Environment news

• Tasmanian tiger sightings: 'I represent 3,000 people who have been told they’re nuts'

  30-11-2016 22:37 via theguardian.com
  
  The Thylacine Awareness Group is ‘dedicated to the research, recognition and conservation of our most elusive apex predator’ – officially extinct since 1936Six years ago Neil Waters moved to Tasmania. There, he says, he had a “brief encounter” with a thylacine, the carnivorous marsupial known as the Tasmanian tiger, declared extinct in 1986.Two years later, in January 2014, he was doing work on his house when a smaller animal walked up a dirt track leading out of a
  
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• Corals much older than previously thought

  30-11-2016 22:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Coral genotypes can survive for thousands of years, possibly making them the longest-lived animals in the world, according to researchers at Penn State, the National Marine Fisheries Service and Dial Cordy & Associates.The team recently determined the ages of elkhorn corals  — Acropora palmata — in Florida and the Caribbean and estimated the oldest genotypes to be over 5,000 years old. The results are useful for understanding how corals will respond to current and futur
  
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• Azerbaijan criminalises defamation of the president online

  30-11-2016 21:35
  Azerbaijan's parliament on Wednesday made online defamation of the president a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. With almost all traditional media strictly controlled by the government, social media networks have become outlets for people to voice criticism in a country where the economy has suffered from the global slump in oil prices and a depreciating currency. Azerbaijan criminalised defamation over the internet three years ago, meaning many people now use aliases and covert accou
  
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• Oil jumps over 10 percent as OPEC finalises output cut deal

  30-11-2016 21:21
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil soared more than 10 percent on Wednesday to over $50 a barrel and its highest in a month as some of the world's largest producers agreed to curb production for the first time since 2008 in a bid to support prices. Crude prices rose nearly 5 percent for the month.
  
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• After OPEC deal, oil expected to rally - for the moment

  30-11-2016 20:57
  By Devika Krishna Kumar and Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil's blistering rally of up to 10 percent to $50 a barrel on Wednesday should continue into next week, analysts and fund managers said, after the world's top producers announced a historic deal to rein in output. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached its first deal to cut oil output since 2008 - signalling its return to managing supply in world markets. The path ahead for the oil market, however, is ex
  
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• 'Walking sharks' at greater risk of extinction than previously thought

  30-11-2016 20:05 via theguardian.com
  
  New analysis of nine species that ‘walk’ by night on shallow reefs shows their range is much smaller than was knownBizarre “walking sharks” are at a greater risk of extinction than previously thought, with new information about their distribution leading researchers to expect greater efforts to protect them from human threats such as fishing and climate change. Bamboo sharks include nine species of sharks that swim and “walk” in shallow waters around northern
  
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• 'Walking shark' takes a stroll along the seabed – video

  30-11-2016 20:04 via theguardian.com
  
  A new analysis shows these bizarre creatures have much smaller distributions than previously thought, making them more vulnerable to human pressures such as fishing and climate change. The findings could spark greater protections Continue reading...
  
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• U.S. September oil demand rises 2.3 percent year/year - EIA

  30-11-2016 20:03
  U.S. total oil demand rose in September for the second consecutive month on a year-over-year basis as strong gasoline consumption offset weak distillate sales, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. U.S. oil demand in September rose by 2.3 percent, or 446,000 barrels per day (bpd), from a year ago to 19.86 million bpd, according to the EIA's petroleum supply monthly report.
  
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• U.S. crude output falls 167,000 bpd to 8.58 million bpd in Sept - EIA

  30-11-2016 19:55
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil production fell 167,000 barrels per day to 8.58 million bpd in September from August, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in a monthly report. Production declined by 139,000 bpd in the offshore Gulf of Mexico, and rose slightly in Texas, increasing by 6,000 bpd. Production in North Dakota slipped by 12,000 bpd, the EIA said. (Reporting by Jessica Resnick-Ault; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
  
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• Private plan to send Moon rover to Apollo 17 site

  30-11-2016 19:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A proposed private space mission is planning to visit Apollo 17's landing site on the Moon.
  
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• Curbing immigration spells 'disaster' for science

  30-11-2016 19:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The President of the UK's Royal Society warns that onerous restrictions on immigration of scientists would spell "disaster" for the UK economy
  
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• Earth warming to climate tipping point, warns study

  30-11-2016 19:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A warming world will release vast amounts of soil carbon into the atmosphere, which in turn risks triggering dangerous climate change, scientists warn.
  
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• Russia ready to cut oil output by 300,000 barels per day in first half, as agreed with OPEC

  30-11-2016 19:10
  By Denis Pinchuk MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is ready to cut oil production "gradually" by up to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of next year as part of an agreement with OPEC, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday. "Our talks with non-OPEC countries allow us to expect some countries to join the deal, cumulatively contributing approximately up to 300,000 bpd," Novak said.
  
