Environment news

• Obama bans new oil drilling in Arctic Ocean

  18-11-2016 23:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Obama administration bans offshore drilling in the Arctic but Donald Trump could rip up the ban.
  
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• Marrakech climate talks wind down with maze of ambition still ahead

  18-11-2016 23:14 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s easy to get lost in the old Moroccan medina – just as disorientating as the UN climate process, where emission-cutting goals are being bartered tooMarrakech has an ancient heart — centuries old and unafraid to show it — and it has all the ingredients needed to disorientate an outsider. You get lost, often.Lanes in the centuries-old medina are narrow and the walls are high, making it impossible to spot a landmark and get a fix on where you are.Continue reading...
  
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• Threatened seabirds begin to recover on Macquarie Island after pests eliminated

  18-11-2016 22:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Five years after the last rabbit was killed, endangered birds such as the black-browed albatross are growing in numbersEight species of threatened seabird have begun to recover on Macquarie Island, signalling a possible end to 130 years of death and destruction on the sub-Antarctic outpost.The island has been formally declared pest-free, five years after the last rabbit was killed. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil gains 5 percent on the week on OPEC hopes

  18-11-2016 21:53
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Friday, closing out a strong week that saw crude buoyed by growing expectations that OPEC will find a way to cap production at the end of the month. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is moving closer to finalising its first deal since 2008 to limit output, with most members prepared to offer Iran flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said. Iran has been the main stumbling block for cappin
  
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• Obama puts Arctic Ocean off limits for drilling in last-ditch barrier to Trump

  18-11-2016 20:14 via theguardian.com
  
  US Department of the Interior says ‘fragile and unique’ Arctic ecosystem at risk if drilling allowed, possibly by pro-fossil fuels Trump administrationBarack Obama’s administration has ruled out drilling for oil and gas in the pristine Arctic Ocean, throwing up a last-ditch barrier to the pro-fossil fuels agenda of incoming president Donald Trump. The US Department of the Interior said that the “fragile and unique” Arctic ecosystem would face “significant risk
  
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• Hammond must avoid more North Sea oil subsidies in the autumn statement | Letters

  18-11-2016 19:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Ahead of the autumn statement next week (Report, 18 November), we urge the chancellor not to answer calls from oil producers in the North Sea for another round of government subsidies. Instead, Philip Hammond should put an end to the taxpayer-funded bonus for oil and gas companies and set the UK on a pathway to a more prosperous, clean energy future. If the world is to deliver on the Paris agreement on climate change, most of the known oil, gas and coal reserves must remain untapped. Yet in spit
  
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• Oil down for day on strong dollar, up for week on OPEC hope

  18-11-2016 19:37
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were down slightly on Friday, weighed by a stronger dollar and oversupply concerns, but expectations for a cut in production from OPEC had Brent and U.S. crude on track for their first weekly gains in about a month. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is moving closer to finalising its first deal since 2008 to limit output, with most members prepared to offer Iran flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said.
  
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• Petrobras could get back 5.5 billion reais in corruption probe - CEO

  18-11-2016 19:28
  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA could receive up to 5.5 billion reais ($1.6 billion) back as a result of an ongoing corruption probe, Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said on Friday. Speaking at a news conference in Curitiba, he estimated Petrobras lost roughly 6 billion reais due to a kickback scheme involving major politicians and executives. The company got 204 million reais back on Friday, adding to more than 500 million reais i
  
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• Trump’s dilemma: to please his friends by trashing the Paris climate deal, or not? | Bill McKibben

  18-11-2016 17:58 via theguardian.com
  
  If the president-elect sabotages last year’s agreement, he will own every disaster – every hurricane a Hurricane Donald, every drought a moment for mockeryIt seems likely that the Paris climate accords will offer one of the first real tests of just how nuts Donald Trump actually is. For a waiting world it’s a public exam, his chance to demonstrate either that he’s been blowing smoke or deeply inhaling. Related: Trump seeking quickest way to quit Paris climate agreement, s
  
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• 78,000 Origami Elephants Invade the Bronx Zoo

