WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Caspian energy production has been severely affected by slumping prices and the global recession. On July 11 oil reached its historic record high of $147.27 per barrel. In the worst of times a severe global recession has ensued since those heady summer days, and oil prices have slumped 73 percent. The former Soviet Caspian producing states of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have seen the slowdown deplete their export earnings and foreign reserves, forcing their governments to intervene to attempt to stabilize their economies and lessen the recession's impact.
LONDON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The critically endangered Tristan Albatross suffered its worst breeding season ever and is threatened by predatory mice, British researchers report.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Agriculture Department's Rural Development said Monday it was accepting applications for the Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant program.
Abstinence pledge ineffective, study shows ... Human hair works as nutrient, study finds ... Female circumcision prevalent in Kurdistan ... Competition may have done in Neanderthals ... Health/Science news from UPI.
GIZA, Egypt, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Organic plant waste has proven to be an effective weed control for citrus trees, Egyptian researchers reported Monday.
STARKSVILLE, Miss., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Human hair, normally swept and tossed from barber and beauty shops, can be used as a nutrient source for container plants, U.S. researchers said.
LAWRENCE, Kan., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Competition with Cro-Magnon populations, not climate change, led to the Neanderthal extinction, a multidisciplinary U.S. and French research team reported.
BALTIMORE, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Teens signing pledges to remain virgins until marriage are likely to engage in premarital sex and more likely not to use birth control, U.S. researchers report.
BAGHDAD, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Female circumcision is widespread in Iraq's Kurdistan region, despite it having what is considered a more progressive society, women's advocacy groups say.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders should be made openly instead of hidden from the public, a critic of the process says.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Long, thick eyelashes may be a chemical treatment away now that the U.S. drug watchdog has approved a prescription medication, the maker says.
MOSCOW, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Emerging liquefied natural gas technology and the formation of an international gas cartel may place Moscow at the top of the world energy sector, analysts say.
MOSCOW, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The board of directors at Russian energy giant Gazprom Monday said they would meet European gas demands despite a row with transit country Ukraine.
NEW DELHI, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A deal for the acquisition of British oil exploration firm Imperial Energy by Videsh Ltd. is 90 percent approved by shareholders as a deadline nears.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Crude oil exports from Azerbaijan topped 9 million barrels in November, bringing some $627 million in profits, state reporting agencies said Monday.
