British Chamber of Commerce boss Shevaun Haviland says transition to clean energy could be handled better
Andy Burnham should be ready to exploit the UK’s remaining North Sea oil and gas resources to avoid mass job losses in Scotland and the north-east, the director of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Shevaun Haviland, has said.
The decision about whether to allow extraction at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields now appears likely to fall to a Burnham administration.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/24/2026 - 13:00
06/24/2026 - 12:47
Plan warns climate crisis will lead to food price shocks and shortages but farmers say it fails to adequately fund response
The climate crisis will lead to food price shocks and shortages, the government has warned in its new plan for British farming.
But farmers criticised the plan, which outlines for the first time the government’s vision for the long-term direction of farming, for failing to adequately fund a response to this threat to the UK’s food security.
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06/24/2026 - 12:29
Agreement is first by federal government to resolve enforcement claims against a major Pfas manufacturer
The Trump administration on Wednesday reached a multi-state settlement with the chemical giant Chemours Co over years-long, illegal discharges of synthetic “forever chemicals” used to make products resistant to water, grease and stains. The settlement is the first by the federal government to resolve enforcement claims against a manufacturer of harmful chemicals known as Pfas.
Under the agreement, filed in federal court in West Virginia, Chemours will pay a civil penalty of $22.5m for alleged violations and spend $90m over 15 years to mitigate Pfas discharges in three states: West Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey.
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06/24/2026 - 10:12
Temperature of 36.1C (97F) recorded in Hampshire, while two-thirds of Europe’s population experience temperatures above 30C
The UK has broken its all-time temperature record for June and France has recorded its hottest day ever for the second day running, as a heatwave affecting more than 90 million people sweeps across swathes of Europe.
As the UK and France registered record-breaking temperatures, the World Health Organization warned that the extreme temperatures are “putting lives at risk”.
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06/24/2026 - 09:47
Readers remember the Sherwood Forest tree that has failed to produce leaves for the first time in 1,000 years
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06/24/2026 - 07:00
Those who work with animals are at greater risk for infection, but face challenges in accessing healthcare
Agricultural workers are among the highest risk group for human infection during the screwworm outbreak in the American south, yet they frequently face challenges in accessing public health – an ongoing concern amid zoonotic spillovers such as H5N1 bird flu.
Screwworm has been detected in goats and sheep in three Texas counties in recent days, bringing the total to 16 known cases among animals and none reported in people.
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06/24/2026 - 06:00
Wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir had no idea what he had found until scientists started to get in touch
When wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir uploaded 18 seconds of footage to YouTube, he thought little more about the small, pale cat seen digging a hollow in the sand in the remote dunes of south-west Libya.
The video, however, posted in 2017, turned out to be the first material evidence that the sand cat (Felis margarita), the world’s only felid adapted to true desert conditions, existed in the country.
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06/24/2026 - 05:11
Analysis shows cars in Europe have grown longer, taller and wider every year since 2000
Cars have grown 1.2cm longer, 0.5cm taller and 0.5cm wider each year on average since 2000, analysis of new vehicles sold in Europe has found, in what green groups call “relentless carspreading”.
The increase in size, which leaves people more likely to be killed in a crash and increases emissions that hurt lungs and heat the planet, has progressed at a roughly steady rate for two and half decades even as family sizes have fallen, the campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) found.
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06/24/2026 - 02:00
Following a devastating heatwave in 2003 that killed 15,000, France has adopted four alert levels to help people cope with extreme temperatures
Helen Massy-Beresford is a British journalist and editor who lives in Paris
Over the weekend, as evening fell on the hilly (and, crucially, shady) Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, one of Paris’s most popular green spaces, the joyfully chaotic Fête de la musique – a summer solstice celebration of music in all its forms – got under way, with competing DJs starting their sets in nearby cafes.
It was stiflingly hot and picnickers were cooling down with water, juice or alcohol-free beer – or at least, they should have been. The Paris authorities banned the consumption of alcohol in public spaces (apart from cafe terraces) during the festival, just one of the measures they can put in place to keep citizens safe once the city reaches vigilance rouge canicule – red heatwave alert.
Helen Massy-Beresford is a British journalist and editor who lives in Paris
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06/24/2026 - 00:47
In today’s newsletter: As heatwaves intensify, Britain’s ecosystems are being pushed beyond their evolutionary limits
Our green and pleasant land is sizzling. This week, millions of us across the UK are baking in unprecedented heat. The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning from 9am today in parts of southern Wales, and central and southern England. The temperature record for June of 35.6C is almost certain to be broken; Bristol is forecast to hit an alarming 39C tomorrow.
In the heat, the country’s infrastructure is straining: millions of homes are overheating, rail operators have warned against all but essential travel, and hospital admissions are set to surge. The Climate Change Committee concluded last month the UK is built for a climate that no longer exists – and warned today on the country’s policies towards achieving net zero.
UK news | Searing heat has swept the UK with schools, hospitals, transport networks and water companies struggling to cope with the extreme temperatures caused by climate breakdown.
UK politics | Keir Starmer has met Andy Burnham for the first time since the Makerfield byelection in what sources said was a “frosty” meeting to thrash out a transition of power.
US news | Marco Rubio is to meet Gulf allies in an attempt to reassure them that the US remains committed to their security and the 60-day ceasefire deal struck with Iran last week will not embolden Tehran.
Europe news | Forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas across France in recent days, as people across the country sought respite from a record-breaking heatwave.
UK politics | Nigel Farage has said his £5m gift from a crypto billionaire is “not any of your business” as it was given unconditionally to be spent on anything from Ferraris to gambling on horses.
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