Environment news

• Why desert dust brings hope to birdwatchers

  07-11-2016 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Reports of Sahara dust in late autumn are a signal to search for birds displaced from the desert and on to our shoresSome Novembers see southern Britain bathed in unseasonably warm sunshine, in that phenomenon known as an Indian summer. But few can match the events of early November 1984, when temperatures reached highs of 19°C, and balmy, southern breezes made it feel more like June than late autumn. Then, on 9 November, car-drivers from Sussex to Yorkshire discovered their cars covered wit
  
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• Cosmic clue to UK coastal erosion

  07-11-2016 22:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Recent centuries have seen a big jump in the rates of erosion in the iconic chalk cliffs on England’s south coast, a new study finds.
  
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• New Delhi Air Pollution Reaches Highest Level In 20 Years

  07-11-2016 21:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  Indian officials declared an emergency in New Delhi over the weekend as the capital city entered its second week with air pollution levels as high as 30 times above World Health Organization guidelines, several news outlets reported.Construction sites have been closed, operations at a coal-fired power station halted, diesel generators stopped, and officials are preparing to reinstate traffic restrictions, all to reduce smog levels across the city, which have reached their highest levels in
  
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• Study reveals huge acceleration in erosion of England's white cliffs

  07-11-2016 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Iconic southern coastline is eroding 10 times faster than the past few thousand years due to human management and changes in storm intensityThe iconic white cliffs of southern England are eroding 10 times faster than they have over the past few thousand years, a new study has revealed. The cause of the huge acceleration is likely to be human management of the coastline, which has stripped some cliffs of their protective beaches, as well as changes in storm intensity. Climate change, which is bri
  
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• Q&A: Naomi Klein criticises Institute of Public Affairs over climate interventions

  07-11-2016 20:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Writer says the rightwing thinktank is the ‘foremost organ in Australia for spreading climate change denial and doubt’ • Naomi Klein: Climate change is intergenerational theft. That’s why my son is part of this storyNaomi Klein delivered a stinging rebuke to Australia’s approach refugees and climate change, as well as criticising interventions from the Institute of Public Affairs, in a fiery episode of ABC’s Q&A on Monday night.The Canadian journalist, auth
  
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• Total says happy to be first Western oil firm to do Iran deal - CNN Money

  07-11-2016 20:14
  The boss of French oil and gas company Total said on Monday that it would be happy to be the first Western oil company to reach an agreement with Iran, but he said a deal had not yet been signed. "Discussions are going on and we'll see if we can sign in the coming days," Patrick Pouyanne told CNN Money on the sidelines of an Abu Dhabi petroleum conference. Asked about the estimated $6 billion value of the potential deal, Pouyanne said: "...developing a phase of South Pars (gas field) is more in
  
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• L&G launches fund to invest in new FTSE climate index

  07-11-2016 19:37 via theguardian.com
  
  The UK’s largest asset manager will encourage companies to tackle climate change and sell shares in those that do notThe UK’s largest asset manager is to use its muscle as an investor to promote a green agenda by urging companies to tackle climate change and selling shares in those that do not.In a move that echoes a growing belief among investors that climate change poses financial as well as environmental risks, Legal & General Investment Management launched the Future World Fu
  
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• Oil up as election seen as swinging to Clinton, OPEC doubts weigh

  07-11-2016 19:16
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Monday, supported by a rebound in other asset classes after news that U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will not face charges over her emails, but gains were capped by a rallying dollar and doubts over OPEC's planned production cuts. Brent crude was up 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $45.68 a barrel. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it would not press charges against Clinton over her using a private email server.
  
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• First, catch your feral kitten. Then call in the experts | Patrick Barkham

  07-11-2016 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  My neighbourhood is over-run with wild moggies, so I decided to act – and now an animal has a homeMy neighbourhood is inundated with feral cats, scraggy wild things that cadge food from animal lovers in winter and cadge baby blackbirds and robins from their nests each spring. Typically, I’ve moaned about this without taking any responsibility until last week, when I became so exasperated, I set a humane trap.I bought a wire cage to see if I could catch a squirrel or rat to show my an
  
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• Italy's Saras says it will clear Iranian oil debt in 2017

