Environment news

• The late Hans Rosling tells the modern world's story

  07-02-2017 23:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Hans Rosling, who has died in Sweden aged 68, tells 200 years of world history in four minutes.
  
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• Gulf-backed Yemeni forces capture Red Sea coast city - agency

  07-02-2017 23:43
  Yemeni government forces backed by Gulf Arab troops have secured the Red Sea coast city of al-Mokha, United Arab Emirates news agency WAM reported on Tuesday, in a push that paves the way for an advance on the country's main port city of Hodeidah. Supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi have been fighting for weeks to capture the small town, which once served as a main port for exporting coffee, from the Iran-aligned Houthi that has held it since early 2015. The advance comes amid rising
  
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• Hans Rosling: Data visionary and educator dies aged 68

  07-02-2017 23:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Mr Rosling was known for lively, data-driven presentations debunking myths about global development.
  
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• Oil extends losses after API reports huge U.S. crude build

  07-02-2017 22:57
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices that tumbled more than 1 percent Tuesday fell further after settlement, pressured by growing crude stockpiles in the United States as evidence of a burgeoning revival in U.S. shale production could complicate efforts by OPEC and other producers to reduce a supply glut. Brent dropped to $54.70 and U.S. crude to $51.75 by 4:39 p.m. Eastern (2139 GMT) in post-settlement trading after weekly data from trade association the American Petroleum In
  
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• Air pollution linked to heightened risk of Type 2 diabetes in obese Latino children

  07-02-2017 22:52 via feedproxy.google.com
  Latino children who live in areas with higher levels of air pollution have a heightened risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a new USC-led study.Scientists tracked children’s health and respective levels of residential air pollution for about 3.5 years before associating chronic unhealthy air exposure to a breakdown in beta cells, special pancreatic cells that secrete insulin and maintain the appropriate sugar level in the bloodstream.
  
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• High Selenium Levels Found in Fish in N.C. Lakes Receiving Coal Ash Waste

  07-02-2017 22:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new Duke University study has found high levels of selenium in fish in three North Carolina lakes receiving power plants’ coal ash waste.“Across the board, we’re seeing elevated selenium levels in fish from lakes affected by coal combustion residual effluents,” said Jessica Brandt, a doctoral student in environmental health at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, who led the study.
  
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• VW launches U.S. electric vehicle infrastructure unit

  07-02-2017 22:46
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen Group of America on Tuesday announced a U.S. subsidiary that will manage $2 billion in investments in zero emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure and awareness programs over a decade as part of a court settlement on its excess diesel emissions. The world's largest automaker by sales said the unit plans to install more than 500 charging stations nationwide, including more than 300 stations in 15 metro areas, and to develop a high-speed, cross-c
  
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• Endangered antelope 'may be wiped out'

  07-02-2017 22:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Disease has killed up to a quarter of Critically Endangered Saiga antelope in Mongolia, scientists say.
  
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• Patagonia pulls out of Utah trade show in protest of state's public land grab

  07-02-2017 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Company founder has urged Utah governor to stop trying to undo the decision by former president Obama to create the Bears Ears National MonumentPatagonia, Black Diamond take on Utah officials over public land rightsPatagonia has just become the first retailer to pull out of a big industry trade show in Utah to protest state leaders’ efforts to strip federal protection of public land.The company’s announcement Tuesday came after its founder, Yvon Chouinard, wrote an open letter last m
  
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• You can do your bit to support hedgehogs | Letters

  07-02-2017 19:50 via theguardian.com
  
  We were saddened, though not surprised, to hear that fewer gardeners are spotting hedgehogs (Report, 6 February). We have long known hedgehog numbers are in decline. Since the turn of the century numbers have dropped by about a third in urban areas and a half in rural ones. A major factor in their decline is loss and fragmentation of habitat. We have joined forces with People’s Trust for Endangered Species on a project called Hedgehog Street, designed to help tackle the habitat crisis. We
  
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• U.S. oil output is expected to grow less than expected in 2017 - EIA

