Pakistan has given the go-ahead to five consortiums, including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi, to progress with their liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal plans, a minister told Reuters on Friday.

Pakistan has approved the construction of five liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals by groups that include Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell, aiming to triple imports and ease the country's chronic gas shortage, Pakistan's oil minister said on Friday.

From grasslands to seashores to forests and backyards, birds are disappearing at an alarming rate in the United States and Canada, with a 29% population drop since 1970 and a net loss of about 2.9 billion birds, scientists said on Thursday.

With widespread fires wreaking havoc on the Amazon, over 200 investors representing some $16.2 trillion under management on Wednesday called on companies to do their part in halting the destruction of the world's largest tropical rainforest.

* Company reports deeper first-half loss (Adds union reaction, updates share price)

* Corn harvest in northeast starting next month won't be impacted

Sirius Minerals Plc will slow down development of its North Yorkshire polyhalite project and scrap a planned $500 million bond sale, the company said on Tuesday, adding that the British government declined to provide support to facilitate the financing of the project.

The Trump administration on Thursday announced repeal of an Obama-era regulation that had expanded pollution protections for waterways such as wetlands and shallow streams, but that farmers, miners and manufacturers decried as overreach.

A grand jury in Alaska this week indicted General Electric's Baker Hughes, two of its subsidiaries and an employee, for 25 felony charges of assault relating to toxic chemical releases at a construction site, according to authorities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday is expected to announce the repeal of a 2015 Obama administration regulation that expanded protections of waterways such as wetlands but that farmers, miners and manufacturers decried as overreach.