Breaking Waves: Ocean News

The Hollywood actor was stopped mid-scene as a man and a woman climbed on stage at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Hayley Walsh, 42, a lecturer from Nottingham, and Richard Weir, 60, a mechanical engineer from Tynemouth, set off a confetti cannon and held up a banner referring to the 1.5C global temperature rise as a 'shipwreck', a nod to the Shakespeare play that features a ship sinking at sea Just Stop Oil activists interrupt play starring Sigourney Weaver in London Continue reading...

Across the continent, millions of hectares of land are being used and run by local people coexisting with wildlife in spaces where both can thrive Photographs by Nicoló Lanfranchi Africa’s first national park was created 100 years ago by the Belgian colonial state in the Congo, and since then hundreds more have been developed – but in many areas there is more wildlife in protected areas run by local people. Tens of millions of hectares across the continent are home to community-run “conservancies”, managed by herders, farmers and hunter-gatherers, who coexist with herds of large animals such as elephants, giraffes and buffalo. The Nashulai conservancy in southern Kenya. The country now has more than 230 community-run reserves covering 16% of the country. Conservancies have helped wildlife recover while benefiting local people Continue reading...

An economic shift raises alarming questions about government vision, priorities and commitment to transformative policies To hear Labour’s economic message, one might wonder if Downing Street has developed an unlikely admiration for Liz Truss. Given its focus on growth through cutting planning regulations, reducing welfare budgets and removing dissenting bureaucrats, some believe Labour is in danger of echoing not just the spirit but the substance of Ms Truss’s brief, ill-fated tenure. For a party that rose to power criticising the Tory right’s ideological misadventures, this shift in tone is striking. Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves may see Labour’s sinking poll ratings as reason to align with their opponents, adopting policies – like curbing legal challenges to planning decisions – few rightwingers would contest. In a speech later this week, Ms Reeves plans to give the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow, a divisive choice even within Labour that has earned support from the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Energy secretary insists there is ‘no contradiction between net zero and economic growth’ in hearing at Commons committee The hearing has stopped for a short break. Heather Hallett, the chair, tells Badenoch that her evidence will be finished by lunchtime. Keith is now asking Badenoch about the fourth report produced by the Race Disparity Unit. It was produced in December 2021. Relevant health departments and agencies should review and action existing requests for health data, and undertake an independent strategic review of the dissemination of healthcare data and the publication of statistics and analysis.​​ Government is not necessarily great at delivering these systems. They tend to be big boondoggles for the private sector, but there are private sector companies that can deliver this. There need to be caveats around that. Continue reading...