  07-02-2017 18:40
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil production is expected to rise 100,000 barrels per day to 8.98 million barrels in 2017, 0.3 percent less than previously forecast, according to a monthly U.S. government report released on Tuesday. “Global oil supply and demand is now expected to be largely in balance during 2017 as the gradual increase in world oil inventories that has occurred over the last few years comes to an end," said Howard Gruenspecht, acting administrator of t
  
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• Iran oil minister says OPEC output cut should be extended into second-half - Fars

  07-02-2017 18:21
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said OPEC should cut crude production "a bit more" in the second half of 2017, Fars news agency reported on Tuesday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on Nov. 30 to cut output by 1.2 million bpd to 32.5 million bpd for the first six months of 2017, in addition to 558,000 bpd of cuts agreed by non-members such as Russia, Oman and Mexico. OPEC members all agree that oil should be $60 a barrel, Fars quoted Zanganeh as
  
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• Volkswagen launches U.S. electric vehicle infrastructure unit

  07-02-2017 18:10
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen Group of America on Tuesday announced a U.S. subsidiary that will manage $2 billion in investments in zero emission vehicle infrastructure and awareness programs over a decade as part of a court settlement over its excess diesel emissions. The world's largest automaker by sales said the unit plans to install more than 500 charging stations nationwide, including more than 300 stations in 15 metro areas, and to develop a high-speed, cross-count
  
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• Don’t let philistines wreck our urban heritage with their developments | Simon Jenkins

  07-02-2017 18:09 via theguardian.com
  
  There’s no point having conservation areas if they are not conserved. Communities secretary Sajid Javid’s Paddington cube ruling will be pivotalSajid Javid, the communities secretary, must decide this week whether to call in one of the most critical decisions in urban planning. Westminster city council wants to allow a “starchitect”, Renzo Piano, to erect a 19-storey glass cube in a conservation area directly overlooking Paddington station.The cube is supposedly an altern
  
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• Don’t let philistine developers wreck our urban heritage | Simon Jenkins

  07-02-2017 18:09 via theguardian.com
  
  There’s no point having conservation areas if they are not conserved. The government’s ruling on Paddington cube will be pivotalfSajid Javid, the communities secretary, must decide this week whether to call in one of the most critical decisions in urban planning. Westminster city council wants to allow a “starchitect”, Renzo Piano, to erect a 19-storey glass cube in a conservation area directly overlooking Paddington station.The cube is supposedly an alternative to the 72
  
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• Exclusive - Italian diesel probe omitted key tests for Fiat Chrysler models

  07-02-2017 18:08
  By Laurence Frost and Silvia Aloisi PARIS/MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler vehicles were allowed to skip key tests for illegal engine software during Italy's main emissions-cheating investigation in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, according to the transport ministry's own report. The report, presented to a European parliamentary committee in October but never officially published, will be seized upon by environmental groups pressing MEPs to vote on Thursday for tougher EU oversight of vehicle
  
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• Crude cargo lawsuit drags BP's oil trading division into the red

  07-02-2017 17:56
  BP's oil trading business, one of the biggest in the sector, reported a rare loss in the fourth quarter after it lost a $70 million lawsuit over an oil cargo delivered to a Moroccan refinery. BP's Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said due to flat trading positions ahead of a crucial OPEC meeting at the end of November, and the lawsuit, the company's oil trading division made a "small loss" in the fourth quarter. The British energy company sold a cargo of Russian Urals crude to Moroccan refi
  
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• How do you reintroduce a herd of bison into the wild?

  07-02-2017 16:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A herd of plains bison have been successfully reintroduced to Canada's oldest national park, more than 100 years after they were nearly hunted out of existence.
  
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• What Happened to the Sun over 7,000 Years Ago?

