Hadi Nazari, 23, found after going missing two weeks ago, discovered two muesli bars at a hut while lost, police say
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A 23-year-old hiker missing since Boxing Day in the remote Kosciuszko national park has been found alive.
Hadi Nazari stumbled into the path of a group of hikers at about 3.15pm on Wednesday, on the circuit walk near Blue Lake, police said.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
01/08/2025 - 02:32
01/08/2025 - 01:00
Diminutive bird breeds in Alaska and Arctic Canada and sightings in Britain are rare enough to attract a crowd
If you’d asked me which rare bird I might see in Somerset in early January, the least sandpiper would have been very low on my list. Yet on a fine, bright, chilly morning here it was: running along the edge of the water like a clockwork toy, probing the mud for food with its stubby bill.
This species is well-named. It is the world’s smallest wading bird, just 13-15cm long and weighing less than 30 grams – about the same as a house sparrow. Even its scientific name, minutilla, is Latin for “very small”. Standing next to a dunlin and a teal, it made them look enormous.
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01/08/2025 - 01:00
Steve Reed to announce focus on making farming ‘more profitable and sustainable’ at Oxford Farming Conference
The government is aiming to reset its relationship with farmers with what it describes as a “new deal” for the industry.
Farmers have protested in their tens of thousands after controversial changes were made to agricultural inheritance tax and the EU-derived subsidy scheme.
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01/07/2025 - 22:11
Fueled by major windstorm, Pacific Palisades fire touches museum site but officials say collection safe
Follow live: Palisades blaze doubles in size to nearly 3,000 acres
A rapidly spreading wildfire in southern California reached the grounds of the Getty Villa museum north of Santa Monica on Tuesday, but officials said no structures had burned and the collection was safe.
The Pacific Palisades fire, fueled by a major windstorm and prompting mass evacuations in Los Angeles county, burned some trees and vegetation on site at the Getty Villa, but museum leaders said the galleries and archives were protected.
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01/07/2025 - 13:24
Chuckwalla and Sáttítla monuments in California will be safeguarded against extraction and energy development
Joe Biden will designate two new national monuments in California in his last days in office, after tribes and environment groups asked him to take urgent action.
The designation of the Chuckwalla monument in southern California and the Sáttítla monument in the far north of the state will place 840,000 acres (339,935 hectares) of land under protection, shielding it from extraction and energy development.
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01/07/2025 - 11:52
Agency has either ignored petitions or ruled against taking action against chemical that presents serious health risks
A coalition of environmental groups has sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the use of highly toxic phthalates in plastic food packaging because the chemicals have been found to leach at alarming rates and present a serious health risk, especially for developing children.
The suit is the latest salvo in an ongoing eight-year battle in which advocates have pressured the FDA to ban the chemicals’ use in food packaging, but the agency has sided with industry that opposes the calls. Since 2016, the FDA has either illegally ignored petitions or rejected demands to revoke a 40-year-old authorization for the chemicals that is based on long-outdated science.
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01/07/2025 - 09:05
Campaigners welcome move but say success depends on enforcement and global agreement on a treaty
Thailand has banned plastic waste imports over concerns about toxic pollution, as experts warn that failure to agree a global treaty to cut plastic waste will harm human health.
A law banning imports of plastic waste came into force this month in Thailand, after years of campaigning by activists. Thailand is one of several south-east Asian countries that has historically been paid to receive plastic waste from developed nations. The country became a leading destination for exports of plastic waste from Europe, the US, the UK and Japan in 2018 after China, the world’s biggest market for household waste, imposed a ban.
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01/07/2025 - 07:29
Waterways can protect biodiversity, help with water security and keep cities cooler, says Canal & River Trust
Protecting the UK’s canals is crucial for improving the nation’s resilience to climate change, campaigners have said.
A report by the Canal & River Trust charity found canals could play a “critical role” in biodiversity, decarbonisation and climate adaptation.
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01/07/2025 - 05:00
Approach could be used to limit outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, which results in 390m cases annually worldwide
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Toxic male mosquitoes will poison females with their semen in a new population control method developed by Australian researchers.
The method involves genetically engineering males to produce spider and sea anemone venom proteins, which they inject into females during mating, reducing their lifespan.
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01/07/2025 - 01:34
In today’s newsletter: Widespread flooding, snow and power outages have left thousands of households and travellers facing the aftermath of a cold snap – with more disruption to come
Good morning.
British winters have grown markedly milder over the past century: analysis has shown that the average UK winter has gotten 1C warmer and 15% wetter in the last century. Last February was the warmest in recorded history. There have been fewer and fewer snow days and the Met Office found that ground frost periods are three weeks shorter compared to the 1970s.
Canada | Justin Trudeau has said he will step down as Canada’s prime minister. His resignation throws open the doors to a fierce political battle to be the country’s next leader, with polls showing the Liberals losing badly to the official opposition Conservatives.
Child sexual exploitation | Keir Starmer has condemned Elon Musk’s increasingly erratic attacks on the government, suggesting that his “lies and misinformation” on grooming gangs were amplifying the “poison” of the far right. Ministers meanwhile promised to implement a key demand of a 2022 child sex abuse inquiry so that professionals who do not report claims of abuse will be sanctioned.
US politics | The US Congress certified Donald Trump’s presidential election victory on Monday, in an event heavy with symbolism four years to the day since he incited a violent mob to disrupt a similar ceremony. Kamala Harris presided over a joint Senate and House of Representatives session to validate the result.
Foster care | The UK is facing a fostering crisis where retiring carers are not being replaced by younger people, while the number of children entering care homes is rising, a charity has warned. The decline in foster carers is due to the impact of the pandemic, the costof living crisis, biological children staying at home for longer, spare rooms being used as home offices and changing family situations, Barnardo’s children’s charity said.
Tibet | A magnitude 6.8 earthquake has struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities, the China Earthquake Networks Centre has said, killing 53 people, injuring 62 and damaging buildings around Shigatse, according to state media.
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