The Guardian
The best women's summer cycling kit
Helen Pidd chooses her favourite bike clobber for 2016 after extensive testing in Mallorca ... and Manchester
Hurray! Summer is finally here and with it comes the best ever choice of women’s cycling gear. I’ve been testing a load of kit for the past few months in my native Manchester, plus sneaking off to Mallorca with my club to test the wicking properties of various jerseys and seeing which chamois offer best protection to my delicate bits. Here are my favourites:
Continue reading...Perth shark attack victim named as hunt continues for suspected great white
University lecturer Doreen Collyer named as victim of second fatal shark attack in Western Australian waters within five days as authorities seek to kill animal
The second shark victim in West Australian waters within five days has been named as university lecturer Doreen Collyer, as authorities try to catch and shoot the animal believed responsible.
Collyer, a lecturer with the school of nursing and midwifery at Perth’s Edith Cowan University, was hailed as a much-loved and respected colleague, mentor and teacher.
Continue reading...The people's mountain – without the people
Blencathra, Lake District In the whole time I tread its slopes and ridges this evening, I don’t see another soul
In a bright, breeze-ruffled Derwentwater, a shoal of swimmers moves towards the shore. Dozens of wet-suited arms arc rhythmically above the water like small sea serpents, churning the lake as they go. A gauzy light filters down through high streaks of cirrus and ranks of towering cumulus look like smoke thrown up over the fells from a giant cannon salvo.
Continue reading...Protected birds killed in Cheshire: Country diary 100 years ago
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 9 June 1916
June 8
“I came across six dead herons tied to a tree in the Goyt Valley,” writes a friend of mine. Some of them were quite young, evidently not having left the nest, and all had been killed about the same time. One reader of the “Manchester Guardian,” if he sees this note, will be especially annoyed; he has watched the birds here for years, even before he was certain that a small heronry had been established. Now some law-breaking keeper or water bailiff has apparently waited until the young birds were hatched to murder the whole brood; it was on the Cheshire side, and the heron is a protected bird in Cheshire. Much good protection seems to be! The sportsman, or the sportsman’s agents, appear to care nothing about the law, unless a sportsman of another type, usually called a poacher, is the offender.
The object of wild bird protection was to prove that wild birds were public or rather national property, but probably the excuse would be that it does not matter in war-time. Many of our finest sportsmen, however, have refused to preserve game during the war, but they, or at any rate some of them, observe the law and protect the scheduled birds.
Continue reading...Great white shark suspected of killing Perth diver to be hunted
Western Australia Department of Fisheries sets drum lines to catch and kill shark reported to be be between three and six metres long
A great white shark suspected of killing a 60-year-old diver in Perth’s north is being hunted.
The woman was diving with a 43-year-old man one kilometre offshore from Mindarie marina just before midday on Sunday when she was mauled.
Continue reading...Australian coastline battered by storms and floodwaters – video
Huge swells and strong winds batter the New South Wales coastline in Australia, causing flooding and dangerous conditions in Sydney and the surrounding areas. Evacuation notices have been issued in areas including Lismore, the Cooks River and Chipping Norton amid heavy rainfall, with the stormy conditions set to continue into Monday
Continue reading...Tiger temple scandal exposes the shadowy billion-dollar Asian trade
Campaigners hope the Thai temple raid will stir the world’s conscience – but the trafficking of tiger parts to China is a booming business
A week ago it cost 600 baht (£11.50) to visit the tiger temple in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, west of the capital, Bangkok. Tourists moved by the spectacle of such splendid creatures living side by side with human beings could also pay the saffron-robed Buddhist monks an extra £15 to help feed the cubs, or to have their picture taken with an adult tiger’s head resting on their lap.
Along with nearly 250,000 people, Jay Z, Beyoncé and their daughter Blue Ivy posed with the animals last year, and marvelled that some of the world’s fiercest creatures could be so tame.
Continue reading...America's water testing problems must and can be fixed, experts say
The Flint disaster and other cities’ ‘cheating’ called criminal in nature by some, but scientists believe the remedies are fairly straightforward
A tragedy of widespread testing failures in US drinking water is that experts believe the remedies are fairly straightforward – if there is political will.
As the Guardian has revealed, at least 33 cities across 17 states have used water testing methods that regulators and experts have said may inaccurately reduce lead levels found in tests.
Continue reading...Great Barrier Reef authority says media, not activists, misinterpreting the data
Russell Reichelt says he has no problem with environmental lobbyists portraying the seriousness of the damage but a lot of the reef remains unscathed
The chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Russell Reichelt, has played down a report that said he accused activist scientists and lobby groups of distorting maps and data to misrepresent the extent of coral bleaching on the reef.
The authority withdrew from a joint announcement from the national coral bleaching taskforce about the extent of coral bleaching earlier in the week because Reichtel believed maps accompanying the research did not depict the full picture.