  07-02-2017 16:47 via feedproxy.google.com
  An international team led by researchers at Nagoya University, along with US and Swiss colleagues, has identified a new type of solar event and dated it to the year 5480 BC; they did this by measuring carbon-14 levels in tree rings, which reflect the effects of cosmic radiation on the atmosphere at the time. They have also proposed causes of this event, thereby extending knowledge of how the sun behaves.When the activity of the sun changes, it has direct effects on the earth. For example, when t
  
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• Are Solar Storms Causing Mysterious Sea Animal Beachings?

  07-02-2017 16:23
  
  Why do otherwise healthy sea creatures end up stranded along coastal areas around the world? NASA scientists are searching for the answer. Whales, dolphins and porpoises — known collectively as cetaceans — partially use magnetic-field sensing to navigate.
  
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• Campus natural gas power plants pose no radon risks

  07-02-2017 16:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  When Penn State decided to convert its two power plants from their historic use of coal as a source of energy to natural gas, there was concern about radon emissions. Although radon is known to exist in natural gas, now Penn State research indicates that it does not escape from these two power plants in harmful amounts.By converting the West Campus Steam Plant on the University Park Campus, Penn State reduced its greenhouse gas emissions at the plant by nearly 40 percent, but the University want
  
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• Power to the EV: Norway spearheads Europe's electric vehicle surge

  07-02-2017 16:04 via theguardian.com
  
  With ambitious emissions-reduction targets, support from government and the car industry, electromobility is on the verge of major expansion in Europe, reports Yale Environment 360Oslo, Norway’s capital, like most of the Scandinavian country’s cities and towns, boasts bus-lane access for electric vehicles (EVs), recharging stations aplenty, privileged parking, and toll-free travel for electric cars. The initiative began in the 1990s as an effort to cut pollution, congestion, and nois
  
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• Bern study rehabilitates climate models

  07-02-2017 15:54 via feedproxy.google.com
  With new methods of reconstruction, climate researchers in Bern have been able to demonstrate that some 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Mediterranean climate was considerably warmer than previous studies had suggested. Among other things, previous concerns regarding the reliability of climate models could thus be dispelled.Climate reconstructions are necessary because reliable measurement data are only available for the last 150 years. For this reason, research on past climate change uses so-calle
  
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• Re-Purposing Air Pollution to make Air Inks

  07-02-2017 15:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Imagine if you could take pollution produced by diesel engines and turn it into a non-carcinogenic substance used in ink, reducing the need for burning fossil fuels.
  
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• Oil prices fall as reviving shale balances OPEC cuts

  07-02-2017 15:44
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Tuesday as lower production by OPEC and other exporters was undermined by growing evidence of a revival in U.S. shale production and sluggish demand. Benchmark Brent crude was down 70 cents at $55.02 a barrel by 1430 GMT. On Monday, the Brent futures contract closed down $1.09 a barrel.
  
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• Gecko eludes foes with tearaway skin

  07-02-2017 15:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A newly discovered species of gecko has tearaway skin that leaves predators with nothing but a mouthful of scales when attacked.
  
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• Fiscal incentives may reduce emissions in developing countries

  07-02-2017 15:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  A study has found that fiscal policies introduced by governments in developing countries can have a significant effect on lowering harmful carbon emissions and help countries with fulfilling their commitments under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement.
  
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• Oil exports from southern Iraq down in January after OPEC deal - sources

  07-02-2017 15:28
  BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Crude oil exports from southern Iraq in January fell to 3.275 million barrels per day (bpd) from 3.51 million bpd in December, as the country complied with an agreement with other producers to reduce output, two oil executives said on Tuesday. December's exports from the southern region, where Iraq produces most of its oil, set a record high. Iraq is OPEC's second-largest crude producer after Saudi Arabia. The group agreed in late November to cut production in order to su
  
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• New doubts on whether early humans were forced to start farming

  07-02-2017 15:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  The development of agriculture is universally believed to underpin some of the most significant advances made by humans worldwide. In New Guinea, where one of the earliest human experiments with tropical forest agriculture occurred, researchers have cast doubt on two views about the origins of agriculture.
  
