Violent storms lash northern Iraq and parts of Iran, while Portugal faces strong winds and Japan braces for further snowfall
Deadly flash floods hit northern Iraq on Saturday as severe thunderstorms swept across the region, including in neighbouring Iran. The city of Erbil, in Iraq, was particularly badly hit, with extensive damage to homes and businesses. Streets were inundated as torrential rain fell over a short period.
Rainfall exceeded forecasts, with an estimated 80mm falling in the city, compared with expectations of 30mm. Two people were killed in the floods.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/09/2026 - 05:32
Troubled utility lobbies for deadline on part of the debt to be extended to March 2028
Thames Water has asked creditors for more time to pay back billions of pounds in debt, as the water company scrambles to keep itself afloat.
The UK’s largest water company said it had proposed an “interim” deal under which the deadline to pay off an unspecified portion of the £20bn of debt on its balance sheet would be extended from 2027 to March 2028.
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11/09/2026 - 05:11
The prime minister said he wants police forces to have dedicated rape and serious sexual offence teams by the end of 2027
Downing Street has insisted that the government remains committed to the principle of the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate – while not denying today’s Guardian report saying interim targets to achieve it are set to be watered down. (See 9.26am.)
Asked about the story at the daily lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson said:
The government is fully behind the zero emission vehicle mandate, and no decisions have been taken yet.
We’re sticking to our commitment, phasing out new cars that run only on petrol or diesel by 2030, every new car and van will be zero emission by 2035, and our legally binding net zero targets. None of that is changing.
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11/09/2026 - 05:00
There is no ‘saving’ these traumatised mammals from places like Marineland in Canada. Humans need to understand that our actions are not easily undone
Remember “Save the whales”? Now that was an environmental campaign everyone could get behind. Surely you don’t want whales to die!
It may have got the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling over the line, but in these sophisticated times that slogan seems woefully reductive, even naive. As Greenpeace warns on its website, 40 years later: “There is still more work to be done to save the whales.” Yes. You might say, surveying the state of our ocean ecosystems, there’s quite a bit.
Elle Hunt is a freelance journalist
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11/09/2026 - 02:30
Increased heat will supercharge extreme weather events, warns UN agency as Cop31 climate summit begins
Heat is accumulating in Earth’s systems at an accelerating rate, the UN’s weather agency has reported as the Cop31 climate change summit begins in Turkey, with 2026 on track to be one of the four warmest years on record.
The imbalance between incoming energy from the sun and energy leaving Earth reached its highest level since monitoring began, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate update.
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11/09/2026 - 02:12
UN climate summit will focus on how to implement the targets needed to urgently cut greenhouse gas emissions
What is at stake at the UN climate summit and what can it achieve?
Key players at the climate talks
Next up is the Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, who is president of the negotiations here in Antalya.
This is his big moment to set the tone for the next two weeks, and he said even though the 1.5C Paris target will be overshot, “we can return … if we work together and act with urgency, solidarity and resolve.”
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11/09/2026 - 01:00
US government will have no official presence at UN’s annual climate summit, this year’s Cop31 held in Antalya, Turkey
The US will be absent from key UN climate talks that start on Monday, a further sign of Donald Trump’s scornful dismissal of the climate crisis. But Democrats’ crushing win in the US midterm elections has delivered a timely shot of optimism to countries now looking beyond the Trump era of climate obstruction.
For the second year in a row, there will be no official US government presence at the annual climate summit, this year known as Cop31 and held in Antalya, Turkey. While almost every other country in the world sends delegations to the talks, Trump has derided the climate crisis as a “hoax” and “bullshit” and triggered the withdrawal of the US from the entire international climate framework.
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11/09/2026 - 00:47
‘It’s pretty obvious that there are all sorts of people making all sorts of comments,’ Murray Watt says after budget savings meeting
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The environment minister, Murray Watt, has urged ministers to stop undermining the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, as Labor struggles to sell its budget and looks to cut popular clean energy subsidies to help with the fight against inflation.
Cabinet ministers met again on Monday to discuss potential budget savings to be included in next month’s mid-year update, part of efforts to reducing spending to ease pressure on the economy.
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11/09/2026 - 00:39
It’s 2126 and class is getting under way beneath the Earth’s remaining ocean
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11/08/2026 - 13:50
The first winter storm began affecting the people of Gaza this weekend with heavy rain hitting on Saturday. Reports that about 70,000 tents were flooded within 12 hours prompted warnings of a worsening humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in temporary camps lacking adequate protection from rain and cold
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