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• Oil up more than 8 percent as OPEC finalises output cut deal

  30-11-2016 18:23
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault New York (Reuters) - Oil prices soared more than 8 percent on Wednesday as some of the world's largest oil producers agreed to curb oil output for the first time since 2008 in a last-ditch bid to support prices. Crude prices, however, are unlikely to skyrocket in reaction to the deal, but will instead take measured steps higher, traders and analysts said. OPEC will meet with non-OPEC producers on Dec. 9.
  
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• Surging oil price pushes FTSE higher

  30-11-2016 18:21
  By Peter Hobson and Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose on Wednesday, led by rebounding energy stocks after oil prices surged to their biggest one-day gain in nine months when major producers agreed to output cuts to curb oversupply. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2 percent. The index has underperformed European peers this month, as it contains many defensive stocks that have lagged as investors have bet on a return of inflation and growth following the ele
  
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• Leaner and meaner - U.S. shale greater threat to OPEC after oil price war

  30-11-2016 17:33
  By Catherine Ngai and Ernest Scheyder NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - In a corner of the prolific Bakken shale play in North Dakota, oil companies can now pump crude at a price almost as low as that enjoyed by OPEC giants Iran and Iraq. Until a few years ago it was unprofitable to produce oil from shale in the United States. In effect, even as OPEC has decided to reduce output to try to boost prices, that may end up being undermined by a potential increase in U.S. production.
  
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• UK retailers pioneer ground-breaking biomethane transport fuel

  30-11-2016 17:28
  
  A host of British retailers including Waitrose, John Lewis and Argos have been named as the first long-distance lorry users of a renewable biomethane fuel launched today (1 December), which is said to be 35-40% cheaper and 70% less CO2-emitting than diesel.
  
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• EU winter package met with mixed green business reception

  30-11-2016 16:20
  
  As the European Commission (EC) today (30 November) unveiled its energy winter package aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, edie analyses the major talking points of the document's key proposals.
  
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• Scottish SMEs could save £19,000 per year through energy efficiency measures

  30-11-2016 16:08
  
  Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are wasting £19,000 every year by neglecting simple energy efficiency improvements, according to Zero Waste Scotland.
  
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• Bioenergy grass can withstand freezing temperatures

  30-11-2016 15:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  March 2012 was unusually warm. Biomass crops around the Midwest were well established and thriving. But when a late frost came in mid-April, all of that changed.“When I went out in the morning, I was just shocked,” says University of Illinois agronomist D.K. Lee. “All the grasses were covered in frost. By noon, Miscanthus and switchgrass had turned black. The only plant that was untouched was prairie cordgrass.”
  
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• Oil jumps 8 percent as OPEC agrees first production cut since 2008

  30-11-2016 15:25
  By Karolin Schaps and Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 8 percent on Wednesday to a five-week high as some of the world's largest oil producers agreed to curb oil output for the first time since 2008 in a last-ditch bid to support prices. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were $3.66 higher at $48.89 a barrel, a one-week high. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed its first output limiting deal in eight years, an OPEC source tol
  
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• EU energy use to fall by 30% under new efficiency plans for 2030

  30-11-2016 15:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New proposals from the European Commission see binding targets for energy efficiency as key method of curbing carbon.
  
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• Shell studies green energy deals to prepare for future after oil

  30-11-2016 15:04
  By Karolin Schaps and Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell , the world's second-biggest publicly listed oil company, is studying acquisitions in the green energy sector, its CEO told Reuters, as it bows to shareholder demands for a strategy beyond fossil fuels. Shell, which has a market value of $200 billion, produces two percent of the world's oil and gas but rapid technological change coupled with policies to protect the climate have kick-started a shift in energy markets that has p
  
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• Platypus venom paves way to possible diabetes treatment

  30-11-2016 14:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Australian researchers say platypus venom could pave the way for new type 2 diabetes treatments.
  
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• Saturn mission approaches tour finale

  30-11-2016 14:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Cassini spacecraft is beginning the end phases of its mission to Saturn that will eventually see it disposed of in the giant planet's atmosphere.
  
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• Inner Mongolia's unauthorised steel factories – in pictures

  30-11-2016 14:07 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘We will make China a beautiful country with blue sky, green vegetation and clear rivers,’ vowed President Xi Jinping in September. But these haunting photographs by the award-winning Canadian photojournalist Kevin Frayer, who travelled to Inner Mongolia to witness the activities of unauthorised steel mills, underline the scale of Beijing’s challenge to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels Continue reading...
  
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• 'Long, loud and legal' policies crucial to supporting low-carbon transition, says Ikea chief

  30-11-2016 13:45
  
  The growing megatrends surrounding demographical evolution, decarbonisation and digitalisation will increase the need for the private sector to inform policymakers of the types of legislation that are needed to support low-carbon growth, Ikea's chief sustainability officer Steve Howard has claimed.
  
