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International News

Fossil fuel pollution kills millions more than scientists previously knew

The results underscore a fact absent from much public debate and discussion about climate change. While the fight to stop greenhouse gas pollution by curtailing fossil fuel use is framed in terms of how it would improve the future, it’s also true that fossil fuels are killing millions of people right now. That’s how Aaron Bernstein, interim director of the Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health, understands the new research.

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Brazil group sues Norsk Hydro over alleged pollution

The lawsuit has been brought by a group of communities who live in the lower Amazon region in the state of Para, mainly members of Cainquiama – the Amazon Association of Mixed Race, Indigenous and Quilombolas – representing some 11,000 families.

They are seeking compensation for what they say is “the incorrect disposal of toxic waste in the Murucupi River, as well as other effects from the presence of Norsk Hydro installations in the region”, their law firm PGMBM said in a statement.

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EU antitrust regulators halt Aon, Willis probe, await data

The European Commission, which kicked off its probe in December because of concerns the deal to create the world’s largest insurance broker may hurt competition in major markets, said it stopped the clock on Monday.

“This procedure in merger investigations is activated if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested from them,” a spokeswoman for the EU competition enforcer said.

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Hacker changed water chemical levels to poison entire US city

“The hacker changed the sodium hydroxide from about 100 parts per million to 11,100 parts per million. This is obviously a significant and potentially dangerous increase,” Bob Gualtieri, Sheriff of Oldsmar city in Florida state in the US, was quoted as saying in local media reports on Monday.

The intrusion took place on February 5 when the hacker remotely accessed a computer system that was set up to allow for the remote control of water treatment operations.

According to a report in Tampa Bay Times, local and federal authorities including the FBI were investigating the attempt to poison the city of Oldsmar.

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