  07-11-2016 19:06
  Italian oil refiner Saras has paid 160 million euros ($177 million) of the debt it owes Iran for crude oil bought before sanctions were imposed and its chief financial officer said the total debt to Tehran will be cleared next year. "A further 100 million euros will be paid by year-end," CFO Franco Balsamo told analysts in a conference call on Monday's third-quarter results. "The rest will be paid in 2017." International financial sanctions on Iran were lifted in January after a deal over nuclea
  
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• Palmer Newbould obituary

  07-11-2016 18:38 via theguardian.com
  
  My former colleague Palmer Newbould, who has died aged 87, was a champion of scientific nature conservation, an innovative university teacher and a generous, warm-hearted man with broad interests.His nature conservation work was based mainly in Northern Ireland, where wide-ranging conservation legislation was introduced only in 1965. Palmer served on two statutory committees in the 1970s – the Nature Reserves Committee and Ulster Countryside Committee – before becoming chairman of th
  
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• German prosecutors confirm probe targeting VW's chairman

  07-11-2016 18:12
  German prosecutors confirmed on Monday they are investigating Volkswagen AG's supervisory board chairman over suspected market manipulation, in another blow to efforts to contain fallout from the automaker's diesel emissions scandal. New questions also arose over findings by U.S. regulators about the extent of emissions test cheating by the automaker's Audi luxury brand. The confirmation by prosecutors in the German state of Brauchschweig came a day after the company said a probe announced in Ju
  
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• Wind turbine collisions killing hundreds of UK bats each month, study finds

  07-11-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research suggests ecological impact assessments carried out for windfarms are not adequately predicting bat activity or risks Hundreds of bats are being killed in collisions with wind turbines in the UK each month, despite ecological impact assessments predicting that many windfarms were unlikely to affect such animals, according to a new study.All UK species of bats are protected by law, and ecological impact assessments - carried out before construction of windfarms or other sites - should wei
  
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• Russia signs decree to sell 19.5 percent Rosneft stake

  07-11-2016 18:00
  Russia published a government decree on Monday ordering the sale of a 19.5 percent stake in state-controlled oil giant Rosneft in time for the proceeds to be received by the end of the year. The decree, signed by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, ordered the sale of stake by state energy firm Rosneftegaz to be finalised by Dec. 5, the document showed. Russia's budget, which is in danger of running up a bigger deficit this year than the 3.7 percent of gross domestic product envisaged, ne
  
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• Australian unions call for 'just transition' from coal-generated electricity

  07-11-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ACTU seek federal body to manage move to a clean energy economy and to support workers and communities that rely on fossil fuel-related jobsAustralian unions have thrown their weight behind a transition away from coal-generated electricity, calling for a new statutory authority to manage a “just transition”, supporting workers and communities that rely on fossil fuel-related jobs.
  A policy discussion paper written by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said a planned closur
  
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• Weird 'Gravity' Waves Above Antarctica Caused by Ice Vibrations

  07-11-2016 17:39
  
  Stretching between Antarctica and the Ross Sea, the Ross Ice Shelf is the world’s largest body of ice. Since ice thickness is one factor that determines the size of the resulting atmospheric ripples, scientists could someday use measurements in the air disruptions to monitor the Ross Ice Shelf, said lead study author Oleg Godin, a professor of physics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The atmospheric waves, also sometimes referred to as gravity waves, were found in
  
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• Shiny! NASA Shares a New Icy Arctic View

  07-11-2016 17:38
  
  Satellite photos of Earth against the dark backdrop of space inspired the nickname "the blue marble," referring to the expanses of ocean that cover 71 percent of the planet's surface. In an image shared online today (Oct. 28) by NASA's Earth Observatory, the Arctic is front and center, showcasing the region of the planet covered by varying amounts of ice year-round. NASA scientists created the image to commemorate the first meeting of an international consortium of scientists planning global par
  
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• Ancient 'Seal' Used Pool-Ball-Size Eyes for Deep-Sea Hunting

  07-11-2016 17:37
  
  The seal-like creature is also the youngest known member of Desmatophocidae, a prehistoric family of pinnipeds that went extinct during the Miocene epoch (23 million to 5.3 million years ago), the researchers said. "Desmatophocids are probably the only major group of pinnipeds that have completely gone extinct," said study lead author Robert Boessenecker, an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. At 8.2 feet (2.
  
