers based in Vietnam and Thailand are responsible for smuggling thousands of tonnes of elephant ivory, rhino horn and other endangered species There is a simple reason why there is always trouble in Nakhon Phanom. It is the reason why the US air force came here during the Vietnam war, and the reason why this dull and dusty town in north-east Thailand now serves as a primary gateway on the global animal trafficking highway. It is all to do with geography.Nakhon Phanom, population 30,000
  
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• Revealed: the criminals making millions from illegal wildlife trafficking

  26-09-2016 14:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Investigation uncovers the ringleaders profiting from $23bn annual trade in illicit animals after more than a decade of undercover surveillanceHelp fund our journalism by becoming a Guardian supporter.A major investigation into global wildlife crime today names for the first time key traffickers and links their illegal trade to corrupt officials at the highest levels of one Asian country.
  The investigation, published by the Guardian, exposes the central role of international organised
  
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• Farming mega-mergers threaten food security, say campaigners

  26-09-2016 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Deals would put the majority of seeds, chemicals and GM traits in the hands of three companies, deepening poverty for small-scale farmers When an Indian farmer plants his cotton crop, there’s at least a 75% chance the seeds have been been bought from a company owned by Monsanto. If a Latin American farmer sprays insecticide on her genetically engineered soya beans, the chemical is more than likely to have been provided by German chemical and drugs company Bayer or by US firm Dupont.And whe
  
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• Millions of Trees are Dying Across the US

  26-09-2016 13:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  Throughout the U.S., trees are dying at an astonishing rate. The reasons for the die-off vary from location to location — drought, disease, insects and wildfires – but the root cause in many of these cases is the same: climate change.The epidemic is even threatening the oldest white oak tree in America, a 600-year-old giant in New Jersey that predates Columbus’ visit to the Americas.
  
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• 'Colossal' wasp nest found in Corby attic

  26-09-2016 13:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A "colossal" wasp nest the size of a "barrel" with a 1.4m tunnel attached is found in an attic.
  
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• Oil rises as OPEC meets, volatility hits post-Doha high

  26-09-2016 13:37
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rallied on Monday as the world's largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support the market, with nervous trade driving volatility to its highest since exporters met in April. Scepticism about any deal being reached has prompted money managers to cut their bullish bets to a one-month low last week, when prices fell by nearly 5 percent, dented by signs Saudi Arabia and Iran were making little progress in achieving a preliminary agreement to
  
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• Brazil police arrest ex-finance minister Palocci in graft probe - source

  26-09-2016 13:36
  Brazilian police on Monday arrested Antonio Palocci, a former finance minister and chief of staff in the governments of ex-presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, in the latest phase of a sweeping anti-corruption probe, a source linked to the operation said. Federal police had said in a statement earlier on Monday it had evidence that a former minister, who it did not identify, acted as a liaison between the leftist Workers Party and Latin America's largest engineering conglomer
  
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• BMW opens energy storage facility built from used EV batteries

  26-09-2016 12:38
  
  German car manufacturer BMW has announced the completion of a new utility-scale energy storage facility, which uses 2,600 worn electric vehicle (EV) battery modules to stabilise the grid and reduce the impact of peak demand.
  
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• Africa's portable solar revolution is thwarting thieves

  26-09-2016 12:35 via theguardian.com
  
  More secure supplies of electricity are helping to spawn new industries in rural Africa by enabling reliable refrigeration and irrigation When South Africa’s government started giving laptops to off-grid schools, James van der Walt spotted an opportunity for a solar business. But his market research revealed a problem: of 12 schools he visited, 11 had previously lost solar panels to thieves. So he decided to pack his system into a reinforced shipping container, creating a secure, mobile po
  
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• China's Geely auto group backs Bloodhound

  26-09-2016 12:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  China’s Geely auto group has become the main sponsor behind the British Bloodhound supersonic car project, enabling an assault on the land speed record.
  
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• The Madhouse Effect of climate denial | John Abraham

  26-09-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A new book by Mann and Toles explores climate science and denial with clarity and humor
  A new book by Michael Mann and Tom Toles takes a fresh look on the effects humans are having on our climate and the additional impacts on our politics. While there have been countless books about climate change over the past two decades, this one – entitled The Madhouse Effect - distinguishes itself by its clear and straightforward science mixed with clever and sometimes comedic presentation.In approxim
  
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• Crickets, birds, weather data combine to guide African farmers

  26-09-2016 11:54
  By Munyaradzi Makoni CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - It was in Mbeere, in rural Kenya, where Muthoni Masinde began to pick up on nature's way of signposting shifting weather patterns, as she helped her mother farm their land. Studies in computer science soon took Masinde away from rural life, but she never forgot the value farmers placed on observing the environment and its rhythms to grow their crops. Using her expertise in computer science, Masinde has now developed a to
  
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• Oil steady as market awaits Algiers meeting; funds cut bullish bets

  26-09-2016 11:20
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil held steady on Monday, as the world's largest producers gathered in Algeria to discuss ways to support the market, although scepticism about any deal being reached has prompted money managers to cut their bullish bets to a one-month low. Price fell by nearly 5 percent last week, dented by signs Saudi Arabia and Iran were making little progress in achieving a preliminary agreement to freeze production. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
  
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• IoD attacks 'complex and costly' smart meter rollout

  26-09-2016 11:16
  
  The Institute of Directors has attacked the smart meter rollout for being too complex and costly, insisting the government "urgently review" the benefits of going ahead with the rollout which looks "very unlikely" to meet its 2020 target.
  
