News bites: TV’s new ‘Dallas’ highlights oil’s competitors; real-world prices fall; and more

The Houston Chronicle watches the rebooted “Dallas” and reports on changes since the original TV show's 1978-1991 run.

“Oil is still king in the new Dallas, but natural gas, methane and alternative energy are entering the fray between the feuding family members,” the Chronicle reports.

Speaking of oil, prices are falling.

“Oil tumbled below $80 a barrel for the first time in eight months as U.S. inventories surged amid concern that the European debt crisis will drag down the global economy, reducing fuel demand,” Bloomberg reports.

USA Today looks at research showing that climate change could worsen global hunger.

“The number of undernourished women and young children could increase 20% and affect one of every five within a decade because of climate change's impact on food production, according to an analysis by the World Health Organization and other groups,” the story states.

The Wall Street Journal reports on signs that oil regulators are “backing away from efforts to ratchet up scrutiny of the $2 trillion-a-year market.”

“In an interim report to the G-20, ahead of final recommendations later this year, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, an association of global financial-markets regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, retreated from an earlier proposal to set up a regulatory body to oversee the so-called physical oil market — where oil on tankers and in pipelines is traded between major oil producers and refiners such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell,” the Journal reports.