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By Ed Yong of Nature magazine Two teams of scientists, led by Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have created mutant strains of H5N1 avian influenza. [More]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Europe's first exchange for trading wood pellets, used to replace coal in electricity generation, will be launched on November 3 in the port of Rotterdam, Anglo-Dutch exchange APX Endex said in a statement. The global market of wood pellets is growing as a result of world-wide policies to cut CO2 emissions and replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The top court in the Netherlands on Monday ordered the suspension of the Bergermeer gas storage project, the largest in Europe, citing objections by environmentalists and local residents who fear earth tremors. The storage project, along with the soon-to-be-completed liquefied natural gas terminal in Rotterdam, is an important part of the Netherlands' plan to become a European hub for natural gas once it stops exporting gas in 2025. [More]

GENEVA (Reuters) - Chrysotile asbestos will not be listed as a hazardous industrial chemical that can be banned from import after countries including Canada and Ukraine blocked consensus, a United Nations spokesman said Friday. The decision was taken at a meeting of states that have ratified the Rotterdam Convention despite the treaty's scientific review body having recommended the inclusion of "white" asbestos on health grounds, a U.N. spokesman said.