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• Malcolm Roberts says he will consider CSIRO's evidence on climate change

  26-09-2016 11:11 via theguardian.com
  
  One Nation senator says the ‘onus of proof’ is on the CSIRO after his briefing with science agency because ‘they are the tip of $1tn climate industry’ One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has said he will respectfully consider climate change evidence given to him by the CSIRO, but also accused the science agency of pushing the “de-industrialisation” of Australia.
  Roberts met the CSIRO on Monday after asking for a briefing for the agency to provide empirical evid
  
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• Hague court to arbitrate in East Timor-Australia maritime border dispute

  26-09-2016 10:57
  The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague will oversee a compulsory arbitration between East Timor and Australia on their maritime boundary, it said on Monday, rejecting Australian objections. East Timor asked for the process which could decide on which side of the border lies a large oil and gas field over which the two countries have a revenue-sharing agreement. Australia has resisted negotiating a permanent border until 2056 at the earliest.
  
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• Planes need to stop existing in a parallel universe when it comes to the climate fight

  26-09-2016 10:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Curbing flight emissions is essential to meeting the Paris pact, but planes are completely absent from the text, face no legal fuel efficiency requirements or limits on CO2 emissions. But all that is about to changeIn the coming weeks, the Paris climate agreement could be about to enter into force. Action to meet the deal’s targets of holding global warming to 2C is most clearly visible in the energy sector - where a low-carbon transition is underway. There is, however, one sector where, u
  
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• 'Rapid' low-carbon transition could damage economic stability, warns Bank of England

  26-09-2016 10:00
  
  The transition to a low-carbon economy is filled with potential paradoxes that could lead to either the current generation having no "direct incentive" to drive change, or actually transitioning too quickly to the point where financial stability would be damaged.
  
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• Tech giants join NASA and the White House to enhance data-driven climate resiliency

  26-09-2016 09:00
  
  The White House and NASA have partnered with a host of technology giants including Google, Amazon and Microsoft to "harness the data revolution" as a means to develop climate resilience alongside the World Resources Institute (WRI).
  
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• Aramco CEO says studies several foreign exchanges for 2018 listing

  26-09-2016 08:51
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco continues to look at several overseas exchanges including New York, Hong Kong and London for a listing in 2018 of a part of the state-owned oil company, CEO Amin Nasser said on Monday. "This thing will happen in 2018," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai. He added that the company was working with Chinese partners to look at locations for oil storage, and wanted to boost its oil recovery rate to 70 percent from 50 to 55 percent currently. (R
  
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• A world without cars: cities go car-free for the day - in pictures

  26-09-2016 08:08 via theguardian.com
  
  From Bogota to Paris to Istanbul, cities around the world have been imposing traffic restrictions to mark World Car-Free Day. Is it a vision of the future?Can driverless cars reshape our suburbs?Continue reading...
  
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• From prairie to the White House - Inside a Tribe's quest to stop a pipeline

  26-09-2016 07:13
  By Ernest Scheyder and Valerie Volcovici CANNON BALL, N.D./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three days after guard dogs attacked Native Americans protesting an oil pipeline project in North Dakota in early September, an unprecedented event took place at the White House. Brian Cladoosby, president of the National Congress of American Indians, which represents more than 500 tribes, spoke to nearly a dozen of President Barack Obama's Cabinet-level advisers at a September 6 meeting of the White House's three-
  
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• Labour government would ban fracking in UK

  26-09-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Despite strong government support, fracking company Cuadrilla says progress on the ground remains slow, as it awaits a decision on two key sites in Lancashire The Labour party has strengthened its opposition to fracking, saying it would ban the controversial technique for extracting shale gas if it came to power.Speaking at the Labour conference in Liverpool, shadow energy and climate secretary Barry Gardiner is to announce the party will be going further than its previous policy of a moratorium
  
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• Fracking: No shale gas wells to be drilled in UK this year

  26-09-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Despite strong government support, fracking company Cuadrilla says progress on the ground remains slow, as it awaits a decision on two key sites in Lancashire No shale gas wells will be drilled in Britain this year, the industry has confirmed, as a key fracking decision nears.Within the next fortnight, the government will decide whether to accept shale company Cuadrilla’s appeal against Lancashire county council’s decision last year to turn down its application for two fracking sites
  
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• Maralinga nuclear tests, 60 years on: a reminder not to put security before safety | Liz Tynan

  26-09-2016 06:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Australia stood by while Britain’s military elite trashed tracts of its landscape then left. Menzies had said yes without even consulting his cabinetIt is 27 September 1956. At a dusty site called One Tree, in the northern reaches of the 3,200 sq km Maralinga atomic weapons test range in outback South Australia, the winds have finally died down and the countdown begins.The site has been on alert for more than two weeks but the weather has constantly interfered with the plans. Finally, Prof
  
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