  18-11-2016 17:58
  
  The Bronx Zoo has been taken over by a horde of adorable animals of an entirely new species — call it Elephas origami. The zoo, run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), has officially amassed the largest display collection of origami elephants in the world, earning it a spot in the Guinness World Records. The official tally of 78,564 more than doubles the last record holder, the Zoological Society of London/Whipsnade Zoo in Great Britain, which displayed a paltry 33,764 origami elep
  
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• UNIST Researchers Turn Waste Gas into Road-Ready Diesel Fuel

  18-11-2016 17:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing the world today. With the effectuation of the Paris Agreement, there has been a rising interest on carbon capture and utilization (CCU).A new study, led by Professor Jae Sung Lee of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST uncovers new ways to make biofuel from carbon dioxide (CO2), the most troublesome greenhouse gas. In their paper published in the journal Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, the team presented di
  
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• An unstoppable force: Seven things we learned from the COP22 climate talks

  18-11-2016 17:23
  
  As political and business leaders prepare to board flights home from Marrakesh after a fortnight of proactive discussions, edie looks back at some of the highlights of the UN's COP22 climate talks.
  
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• Poor nations pledge deep emissions cuts at Marrakech summit

  18-11-2016 17:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Bangladesh and Ethiopia among 48 countries to pledge tougher carbon targets and a switch to 100% renewable energySome of the world’s poorest countries have pledged to dramatically cut their carbon emissions and rapidly move to 100% renewable power, as the UN climate summit in Marrakech drew to a close on Friday.The announcement followed a final declaration by nearly 200 nations affirming their “highest political commitment” to combatting climate change, in a thinly-coded warnin
  
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• Climate summit chief pleads with Trump not to ditch Paris treaty

  18-11-2016 17:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Marrakech COP22 president urges US president-elect to join battle against global warming for sake of humanityThe president of the COP22 climate summit in Marrakech has made a direct plea to the incoming US president Donald Trump to join the struggle against global warming for the sake of humanity and the planet.Salaheddine Mezouar, who is also the Moroccan foreign minister, had spent most of the week-long summit diplomatically trying to steer clear of questions about Trump, telling reporters at
  
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• Oil down on firmer dollar, set for weekly gain on OPEC hopes

  18-11-2016 17:14
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - A stronger dollar weighed down oil prices on Friday, but Brent crude was headed for its first weekly gain in five on hopes that OPEC might agree to limit production cuts at the end of the month. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is moving closer to finalising its first deal since 2008 to limit output, with most members prepared to offer Iran flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said. Iran has been the main stumbling block
  
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• Live Q&A: Elephants are disappearing, so how can we save them?

  18-11-2016 16:56 via theguardian.com
  
  The survival of elephants depends on what humans do now. Join us on Tuesday 22 November from 1-2.30pm to discuss how to save this threatened species 3.56pm GMTWe know that elephant populations are collapsing at a frightening rate and that the driving forces behind this collapse are a global appetite for ivory and, just as worryingly, human/elephant conflict for space and resources. Earlier this year, the world’s governments agreed to recommend the closure of domestic ivory markets. This is
  
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• The Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 15 - Fresh from Marrakesh

  18-11-2016 16:45
  
  The Carbon Trust's chief executive Tom Delay and Asia Pulp & Paper's director of sustainability Aida Greenbury are the special guests on this week's podcast episode, which reviews the the UN's two-week COP22 climate talks in Marrakesh.
  
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• World's poorest countries to aim for 100% green energy

  18-11-2016 16:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Representatives from 47 of the world's most disadvantaged nations have promised that they will generate all their future energy needs from renewables.
  
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• Not so warped

  18-11-2016 16:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  From tractor beams to warp drive, sci-fi has inspired serious real-life research.
  
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• Volkswagen agrees deal with unions to cut 30,000 jobs

  18-11-2016 16:12
  By Andreas Cremer and Jan Schwartz WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Volkswagen and its labour unions agreed to cut 30,000 jobs at the core VW brand in exchange for a commitment to avoid forced redundancies in Germany until 2025, a compromise which leaves the carmaker's profitability still lagging rivals. The turnaround plan announced on Friday will lead to 3.7 billion euros (3.16 billion pounds) in annual savings by 2020 and lift the Volkswagen (VW) brand's operating margin to 4 percent that year,
  
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• Sumatran orangutans in rehab – in pictures

  18-11-2016 15:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Members of the critically endangered species are cared for and nursed back to health before their release at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme’s rehabilitation centre in Kuta Mbelin, North Sumatra, Indonesia Continue reading...
  
