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It’s a bat eat mouse, lizard eat possum, wallaby eat bird world out there. Animals are always eating weird stuff.

An antelope caught on camera in Uganda for the first time sheds light on an unexplored rainforest.

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

"The industry has a very bad history of money going into it and never coming out", so why does Wall Street keep feeding the fracking firms?

It’s been a good summer for black hairstreaks, but the feet of too many enthusiasts can cause damage to the wildlife they come to see

The damage caused when hundreds of twitchers trample a fragile nature reserve to bag a photograph of a rare bird is relatively well-known. Butterfly watchers are considered a more genteel breed. Wading through a wildflower meadow in pursuit of butterflies is a supreme summertime pleasure. When one person does it, the flowers spring back within hours. Unfortunately, numerous people, no matter how well-intentioned, congregating in one spot can cause problems.

Related: Black hairstreaks found miles from their heartland

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California's Air Resources Board (ARB) approved changes on Friday to maintain higher fuel economy standards in the 2021-2026 period in response to the Trump administration’s recent proposal to keep the federal standard static at the 2020 level.

A US court ruled Thursday that New York’s zero emissions credit (ZEC) programme to subsidise nuclear energy does not impede on federal authority, marking the second time this month that a federal court has upheld the state-led initiatives.

The Virginia Air Pollution Control Board (APCB) postponed a decision until late October on proposed cap-and-trade regulations that would set a more stringent 2020 emissions limit, officials said Friday.

EU carbon prices gained for the second straight day on Friday, climbing above €21 after another strong auction helped recover more lost ground from big drops earlier in the week.

Young people face a long term ‘health crisis’ unless the government acts to clean up pollution, says children’s charity

Children in the UK are being denied their basic human right to breathe clean air and facing a long term “health crisis” because of the toxic fumes they breathe on their way to and from school, according to leading children’s charity Unicef.

The organisation, which campaigns on children’s rights and wellbeing around the world, described the situation in the UK as “horrific” and has announced it is to make protecting youngsters from air pollution its priority across the country in the months ahead.

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The thrill of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting mingles with a fear that this story may not end well

Grant Hazlehurst, a civil servant from Bromley, Kent has seen many whales. “Fin, sperm, Cuvier’s beaked, True’s beaked, sei, long-fin pilot …” most of them from his regular jaunts on a car ferry in the Bay of Biscay. “But I never thought I would see a beluga, not in the Thames,” he said. “So, I’m hoping.”

So were the two dozen or so others who, on Friday morning, gathered on a windy shore near Gravesend, scanning foam-flecked waves in anticipation that, for a fourth day, the beluga whale that has somehow got lost in the Thames, would show itself.

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The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

Orca ‘apocalypse’: half of killer whales doomed to die from pollution

Jailed anti-fracking activists release defiant video message

World ‘nowhere near on track’ to avoid warming beyond 1.5C target

UK government urged not to bury nuclear waste under national parks

Monsanto’s global weedkiller harms honeybees, research finds

Under-fire UN environment chief forced back to HQ

Seattle sea cucumber poachers reeled in $1.5m

Corbyn vows to end ‘greed-is-good’ capitalism in UK

Great Barrier Reef scientists told to focus on projects to make government look good

Fears grow for small tortoiseshell butterfly as decline continues

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Germany should impose market mechanisms such as more stringent carbon pricing to drive its clean energy transition, instead of its current complex support mechanisms, the country's federal audit office said Friday.

A flock of house martins, red foxes and a Bengal tigress are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Four companies have picked up 50% of the 128.6 million German carbon allowances auctioned in the first eight months of 2018, a new report shows.

Conservation groups speak out as fears grow of Lake District being eyed as possible site

The National Trust and 18 other conservation groups have urged ministers to rule out burying nuclear waste below national parks as fears grow that the Lake District is being eyed as a potential site.

In January, the government restarted its attempt to find a community willing to host such a facility after a previous search collapsed five years ago. Ministers have refused to exclude national parks from the process.

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

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 1.3% in the year to Mar. 31, largely due to a massive increase in export-focused LNG production and despite a reduction in emissions from the power sector.

Climate Analytics says that on current trends, emissions will race way past the Paris agreement target

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, fuelled by the expansion in gas exports and production, according to new figures published by the Department of Environment and Energy.

The government quietly published its quarterly emissions figures on Friday afternoon, a public holiday in Victoria and the day of the release of the interim royal commission report into the banking sector.

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Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator issued 49,903 carbon credits this week, around half the recent average, while one more project finalised its delivery obligations with the Emissions Reduction Fund.