The Guardian

Ogwen valley, which allows easy defence against grey squirrels, is selected for new colony

Conservationists have turned to military strategy to ensure a new wild colony of red squirrels is protected from its bushy-tailed grey adversary in Wales.

A site at Ogwen valley, five miles from Bangor, has been selected because it is ringed by mountains and cut off from grey squirrels.

The end-of-season classic is not only among the oldest races, but also one of the toughest. Peter Kimpton delves into its course, kit and culture

Snaking down forested hairpin bends towards the finish, just 61 riders remain from 201, most beaten down by a gruelling 240km and multiple climbs across some of Italy’s most challenging but beautiful terrain. Dubbed “la classica delle foglie morte” (the race of the falling/dying leaves), the Giro Di Lombardia recently completed its 110th edition.

This year it traversed the glimmering waters of Lake Como before climbing up through cobbles into the ancient walled section of Citta Alta in Bergamo, where buildings glow orange, brown, red and in the autumn light. A sprint finish in the town’s main square saw Italy’s Diego Rosa tearfully beaten to the line by the ever-smiling Colombian Esteban Chaves, the first non-European ever to triumph here.

China leads EU and US in market size, with Nissan Leaf taking the top spot for best-selling model followed by Tesla’s Model S and two Chinese-made models

The number of plug-in electric cars on the world’s roads is set to pass the landmark of two million vehicles by the end of 2016, with industry observers saying the electric car revolution is finally underway.

A surging market in China is leading the way and Chinese-made models have pushed into the top five best-selling models. Europe is the second biggest market, followed by the US, but their traditional car manufacturers face a stern challenge from China and from Tesla, whose much-anticipated Model 3 is expected to go into production in 2017.

Report from the Committee on Climate Change says a government strategy to deploy new, radical technologies at scale by 2050 must begin now

The UK government needs to kickstart technologies to suck carbon dioxide from the air if it is to play its part in meeting the goals of the Paris climate change agreement, according to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the government’s official advisers.

The global climate deal, which the prime minister, Theresa May, says the UK will ratify by the end of 2016, pledges net zero emissions by the second half of the century, in order to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. Given that some emissions, such as those from aviation and agriculture, will be very difficult to reduce to zero, that means removing some carbon from the atmosphere.

Environmentalists furious that 2020 moratorium on 400,000ha of Tarkine forests could be reversed to help Forestry Australia ‘stand on its own feet’

Old growth forests in the Tarkine could be logged by private companies under plans being considered by the Tasmanian government to reverse a moratorium on harvesting 400,000ha of high conservation value forests.

The forests were part of 500,000ha protected under the forest peace deal signed by the former Labor government in 2013, which would have seen them eventually gazetted into national parks.

Ouse Fen, Cambridgeshire There is a looseness, a jauntiness in an off-duty fox, an actor out of costume, performance over. But why was this one stopping so often?

Halfway through the morning, with fog rising from the fen, a fox was caught out at the end of its night shift. It had opted to cross an open field of winter wheat, whose short, narrow blades offered no cover at all. Plenty saw the fox coming. A pair of Egyptian geese that had been grazing at the fringe made a precautionary lift off. A clamour of crows well and truly outed the predator by swirling in an umbrella of flaps and raucous jeers.

The fox paused to sit out the overhead commotion, then traipsed a little further before squatting down to swivel its eyes, ears and snout, and stare intently in the direction of my glinting binocular lenses. It was not the only animal that had been found out.

Long-running YouGov poll shows support for shale gas extraction at 37.3% – just as industry gears up to begin drilling

The British public’s support for fracking has fallen sharply in the last year and is now at the lowest level ever, according to a long-running poll published as the industry gears up to begin drilling.

New polling by YouGov for the University of Nottingham, which has been tracking attitudes towards shale gas extraction for more than four years, shows support for fracking in the UK is now at 37.3%, down from 46.5% a year ago and 58% in the summer of 2013.

Seneca Rus, 25, was bitten by a suspected white pointer in surf in Ballina on Wednesday

The surfer attacked by a shark on the NSW north coast is worried the use of nets around beaches could hurt marine life.

Seneca Rus, 25, was bitten by a suspected white pointer on Wednesday at Sharpes beach in Ballina when surfing with his mates.

Penguin Bloom is the story of an Australian family who rescued a ‘a tiny, scruffy, injured’ magpie chick they called Penguin. In caring for the newest member of their family, the Blooms – including mother Sam, who was herself coming to terms with paralysis after an accident – found that Penguin helped them to heal emotionally. Their story went viral on Instagram and has now been turned into a book, royalties from which will go to Spinal Cure Australia and Wings For Life in the UK

I read about the butterfly decline noticed by people all around the country, described by Patrick Barkham (Record low UK butterfly count is ‘a shock and mystery’, 10 October). I don’t find it so much of a mystery, having spent the summer planning for and walking from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh on what we called a Bee Line.

