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The ongoing violence in Syria, the Rio Paralympics, wildfires in Spain, the US Open tennis in New York – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week

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South Uist Before me is a curve of white sand and a lazy sea of glorious Hebridean blue, breaking with a gentle whisper on to the shore

It’s the best kind of late summer day, with bright sunshine and a temperature as high as anything we’ve had this year. The smell of new-mown grass carries on the warm breeze and from a few fields away comes the muted drone of a tractor. Emerging from under the bridge the river curves sinuously as it crosses the sand on the final stage of its journey to the sea. But unlike it, rather than heading for the beach I take the path behind the low dunes. It is edged by a riot of plants, some still in flower.

The violet-blue flowers of common vetch stand out from the luxuriant tangle of its intertwining leaves, while clumps of purple thistle-like hardheads rise above them. The remains of umbelliferous hogweed, dried ochre seed-heads atop brittle, ridged stems, make sculptural statements amid the foliage. Scattered liberally throughout are the cheerful yellows of the autumn hawkbit.

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Global investment in renewable energy is now higher than in fossil fuels. China has a policy to shift away from coal and has begun an energy transition. Change is happening. The challenge is for the world to rebuild its energy system quickly to minimise damage from a warming planet.

With one leaf, one potato-like tuber and one flower when the time is right, the Yellow-lip Spider-orchid is one of the rarest plants in Australia. It is also sexually deceptive.

Ground-breaking work on synthetic organ transplants made Paolo Macchiarini one of the most famous doctors in the world. Now his reputation lies in tatters.

Researchers discover that during sleep, thoughts your care about are more likely to enter your memory.

This Sunday is Sustainable House Day and we visit one house in Melbourne which has had a sustainable makeover.

Pigs are wreaking havoc in the Daintree forest, but there's concern about how they should be controlled; and why a 'pastured egg' could be your new breakfast choice.

A federal judge denies a request to halt construction on a controversial oil pipeline that is deeply opposed by Native American tribes.

Findings suggest that the cephalopods – which have the most complex brains of any invertebrate – also prefer quality over quantity when it comes to food

New research suggests cuttlefish can not only count better than a one-year-old human, but they also prefer quality over quantity when it comes to food.

A study of 54 one-month-old cuttlefish hatched in captivity was carried out by Tsang-I Yang and Chuan-Chin Chiao, researchers at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan.

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Cabinet Office paper, revealed accidentally, suggests collective responsibility may be waived by Theresa May

A leaked Whitehall document suggests Theresa May could hold a free vote on expanding airport capacity, potentially allowing some cabinet ministers to oppose a third runway at Heathrow.

The Cabinet Office paper, photographed on the tube and passed to Channel 4 News, examines the possibility of waiving collective responsibility for any vote on the highly controversial issue of expanding an airport in south-east England.

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Britain’s only caviar farmer plans to expand with a second site in rural East Sussex but locals say the site will impact the landscape and put pressure on a river where sea trout spawn

Plans by Britain’s only caviar farmer to expand his operations to a tiny rural community in East Sussex have sparked a backlash from locals concerned over its environmental impact.

Ken Benning opened the country’s first caviar farm in Devon two years ago and supplies Michelin-starred restaurants in Britain, but his planning application for a further sturgeon farm at East Chiltington has been greeted with a wave of opposition.

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Written in the sediments of north-west England's lakes is a record of extreme flood events - information that can inform future flood preparedness.

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

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An angry-faced caterpillar, lion’s mane jellyfish and a new species of giraffe are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Fishermen catch 20 of the mammals on the first day of the controversial six-month hunting season featured in anti-dolphin killing film The Cove

Japanese fishermen on Friday killed the first dolphins of the season in a controversial annual hunt that attracted global attention after it was featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove.

Fishermen at the western town of Taiji caught 20 dolphins, according to the local Kii Mimpo newspaper.

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Star Trek has had an “inspirational relationship” with the space programme, says Robert Picardo, who played the medical hologram in Star Trek Voyager.

An investigation into how a SpaceX rocket exploded on the launchpad is uncovering 'the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years' says founder Elon Musk.

Virgin Galactic has flown its new rocket plane for the first time in a “captive-carry test” above California.