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• Centrica sells Trinidad and Tobago gas assets to Shell

  30-11-2016 13:44
  British utility Centrica said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell its gas assets in Trindad and Tobago for $30 million to Royal Dutch Shell. The assets include a 17.3 percent interest in the producing NCMA-1 block as well as operating interests in two undeveloped blocks, Centrica said. The divestment is part of Centrica's drive to focus its oil and gas exploration and production activity to Britain, the Netherlands and Norway.
  
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• Oil jumps 8 percent on prospects for big OPEC output cut

  30-11-2016 13:41
  By Karolin Schaps and Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 8 percent on Wednesday to a five-week high as some of the world's largest oil producers gathered in Vienna to try to agree a production cut that could be bigger than expected. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were $3.63 higher at $48.86 a barrel, a one-week high. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries started a meeting at 0900 GMT on Wednesday at its Vienna headquarters to discuss te
  
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• Tesco and Sainsbury's ban plastic cotton buds to cut waste

  30-11-2016 13:15 via theguardian.com
  
  UK’s two largest supermarket chains will replace the plastic stems with paper ones in all own-brand products by the end of 2017The UK’s two largest supermarket chains have committed to end the sale of cotton buds with plastic stems, which are the most common litter from toilets flushed on to the country’s beaches.Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s will replace the plastic stick with paper by the end of 2017 in their own-brand products.Continue reading...
  
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• 'Predator of the deep' or gentle giant?

  30-11-2016 13:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The giant manta ray could be a "predator of the deep" preying on other fish, say scientists.
  
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• Obama's complicated legacy on climate change - video

  30-11-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Barack Obama has been called the first ‘climate president’ for acknowledging the real threat of global warming. But work by Columbia University and the Guardian shows that Obama’s climate record has been badly tarnished by investments made in dirty fuels around the worldHow Obama’s climate change legacy is weakened by US investment in dirty fuelContinue reading...
  
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• How Obama's climate change legacy is weakened by US investment in dirty fuel

  30-11-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: an agency inside the Obama administration poured billions into fossil fuel projects that will lead to global carbon emissions of a damaging scale
  President Barack Obama has staked his legacy on the environment, positioning his administration as the most progressive on climate change in US history.However, an obscure agency within his own administration has quietly spoiled his record by helping fund a steady outpouring of newoverseas fossil fuel emissions – effectively erasing ga
  
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• How Brexit can streamline retail supply chains by harnessing the growth of Africa

  30-11-2016 12:47
  
  Brexit can place UK retailers at the vanguard of nascent agricultural and manufacturing supply sectors in Africa, but only if the UK Government retains current tariff-free access to products from the continent.
  
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• Who has most species named after them – David Attenborough? Charles Darwin?

  30-11-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsI understand that Charles Darwin, David Attenborough and Barack Obama have all had multiple species named after them. But who has had the most species named after them? Who would be in the top 10?Hilary GuedallaContinue reading...
  
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• EU targets energy waste and coal subsidies in new climate package

  30-11-2016 12:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Plan to cut energy use by 30% before 2030 forms centrepiece of package to help EU meet its Paris climate commitmentsEurope will begin phasing out coal subsidies and cut its energy use by 30% before the end of the next decade, under a major clean energy package announced in Brussels on Wednesday.The 1,000 page blueprint to help the EU meet its Paris climate commitments also proposes measures to cut household electricity bills, integrate renewables into power markets, and limit use of unsustainabl
  
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• EU declares war on energy waste and coal subsidies in new climate package

  30-11-2016 12:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Plan to cut energy use by 30% before 2030 forms centrepiece of package to help EU meet its Paris climate commitmentsEurope will phase out coal subsidies and cut its energy use by 30% before the end of the next decade, under a major clean energy package announced in Brussels on Wednesday.
  The 1,000-page blueprint to help the EU meet its Paris climate commitments also pencils in measures to cut electricity bills, boost renewable energies and limit use of unsustainable bioenergies. Continue reading
  
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• Beijing untypically quiet on Taiwan drills in South China Sea

  30-11-2016 12:05
  By J.R. Wu ITU ABA, South China Sea (Reuters) - Taiwan held rescue drills on Tuesday off the coast of its sole outpost in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, but the biggest claimant in the disputed waters kept uncharacteristically quiet. China and self-governed Taiwan seldom see eye to eye, but in responding to Taipei's latest assertion of sovereignty over Itu Aba, Beijing has avoided the harsh language it often directs at other claimants to the busy waterway.
  