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• Jackpot! Hiker Discovers Ancient Reptile Footprints Near Las Vegas

  07-11-2016 17:36
  
  The ancient environment preserved this creature's footprints in a fossilized trackway that researchers are calling Chelichnus gigas. That's because like many four-legged (or tetrapodal) animals, this ancient critter's back feet would have stepped directly on top of the freshly made footprints of its front feet, meaning that the front footprints are obscured by the back ones, said study lead researcher Stephen Rowland, a professor of geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "The hind footp
  
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• Oil mixed as election seen swinging to Clinton while OPEC doubts weigh

  07-11-2016 17:30
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were mixed on Monday, supported by easing concerns over the economy after news that U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will not face charges over her emails, but prices were pressured by a rallying dollar and doubts over OPEC's planned production cuts. Brent crude was down 20 cents, or 0.09 percent, at $45.49 a barrel. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it would not press charges against Clinton over her using a private email server.
  
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• Southern Hemisphere recovered faster from dino strike

  07-11-2016 17:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Life in the southern hemisphere appears to have recovered more quickly than expected from the asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs.
  
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• Tax meat and dairy to cut emissions and save lives, study urges

  07-11-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Surcharges of 40% on beef and 20% on milk would compensate for climate damage and deter people from consuming as much unhealthy food Climate taxes on meat and milk would lead to huge and vital cuts in carbon emissions as well as saving half a million lives a year via healthier diets, according to the first global analysis of the issue.Surcharges of 40% on beef and 20% on milk would account for the damage their production causes people via climate change, an Oxford University team has calculated.
  
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• Banks not living up to climate pledges, says Christian Aid

  07-11-2016 16:19
  
  Charity organisation Christian Aid has today (November 7) kick-started a campaign calling on UK's major high street banks to rapidly shift investments from fossil fuels to clean energy.
  
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• Share your photographs from wetlands around the UK

  07-11-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust celebrates its 70th birthday we would like to see your pictures from around the country – in all seasons
  Almost 70 years ago to the day Peter Scott – son of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott – opened Slimbridge, the first of nine Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) centres across the UK. Related: David Attenborough unveils UK's newest nature reserve in east LondonContinue reading...
  
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• UN climate talks open under shadow of US elections

  07-11-2016 15:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Marrakech summit buoyed by gathering momentum but threatened by the possibility of climate change denier Donald Trump entering the White House UN talks to implement the landmark Paris climate pact opened in Marrakech on Monday, buoyed by gathering momentum but threatened by the spectre of climate change denier Donald Trump in the White House.Diplomats from 196 nations are meeting in Morocco to flesh out the planet-saving plan inked in the French capital last December. Continue reading...
  
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• Russia's economy minister values Rosneft stake for sale at 748.3 billion roubles

  07-11-2016 15:46
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will sell a state stake in oil giant Rosneft using the firm's share price as of October 11, when it stood at 748.3 billion roubles (£9.46 billion), Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Monday. Ulyukayev also said that proceeds from the sale will reach the state budget via dividends from Rosneftegaz by December 15. (Reporting by Darya Korsunksaya; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Andrey Ostroukh)
  
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• Record hot year may be the new normal by 2025

  07-11-2016 15:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  The hottest year on record globally in 2015 could be an average year by 2025 and beyond if carbon emissions continue to rise at the same rate, new research has found.Lead author Dr Sophie Lewis from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society said human activities had already locked in this new normal for future temperatures, but immediate climate action could prevent record extreme seasons year after year.
  
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• These photos show just how terrifying the toxic smog in New Delhi looks right now

  07-11-2016 15:31
  
  The Indian capital is believed to be grappling one of the worst air pollution scenarios in 17 years.
  
