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As vegan activism boosts awareness of animal welfare issues, more dairy farms let calves stay with their mothers. But is this really any better for the cows?

A field of cows with suckling calves may sound like a normal rural scene. In fact, the view at David Finlay’s farm on the Dumfries and Galloway coast is a sight you’d be unlikely to see on any other dairy farm in the UK.

Almost all calves are separated from cows within hours or days of birth on dairy farms. This allows farmers to sell the milk that the calves would otherwise drink.

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What are young people most worried about? We put their queries to the experts

Ewoenam Tetteh and Faith Otasowie, both 15, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex

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Solar Foods hopes wheat flour-like product will hit target in supermarkets within two years

A Finnish company that makes food from electricity, water and air has said it plans to have 50m meals’ worth of its product sold in supermarkets within two years.

Solar Foods is also working with the European Space Agency to supply astronauts on a mission to Mars after devising a method it says creates a protein-heavy product that looks and tastes like wheat flour at a cost of €5 (£4.50) per kilo.

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Temperatures lead to what appears to be largest local die-off in 15 years, raising fears for broader ecosystem

In all her years working at Bodega Bay, the marine reserve research coordinator Jackie Sones had never seen anything like it: scores of dead mussels on the rocks, their shells gaping and scorched, their meats thoroughly cooked.

A record-breaking June heatwave apparently caused the largest die-off of mussels in at least 15 years at Bodega Head, a small headland on the northern California bay. And Sones received reports from other researchers of similar mass mussel deaths at various beaches across roughly 140 miles of coastline.

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Hunters could be back in Japanese waters from 1 July, ending a three-decade halt to commercial whaling.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

The Netherlands government on Friday announced plans to impose a carbon tax on industrial firms included in the EU ETS as part of its national climate strategy.

The Canadian environment ministry published a discussion paper on Friday for developing a federal offset programme for use under its ‘backstop’ output-based pricing system (OBPS), while it also finalised those regulations for the large emitter trading system and delayed draft regulations for the Clean Fuel Standard (CFS).

Can a cauliflower latte taste good; how are families in Queensland coping with flood recovery; and where coal and renewables meet - regional Queensland.

Britain’s smallest butterfly has been spotted more than 25 miles from its nearest known colony

It seems not to have stopped raining since last month’s Butterflywatch but it has been quite warm and in the gaps between the deluges I’ve seen plenty of Britain’s largest butterfly, the swallowtail, in its Norfolk heartland.

I’ve also admired hundreds of migratory painted ladies, blown in on southerly winds, in what is the largest invasion for a decade but still well short of the epic painted lady summer of 2009.

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Rescuing injured joeys, chainsaw racing for fun and fitness, heritage restoration provides history lesson and martial arts helping to counter bullying.

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level taken this week, including Massachusetts approving long-term hydroelectric contracts, Maine renewable energy bills, a California bill targeting WCI offsets.

Oregon Senate Republicans will return to the legislature this weekend after receiving assurances from Democrats that the proposed WCI-modelled cap-and-trade programme will not move forward during the 2019 session, the party leader said Friday.

The Ontario Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Ottawa has the authority to impose its ‘backstop’ carbon pricing policy on the recalcitrant province, marking the second provincial court in as many months to rule in favour of the federal government on its landmark climate strategy.

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.

German emitters slowed their EU Allowance buying in May as prices slipped, a government report published on Friday showed.

A red-eared slider tortoise, wild pigs, and a jaguar cooling off in the heatwave

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Trio taken to court by Cuadrilla after taking part in ‘lock-on’ at Blackpool site last year

Three anti-fracking protesters have been found to have breached an injunction designed to stop them demonstrating outside a fracking site in Lancashire, which they say has a “chilling effect on the right to peaceful protest”.

The trio were taken to court by Cuadrilla, which last year became the first firm to start large-scale fracking in Britain. The energy firm said it took legal action to prevent “dangerous, disrespectful and illegal activity” at its Preston New Road site near Blackpool.

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Finland will buy 130,000 Gold Standard CERs from developer South Pole to overcompensate for flight emissions during its upcoming six-month term holding the rotating EU Presidency.

As the continent bakes in sweltering temperatures, experts explain what's happening - and why now.