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• Global climate change accord seen slowed, not halted, by Trump

  18-11-2016 15:44
  By Alister Doyle and Nina Chestney MARRAKESH, Morocco (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's plan to quit a landmark 2015 accord to fight climate change is likely to dent rather than derail the pact, with almost 200 governments defiantly saying this week that a trend towards cleaner energy is irreversible. The 2015 Paris Agreement, more than 20 years in the making, won a renewed vote of confidence from governments from China to Saudi Arabia and companies who foresee a shift from fossil fuels
  
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• ‘Africa is tired of being in the dark’: bank chief on plans to boost energy

  18-11-2016 15:07 via theguardian.com
  
  At COP22, the African Development Bank’s president, Akinwumi Adesina, tells of strategies to improve energy supplies and fight the impact of climate change“We lose 5% of our potential GDP every year, and African industries cannot be competitive without access to electricity,” says Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank. “I believe that’s why we can’t break away from reliance on exporting our raw materials – new industries will only g
  
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• Exclusive - Glencore seeks $550 million to raise stakes in Kurdish oil game

  18-11-2016 15:04
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Glencore is seeking to raise $550 million (445.76 million pounds) from investors via a debt issue guaranteed by oil from Iraqi Kurdistan in an attempt to secure a big slice of the high-risk - and high-reward - market in a region at war with Islamic State. Kurdish oil has been targeted by European traders over the past two years, during an industry downturn, since Erbil began selling oil independently from Baghdad. It has been relatively cheap due to the po
  
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• Corals Survived Caribbean Climate Change

  18-11-2016 14:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  Half of all coral species in the Caribbean went extinct between 1 and 2 million years ago, probably due to drastic environmental changes. Which ones survived? Scientists working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) think one group of survivors, corals in the genus Orbicella, will continue to adapt to future climate changes because of their high genetic diversity.“Having a lot of genetic variants is like buying a lot of lottery tickets,” said Carlos Prada, lead a
  
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• Global green movement prepares to fight Trump on climate change

  18-11-2016 14:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Election of a climate sceptic as US president sparks outpouring of donations and a surge in planned protests and court challengesThe global green movement is preparing for the fight of its life against efforts by Donald Trump to rollback action on climate change, with a surge in fundraising, planned court challenges and a succession of protests.Environmental activists said the election of a climate change denier as US president, along with the prospect of former vice-presidential nominee Sarah P
  
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• UK should phase-out carbon tax to cut power prices – report

  18-11-2016 14:01
  Britain should phase out a carbon emissions tax levied on power producers by the mid 2020s, cutting household electricity bills by around 7 percent, an influential think tank on UK government policy said in a report on Friday. The report comes ahead of next week's Autumn Statement on the UK budget by Chancellor Philip Hammond, in which he is expected to say something about the future of the tax, currently frozen at 18 pounds ($22.34) per tonne until April 2021. "We recommend that the CPS (carbon
  
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• Third former energy minister charged in Bulgaria over nuclear project

  18-11-2016 13:08
  Bulgarian prosecutors charged former energy minister Delyan Dobrev on Friday with failing to take steps to stop payments to a consultancy engaged with a now-cancelled nuclear power project. Dobrev is the third former energy minister charged with mismanagement that led to significant state losses in relation to the Belene nuclear plant. Prosecutors said Dobrev, while energy minister between 2012 and 2013, had not acted to stop payments to the consultancy, thus causing losses of 4.56 million levs
  
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• I nearly died from an insect sting. The fear it left was worse than the wound | Beverly Willett

  18-11-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I carried an EpiPen around for years, more as a crutch than a reassurance. Then one day, I forgot it while walking in a field of bee-friendly wildflowersTwenty-six years ago I almost died. My husband and I had rented a house in a seasonal beach community. I was examining the menu outside the town’s restaurant when I felt a sharp pain in my left earlobe. My vision blurred and my knees buckled.Related: Tell us about a time you faced your fearContinue reading...
  