Continue reading...Graceful quick-step of the grey wagtail
Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales They are constantly in motion, dancing out of the gorge in undulating flight
Pont y Llyn Du on the Afon Gain, in the lonely moors east of Trawsfynydd, above the old gold mines at Gwynfynydd, is one of those places at which you’d never arrive except by design. It’s one of my favourite haunts in the Welsh hills.
The peaty hill stream rushes down through a miniature rocky gorge under the old humped bridge to debouch into a round pool of amber depth, encircled by green pastures. You can traverse through on rock ledges beneath the arch, plunge into the pool if you’re hardy and of the “wild swimming” persuasion. What most appeals to me are the spirits of the place.
Continue reading...Greens to spend $265m on community-owned renewable energy projects
Four-year package, to be announced by Adam Bandt on Saturday, will allow the ventures to generate tax-free profits from the electricity created
The Greens will announce that they will spend $265.2m on community-owned renewable energy projects, including allowing these to generate tax-free profits from the electricity created.
The Greens energy spokesman, Adam Bandt, will announce the four-year package on Saturday in North Fitzroy at an apartment block seeking to establish a community-owned renewable project.
Continue reading...Value of eco crimes soars by 26% with devastating impacts on natural world
Environmental crime is now the world’s fourth biggest crime and is a growing threat to security and natural resources, say UN and Interpol
The value of the black market industry behind crimes such as ivory smuggling, illegal logging and toxic waste dumping has jumped by 26% since 2014 to between $91bn (£62bn) and $258bn, according to an assessment by the UN and Interpol.
Environmental crime is now the world’s fourth largest illicit enterprise after drug smuggling, counterfeiting and human trafficking and has outstripped the illegal trade in small arms.
Continue reading...EU dilutes proposal to halve air pollution deaths after UK lobbying
If implemented, weakened proposal means 14,000 people could die prematurely across Europe each year from 2030
EU states have agreed to water down a proposed law aimed at halving the number of deaths from air pollution within 15 years, after intense lobbying from the UK that cross-party MEPs have condemned as “appalling”.
Some 14,000 people will die prematurely every year across Europe from 2030 as a result, if the weakened proposal is implemented, according to figures cited by the environment commissioner, Karmenu Vella.
Continue reading...Flooding threat: worried Parisians watch Seine level rise – video
Residents voice their fears as the water level of the Seine river in Paris continues to rise. Officials forecast the Seine could peak at 6.5 metres, its highest level for more than 30 years in central Paris, stressing this is still well below the level at which it would threaten residents and businesses. Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
- Europe floods: Seine could peak at 6.5 metres as Louvre closes doors
- Sinkholes and landslides follow flooding in France and Germany – video
Wildlife on your doorstep: June
We’re halfway through the year with the month of June and we’d like to see your photos of the June wildlife near you
The southern hemisphere approaches winter during the month of June while the northern hemisphere basks in warm, sunny weather. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d like to see your photos of the June wildlife near you.
Share your photos and videos with us and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian site.
Continue reading...Hopping hares and playful lambs: readers' May wildlife pictures
We asked you to share your May pictures of the wildlife around the world wherever you are. Here’s a selection of our favourites
• You can add your June wildlife photographs by clicking on the ‘Contribute’ button below
The week in wildlife – in pictures
Fighting snakes, a rare sand cat family and Belgium’s newborn giant panda are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Philadelphia water department faces class action lawsuit over water testing
City is under increasing pressure to change test methods that scientists said may underestimate the amount of lead found in water after a Guardian investigation
The Philadelphia water department, accused by some experts of having water testing “worse than Flint”, is facing a class action lawsuit and a lead-testing campaign mounted by citizens concerned about water quality.
On Thursday, hours after the Guardian published an investigation into the water-testing practices of 33 cities east of the Mississippi River, the Hagens Berman law firm announced a class action lawsuit against Philadelphia, based in part on the city’s outdated test practices.
Continue reading...Getting 'High on Life' lands Canadian men in hot water for Yellowstone stunt
Four men face charges over images on social media showing them going off trail in fragile area of park, after earlier wake-boarding incident at Bonneville Salt Flats
Authorities in Yellowstone national park are urging a group of Canadian men accused of tramping off trail and dabbing in a delicate hot spring to turn themselves in, after images were posted on social media of their reported antics there and across a string of American “national treasures”.
Federal warrants have been issued in Wyoming for the arrest of the four friends, who market themselves under variations of their Vancouver-based clothing and entertainment brand High on Life.
Continue reading...From floods to forest fires: a warming planet – in pictures
Droughts, floods, forest fires and melting poles – climate change is impacting Earth like never before. From the Australia to Greenland, Ashley Cooper’s work spans 13 years and over 30 countries. This selection, taken from his new book, shows a changing landscape, scarred by pollution and natural disasters – but there is hope too, with the steady rise of renewable energy
Continue reading...