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• Study Shows Planet's Oxygen Rose Through Glaciers

  07-02-2017 14:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  A University of Wyoming researcher contributed to a paper that determined a “Snowball Earth” event actually took place 100 million years earlier than previously projected, and a rise in the planet’s oxidation resulted from a number of different continents -- including what is now Wyoming -- that were once connected.
  
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• Oil prices slip as reviving shale balances OPEC cuts

  07-02-2017 14:38
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as lower production by OPEC and other exporters was undermined by growing evidence of a revival in U.S. shale production and sluggish demand. Benchmark Brent crude was down 30 cents at $55.42 a barrel by 1330 GMT. On Monday, the Brent futures contract closed down $1.09 a barrel.
  
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• NASA Highlights Science Launching on Next SpaceX Cargo Mission

  07-02-2017 14:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  NASA will host a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 8, to discuss research investigations launching aboard the next SpaceX commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station. Among the investigations are experiments with potential to fight human disease and a new autonomous spacecraft docking technology for testing.
  
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• Extraordinary migration of giant Amazon catfish revealed

  07-02-2017 14:18 via theguardian.com
  
  The dorado catfish travels 11,600km from the Andes to the mouth of the Amazon and back, but is threatened by dams and miningA giant silvery-gold catfish undertakes the longest freshwater migration of any fish, according to new research, travelling 11,600km from the Andes to the mouth of the Amazon and back.The dorado catfish, which can grow up to 2 metres long, is an important source of food for people along the world’s longest river. It was suspected of making a spectacular journey, but a
  
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• Lord's becomes first cricket ground to run on 100% renewables

  07-02-2017 13:00
  
  Lord's has become the first UK cricket ground to run completely on clean energy, as new figures reveal that extreme weather linked to climate change has caused £3.5m worth of damages to the sport.
  
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• Costa goes nationwide with in-store coffee cup recycling scheme

  07-02-2017 12:55
  
  Coffee shop chain Costa Coffee has taken a huge step forward in the war on waste coffee cups with the rollout of a pioneering cup recycling scheme to more than 2,000 of its stores across the UK.
  
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• BP may 'incrementally' increase U.S. shale portfolio - CEO

  07-02-2017 11:58
  BP is looking at ways to incrementally increase its footprint in U.S. shale oil and gas production, its Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said on Tuesday. Dudley said the company will use "a lot of discipline" in investments in the sector as asset prices are high. Talking to analysts after reporting its 2016 results, Dudley also said the British oil and gas company was considering giving the green light to several projects around the world, including in Oman, Trinidad and Tobago and India.
  
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• Could restoring ancient water tanks help build peace in Sri Lanka?

  07-02-2017 11:54 via theguardian.com
  
  After decades of violence, a programme to bolster water security weaves climate resilience into Sri Lanka’s postwar recoveryAfter almost three decades of civil war, Sri Lanka has the daunting task of nurturing cohesion in its multi-faith and multi-ethnic community while also addressing the increasing impacts of climate change.The small island country is already facing environmental challenges that could dwarf the damage inflicted by fractures in its society. Drought and erratic weather pat
  
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• After French action, Fiat Chrysler says diesel vehicles meet emissions rules

  07-02-2017 11:45
  Fiat Chrysler said its diesel vehicles were fully compliant with emissions requirements after the French authorities referred the carmaker's case to prosecutors as it has done with Volkswagen and Renault . The Italian-American group had not yet been informed of the facts behind the French allegations, a company spokesman said. The case is the latest headache for a major company in an industry shaken by the "Dieselgate" scandal that has engulfed VW since Sept. 2015.
  
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• Google and Game of Thrones star team-up to highlight 'terror' of climate change

  07-02-2017 11:44
  
  Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is swapping the Riverlands of Westeros for the icecaps of Greenland, as part of a new awareness project with Google to visually demonstrate the impacts of climate change.
  
