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Rising demand for exotic pets is pushing many gibbon species to extinction, with their strong family bonds making them especially vulnerable to the brutal trade
It is a cool morning in Thailand’s hilly north, and a wildlife officer sits on the veranda of Omkoi wildlife sanctuary’s office. On her lap is a wide-eyed infant primate dressed in baby clothes. Not unlike a human baby, he kicks and waves excitedly. Most of his dark skin is covered in dense white fur, except for his face and the palms of his hands.
“We call him Chokdee,” the officer says. “It means ‘good luck’.”
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Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: Firebugs congregate in large numbers to feast and mate – and this is the first time we’ve known their revelry on the farm
At this time of year the farm is a popular spot, with people strolling, horse riding or picnicking from dawn till dusk. One of the unexpected joys of opening up public access is the extra pairs of eyes. A broken fence or fallen tree is noticed almost immediately; an otter is spotted slipping into a stream at first light. Recently, Laura, a regular dog walker and keen photographer, shared something new.
Congregating on the sunny side of an old lime tree is a colony of firebugs. There are 50 or so, clustered together, like flames flickering up the trunk. Each is nearly a centimetre long, with ember-bright red backs marked by bold, symmetrical black shapes. These aggregations, typically on lime or mallow, are for mating and feeding. A firebug eats seeds, aphids or even its dead relatives, sucking out moisture with its proboscis.
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Exclusive: Commission says alert would trigger coordinated international response that could help avoid millions dying
The climate crisis should be declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization, or millions more people will die unnecessarily, leading international experts have said.
The independent pan-European commission on climate and health, which was convened by the WHO, concluded the climate crisis was such a worldwide threat to health that the WHO should declare it “a public health emergency of international concern” (Pheic).
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Despite the ban on disposables, waste professionals say the mountain of discarded devices is a £1bn-a-year issue
It is 2pm and Ana, 47, has just started the afternoon shift at the Suez recycling plant near Birmingham city centre, standing beneath a sign reading “Non-ferrous sorting station” with a bucket of vapes in front of her. Sorting and dismantling them is part of her job as a site operative.
Recycling them is not simple. Each bucket holds between 40 and 50 devices, and over the course of a shift, she gets through about half a bucket. Using a hammer, she has to smash each vape open, pry out the batteries and separate each component into a different container.
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Humpback had been found deceased on Friday after rescue attempt criticised as ‘pure animal cruelty’
Timmy the whale has been confirmed dead by Danish authorities two weeks after the beached humpback was transported to the North Sea in a rescue attemptcriticised as “pure animal cruelty”.
Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency said a whale had been found dead on Friday near the small island of Anholt in the Kattegat, a broad strait between Denmark and Sweden, and confirmed it was Timmy on Saturday.
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Climate and transport organisations warn ministers not to ‘sleepwalk into crisis’ amid Iran war oil and gas shortages
Private jets should be banned and the speed limit on UK motorways reduced to 60mph as part of a pre-emptive effort to ease the looming fuel supply crisis, according to leading climate and transport organisations.
The group – including Greenpeace and Transport and Environment – are calling on ministers not to “sleepwalk into a crisis” that could lead to severe shortages of jet fuel and spiralling petrol prices at the pump in the coming months.
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Thames at Ham designated as one of 13 new swimming areas across England to be monitored for water quality
The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London will welcome swimmers for the official start of the bathing season on Friday as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across England.
The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, has been designated as a new river bathing water area after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year.
Canvey Island foreshore, Essex
East Beach at West Bay, Bridport, Dorset
Falcon Meadow, Bungay, Suffolk
Granville Parade Beach, Sandgate, Kent
Little Shore, Amble, Northumberland
New Brighton Beach (east), Merseyside
Newton and Noss Creeks, Devon
Pangbourne Meadow, Berkshire
Queen Elizabeth Gardens, Salisbury, Wiltshire
River Dee at Sandy Lane, Chester, Cheshire
River Fowey in Lostwithiel, Cornwall
River Swale in Richmond, Yorkshire
River Thames at Ham and Kingston, Greater London
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Like many informal settlements, communities that have sprung up on the edges of Ayacucho in the Andes are on the frontline of extreme weather events
In December 2009, a late‑afternoon storm unleashed torrential rain over Ayacucho, in Peru, hitting poor hillside neighbourhoods hard. The deluge overwhelmed drainage systems, turning streams into lethal flows of mud, stones and debris that flooded houses and streets and trapped drivers at a busy junction.
Ten people died, 18 were injured, and 530 houses were destroyed or damaged, according to a government inquest. “It was a disaster,” recalls Edgar Castro, a leader in Ayacucho’s largest informal neighbourhood, Mollepata.
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With Israel blocking imports of building materials, those rebuilding in Gaza are recycling ruins to make new homes
It is difficult to see through the dust inside the cramped, low-roofed tent on the eastern edge of Khan Younis. Ibrahim al-Aloul works alongside four others, with a piece of fabric tied over his mouth and nose as his only shield against the toxic grey powder as he sifts and grinds.
Outside, a skinny donkey waits with a cart to carry the finished product to the next tent along, where it will be mixed with gypsum, calcium and binding agents before being bagged in flour sacks and sold.
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When Sousan Samadani saw a video about soil degradation, she suddenly knew she would commit everything she had to the cause. Soon she was travelling thousands of miles to raise awareness, skydiving, hitchhiking and cycling
Sousan Samadani was watching videos on YouTube one day when she came across a post about how the world’s soil was degrading so rapidly that it was in danger of extinction.
The video – posted by the Save Soil movement – “was like a shock for me”, Samadani says. “I thought: ‘How is it possible that the soil that gives us food is dying?’”
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