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• Trump and the GOP may be trying to kneecap climate research | Dana Nuccitelli

  30-11-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  While Trump claims to be open-minded on climate, there are ominous signs that Republicans will try to slash climate research
  Last week, Donald Trump’s space policy advisor Bob Walker made headlines by suggesting that the incoming administration might slash Nasa’s climate and earth science research to focus the agency on deep space exploration. This caused great concern in the scientific community, because Nasa does some of the best climate research in the world, and its Earth science
  
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• Arctic sea-ice struggles to build volume

  30-11-2016 11:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Data shows the volume of Arctic sea-ice is heading for a record-equalling low for the month of November.
  
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• Oil jumps 5 percent on prospects for OPEC output cut

  30-11-2016 11:01
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil jumped more than 5 percent on Wednesday, after the Saudi oil minister said an agreement among OPEC members on cutting output was close, putting the price on course for its biggest one-day move since April. Brent crude futures rose $2.72 on the day to $49.10 per barrel by 0935 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.43 to $47.66 a barrel. Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, said he believed the market's fundamentals
  
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• Caroline Lucas calls for new Environmental Act to strengthen green policy post-Brexit

  30-11-2016 08:30
  
  The UK must create a new Environmental Act, subject to legal oversight and accountability mechanisms, which replaces and strengthens environmental protections post-Brexit, Green Party Co-Leader Caroline Lucas has said.
  
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• Rare ferrets settling in, making babies at new Colorado home

  30-11-2016 08:23
  
  DENVER (AP) — Dozens of slinky, ferocious and rare ferrets are settling in and making babies at their new home in Colorado, one year after they were released at a wildlife refuge outside Denver.
  
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• Oil rises 2 percent as Iraq delegate says will be OPEC deal on Wednesday

  30-11-2016 08:19
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose as much as 2 percent on Wednesday after an Iraqi delegate said that some form of deal would be reached between OPEC members who are meeting in Vienna to agree terms of a production cut to rein in oversupply. International Brent crude was trading at $47.18 per barrel at 0707 GMT, up 80 cents, or 1.72 percent, from its last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 71 cents, or 1.57 percent, at $45.94 a barrel.
  
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• Two-wheel takeover: bikes outnumber cars for the first time in Copenhagen

  30-11-2016 08:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Denmark’s capital has reached a milestone in its journey to become a cycling city – there are now more bikes than cars on the streets. Can other cities follow?Bicycle sensors in Copenhagen clocked a new record this month: there are now more bikes than cars in the heart of the city. In the last year, 35,080 more bikes have joined the daily roll, bringing the total number to 265,700, compared with 252,600 cars. Copenhagen municipality has been carrying out manual traffic counts at a nu
  
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• Oil prices rise in nervous trading ahead of OPEC meeting

  30-11-2016 07:15
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil markets edged up in nervous trading on Wednesday ahead of an OPEC meeting later in the day, with members of the producer cartel trying to thrash out an output cut to curb oversupply that has seen prices more than halve since 2014. International Brent crude was trading at $46.85 per barrel at 0603 GMT, up 47 cents, or 1 percent, from its last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 29 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $45.52 a barrel.
  
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• Frightened by Donald Trump? You don’t know the half of it | George Monbiot

  30-11-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Many of his staffers are from an opaque corporate misinformation network. We must understand this if we are to have any hope of fighting back against themYes, Donald Trump’s politics are incoherent. But those who surround him know just what they want, and his lack of clarity enhances their power. To understand what is coming, we need to understand who they are. I know all too well, because I have spent the past 15 years fighting them. Related: Trump’s climate denial is just one of th
  
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• Tamar's manure canal returns to nature

  30-11-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Gunnislake, Tamar Valley Barges that carried coal, corn, manure, granite, bricks and lime had to be hauled manually upstream against the currentFrom the hilltop railway station, rain clouds veil sight of Dartmoor and, in nearby Stony Lane, run-off flows between shoals of sodden beech leaves. Down this sunken way towards the river, ferns, mosses and pennywort show green under the tangle of fading bramble, yellow-leafed hazel and bare sycamore; the enclosing hedge-banks frame occasional glimpses a
  
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• Using satellites to support Kenya's drought-hit herders – in pictures

  30-11-2016 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In Kenya 1.3 million people are facing serious food insecurity and loss of livelihoods as a result of poor rainfall. As the next dry season approaches, one insurance scheme is using satellite data to support some of east Africa’s most vulnerable. Photographs by ILRI. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices edge up in nervous trading ahead of OPEC meeting

  30-11-2016 04:25
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil markets edged up in nervous trading on Wednesday ahead of an OPEC meeting later in the day, with members of the producer cartel trying to thrash out an output cut to curb oversupply that has seen prices more than halve since 2014. International Brent crude was trading at $46.80 per barrel at 0311 GMT, up 42 cents, or 0.91 percent, from its last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 23 cents, or 0.51 percent, at $45.46 a barrel.
  
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