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• Secret German World War II Base Rediscovered Near North Pole

  07-11-2016 15:30
  
  The remains of a secret World War II German base have been rediscovered on an island near the North Pole by a team of Russian researchers. The wartime "Schatzgrabber" ("Treasure Hunter" in German) weather station was built by the German military in 1943 on Alexandra Land, one of the isolated Franz Josef Land islands in the Barents Sea, located more than 680 miles (1,100 kilometers) north of the Russian city of Arkhangelsk. "This summer in the Arctic was very warm, so the entire area of Schatzgra
  
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• Russia's Rosneft sells stake in Verkhnechonskneftegaz to Beijing Gas for $1.1 billion

  07-11-2016 15:09
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's oil giant Rosneft said on Monday it had agreed to sell a 20 percent stake in its subsidiary Verkhnechonskneftegaz to Beijing Gas for around $1.1 billion (£885.45 million). The deal needs to get a green light from regulators, Rosneft added. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova; writing by Maria Tsvetkova)
  
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• Russia's Sechin to be re-elected Rosneftegaz's board chairman - Interfax

  07-11-2016 14:48
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Igor Sechin, the head of Russia's oil giant Rosneft will be re-elected as the chairman of the board of the state energy holding Rosneftegaz, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing a source familiar with a decree. Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov signed a document last week saying Sechin would keep his position, the agency reported. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; writing by Maria Tsvetkova)
  
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• Key meeting to weigh Mars crash report

  07-11-2016 14:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European Space Agency’s director general says he expects to have at least an interim report on the Schiaparelli crash within the month.
  
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• Choice editing: a crucial next step for the circular economy?

  07-11-2016 13:58
  
  Manufacturers and retailers should go beyond using communication techniques to encourage resource-efficient behaviours towards the process of 'choice-editing', where hard-to-recycle products are removed from shelves or certain materials are eliminated from packaging in order to limit consumer choices around the circular economy.
  
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• The hottest year on record, 2015, could be the 'new normal' by 2025, study finds

  07-11-2016 13:32
  
  In every predicted emissions scenario 2015 global temperatures will be the average or below-average by 2040.
  
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• COP22 host Morocco launches action plan to fight devastating climate change

  07-11-2016 13:26 via theguardian.com
  
  As UN climate talks start in Marrakech, Morocco calls on world leaders to put the focus on concrete plans for helping Africa’s small-scale farmers“Last December we had temperatures of 25C. Normally it is 1 or 2C at that time of year,” says Mohammed Ibrahimi, a farmer with one hectare of apple trees in Boumia, a village near Midelt in Morocco.“These trees need at least 1,200 hours of near-freezing temperatures in the winter to help them to regenerate. This year they flower
  
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• Germany has no info from U.S. on reports of cheat device in Audi cars - spokesman

  07-11-2016 12:10
  BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have not shared any information with Germany regarding software that a newspaper report said was found in some Audi vehicles that lowered their carbon dioxide emissions during tests, a Transport Ministry spokesman said on Monday. "For the moment, we have no information on this issue ... The KBA (motor vehicle authority) is making sure that it will receive information on the issue and as a next step it will make an assessment," spokesman Sebastian Hille said du
  
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• President Trump would Make America Deplorable Again | Dana Nuccitelli

  07-11-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From science denial to xenophobia to misogyny, Trump brings out the worst in Americans, and wants to reverse 50 years of progress
  In September, Hillary Clinton came under fire for suggesting that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belonged in “a basket of deplorables” consisting of “the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it.”Labeling people in such a disparaging manner is not a constructive approach. However, research has shown it&r
  
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• Oil prices bounce as OPEC promises a cut is on the cards

  07-11-2016 11:13
  By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose more than 1 percent on Monday, boosted by a commitment from OPEC to stick to a deal to cut output, but prices remained more than $7 below last month's high due to persistent doubts over the feasibility of the group's plan. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 75 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $44.82 a barrel. "We as OPEC, we remain committed to the Algiers accord that we ... put together.
  
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• Qatar raises government salaries amid austerity grumbles

  07-11-2016 10:39
  Qatar will raise the salaries of government employees next year in a rare spending hike by a Gulf state at a time when low oil and gas prices are weighing on state finances. Some Qataris' basic salaries will double, under a law to be passed in January that was published in Al Sharq newspaper late on Sunday. Salaries for non-Qataris remain the same.
  
