Environment news

• More voters blame energy price rises on privatisation than renewables – polling

  19-01-2017 23:16
  
  Only 17.7% of respondents in polling commissioned by GetUp believe renewable energy is the primary culpritAustralian voters have not been swayed by a campaign attempting to blame rising power prices on renewable energy, according to new polling commissioned by GetUp.Conservative media, as well as the federal government, have been attacking renewable energy, blaming it for rising power bills as well as blackouts that were caused by extreme weather. Continue reading...
  
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• Man killed by crocodile at Cahill's Crossing in Kakadu national park

  19-01-2017 22:33
  
  A 47-year-old man was taken after trying to wade across the East Alligator river, Northern Territory police sayA man has been killed by a crocodile at Cahill’s Crossing in Kakadu national park. Related: Welcome to crocodile country: the remarkable comeback of Australia's Jaws of the northContinue reading...
  
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• The threat to species from climate change should provoke shame in our hearts | Tim Flannery

  19-01-2017 22:24
  
  The flora and fauna that have made Australia such a remarkable place is under grave threat from a climate changing due to carbon emissionsWhile Australia bakes through another hot, angry summer, its precious wildlife is increasingly under threat, not just from the extreme weather of fires and floods but by the growing reality of a changing climate.It is getting hotter. Day by day, month by month, year by year – 2016 is confirmed as the hottest year on record globally, closely following the
  
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• Mayo researchers identify mechanism of oncogene action in lung cancer

  19-01-2017 22:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers at Mayo Clinic have identified a genetic promoter of cancer that drives a major form of lung cancer. In a new paper published this week in Cancer Cell, Mayo Clinic researchers provide genetic evidence that Ect2 drives lung adenocarcinoma tumor formation.
  
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• How Much Drought Can a Forest Take?

  19-01-2017 22:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Aerial tree mortality surveys show patterns of tree death during extreme drought.Why do some trees die in a drought and others don’t? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts?
  
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• Oil edges up from one-week low as IEA sees tighter market

  19-01-2017 21:44
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, but swelling U.S. crude stockpiles limited the rebound from a one-week low after the International Energy Agency said oil markets had been tightening even before cuts agreed by OPEC and other producers took effect. The IEA said that while it was "far too soon" to gauge OPEC members' compliance with promised cuts, commercial oil inventories in the developed world fell for a fourth consecutive month in November, with
  
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• Scientists discover how to prevent undesirable immune attacks on therapeutic viruses

  19-01-2017 21:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  LA JOLLA—Normally when we think of viruses, from the common cold to HIV, we want to boost people’s immunity to fight them. But for scientists who develop therapeutic viruses (to, for example, target cancer cells or correct gene deficiencies) a more important question is: How do we keep people’s natural immune responses at bay? In these cases, an overenthusiastic immune response actually undermines the therapy.
  
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• Pancreatic tumors rely on signals from surrounding cells

  19-01-2017 21:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  LA JOLLA—Just as an invasive weed might need nutrient-rich soil and water to grow, many cancers rely on the right surroundings in the body to thrive. A tumor’s microenvironment—the nearby tissues, immune cells, blood vessels and extracellular matrix—has long been known to play a role in the tumor’s growth.
  
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• Protectionism and the fight against climate change | Letters

  19-01-2017 20:24
  
  You rather spoiled your commendable editorial (19 January) on making America great again by going green, when you dismissed the idea of protectionist carbon tariffs on those US exports made artificially cheap by being produced using subsidised fossil fuels. This could be an important transitional step to shifting a world economy already falling out of love with globalisation towards one shaped by green “progressive protectionism”. At its heart would be an emphasis on protecting and r
  
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• Sea levels could rise by six to nine metres over time, new study warns

  19-01-2017 20:00
  
  Evidence that continental ice sheets are sensitive to slight increases in ocean temperature suggests ocean levels will continue to rise for centuriesSea surface temperatures today are strikingly similar to those during the last interglacial period, when sea levels were six to nine metres above their present height, according to research.The findings provide compelling evidence that Greenland and Antarctica’s continental ice sheets are highly sensitive to slight increases in ocean temperatu
  
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• Oil edges up off one-week low as IEA sees tighter market

