In this week’s newsletter: a Guardian investigation reveals that the UK exported 139,000 tonnes of rubbish to poor districts in Adana, where farmers are left to cope with microplastics, toxic smoke, and debris
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A year ago this month, when global talks to end our spiralling plastic crisis collapsed, Emma Hardy, Britain’s then marine minister and the UK’s head of delegation, said she was “hugely disappointed”. The UK is committed to working, at home and abroad, to “protect the environment and pave the way to a circular economy”, she pledged.
But Britain, one of the world’s largest exporters of plastic waste, remains part of a global trade that enables us to send mountains of plastic rubbish to other, mostly poorer countries, fuelling pollution, health impacts and waste crime.
‘Danger no longer only comes from the hitmen, but from the state’: the Honduran farmers labelled terrorists for protecting their land
El Niño could push 50 million people into acute hunger before end of next year
‘We stared into an abyss’: the men and women battling France’s megafire
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/07/2026 - 01:00
08/07/2026 - 00:00
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
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08/07/2026 - 00:00
Slovakia reaches new high of 42C as authorities in Poland forced to shut down Kozienice and Połaniec power plants
Temperature records have been broken in several countries across central and eastern Europe as the extreme weather that has caused wildfires and droughts across the continent continues.
Countries including Slovakia, Austria and Hungary registered record temperatures. On Thursday, the Slovakian hydrometeorological agency said a new high of 42C (108F) had been reached in Dolné Plachtince.
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08/07/2026 - 00:00
Visits down 3.8% after 6.2% fall in June, with many choosing to buy online instead, research for retail body finds
Shoppers stayed away from UK high streets during last month’s heatwave temperatures, with many choosing to buy online instead as the mercury in some areas rose into the mid-30Cs.
Trips to high streets were down by 3.8% year on year in July after a 6.2% fall in June, according to research from the monitoring firm Sensormatic for the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
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08/06/2026 - 23:00
When temperatures get to 40C inside, and French building regulations won’t even allow shutters, these tenants’ listed homes are simply unlivable
The population of Firminy, south-east France, has been dwindling for decades. Its recent history is one of factory closures in a region built by steel, and locals tell me that many people leave for better opportunities in neighbouring Saint-Étienne, or to live in the Haute-Loire’s countryside.
On the top of a hill, however, stands Firminy’s pride: l’Unité d’Habitation, an imposing tower of concrete designed by Le Corbusier. The architect’s final project is an oddity – a building for people, where two-thirds of the apartments are dedicated to habitations à loyer modéré (or HLM – social housing); but also a piece of history, whose facade and roof were listed as monuments historiques in 1993.
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08/06/2026 - 16:24
Court documents allege Aaron Farinacci, who faces slew of arson charges, set 25 fires in Spokane area over past year
The 37-year-old man accused of sparking a devastating fire in Washington allegedly studied how to maximize the blaze’s destruction and was responsible for setting 25 other fires in the Spokane area over the past year, according to a court affidavit.
Aaron Farinacci, who faces a slew of arson charges, is accused of starting the Old Trails fire, which began on 1 August and is still burning – one of three “Spokane complex” fires that have scorched hundreds of homes and displaced thousands of residents.
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08/06/2026 - 15:00
This year’s finalists for the National Architecture awards’ sustainability category include a compact Canberra housing development and the largest commercial use of hempcrete in the country.
Architecture ‘holds a mirror up to who we are as a society – what we value, what we’re willing to invest in, what we want to leave behind,’ says Adam Haddow, the chair of the jury for the awards. ‘The architects on this list … [have] designed buildings built to last, not just physically, but in the way they’ll continue to serve people long after the ribbon is cut’
Australia’s best apartment designs for 2026 – in pictures
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08/06/2026 - 13:20
Agreement with RWE is fifth deal Trump team has made with energy companies, offering payouts to give up projects
The German energy company RWE has reached a $1.22bn deal with the US government to relinquish its offshore wind leases and instead redirect funds towards fossil fuel investments.
The agreement marks the fifth deal the Donald Trump administration has struck with energy companies, offering payouts in exchange for abandoning renewable energy projects and redirecting investment towards fossil fuels.
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08/06/2026 - 10:00
As Australia prepares for the H5 bird flu to potentially rip through hundreds of species, residents of the Limestone Coast are already seeing the impacts
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It has only been three weeks since H5 bird flu was detected on South Australia’s Limestone Coast and already encounters with sick or dead birds are becoming commonplace.
Maureen Christie, who lives in the seaside town of Carpenter Rocks, has been observing and protecting birds in the region for decades. She is now witnessing many stricken and suffering.
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08/06/2026 - 06:05
Plans involve dredging and expanding docks to allow larger cruise ships to visit with up to 200,000 passengers annually
Janavi Kramer had just enjoyed a swim with friends and was sitting on a bench taking in a wonderful Cornish view – headlands plunging into deep water, bobbing boats, a bustling harbour town.
“We’re lucky to have this space,” said Kramer, who is an artist and scientific illustrator. “We use it for work, recreation and pleasure and it’s so scary to think that this could all be harmed. I worry about what we may be living with soon and what we’ll be leaving for future generations.”
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