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• Hiscox's gross written premiums rise despite rating pressure

  07-11-2016 10:28
  Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox Ltd said its gross written premiums for the first nine months jumped more than 14 percent in local currency, driven by strong performance across all its businesses. Hiscox, which underwrites a range of risks from oil refineries to kidnappings, said gross written premiums rose to 1.86 billion pounds ($2.31 billion) in the nine months ended Sept. 30, from 1.54 billion pounds a year earlier. The underwriter, which earns the bulk of its revenue overseas, benefite
  
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• Russia issues new decree on sale of 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft

  07-11-2016 10:23
  The Russian government published a new decree on the sale of 19.5 percent stake in oil giant Rosneft , signed by prime minister Dmitry Medvedev on November 3. The document annulled the previous 2014 decree on the Rosneft stake sale.
  
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• Lancashire readers on the Cuadrilla fracking decision one month on

  07-11-2016 10:06 via theguardian.com
  
  We asked readers living in the area to share their thoughts with us, one month on after Lancashire council’s rejection of a fracking site was overturnedI felt so strongly about the Cuadrilla proposal that I demonstrated outside Lancashire County Council in Preston on two occasions when the council were voting on the applications. Continue reading...
  
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• Nissan installs vehicle-to-grid technology at Cranfield research centre

  07-11-2016 09:42
  
  Car manufacturer Nissan has fitted its research and development facilities in Cranfield with its innovative vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept, marking the first time the technology has been installed at the carmaker's facilities in Europe.
  
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• Other Indian cities join Delhi in air pollution emergency

  07-11-2016 09:23
  
  LUCKNOW, India (AP) — The sickening air pollution that led the Indian capital to shut schools and construction sites this week has prompted similar measures in nearby cities.
  
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• Policy Exchange: Flexible energy system could save Britain £8bn by 2030

  07-11-2016 09:00
  
  A smarter, more flexible power system which takes advantage of low-carbon innovations and technologies such as battery storage and demand response could create savings for the UK to the tune of £8bn by 2030, according to new research from thinktank Policy Exchange.
  
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• UAE minister says global oil supply glut is almost gone

  07-11-2016 08:59
  ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) energy minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazrouei said on Monday the global oil supply glut was almost gone. Addressing the ADIPEC oil conference in Abu Dhabi, he said: "The glut is almost gone ... I think we are at the bottom of this cycle..." He added: "What concerns you and us (is) that we need to continue investing in this industry... to ensure we don't see a huge spike 3-4 years from now. ...
  
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• Anything to declare? Arrested Australian hands over bag containing baby koala

  07-11-2016 07:48 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘The officers cautiously unzipped the bag and found this gorgeous boy,’ Queensland police say of Alfred the joeyA woman taken into custody by Queensland police has stunned officers by handing over a baby koala she had been secretly carrying inside a zipped canvas bag.The East Brisbane woman, 50, was asked if she had anything to declare after her arrest on unrelated matters by officers on patrol in the city’s south on Sunday night. She produced the bag, saying it contained a joe
  
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• Great Barrier Reef authority a 'shell of its former self', says Queensland minister

  07-11-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Environment minister Steven Miles calls on federal government to fast-track extra $1.65m for agency tasked with protecting the reefQueensland’s environment minister has flagged concerns that the agency tasked with protecting the Great Barrier Reef is running as a “shell of its former self” amid the underfunding of a cornerstone program.Steven Miles called on the federal government to fast-track an extra $1.65m for the main “on-water” management program for the reef,
  
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• Rugged men build rugged walls in a rugged landscape

  07-11-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The Chevin, Otley, West Yorkshire Dry stone walls intrigue because there is a hint of the impossible about them. They stand as if by sleight of hand, artificial but organicA gentle, mysterious, monosyllabic presence, Alan Dickinson was, to my childhood imagination, less a man and more a wildling from some semi-mythical moorland tribe. He looked as rugged as Almscliff Crag and smelled of woodchip and weather. I viewed him with quiet awe.The husband of Andrea, my childminder, Alan was of farming s
  
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• Climate change at the Great Barrier Reef is intergenerational theft. That's why my son's in this story | Naomi Klein

  07-11-2016 05:48 via theguardian.com
  
  By including Toma in my film at the Great Barrier Reef I want to show how environmental disasters are creating a lonely world for our childrenThe short film I’ve made with the Guardian stars my son, Toma, aged four years and five months. That’s a little scary for me to write, since, up until this moment, my husband, Avi, and I have been pretty careful about protecting him from public exposure. No matter how damn cute we think he’s being, absolutely no tweeting is allowed.
  So I
  
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