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• FBI posed as journalists to get evidence on Bundys. Now it could hurt their case

  07-02-2017 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Trial stemming from a 2014 standoff could be derailed by a ploy to pose as a ‘fake film company’ and an ethics scandal involving a BLM officer and Burning ManFBI agents posed as journalists and tricked the Bundy ranching family and their supporters into giving on-camera interviews that prosecutors may use in upcoming trials, according to defense attorneys and court records. The FBI’s “fake film production company” and “wide-reaching deceptive undercover operat
  
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• BP lifts break-even oil price after profit miss

  07-02-2017 10:42
  By Karolin Schaps and Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - BP raised the oil price at which it can balance its books this year to $60 (£48.5) a barrel on Tuesday due to higher spending following a string of investments as annual earnings fell for a second consecutive year. After the average oil price fell to its lowest in 12 years at $44 a barrel last year, BP said it expected prices to have found a floor for this year at $50 a barrel following a decision by major OPEC and non-OPEC producers to l
  
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• 23 EU countries are breaking European air quality laws

  07-02-2017 10:36
  
  European air quality laws are being flaunted in more than 130 cities across 23 of the 28 EU member states, the European Commission said yesterday (6 February).
  
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• Oil prices steady as reviving shale balances OPEC cuts

  07-02-2017 10:04
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as lower production by OPEC and other exporters balanced growing evidence of a revival in U.S. shale production and sluggish demand. Benchmark Brent crude was trading at $55.72 per barrel by 0850 GMT, unchanged from the last close. On Monday, the Brent futures contract closed down $1.09 a barrel.
  
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• European shares up as earnings cheer offsets weakness in oil, French banks

  07-02-2017 10:00
  European shares rose on Tuesday pushing the benchmark STOXX 600 back slightly into positive territory for the year with some encouraging company updates and gains in healthcare stocks helping to counter weakness in oil majors and eurozone banks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 percent with bluechip healthcare stocks, industrials and mining stocks underpinning gains. Among sector movers, the European mining index rose 0.9 percent, the best performer in STOXX 600 index, helped by a rise
  
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• Fiat Chrysler reiterates diesel vehicles fully compliant

  07-02-2017 09:48
  Fiat Chrysler reiterated its diesel vehicles were fully compliant with applicable emissions requirements, a spokesman said on Tuesday after the French authorities referred the carmaker's case for possible prosecution.[nL5N1FR61Q] The FCA spokesman added the group had not yet been informed of the facts behind the French allegations, but looked forward to having the opportunity to respond. The FCA spokesman said the company had reservations about tests carried out on a single vehicle sample and ac
  
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• SC Johnson goes 'Acre-for-Acre' with customers to protect the Amazon rainforest

  07-02-2017 09:47
  
  Cleaning products manufacturer SC Johnson has unveiled a new challenge to help with the "necessity" of saving the Amazon rainforest, by challenging consumers to protect 10,000 acres in the Amazonia area.
  
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• DCC to buy ExxonMobil's Norwegian retail petrol station network

  07-02-2017 09:42
  (Reuters) - London-listed DCC Plc said it would buy the retail petrol station network of ExxonMobil's Norwegian unit, Esso Norge AS, for 2.43 billion Norwegian crowns ($293.38 million). DCC, whose activities range from oil distribution to waste management and food distribution, said the total consideration, along with the value of stock in tank at the date of acquisition, would be paid in cash. Shares in the company were up 5.4 percent at 6,725 pence at 0821 GMT, making them the top gainers on t
  
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• BP expects producers' cuts to keep oil prices above $50 a barrel

  07-02-2017 09:23
  By Karolin Schaps and Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - BP missed quarterly profit forecasts as annual earnings fell for a second year after average yearly oil prices hit their lowest in 12 years but said it expected producers' output cuts to keep prices above $50 a barrel this year. BP is the latest oil major to miss forecasts following worse-than-expected results from Shell, Exxon Mobil and Statoil. The oil major said it expected to be able to balance its books with an oil price of around $60 per
  
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• Low-carbon vehicles claim record UK market share

  07-02-2017 08:20
  
  Low-carbon vehicles secured a record share of the UK new car market last month, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has claimed.
  
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