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Papal Draft Blames Most Global Warming on Human Activity

Pope Francis after a mass in Tacloban in the Philippines in January. ROME—Pope Francis calls global warming a major threat to life on the planet, says it is due mainly to human activity and describes the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels as an “urgent” matter, in a published draft of an upcoming letter on the environment. The pope’s words appear in a draft copy of “Laudato Si’” (“Be praised”), his long-awaited encyclical on the environment. The draft was published online Monday by the Italian magazine L’Espresso, three days ahead of its scheduled publication date. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in a statement that the posted text wasn’t the final document, which would remain under embargo until Thursday. In the draft, Pope Francis wrote of a “very consistent scientific consensus that we are in the presence of an alarming warming of the climactic system.” […]

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Pope Francis Calls for Climate Action in Draft of Encyclical

Photo Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. A final version of his encyclical is due Thursday. Credit Giampiero Sposito/Reuters ROME — Pope Francis offers a broad vision of an endangered planet, partly blaming human activity and fossil fuels for climate change while calling for people of all religions to take swift action, according to a leaked draft of his much-awaited environmental encyclical that was posted online Monday by an Italian magazine. The unauthorized release of the 192-page draft , published by L’Espresso, angered officials at the Vatican, who warned that the document did not represent the final version of Francis’ encyclical, which remains embargoed from publication until Thursday. In the leaked document, Francis often writes eloquently, citing scientific evidence about the human role in global warming. He repeats some of his familiar themes in calling on people to move away from a consumerist model that he says […]

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Oil steadies on U.S. storm, Yemen peace talks

LONDON Oil prices steadied on Monday as a storm that could impact the Gulf of Mexico raised concerns over U.S. production but talks in Geneva offered a chance for peace in Yemen where top crude exporter Saudi Arabia has been involved in a civil war. A large tropical disturbance in the southern Gulf of Mexico has a 70 percent risk of developing into a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, potentially threatening oil output in the region. U.S. light crude oil CLc1, also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), bounced from a session low of $59.62 per barrel to trade around $59.80, down 16 cents, by 0800 GMT (0400 ET). Brent crude LCOc1 was unchanged at $63.87 a barrel. Brent has fallen from a high above $66 last week and appears to be settling into a range between $60 and $65, said Carsten […]

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Iran’s Rouhani aims to limit nuclear inspections, warns of talks delay

DUBAI Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday a comprehensive nuclear deal could be delayed if world powers brought new issues into play, and he would not accept a U.N. inspections regime that jeopardized state secrets. Iran is aiming to strike an accord with six powers by June 30 that would curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions. But negotiators have hit an impasse in part over how much enhanced access International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors should have to Iranian sites. "Iran will absolutely not allow its national secrets to fall into the hands of foreigners through the Additional Protocol or any other means," Rouhani said in a televised news conference, referring to an IAEA provision that would allow more intrusive inspections in the Islamic Republic. U.S. and French diplomats have called for Iran to accept stringent measures including granting inspectors access to its military sites […]

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Libyan coalition takes on ISIL in Derna

A coalition of armed groups in the Libyan the city of Derna say they have put the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group on the backfoot. The Shura Council of Derna declared war on ISIL last week and has been engaged in clashes with the fighters for days after describing ISIL as "tyrants and criminals" and pledging not to let it take root in the city. The Shura Council says it has succeeded in forcing ISIL from mosques and hotels it had seized in western and central parts of Derna. Footage shared on social media showed fighters from the coalition involved in street battles with ISIL. One Minute ISIL ISIL holds territory in Derna, in the east, as well as in the central city of Sirte. The council more than a dozen of its fighters had been wounded in the clashes. ISIL has carried out a […]

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Libya says Algerian militant Belmokhtar killed in U.S. strike

TRIPOLI Libya’s recognized government said on Sunday veteran Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar had been killed in a U.S. air strike inside Libya as part of counter-terrorism cooperation. Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense said the U.S. military conducted a counterterrorism strike against an Al Qaida-associated target in Libya on Saturday night, but were assessing results before providing more details. "The Libyan government in the east of Libya confirms that the U.S fighter jets conducted air strikes last night in a mission which resulted in the death of the terrorist Belmokhtar," Libya’s recognised government said. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Additional reporting by Peter Cooney in Washington; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Sandra Maler )

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Energy Nations Better Watch Out as Saudis Open Stock Market

Investors watch share price movements in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photographer: Waseem Obaidi/Bloomberg Global equity markets are waking up to a new $558 billion magnet pulling cash out of developing nations from Russia to Malaysia. As Saudi Arabia lifts a ban on direct investments by foreigners, fund allocators are preparing to shift money out of other countries and put it to work in the Arab world’s largest stock market. While there’s little consensus on which country will be the biggest loser, money managers mostly agree that energy producers will feel the heaviest effects. Below are the views of seven emerging-markets investors and strategists on what to expect: Martial Godet, head of emerging-market equities and derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas SA in Paris: Saudi Arabia “will not be a bargain, but it can be a nice diversification from emerging Asia that has become increasingly large within emerging markets. The biggest losers […]

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Drought may hit rural Indian economy, aggravating poverty

MATHURA, India India’s farm economy could contract this fiscal year for the first time in over a decade because of drought, threatening Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to lift millions in the countryside out of poverty and bolster his party’s support. Roughly half of India’s farmland lacks irrigation and relies on monsoon rain, but this year’s rainfall is officially forecast to be only 88 percent of the long-term average and, for the first time in nearly three decades, farmers face a second straight year of drought or drought-like conditions. That comes on top of a crash in commodity prices, unseasonable rain earlier this year and delayed sowing late last year because of scanty monsoon rain. "Farmers are already reeling under heavy losses … and now they don’t have money to irrigate their fields or use an optimum level of inputs like fertilizer," said Ashok Gulati, an agricultural economist who […]

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“There Could Be Trouble” As US Fracking Revolution Prepares to Go Global

A new report showing the U.S. overtaking Russia as the leading producer of oil and gas in the world should put to rest any doubt that the fracking revolution that has occurred in the U.S. is for real, or as BP’s chief economist put it, “profound.” And now with the recent Environmental Protection Agency report on the impacts of fracking on drinking water being touted by the American Petroleum Institute as proof that fracking is safe, the industry’s insatiable greed got another boost. More recently, the Harvard Business School has also joined in the discussion calling for the end of the ban on exporting U.S. crude oil and warning about the implications of missing the “opportunity” offered by fracking. So with all of this momentum, what does ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson think should be next? Less regulation. As previously mentioned on DeSmog , at this year’s CERAweek conference Tillerson […]

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