When temperatures get to 40C inside, and French building regulations won’t even allow shutters, these tenants’ listed homes are simply unlivable
The population of Firminy, south-east France, has been dwindling for decades. Its recent history is one of factory closures in a region built by steel, and locals tell me that many people leave for better opportunities in neighbouring Saint-Étienne, or to live in the Haute-Loire’s countryside.
On the top of a hill, however, stands Firminy’s pride: l’Unité d’Habitation, an imposing tower of concrete designed by Le Corbusier. The architect’s final project is an oddity – a building for people, where two-thirds of the apartments are dedicated to habitations à loyer modéré (or HLM – social housing); but also a piece of history, whose facade and roof were listed as monuments historiques in 1993.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/06/2026 - 23:00
08/06/2026 - 16:24
Court documents allege Aaron Farinacci, who faces slew of arson charges, set 25 fires in Spokane area over past year
The 37-year-old man accused of sparking a devastating fire in Washington allegedly studied how to maximize the blaze’s destruction and was responsible for setting 25 other fires in the Spokane area over the past year, according to a court affidavit.
Aaron Farinacci, who faces a slew of arson charges, is accused of starting the Old Trails fire, which began on 1 August and is still burning – one of three “Spokane complex” fires that have scorched hundreds of homes and displaced thousands of residents.
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08/06/2026 - 15:00
This year’s finalists for the National Architecture awards’ sustainability category include a compact Canberra housing development and the largest commercial use of hempcrete in the country.
Architecture ‘holds a mirror up to who we are as a society – what we value, what we’re willing to invest in, what we want to leave behind,’ says Adam Haddow, the chair of the jury for the awards. ‘The architects on this list … [have] designed buildings built to last, not just physically, but in the way they’ll continue to serve people long after the ribbon is cut’
Australia’s best apartment designs for 2026 – in pictures
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08/06/2026 - 13:20
Agreement with RWE is fifth deal Trump team has made with energy companies, offering payouts to give up projects
The German energy company RWE has reached a $1.22bn deal with the US government to relinquish its offshore wind leases and instead redirect funds towards fossil fuel investments.
The agreement marks the fifth deal the Donald Trump administration has struck with energy companies, offering payouts in exchange for abandoning renewable energy projects and redirecting investment towards fossil fuels.
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08/06/2026 - 10:00
As Australia prepares for the H5 bird flu to potentially rip through hundreds of species, residents of the Limestone Coast are already seeing the impacts
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It has only been three weeks since H5 bird flu was detected on South Australia’s Limestone Coast and already encounters with sick or dead birds are becoming commonplace.
Maureen Christie, who lives in the seaside town of Carpenter Rocks, has been observing and protecting birds in the region for decades. She is now witnessing many stricken and suffering.
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08/06/2026 - 06:05
Plans involve dredging and expanding docks to allow larger cruise ships to visit with up to 200,000 passengers annually
Janavi Kramer had just enjoyed a swim with friends and was sitting on a bench taking in a wonderful Cornish view – headlands plunging into deep water, bobbing boats, a bustling harbour town.
“We’re lucky to have this space,” said Kramer, who is an artist and scientific illustrator. “We use it for work, recreation and pleasure and it’s so scary to think that this could all be harmed. I worry about what we may be living with soon and what we’ll be leaving for future generations.”
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08/06/2026 - 05:03
Environment Agency assessments find just 14.3% of country’s surface waters in good ecological status
Every single English water body is polluted with toxic chemicals, new government data shows, while just 14.3% of surface waters achieved good ecological status.
Each of the country’s rivers, lakes and estuaries was assessed by the Environment Agency as part of a six-yearly evaluation of England’s water quality. The EA checked for a range of toxic chemicals, from Pfas – or “forever chemicals” – to microplastics. Waters were also checked against a range of standards covering wildlife, water quality and physical habitat.
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08/06/2026 - 05:00
While many leaders compare the wildfire crisis to the second world war, governments fail to adopt the real lessons of pre-emptive wartime action
As France and Spain battle historic wildfires, comparisons to the second world war abound. “One of the continent’s biggest evacuation efforts since World War II,” reports the Associated Press. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called the wildfires his country’s “most difficult situation since the second world war”.
The images crossing all our screens certainly feel war-like – emergency aircraft and black smoke fill the skies, frantic civilians seeking shelter, historic towns lying in ruins, charred forests and burned-out vehicles, exhausted and sweat-soaked emergency responders.
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08/06/2026 - 04:00
Current blazes roaring across country more than twice as likely to occur because of fossil fuel-driven global heating
The human-driven climate crisis made the conditions that led to blazes roaring across Canada, which have caused toxic smoke to spew throughout the country and into the US, twice as likely to occur, a new analysis has found.
Heightened global temperatures, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, amplified the risk of fire-prone weather in Ontario and the Northwest Territories, scientists found. These provinces have been racked by fires this summer, causing towns to be evacuated and unhealthy smoke to unfurl across multiple cities in North America.
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08/05/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 06 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00232-y
Marine protected areas can contribute to achieving biodiversity targets, especially when embedded in maritime spatial planning (MSP). Drawing on a screening of European MSP, this work presents a framework spanning pre-planning, planning and implementation. At each stage, it combines Strategic Environmental Assessment, a Criteria Checklist, and Strategic Recommendations to align conservation objectives, blue-economy activities and the rights and needs of coastal communities, supporting a more just, healthy and productive ocean.
