Companies line up to drill after survey shows Dakota oil, gas fields far bigger than believed

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WASHINGTON 

–  Energy companies are lining up for their shot to drill in the Dakotas and Montana after a new government report revealed that a massive geological formation stretching across the states contains twice the oil and three times the amount of natural gas than was originally believed.
While the new estimate is drawing smaller companies to the game, the larger players like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Continental Resources are pushing forward with ambitious multi-year plans to stake their claim in the industry.
Continental recently announced a five-year plan to triple its production by 2017. The company’s growth is based on success in North Dakota and Montana as well as in parts of Oklahoma.

Bansko Residents Rally again for Resort Expansion

Residents of the Bulgarian mountain resort town of Bansko are staging Monday a new protest rally with demands to have permits to build a new ski lift and to expand the ski tracks.
The initiative committee vows to "be on the barricades in order to remind those in power they are expecting a quick solution to the problem with the ski area" in the mountain near their town.
The demonstrators stress the winter holidays are over, but the problems persist, adding the lines for the ski lifts were unprecedented once again during the last weekend. They insist for the very first time their resort is the leader in the sad statistics of having the longest lines of people trying to use the ski lifts and threaten to move the protests to the capital Sofia.
The initiative committee is accusing Bulgarian eco activists of lies and provocations.
The protest Monday is closing once again the road between the town of Razlog and Bansko.

Heavy smog shrouds Beijing for 3rd day

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Air pollution in Beijing has reached dangerous levels for a third day. On Sunday, the municipal government issued a warning on its website for PM 2.5 readings. 

Real-time monitoring data shows the air quality index was as high as 500 in most parts of the city, with some above 900. An AQI reading below 50 indicates excellent air quality; above 100 is light pollution.

Air pollution in Beijing reaches 'health hazard' levels (VIDEO, PHOTOS RT)

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Air pollution in the Chinese capital has hit dangerous marks, reaching beyond the permissible level of pollution on the local environmental center’s scale. Beijing residents are recommended to stay indoors by local authorities.
The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center has reported the rising of air-quality indices since Friday in many parts of the city.

Bulgaria Top Cop Blocks Road to Main Winter Resort Bansko

Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov participated Sunday in a protest that blocked the entrance to Bulgaria's top winter resort, Bansko.
Tsvetanov expressed support for Bansko residents, who for a thrid day in a row have come out to request an expansion of ski facilities in the resort.
The action of Bulgaria's top cop and Vice-PM is a culmination of a string of high-ranking visits to the protests, which saw Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva and vice minister for tourism Ivo Marinov also showing up.
"I am convinced that in a very short time, protesters' demands will be satisfied. Their requests will be heard at the very first cabinet sitting in 2013," stated Tsvetanov.
8,000 Bansko residents, organized by mayor Georgi Ikonomov, have submitted to Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev a petition requesting for expansion of facilities in the resort.

White Christmas in Rio. Health alert?

Under a torrid 40 degrees Celsius, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro woke up on December 25 under a white blanket. Only it was not snow - it was a mysterious white soot-like dust which entered people's apartments and caused allergies. The authorities still do not know what caused it... could there be a serious health risk?

The official data available can be summarized by a white soot-like dust which descended on several areas of the city of Rio de Janeiro early on the morning of Christmas Day. Eye witnesses described the phenomenon as being like snowflakes falling. The dust settled mainly in the southern areas of the city such as Lagoa, Copacabana, Ipanema, Botafogo, Laranjeiras, Largo do Machado and Glória, in the Centre, Tijuca (North) and Recreio (West).