In today’s newsletter: The government has spent €1.6bn improving the river, but an ancient sewage system and the climate are muddying the waters
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An ambitious project to clean up the River Seine has left French officials up to their eyes in it.
Israel-Gaza war | Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has been targeted and killed in Tehran, the group said in a statement early on Wednesday morning. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed the assassination, which was reported on Iranian state TV early on Wednesday morning, with analysts also claiming Israel killed Haniyeh, the Associated Press said.
UK news | Keir Starmer has said those who rioted in Southport on Tuesday night will “feel the full force of the law” after police vehicles were set alight and missiles hurled at officers. It came after far-right protesters pelted police with glass bottles and bricks and attacked a mosque following a knife attack that killed three children and left five other children and two adults in critical condition.
Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch, the frontrunner to be the next Conservative party leader, has been accused of creating an intimidating atmosphere in the government department she used to run, with some colleagues describing it as toxic, the Guardian can reveal.
US election 2024 | Donald Trump has repeated his weekend remarks to Christian summit attendees that they would never need to vote again if he returns to the presidency in November.
Health | The hidden cost of rising workplace sickness in the UK has increased to more than £100bn a year, largely caused by a loss of productivity amid “staggering” levels of presenteeism, a report warns.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/31/2024 - 00:37
07/31/2024 - 00:00
Farm north of London to be returned to something like pasture once enjoyed by Anglo-Saxon king
It was once woodland where Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king, rode in pursuit of deer. Over recent decades, the hillside with a panoramic view of London has become arable fields, pony paddocks and a Christmas tree plantation.
But now Harold’s Park, a 200-hectare (500 acre) farm just north of the M25 on the edge of the capital, is to be rewilded and returned to something like the tangled wood pasture once enjoyed by King Harold.
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07/30/2024 - 18:11
Storms result in caved-in roads and crushed cars nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl
Thunderstorms and torrential rain brought another wave of violent floods Tuesday that caved in roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in north-eastern Vermont, nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl.
Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon hours after some areas got 6 to more than 8in (15 to more than 20cm) starting late the night before.
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07/30/2024 - 18:01
The new budget comes after the previous government failed to award a single new offshore wind contract in 2023
The Labour government will make record amounts of funding available to clean energy developers after it increased the value of its summer subsidy auction by 50%, to £1.5bn.
The addition, compared with figures previously announced, means the total budget is seven times the amount available at last year’s auction, the government said.
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07/30/2024 - 12:48
North Sea oil and gas extraction can cause pollution to spike by more than 10,000 percent within half a kilometer around off-shore sites, a study has found. The research has uncovered the true impact on Britain's seabed life -- with the number of species plummeting nearly 30 percent near platforms.
07/30/2024 - 11:47
Firm says it is now re-adjusting to a realistic end date and blames difficulties in procuring new planes and sustainable jet fuel
Air New Zealand has become the first major airline to drop its 2030 goal to cut carbon emissions.
The company has blamed difficulties in procuring new planes and sustainable jet fuel.
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07/30/2024 - 09:36
Audit of Environmental Improvement Plan finds it inadequate as government announces overhaul of goals
Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned.
An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government’s legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environment Act was passed in 2021 after Brexit.
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07/30/2024 - 09:21
John Podesta says negotiations ‘to find a path forward’ continue with urgent discussions planned for Cop29
Trade frictions and increasing tension between the US and China won’t affect climate negotiations between the two superpowers if he can help it, the US climate chief has pledged.
John Podesta, a senior adviser to Joe Biden on international climate policy, said the relationship between the world’s two biggest emitters and largest economies was critical to climate action, despite what appears to be a deepening gulf over trade policy.
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07/30/2024 - 08:00
‘Reusable’ is now a selling point for products that should, inherently, be reusable to begin with – and we’re buying it
I used to keep a plastic bag of plastic bags under my kitchen sink. Like the water in the pipes above, around which they accumulated, it seemed I had bags in unlimited supply. A few years ago, when my city enacted a plastic bag ban, the collection started waning. Now, I treasure the once ubiquitous sacks, doling them out judiciously for use as diaper pail liners and stewards of wet bathing suits, while down the hall, at the back of my coat closet, another mass is metastasizing: totes upon totes upon totes.
They’re often referred to as reusable tote bags. And that sounds perfectly normal. But it shouldn’t. Imagine saying “reusable backpack” or “reusable shoes”. Most things were never intended to be used just once – not until several decades ago, when plastics ushered in an era in which everyday goods were designed, marketed and sold for exactly that: one, single use.
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07/30/2024 - 05:44
State-owned SAIC, parent of the British brand MG, was responsible for biggest jump in sales in June
Business live – latest updates
Chinese carmakers secured a record 11% of the European electric vehicle market in June, as buyers raced to beat EU tariffs on imported EVs that came into force this month.
The figures, which include the UK, show that about 23,000 battery electric vehicles were registered in June, up 72% on the previous month as consumers raced to beat the price hike in the EU.
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