  19-01-2017 19:49
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Thursday, but swelling U.S. crude stockpiles limited the rebound from a one-week low after the International Energy Agency said oil markets had been tightening even before cuts agreed by OPEC and other producers took effect. The IEA said that while it was "far too soon" to gauge OPEC members' compliance with promised cuts, commercial oil inventories in the developed world fell for a fourth consecutive month in November, with
  
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• Oil rebounds from one-week low as IEA sees tighter market

  19-01-2017 18:06
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday, but swelling crude stockpiles in the United States limited the rebound from a one-week low after the International Energy Agency said oil markets had been tightening even before cuts agreed by OPEC and other producers took effect. The IEA said that while it was "far too soon" to gauge OPEC members' compliance with promised cuts, commercial oil inventories in the developed world fell for a fourth consecutive month in Novemb
  
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• Ants use Sun and memories to navigate

  19-01-2017 18:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say ants can plot a route home even when travelling backwards.
  
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• 'Lost kingdom' linked to Galloway

  19-01-2017 17:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Archaeological research at a site in Galloway suggests it may have been at the heart of a "lost kingdom" from the Dark Ages.
  
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• Global warning: ominous signs for climate in Trump administration – live

  19-01-2017 17:20
  
  With climate sceptics moving into the White House, the Guardian is spending 24 hours focusing on climate change. Right now we’re checking out what a few of Trump’s key cabinet picks have to say on the issueOur partner, Univision News, is hosting a parallel event in Spanish today. Follow it here 4.12pm GMTRick Perry, the former governor of Texas, is currently facing questions from US senators in his confirmation hearing as Donald Trump’s secretary of energy.Perry rather sheepish
  
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• In the fight for climate justice, indigenous people set the path – and lead the way | Julian Brave NoiseCat

  19-01-2017 16:36
  
  The cornerstone of the climate justice movement must be indigenous rights and sovereigntyMany believe the fight to combat climate change hinges on the aligned interests of capital and state. Give the Elon Musks of the world enough time and resources and they will innovate us out of impending climate catastrophe. Get the G20 in a room and they will hammer out a deal and create regulations to enforce it. Or so the thinking in some circles goes.Yet throughout history, the interests of the state hav
  
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• Factbox: Post-sanctions deals with Iranian firms linked to Khamenei

  19-01-2017 16:36
  (Reuters) - Since Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme, foreign companies have sealed at least nine deals with companies in which entities controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including Setad Ejraiye Farman-e Hazrat-e Emam, have large or majority stakes. * In May 2016, South Korea's Daewoo Engineering andConstruction Co. announced it and Hyundai Engineering andConstruction had agreed to build a $10 billion (8.12 billionpounds) oil refinery on Iran's southern coast. The compa
  
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• Global warning: top climate experts give their advice to Donald Trump – live

  19-01-2017 15:59
  
  With climate sceptics moving into the White House, the Guardian is spending 24 hours focusing on climate change. Right now we’re hearing from top experts in the field on what they want to say to President Trump todayOur partner, Univision News, is hosting a parallel event in Spanish today. Follow it here 2.56pm GMTSo that’s about it from this part of the world. We are off for a lie down in a dark room. Stay tuned though for much, much more from the Americas, hosted by Oliver Milman a
  
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• Scotland sets ambitious goal of 66% emissions cut within 15 years

  19-01-2017 15:46
  
  Holyrood ministers aim higher after hitting target of 42% cut by 2020 six years early, but say Brexit poses challengeScotland is seeking to dramatically cut its reliance on fossil fuels for cars, energy and homes after setting a radical target to cut total climate emissions by 66% within 15 years.In one of the world’s most ambitious climate strategies, ministers in Edinburgh have unveiled far tougher targets to increase the use of ultra-low-carbon cars, green electricity and green home hea
  
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• Congress moves to give away national lands, discounting billions in revenue and millions of jobs

  19-01-2017 15:39
  
  Though recreation on federal lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthrightIn the midst of highly publicized steps to dismantle insurance coverage for 32 million people and defund women’s healthcare facilities, Republican lawmakers have quietly laid the foundation to give away Americans’ birthright: 640m acres of national land. In a single line of changes to the rules for the House of Representative
  