This initiative was triggered by a visit in September 2014 to our former farm on the edge of Salisbury Plain. When we moved there in the late 1940s, there were permanent pastures, hedges and ancient drove roads lined with wayfarers’ trees and carpeted with wildflowers – orchids, harebells, trefoils – and abuzz with bees, butterflies, dragonflies and pollinators of all kinds. Now, 60 years on, it is a silent landscape; no cows, chickens, sheep, or even farm workers, just contractors, and of course no birds, butterflies, bees or flying insects. Between 30 August and 6 September we followed our Bee Line, walking some 80km from Edinburgh to our home along small roads, footpaths, cycle tracks, disused railway lines, through open moorland. We saw few butterflies, moths or bees and even noted a lack of midges.

The Spanish photographer Xavi Bou digitally combines sequential pictures of birds to create a single image, or chronophotograph, that reveals the shapes of their flight paths against Catalonian skies. His work shows the variety and beauty to be found in the daily activities of the local birds, including spiralling storks, swooping starlings and giddy swifts

Max McMurdo has made a career out of turning household tat into chic new forms. But can his creations match his talk? We put him to the test

Max McMurdo stands on the doorstep surrounded by toolboxes, neat as a pin. A professional upcycler, he has offered to convert my worst bits of household junk into brilliant new forms. It’s hardly surprising that he is smiling: upcycling is a form of recreational optimism. The whole pursuit is underpinned by the belief that no tat is too tatty. All junk can be saved.

McMurdo, 38, defines upcycling as “adding emotional or financial value [to waste objects] through the addition of design”. The idea has been around since at least the 1990s, and while the principle of adding value to waste makes sense, I have always disliked most of the interiors styles it has generated. Too often, upcycling bolts an adjective – such as “shabby” or “industrial” – to the word “chic” in the hope of rendering rubbish desirable. But maybe Max will change my mind.

Biologist Ryan Killackey filmed for seven years in order to create an account of a remote forest community under pressure from US and Chinese oil companies. The result was Yasuni Man, which focuses on the Yasuni biosphere reserve in Ecuador. The ITT Initiative, which would have protected the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini regions, was killed off by President Rafael Correa in 2013. This month, the first oil from the Yasuni fields is due to be pumped up by a Chinese company and piped to customers in California

• Yasuni man is an intimate portrait of a beautiful land under siege for its oil

Car manufacturers told they must address climate change by switching to low-emission models − or face a sell-off of their shares, reports Climate News Network

Major investors have warned the automotive industry it needs to accelerate its readiness for a low-carbon world if it is to retain their support and prosper.

Vehicle makers must put climate change specialists on their boards, engage better with policy-makers, and invest more heavily in low-emission cars, says a network of 250 global investors with assets of more than $24tn (£20tn).

Sixth attack in 21 months persuades the premier, Mike Baird, to lobby federal government to install shark nets on north coast beaches

All beaches in Ballina on the New South Wales north coast are closed after a man was bitten by a shark while surfing, the sixth attack in 21 months in the area.

The attack has caused a backdown from the premier, Mike Baird, who has resisted the idea of shark nets on north coast beaches has now announced he will lobby for them to be installed.

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire Even though the woundwort has lost its place in the pharmacy, bees visit these late flowers for the nectar tucked inside them

Woundwort grows from a hedge as if to mark some hurt, not to heal so much as to witness it. Hedge woundwort, Stachys sylvatica, belongs to the betony, horehounds and catmint of the waysides. It has small tight whorls of “blood and bandages” flowers – purply red clasps with white markings – nettle-like leaves and a hairy stem that when rubbed has a stink bad enough to do you good.

Related: Country diary: Baltimore, Ireland: For centuries these leaves were nature's gift to wearied travellers

尽管津巴布韦国家公园管理方予以否认，但专家相信该国正计划将数十只大象运往中国。(翻译：金艳/chinadialogue)

有人担心，津巴布韦正准备再次将数十只幼年大象送往中国野生动物园。

今年8月，津巴布韦国家公园及野生动植物管理局（ZimParks）开始从万基国家公园捕捉大象，并将它们关在乌特士比野生动物圈养设施内。

Leaked plans show Berlin halving its goal to expand its northern windfarms because its power grid cannot keep pace

Germany is taking steps to curb its booming windfarm sector in what it claims is a necessary move to stop the renewables revolution from undermining its own success.

Critics, however, say the step will deal a blow to the country’s reputation as a leader in green energy.

Greens and Labor to combine forces to push for inquiry looking at ways to meet Australia’s climate change targets

A Senate committee will examine how best to close coal power stations to meet Australia’s climate change targets when the Greens and Labor combine to set up an inquiry on Wednesday.

The Greens and Labor will move a motion to ask the Senate environment and communications references committee to report on mass closures of electricity generators, and expect sufficient crossbench support to set up the inquiry.

Drone footage of southern right whales in ocean off South Australia will provide new insights into how they survive the yearly migration, monitoring their ongoing health over time in a changing environment. Southern right whales face a number of threats, including shipping traffic, naval activities, oil and gas exploration, unregulated whale watching and the depletion of fisheries