The Guardian

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party MP Robert Borsak admits to shooting and eating an elephant while on a hunting trip in Zimbabwe. In a late-night sitting of New South Wales parliament on Tuesday, he defends his choice ‘to hunt and gather my own meat because it is my right to do so – it’s a clean, organic and sustainable way to live’

• Australian state MP admits eating elephant he shot in Zimbabwe
  
• Australia Greens leader views coral bleaching while snorkelling – video

Energy inefficient and substandard construction in developing countries locking the world into high greenhouse gas emissions for decades, warns Fatih Birol

Buildings currently being constructed at an increasing rate in developing countries are locking the world into high greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come, the world’s leading authority on energy has warned.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told the Guardian that the world’s number one priority in tackling climate change must be to ensure those buildings meet higher standards of efficiency and safety.

From Tibetan monks playing basket ball with ice thawing high up in the Himalayas, to the pollution that hides behind the Taj Mahal, here’s our pick from 60 exceptional environmental photographs, by photographers and filmmakers from 70 countries, that will go on show at the Royal Geographical Society in London from 29 June to 21 August. The winners will be announced on 28 June

• Photographs provided by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
  

Captured by the XL Catlin Seaview Survey, these images show the extent of coral bleaching in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives. Scientists say this and similar devastation elsewhere in the world, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, are visible evidence of the impact of global warming

• Coral bleaching spreads to Maldives, devastating spectacular reefs

Exclusive: Images from the Indian Ocean archipelago reveal the extent of the longest global coral bleaching event in history

• Coral bleaching in the Maldives – in pictures

The longest global coral bleaching event in history is now devastating reefs in the crystal clear waters of the Maldives, with images released exclusively to the Guardian powerfully illustrating the extent of the damage there.

Photographed by the XL Catlin Seaview Survey, the images captured the event in May as it moved beyond the now devastated Great Barrier Reef and into waters further west.

Pact addresses concerns that burgeoning output from renewables is putting strain on electricity grid and pushing up prices

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has hammered out a deal with state premiers on the latest reform to Germany’s renewable energy law aimed at curbing the costs and controlling the speed of the roll-out of green power sources.

After a meeting with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states that stretched into the early hours of Wednesday, the government agreed to cap the expansion of onshore wind power at 2.8 gigawatts in capacity per year.

Returning to Alan Bennett’s old street to shoot The Lady in the Van threw up surprises for residents and crew

When a decrepit van, filled with a homeless old lady’s flotsam and jetsam, appeared with a film crew on Gloucester Crescent, 25 years after a similar vehicle had last been seen there, it proved a popular addition to the street for two people in particular.

“Camden Town is party central and when the crew turned up on one Monday morning they found a couple who’d been having a good time in the van,” says director Nicholas Hytner. “They’d apparently been there all weekend.

The Australian Greens leader examines coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef while snorkelling at Lizard Island in Queensland. Richard Di Natale also dives at Michaelmas Cay, where he is joined by his deputy, Senator Larissa Waters. All footage provided by the Australian Greens

Orcas exist in every ocean, adapting to different conditions and diets. Genome sequencing has allowed insights into their evolution - and similarity to humans

Geneticists have deciphered the brief history of the killer whale: the predator that exists in every ocean but has evolved over the generations to hunt in disciplined packs, and specialise in a range of diets.

The lesson is that genetic mutations that may have favoured survival in changing circumstances were then enhanced by natural selection – and by social learning within killer whale family groups.

Cars and houses are buried in rubble after extreme floods hit parts of south-west Germany. Streets in Braunsbach were strewn with debris after two streams burst their banks. Four people have died, including a firefighter. Much of Germany and Europe experienced heavy rain and thunder storms over the weekend

• Four dead after severe floods hit southern Germany

The EU referendum has united an often fractious industry, with skippers in ports from northern Scotland to Cornwall desperate to dump imposed quotas

William Whyte has a new flag flying from the rigging of his vast blue-hulled trawler, its fabric snapping in the brisk breeze coming in off the North Sea. It features the cartoon of a militant-looking fish wearing armour, a union jack shield at its waist and the legend “Fishing for Leave”.