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• Oil set for first weekly gain in five on OPEC deal optimism

  18-11-2016 12:32
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices were headed for their first weekly gain in five on Friday buoyed by renewed hopes that OPEC might agree production cuts, but a stronger U.S. dollar capped gains. Brent crude oil futures were flat at $46.49 per barrel at 1101 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were down 7 cents at $45.35 a barrel and were on track for a their first weekly gain in four.
  
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• African rats to turn sensitive noses against poaching

  18-11-2016 11:38
  By Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - Africa's giant rats have been trained to sniff out landmines and detect tuberculosis in humans, and soon they could turn their superior noses to protecting other animals by finding illegal wildlife trophies being smuggled out of African ports. The U.S.-financed project is still in its early stages - the rats who will be trained to scuttle over shipping containers in search of pangolin scales were only born in October. "I firmly believe that we are going to be
  
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• New climate watchdog launches inquiry into Brexit implications

  18-11-2016 11:23
  
  MPs have today (18 November) launched a new inquiry examining the implications of Brexit on the Britain's energy sector and its national climate change commitments.
  
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• UK should retain carbon price floor to support coal phase-out – report

  18-11-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Policy Exchange paper argues government should stick with carbon price floor until coal is fully forced off the grid, reports BusinessGreenPolicy Exchange has become the latest organisation to call for the retention of the UK’s carbon price floor ahead of next week’s autumn statement, arguing changes to the policy would seriously undermine the government’s efforts to phase out coal power by 2025.The influential thinktank joins the CBI and trade body Energy UK in arguing the lev
  
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• ISO 37101: New standard published to support sustainable development

  18-11-2016 10:25
  
  The British Standards Institution (BSI) has this week launched a new information standard to help city leaders set their city's sustainable development agenda.
  
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• Conservationists cry foul over India's landmark forest rights law

  18-11-2016 10:20
  By Rina Chandran MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Almost four times as many individual as community claims have been lodged under a landmark Indian law to protect the rights of forest dwellers and tribal communities, sparking criticism it is being exploited for financial gain and leading to deforestation. The Forest Rights Act (FRA) gives indigenous people and forest dwellers rights to manage and govern their traditional forests and resources. More than four million individual claims and ab
  
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• Iraq's oil contracts make joining OPEC output cut more painful

  18-11-2016 09:37
  By Ahmad Ghaddar and Ahmed Rasheed LONDON/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq would have to compensate international oil companies for limits placed on their production, according to industry sources and documents seen by Reuters, further reducing the prospect it will join any OPEC deal to curb the group's output. The compensation - stipulated in contracts - would compound the financial hit of losing much-needed revenue from crude sales, if the cash-strapped country were to yield to OPEC entreaties to curt
  
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• Good Energy launches UK's first online renewables marketplace

  18-11-2016 09:20
  
  Businesses can now choose how and where their electricity is generated thanks to the launch of the UK's first online marketplace for renewable electricity.
  
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• Britain's first online renewable energy marketplace launched by Good Energy

  18-11-2016 09:20
  
  Businesses can now choose how and where their electricity is generated through the UK's first online marketplace for renewable energy, launched by independent supplier Good Energy this week.
  
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• EU drops part of reservation to Hungary's Paks nuclear project

  18-11-2016 09:07
  The European Commission has ended proceedings against Hungary over the award of a contract to Russia's Rosatom to expand the Paks nuclear power plant, although it is still investigating the country's funding for the project. Hungary has said that no supplier other than Rosatom would have met the government's demand of keeping the plant in Hungarian state ownership permanently. Hungary plans to build two Russian VVER 1200 reactors for a total budget of 12.5 billion euros ($13.2 billion), of which
  
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• Motorists on-board with stricter action against vehicle emissions

  18-11-2016 09:00
  
  Motorists across the UK are showing a rising concern for poor air quality levels and are calling for stronger action to be taken to reduce vehicle pollution in those worst affected areas, a new survey conducted by the RAC has found.
  