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• Congress moves to cede federal lands, jeopardizing billions in revenue and 6.1m jobs

  19-01-2017 15:39
  
  Though recreation on federal lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthrightIn the midst of highly publicized steps to dismantle insurance coverage for 32 million people and defund women’s healthcare facilities, Republican lawmakers have quietly laid the foundation to give away Americans’ birthright: 640m acres of national land. In a single line of changes to the rules for the House of Representative
  
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• Oil rallies from one-week low as IEA sees tighter market

  19-01-2017 15:33
  By Libby George and Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices recovered from a one-week low on Thursday as the International Energy Agency said oil markets were tightening even before cuts agreed by OPEC and other producers took effect. Oil prices have gyrated this year as the market's focus has swung from hopes that oversupply may be curbed by output cuts announced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to fears that a rebound in U.S. shale producti
  
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• How can we reverse the UK's falling recycling rates? Read what happened during our Q&A

  19-01-2017 15:24
  
  Catch up on all the key points from our online discussion on how businesses and consumers can help boost recycling 2.24pm GMTTim Hutchinson, director of Outpace, a packaging design consultancy asks: Why don’t Retailers make more use of Reusable packaging? Nearly all delivery companies and Couriers are under so much pressure to deliver their goods they don’t have time to wait for the empty packaging. We all know the likes of Amazon put tremendous pressure on their delivery contractors
  
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• Climate change prompts Alaska fish to change breeding behavior

  19-01-2017 15:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  One of Alaska’s most abundant freshwater fish species is altering its breeding patterns in response to climate change. This could impact the ecology of northern lakes, which already acutely feel the effects of a changing climate.That’s the main finding of a recent University of Washington study published in Global Change Biology that analyzed reproductive patterns of three-spine stickleback fish over half a century in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The data sh
  
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• Total readies drills in Cyprus, Egypt in regional growth push

  19-01-2017 15:23
  By Bate Felix PARIS (Reuters) - France's Total is preparing to drill for gas off Cyprus, close to ENI's huge Zohr discovery off the Egyptian coast which in 2015 renewed interest among oil majors for exploration in the Mediterranean. Cyprus awarded ENI, Total and ExxonMobil exploration licences near the Zohr field in December, while neighbouring Lebanon plans to restart its delayed oil and gas licensing round in the region. "Obviously the Zohr discovery has changed the landscape," Stephane Michel
  
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• OPEC chief sees oil stocks declining as cuts take effect

  19-01-2017 15:08
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Oil stocks around the world need to decline by at least another 270 million barrels to reach a five-year industry average for OPEC to be able to say the markets are becoming balanced, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo told Reuters. "Stocks have already come down to below 3 billion barrels in OECD commercial stocks. OPEC's latest monthly oil market report, issued on Wednesday, said OECD commercial stocks stood at 2.993 billion barrels in
  
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• P&G develops world's first recyclable shampoo bottle made from beach plastic

  19-01-2017 14:55
  
  The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has today (19 January) announced that it will be mass-producing the world's first recyclable shampoo bottle made from up to 25% post-consumer recycled (PCR)beach plastic.
  
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• Global warning: everything you wanted to know about climate change – live

  19-01-2017 14:34
  
  With climate sceptics moving into the White House, the Guardian is spending 24 hours focusing on climate change – and what we can all do to help save the planetOur partner, Univision News, is hosting a parallel event in Spanish today. Follow it here 1.34pm GMTID5865653 asks an important question about whether aviation can be made greener.Does anyone know what, if any, progress is being made on making flights more carbon neutral? I know there was a successful round-the-world solar flight in
  
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• Climate change will affect all of us. So why the lack of urgency? | Polly Toynbee

  19-01-2017 14:17
  
  From Trump to Brexit, we are all fixated on more immediate news stories. We need to look at the bigger pictureTomorrow the world shudders as Donald Trump becomes US president. Hopes that wise advisers would mitigate the erratic, half-crazed stream of contradictions pouring from his lips have been dashed as he picks fake news purveyors and climate change-deniers for his close consiglieri. Related: Global warning: the saviour tech that can help turn the tide on climate changeContinue reading...
  