These flags are appearing on boats around Britain’s coast. The country’s trawlermen are placing themselves in the vanguard of the campaign to quit the EU. There is talk of a flotilla massing on the Thames, as the country’s fishing fleets press the case for Brexit.

Tara national park, Serbia The extraordinary thing is not how comfortable local people are around bears but how they live in almost parallel worlds

Sitting in a forest hut for three hours watching a glade fill with shadows tests to the limits all that modern life has made of us, especially our capacities for patience, stillness, silence.

Not that I expected the objects of our vigil to reciprocate. On the contrary, brown bears in this park can be 250kg, so I was assuming that they might give warning of their approach: inadvertent rustling perhaps, or anxious alarm calls from nearby birds. Not a bit of it: what was so affecting was how the bears brought the stillness with them. On one occasion an animal walked right by us and while just 4 metres away we heard nothing.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale criticises Labor and the Coalition for their commitments to new coalmines, accusing them of taking huge donations from the fossil fuel lobby and harming the future of renewables on ABC’s Q&A program on Monday. When asked about his plans for central Queensland, Di Natale says: ‘I tell you what we won’t be doing is opening up a new coalmine and killing the Great Barrier Reef.”

Ever since visiting a remote Indonesian village as a teenager, Justine Flynn nurtured the dream of improving the lives of millions of people. Today, she has raised more than $4 million for life-changing food, water, health and sanitation programs by selling innovative local products

It was a week after the terror attacks of 9/11, and 14-year-old Justine Flynn was about to get on a plane to a remote village in Indonesia to help out at a local children’s foundation.

The fact her mum and dad let her go, despite the climate of fear, became a life-changing moment which set her on her path as a social entrepreneur and for which she is forever grateful.

Comedy comes in all shapes and sizes. From the clever to the quirky, there is something for everyone in this selection of 25 of our funniest films. Warm up your winter with a little humour from some of the masters of modern comedy

Polling indicates 71% would be more likely to vote for a party that supported distributed small-scale solar and storage

Battery storage technology has the potential to reshape not just the energy and transport sectors but also the upcoming Australian federal election, according to a new report.

The Australia Institute report Securing Renewables: How Batteries Solve the Problem of Clean Electricity includes polling indicating that 71% of Australians would be more likely to vote for a party that supported distributed small-scale solar and storage.

Officials in Thailand take three tigers away from a Buddhist temple during a raid over wildlife trafficking claims. The tigers are tranquilised and taken away on stretchers to be transferred to a state-owned sanctuary. Dozens of tigers remain at the temple in Kanchanaburi province, and tourists are seen taking selfies with the big cats. The temple claims it is a wildlife sanctuary, but authorities are investigating it for animal trafficking and abuse

Data released to Greenpeace in response to FoI requests show number of prosecutions has dropped significantly in recent years

Far fewer pirate fishermen are being caught in English and Welsh waters, with prosecutions, warnings and inspections all plummeting in recent years following cuts at the enforcement agency.

The reduction in action against illegal fishing, a multi-million pound activity, is putting marine life at risk and allowing “blackfish” to become a normal catch for some rogue operators, according to experts. Those convicted of major fishing crimes are also free to continue fishing afterwards.

A worried mother elephant looks on as her calf is rescued by wildlife officials in Sri Lanka, after it fell into an open drain. Rescuers in the town of Hambantota fire smoke bullets to keep her from coming too close while they dismantle the drain and pull the calf to safety

Officials remove three animals following raid at temple, which has been investigated for animal abuse in recent years

Wildlife authorities in Thailand have raided a Buddhist temple where tigers are kept, taking away three of the animals and vowing to confiscate scores more in response to global pressure over wildlife trafficking.

The Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, has more than 100 tigers and has become a tourist destination where visitors take selfies with tigers and bottle-feed their cubs.