US transportation secretary announces The Great American Road Trip amid transportation crises and rising fuel prices
Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, hauled his family into a van for a wholesome, seven-month trek across the nation, which was filmed for an upcoming reality TV program, he told Fox News on Friday.
The revelation drew immediate blowback as “tone-deaf”, from critics who pointed toward various crises that have recently hammered the country’s transportation sector.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/09/2026 - 15:25
05/09/2026 - 11:00
Emissions understated by factor of five in Essex plans for tech giant, while Greystoke’s Lincolnshire plans show similar error
Developers working for Google have significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres will contribute to the UK’s total emissions in planning documents reviewed by the Guardian.
The tech company wants to build two huge datacentres – one 52-hectare (130 acre) project in Thurrock and another at an airfield in North Weald, both in Essex. To do so, developers are required to submit planning documents calculating how much carbon these projects will emit as a proportion of the UK’s total carbon footprint.
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05/09/2026 - 07:00
Council’s plan will leave Federal Emergency Management Agency ill-equipped to respond to extreme weather events, experts say
Sweeping changes may be in store at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the nation’s frontline emergency response coordinator, that experts warned could further erode US capacity to handle disasters as the risks of extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis continue to rise.
Fears about a fundamental overhaul of Fema’s form and function have been brewing since Donald Trump returned to the White House. After castigating the agency over claims that it was too expensive and “doesn’t get the job done”, Trump set to gutting Fema as an early priority for his second term.
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05/08/2026 - 21:31
Analysis commissioned by independent senator found national science agency’s funding is at its lowest since 1978
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The Albanese government will boost funding to CSIRO by $387.4m in a bid to meet the long-term costs of the national science agency.
It follows months of advocacy by scientists and staff after hundreds of job cuts and cost-cutting measures.
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05/08/2026 - 18:09
After January order from US department of the interior, managers across 55 sites have lifted prohibitions
Donald Trump’s administration is quietly pushing national park, refuge and wilderness area managers to dramatically scale back hunting restrictions, raising questions about visitor safety and the impact on wildlife.
Doug Burgum, the US Department of the Interior secretary, issued an order in January directing multiple agencies to remove what he termed “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” to hunting and fishing, to and justify regulations they want to keep in place.
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05/08/2026 - 14:50
Whimsical film shows relay of animals carrying centennial card from Balmoral Castle to naturalist in London
King Charles has featured in a surprise birthday tribute to David Attenborough, with a cast of wild animals helping to relay his handwritten congratulatory centenary card.
The whimsical film, A Very Special Delivery, begins with the king writing his tribute in the library of Balmoral Castle. Charles, wearing an animal-themed tie featuring elephants, reflects on more than 60 years of friendship with the renowned naturalist.
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05/08/2026 - 09:00
Claims of nimbyism are a misunderstanding: the movement is about whether regular people have a say in fundamental decisions
Since the surreal scene at the 2024 presidential inauguration, when a row of big tech titans took their VIP seats and signaled their new alliance with Maga, the Trump administration has rolled out the red carpet for Silicon Valley’s AI ambitions and shareholder priorities.
Washington has doled out billions in lucrative federal subsidies and contracts to the cash-rich sector, bloating an AI bubble that experts warn may imperil the entire economy while prohibiting any guardrails on the fast-moving technology.
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05/08/2026 - 08:45
Man was reported missing on Sunday and on Wednesday officials found a body with wounds indicating a bear attack
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A hiker in Glacier national park is believed to have been killed in a confrontation with a bear, which is likely the first such fatality in the Montana park since 1998, authorities said.
The body of the male victim was found on Wednesday, and on Friday morning his identity and other details about him had not yet been publicly disclosed. The man had been reported missing and a search and rescue team was sent out to look for him this week and came upon his remains.
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05/08/2026 - 07:00
Guardian readers in the US share how they get around their cities without driving in such a car-dominated country
We asked Guardian readers in the US how they get around if they don’t have a car in such a car-dominated country. Several of those who responded described the benefits and many challenges of going by foot, bike or public transit.
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05/08/2026 - 06:00
In an exclusive interview, a seafarer describes the strike on the MKD Vyom in the Gulf of Oman that killed his friend and crewmate, Dixit Solanki
The blast tore through the engine room of the tanker MKD Vyom without warning on the morning of 1 March. “There were immense shock waves and a fireball,” says Basis*, a seafarer on one of the first ships to suffer a fatal attack in the Gulf of Oman during the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran.
“For one or two seconds, I was knocked out,” he says. “Everything went black. The power was gone. I looked up – fire and thick black smoke was pouring down.”
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