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• Spoiler alerts: the five best climate-change films

  19-01-2017 14:00
  
  Hollywood – loyal to its eco-sceptic audiences in middle America – has always been frosty towards environmental movies. Here are the most prescient exceptions to the rule“We know that it was us that scorched the sky.” And with that curt footnote, The Matrix sidesteps any further elaboration on the climate conditions that reign in the future outside the virtual world. Which seems to be Hollywood’s approach to climate change all over. It’s great for a bit of pos
  
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• As Thatcher understood, true Tories cannot be climate change deniers | John Gummer

  19-01-2017 13:04
  
  With climate sceptics moving to the White House, it’s crucial the US right recognises free markets are uncomfortable for incumbents but essentialConservatives cannot properly be climate deniers. At the heart of their political stance is a desire to hand on something better to the future than they have received from the past. Now that climate science is so clear, a recognition of the duty to act to protect the next generation follows naturally. Of course, Conservatives have been somewhat ca
  
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• As Thatcher understood, Conservatives are not true climate change deniers | John Gummer

  19-01-2017 13:04
  
  With climate sceptics moving to the White House, it’s crucial the US right recognises free markets are uncomfortable for incumbents but essentialConservatives cannot properly be climate deniers. At the heart of their political stance is a desire to hand on something better to the future than they have received from the past. Now that climate science is so clear, a recognition of the duty to act to protect the next generation follows naturally. Of course, Conservatives have been somewhat ca
  
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• Outgoing EPA chief reveals fears Trump administration will halt climate action

  19-01-2017 13:00
  
  EPA staff are ‘nervous’ after the president-elect promised to reduce the environment agency to ‘tidbits’ and named climate skeptic Scott Pruitt to lead itThere is “nervousness” among Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff that Donald Trump’s incoming administration will sideline science and reverse action on climate change, according to the agency’s outgoing administrator, Gina McCarthy.McCarthy told the Guardian that the Trump administration
  
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• China builds world's biggest solar farm in journey to become green superpower #GlobalWarning

  19-01-2017 13:00
  
  Vast plant in Qinghai province is part of China’s determination to transform itself from climate change villain to a green energy colossusHigh on the Tibetan plateau, a giant poster of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, guards the entrance to one of the greatest monuments to Beijing’s quest to become a clean energy colossus.
  To Xi’s right, on the road leading to what is reputedly the biggest solar farm on earth, a billboard greets visitors with the slogan: “Promote green
  
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• How to reduce your carbon footprint #GlobalWarning

  19-01-2017 12:47
  
  From cutting down on meat, to contacting your local representatives and investing in clean energy, here are 15 ways to help reduce global carbon emissions1 Air travel is usually the largest component of the carbon footprint of frequent flyers. A single return flight from London to New York – including the complicated effects on the high atmosphere – contributes to almost a quarter of the average person’s annual emissions. The easiest way to make a big difference is to go by tra
  
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• Global warning: reasons to be (cautiously) optimistic about humans tackling climate change

  19-01-2017 12:30
  
  With climate sceptics moving into the White House, the Guardian is spending 24 hours focusing on climate change – and what we can all do to help save the planetOur partner, Univision News, is hosting a parallel event in Spanish today. Follow it here 11.30am GMTAfghanistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change – but some people are trying to make a difference. In most villages where I go, they actually understand. Climate change is visible to them now
  
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• Five of the best climate-change novels

  19-01-2017 12:27
  
  From the dystopias of Cormac McCarthy and Margaret Atwood to a ‘biopunk’ thriller and a teen comedy – these are some of the best stories of ecological perilThere’s a brief reference to nuclear attack – “a sudden shear of light and then a series of low concussions” – but the slow process of climate change isn’t mentioned in this terrifying 2006 novel about a man and his young son struggling to survive after the fall of civilisation. Make no mi
  
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• Mercuria introduces blockchain to oil trade with ING, SocGen

  19-01-2017 12:04
  By Dmitry Zhdannikov DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Trading house Mercuria is working with banks ING and Societe Generale on the first large oil trade based on blockchain technology, as the tradition-bound oil industry tests out digital technology. Mercuria is shipping an oil cargo with African crude to China, selling it to one of its shareholders - ChemChina - with ING and Societe Generale helping to execute the deal, Mercuria's chief executive and co-founder Marco Dunand told Reuters.
  