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• 150 years of global warming in a minute-long symphony – video

  18-11-2016 08:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Sometimes, a tune can say so much more than an image or words. Here, we turn almost 150 years of global temperatures into music. The higher the temperature, the higher the pitch of the note. And the louder the note, the more carbon there is in the atmosphere Continue reading...
  
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• Volkswagen to cut 30,000 jobs at VW brand by 2021 - source

  18-11-2016 08:24
  By Jan Schwartz WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - German carmaker Volkswagen and its labour unions have agreed to 30,000 job cuts by 2021 at its VW brand as part of a plan to boost profitability and fund a shift to electric and self-driving cars after its emissions scandal, a source told Reuters on Friday. Europe's largest automaker is trying to increase savings at its biggest unit in Germany, where its costs are high, while needing to find billions of euros to pay for the cleanup related to its di
  
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• Government long-term climate strategy should be 'business friendly', says Corporate Leaders Group

  18-11-2016 08:00
  
  The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group (CLG), which represents European business leaders such as Tesco, Kingfisher and Unilever, has outlined the importance of "business friendly" national government long-term policy planning to deliver the vision of the Paris Agreement.
  
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• Conquering the Cent Cols Challenge in the Pyrenees: from despair to defiance

  18-11-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Oliver Duggan recounts the geographical, physical and mental rollercoaster of cycling 100 mountain passes in 10 days across southern France and Spain
  The col de la Core is not a famous climb – in cycling, or any other sport. There are no champions’ names spray painted on the ground, no monuments at the top to riders past or present. It has no especially beautiful scenery or harsh gradients. It is a simple, two-lane road, and on a Saturday morning last month, it nearly killed me. Cont
  
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• Could gas from grass rival fracking to heat UK homes?

  18-11-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Britain’s first ‘green gas mill’ will convert grass into biomethane to heat more than 4,000 homes and is set to come online in 2018The grass is always greener than the gas on the other side, according to a British businessman who claims grasslands could provide enough gas to heat all of the UK’s homes.
  Dale Vince, the chairman of renewable energy company Ecotricity, is investing £10m in the first of a generation of what he calls ‘green gas mills’ that he
  
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• Great Barrier Reef: third fatality in a week as British tourist dies on dive

  18-11-2016 06:39 via theguardian.com
  
  The man in his 60s is the third person to die on the reef this week, after two French tourists apparently had heart attacks on Wednesday A British man has died while diving on the Great Barrier Reef, the third death in three days among visitors to Australia’s popular natural tourist attraction.The 60-year-old man was found without a breathing device during a tandem scuba dive at Agincourt reef, 100km north of Cairns, on Friday. Continue reading...
  
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• Champions of high-altitude flight

  18-11-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Lake Manasarovar, Tibet Bar-headed geese are popular with British fanciers, but better to think of them here, readying for their lofty migration over the HimalayasFrom the roof of Chiu monastery, perched high on its rocky hill, the water of Lake Manasarovar was cobalt, the surrounding hills rich ochre, luminous in the sunlight of a late autumn afternoon. With a shoreline 55 miles (90km) long, and at an altitude of more than 4,500 metres (15,000ft), this is one of the highest and largest bodies o
  
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• Peggy Whitson: Blast off to the ISS for oldest woman in space

  18-11-2016 03:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronaut Peggy Whitson has lifted off into space for her third mission to the International Space Station.
  
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• From lab to lobbying

  18-11-2016 02:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK scientists are coming up with strategies to deal with the prospect of leaving the EU.
  
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• Oil prices fall as strong dollar wipes out OPEC cut optimism

  18-11-2016 02:18
  By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - Oil prices fell in early trading on Friday as the strengthening U.S. dollar snuffed out rekindled hopes that OPEC might agree production cuts. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 53 cents from their last settlement, or 1.17 percent, at $44.89 a barrel at 0107 GMT. International Brent crude futures were down 46 cents, or 0.99 percent, at 46.03 a barrel. A stronger U.S. dollar makes oil, which is priced in dollars, more expensive to
  
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