Lobbyists and lawmakers have coordinated to enact new laws that increase criminal penalties for peaceful protests
‘Fear and intimidation’: how peaceful anti-pipeline protesters were hit with criminal and civil charges
Fossil fuel lobbyists coordinated with lawmakers behind the scenes and across state lines to push and shape laws that are escalating a crackdown on peaceful protests against oil and gas expansion, a new Guardian investigation reveals.
Records obtained by the Guardian show that lobbyists working for major North American oil and gas companies were key architects of anti-protest laws that increase penalties and could lead to non-violent environmental and climate activists being imprisoned up to 10 years.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/26/2024 - 05:00
09/26/2024 - 05:00
It’s that time of year when homes fill with hairy eight-legged monsters. At least they keep the flies under control …
It is giant spider season and I am delighted. As someone who is ravaged by flying insects all summer, I welcome these eight-legged death machines into my home with open arms. Speckle-backed Tegeneria? Be my guest! I would far rather something that looks like an animated tomato stalk occasionally scuttled across my curtain than be beset by a swarm of fruit flies, bluebottles or midges. I have even heard that spiders might eat clothes moths, although I think for them to have a significant impact on numbers I would have to lean even further into my Miss Havisham alter ego and stroll around bedecked by webs.
I wasn’t always this way. As a child, I was as terrified of spiders as I am today by droughts and unfiled tax returns. I would watch in amazed horror as my country-born mother picked up arachnids the size and heft of dogs and calmly threw them out the window. There were whole cupboards I refused to open for fear of spiders. Once, after accidentally walking into a web during a game of hide and seek, I actually vomited at the thought of a spider being close to my skin (they found me quite quickly after that).
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09/26/2024 - 04:57
On my return to the UK from Brazil I’ve seen how northern latitudes are behaving like the equatorial margins
Returning to British suburbia from the Brazilian Amazon is always disconcerting, but it has been doubly weird in the past few days because the London commuter belt has been inundated with volumes of rain that normally belong in the tropics.
Mini-tornadoes, flash floods and the dumping of a month’s worth of rain in a single day have flooded transport hubs, high street pubs, and the shrubs of semidetached homes.
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn’t fit for humans now,
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09/26/2024 - 04:49
Roland Cherry, from Warwickshire, sustained severe bite wounds after being mauled by animal during safari
A man narrowly survived after being dragged to the bottom of a river and “thrown through the air like a rag doll” when he was attacked by hippo while canoeing on holiday in Zambia.
Roland Cherry, who was on a five-week holiday through southern Africa with his wife, Shirley, sustained severe bite wounds across his body, including a 25cm (10in) wound to his abdomen, as well as a thigh injury and dislocated shoulder in the attack.
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09/26/2024 - 04:32
Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, provokes mixed response
They say it is rude to comment on a baby’s appearance but that has not stopped the residents of Rochdale, who awoke on Wednesday to a “freaky” new arrival.
Lilly, an 8.5-metre tall puppet designed to help children talk about the environment, went on display in the town centre to a somewhat bewildered response.
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09/26/2024 - 02:00
Loved-up brown bears and whispering raccoons feature in this light-hearted look at a selection of finalists from the Nikon Comedy Wildlife awards. A winner will be announced on 10 December
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09/26/2024 - 01:00
From breeding spots overrun by visitors to photographers disturbing endangered species, experts say the rarer the find is, the bigger the problem
With its impressive size, striking plumage and rowdy displays, sighting a capercaillie is many birders’ dream. Only about 530 of the large woodland grouse survive in the wild in Scotland, most in the Cairngorms national park.
But in recent years, those tasked with saving the species from extinction have had to walk a line between calling attention to the birds’ plight and discouraging people from seeking them out.
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09/26/2024 - 00:00
Carbon Brief says more than £800m will need to be spent in each of the next two years
The UK government has been failing to meet its commitments to fund nature protection in the developing world, and will need to double current spending to meet the targets, new data has shown.
Underspending on overseas climate aid by the previous Conservative government has meant spending averaged £450m a year for the three full years since 2021 – less than half the £3bn that was pledged for nature projects in poor countries.
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09/26/2024 - 00:00
The lives of seafarers are rarely documented, as working at sea by its very nature can be a lonely and isolating existence. The seafarers’ photography competition, run by the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, offers a glimpse into a largely unseen world; the hard labour, the camaraderie, the magnitude of the structures that stand as workplaces, and even the occasional beauty of working on ships. The annual competition, which started during the pandemic, tracks the consistent issues faced by seafarers and captures key moments and their unique impact on those working at sea. This year, Seascape’s picture editor, Joe Plimmer, was on the judging panel and has collated some of his favourite shots
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09/25/2024 - 23:15
‘Bucket-full’ of non-toxic dye shocks onlookers at Milson Park, Kirribilli, as experts conclude ‘misuse’ likely to blame
Residents in one of Sydney’s most affluent neighbourhoods were shocked to discover a bright green substance leaking into the harbour on Wednesday.
The colouring was spotted in Careening Cove at Milson Park, Kirribilli, near the city’s central business district and home to one of the prime minister’s official residences.
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