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• Wars will not be fought over water – our thirst could pave the way to peace | Sundeep Waslekar

  19-01-2017 11:46
  
  As extremist groups increasingly attack water infrastructure, we need to create multinational funds to protect all the world’s shared rivers and lakesThe changing of the guard on the 38th floor of the United Nations has taken place at a time when notions about peace and conflict undergo a subtle change. In particular, the role of resources – especially water – is getting the recognition it deserves, as António Guterres takes over from Ban Ki-moon as UN secretary general.
  
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• Iraqi sheep, locals, environment suffer Islamic State oil fires

  19-01-2017 11:46
  Locals cough and wheeze under vast clouds of smoke, and NASA images show oil threatening to encroach on the Tigris River, a major water source. Lit by Islamic State as they fled Iraqi forces in August, huge oil fires are still raging across northern Iraq, bringing a litany of problems in their wake. A toxic cloud has hung for months over the town of Qayyara, just 60 km (40 miles) from Mosul where Iraqi forces are battling to defeat the militant Sunni group.
  
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• Oil rises from one-week low as IEA says oil market tightening

  19-01-2017 11:37
  By Libby George and Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil bounced back from a one-week low on Thursday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said global oil markets were tightening even before cuts promised by OPEC and other producers could take shape. Oil prices have gyrated this year as the market's focus has swung from hopes that oversupply may be curbed by output cuts announced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others producers to fears that a reboun
  
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• Ex-VW CEO denies early knowledge of diesel emissions cheating

  19-01-2017 11:34
  Former Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn told German lawmakers he did not know about the company's systematic emissions cheating earlier than VW has officially admitted. "That is not the case," Winterkorn told the German parliament's committee of inquiry into carmakers' emissions irregularities. Lawmakers' inquiry of Winterkorn takes place amid questions about when the former CEO and other top managers at VW found out about the diesel cheating and why they chose not to inform investor
  
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• Gatwick Airport joins RE100 campaign

  19-01-2017 11:33
  
  Gatwick Airport has joined the RE100 initiative alongside Dutch Royal Philips and the Danske Bank Group, as a new report revealed that members of the renewables initiative have created a 107TWh demand for clean energy.
  
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• SmartestEnergy launches UK's first certified 100% renewable electricity product

  19-01-2017 11:27
  
  Independent green energy supplier SmartestEnergy has launched the UK's first independently certified 100% renewable electricity product for businesses.
  
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• Why are we running out of courgettes?

  19-01-2017 10:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Bad weather in Italy and Spain is significantly increasing the price of vegetables across northern Europe
  
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• Halliburton to drill wells for Shell, doubling Iraq's Majnoon oil field output - sources

  19-01-2017 10:53
  Shell has signed a $210 million contract with Halliburton to drill 30 wells in Iraq's Majnoon oil field, two oil sources said on Thursday. Shell, the operator of the giant Majnoon field in southern Iraq, could not be reached immediately for comment.
  
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• OPEC output cuts under scrutiny as market tightens - IEA

  19-01-2017 10:48
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - World oil markets are slowly tightening as demand rises while investors wait to see if production cuts agreed by OPEC and other producers will be implemented as promised, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. In its monthly oil market report, the IEA said output cuts announced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 non-OPEC producers in November had "entered their probation period". OPEC agreed in November to cu
  
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• 'Here's one we made earlier': Blue Peter badges to be made from yoghurt pots

  19-01-2017 10:44
  
  The BBC has announced that its long-running children's show Blue Peter will now be making its famous badges from old yoghurt pots.
  
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• Avalanche hits Italy hotel, many feared dead or injured

  19-01-2017 10:39
  An avalanche hit a popular mountain hotel in central Italy after a series of strong earthquakes had rattled the area, and up to 30 people might be buried under the snow, officials said on Wednesday. "Around 30 people are unaccounted for, between guests and workers at the Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola," Fabrizio Curcio, head of Italy's civil protection department, told reporters. The avalanche collapsed part of the four-storey hotel, which is some 1,200 metres (4,000 ft) above sea level, and moved
  
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