A rash of rhino horn thefts, "as many as 30 so far this year, have been reported in museums, galleries, antiques dealerships, auction houses and homes across Europe as criminals try to feed a growing demand in China and other Asian countries, where medicine made from ground rhino horns is believed to act as an aphrodisiac and to cure cancer and other diseases."
"Yet another panel of scientists has found no evidence that a popular vaccine causes autism. But despite the scientists' best efforts, their report is unlikely to have any impact on the frustrating debate about the safety of these crucial medicines.
"MOBILE, Alabama -- Oil is once again fouling the Gulf of Mexico around the Deepwater Horizon well, which was capped a little over a year ago.
Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of small, circular patches of oily sheen dotted the surface within a mile of the wellhead. With just a bare sheen present over about a quarter-mile, the scene was a far cry from the massive slick that covered the Gulf last summer.
"LONDON—The illegal trade in counterfeit pesticides has grown into a multimillion-euro industry in Europe, putting consumers' lives and farmers' livelihoods at risk as unregulated and often toxic chemicals enter the food chain.
"A Senate bill that would allow energy-saving retrofits to be factors in mortgage underwriting has quickly attracted a diverse set of enthusiastic supporters that range from the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the liberal Center for American Progress.
"Lax trade restrictions and high sugar prices should allow the United States to overtake Brazil in ethanol exports during the second half of 2011, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
During the first five months of 2011 U.S. ethanol exports more than doubled from the same period last year, the EIA said.
"The nuclear regulator said on Thursday that it will require operators of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors to review their earthquake risks as part of an ongoing update of seismic hazards for power plants.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it will provide existing plants with a seismic analysis tool later this year that will allow plants to perform "an updated review."
"WASHINGTON — Federal geologists published new estimates this week for the amount of natural gas that exists in a giant rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which stretches from New York to Virginia.
The shale formation has about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas, according to the report from the United States Geological Survey. This is drastically lower than the 410 trillion cubic feet that was published earlier this year by the federal Energy Information Administration.
"BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Crews facing adverse weather forecasts rushed to bolster protective lines around blazes that have scorched tens of thousands of acres in the Northern Rockies, while firefighters in Oregon worked to corral a range fire that forced a kids' science camp to evacuate.
Fire conditions rose to critical Thursday as steady winds fanned several blazes and scattered storms threatened to spark new ones across Montana, north central Idaho and northwest Wyoming.
"DUCK, N.C. — Hurricane watches were posted for New York and much of the Northeast on Friday morning as Hurricane Irene jogged northward, putting the whole of the East Coast on alert.
The hurricane warning that was put into effect in North Carolina on Thursday was extended by the National Hurricane Center to Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey on Friday morning, indicating that preparations for the storm should be completed as soon as possible.
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