Sharp drop in ‘forever chemicals’ in seabird eggs hailed as win for regulation pred 1 dnevom, 4 urami in 47 minutami Levels of Pfas in northern gannet eggs in Canada fell up to 74% over 55-year period of studyLevels of some of the most dangerous Pfas compounds have dramatically fallen in Canadian seabird eggs, which the authors of a new peer-reviewed study say illustrates how regulations are effective.Researchers looked at Pfas levels in the eggs of northern gannets in the St Lawrence Seaway basin over a 55-year period. Pfas levels shot up from the 1960s through the peak of the chemicals’ use in the late 1990s and early aughts, then fell. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Advocates decry Trump’s plan to open 24m acres of federal lands to cattle grazing pred 1 dnevom, 4 urami in 47 minutami Opponents say administration’s plan prioritizes big agriculture at expense of wildlife and protected speciesNew legal action aims to head off a Trump administration plan to open up to 24m acres of federal lands to cattle grazing, which opponents characterized as a gift to big agriculture and said could cause a spike in deaths among already imperiled wolves, grizzlies, steelhead salmon and other wildlife.The plan also calls for opening up parts of Grand Canyon national park, and other sensitive landscapes. Cattle destroy critical habitats for wildlife because they strip land bare of essential vegetation and pollute streams with feces, urine, sediment and carcasses. Meanwhile, park rangers and ranchers often kill grizzly bears and other predators who prey on cattle, despite that ranchers and the government pushed the cattle into the predators’ home range. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Catherine West backs down from Starmer challenge but urges him to go by September pred 1 dnevom, 4 urami in 49 minutami Backbench MP calls prime minister’s speech ‘too little, too late’ but stops short of moving to stand against him herselfWho are the main threats to Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership?UK politics live – latest updatesCatherine West, the Labour MP who announced a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership, has changed course to say she instead wants the prime minister to set a timetable of September for his departure.West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet and a former Foreign Office minister, announced on Saturday that she would seek to gather the 81 Labour MPs’ names needed to formally challenge Starmer, saying this was just a device to tempt others to stand and that she did not wish to take over. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Bad people’: Alan Cumming criticises Bafta after N-word outburst pred 1 dnevom, 5 urami in 25 minutami The host of the film awards ceremony at which Tourette syndrome activist John Davidson shouted a racial slur has said he won’t host it againAlan Cumming has criticised the organisers of the Bafta film awards in February as “bad people who weren’t doing their jobs properly” after the N-word outburst by Tourette activist John Davidson, which was broadcast by the BBC during its coverage of the ceremony.In an interview with the Sunday Times, Cumming, who was the host of the ceremony, said: “It was bad, bad, bad, bad leadership … Bad people who weren’t doing their jobs properly, who really had not prepared and let people down.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Norway puts UN project funding on hold raising fears for plastics treaty talks pred 1 dnevom, 5 urami in 28 minutami Move by largest donor to environment programme poses further uncertainty for already troubled negotiations The largest donor to the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has paused funding to the body before its revised budget on 12 May, triggering concern among member states and NGOs.The news could carry significance for the already troubled plastic treaty negotiations being overseen by Unep. Since 2022 countries have been struggling to agree on how to deal with the volume of plastics being produced and used, a subject widely acknowledged to be one of the most serious environmental issues of the age, but despite six rounds of talks there has been no agreement in sight. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Truly terrifying’: Alberta voter data breach raises fears for Canada’s electoral integrity pred 1 dnevom, 5 urami in 47 minutami Debates over secession overshadowed by revelations separatist-linked group gained access to list of electorsThe illegal use of voter information by rightwing separatists in the province of Alberta has raised fresh fears over Canada’s electoral integrity by making valuable and “incredibly confidential” personal data easily accessible to malicious actors, security experts have warned.The data breach, one of the largest in Canadian history, has prompted warnings of a “truly terrifying” new battleground over information, persuasion and foreign interference in already weakened democratic systems. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Jewish musicians faced abuse over Zionist beliefs, royal commisssion told pred 1 dnevom, 6 urami in 6 minutami Deborah Conway describes anti-Zionism as a ‘genocidal impulse’ as inquiry hears how Jews are targeted with Nazi comparisonsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJewish musicians have told a royal commission hearing that their views on Zionism made them the targets of vilification and boycotting.The royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion heard from Deborah Conway and Joshua Moshe on Monday: both were members of a WhatsApp group for Jewish creatives and academics, the contents of which was leaked by the media and some of the members’ personal information made public. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Researchers find 42% drop in Canadians visiting US metro areas amid Trump 2.0 pred 1 dnevom, 6 urami in 47 minutami Data from University of Toronto suggests Canadians are avoiding US cities during the second Trump administrationA new research tool that tracks cell phone activity has found a 42% drop in visitors from Canada to big metropolitan areas in the US that is much higher than official border-crossing data, suggesting Canadians during the second Trump administration are avoiding US cities in particular.Researchers from the University of Toronto said the tool showed a “year-over-year median decline of approximately 42% in Canadian visits to US metropolitan areas – significantly higher than official border-crossing data, which showed a roughly 25% decline”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democrats are playing with fire in trying to reclaim tax cuts from Republicans pred 1 dnevom, 6 urami in 47 minutami Senator Chris Van Hollen and other Democratic lawmakers are embracing a policy that hardly benefits the middle classSoul-searching within the Democratic party is to be expected after its loss in the 2024 election. Donald Trump’s edge over Kamala Harris in voters’ perceptions of economic competence (perplexing though it now appears following a year of erratic policymaking) was bound to inspire a call to rethink the party platform.Yet the second-guessing is steering the Democrats down a dangerous path to embracing a tax-cutting strategy that risks defeating the project to enable a healthier, more equitable society. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Disappearances in Mexico involving state at ‘alarming’ rate, says report pred 1 dnevom, 6 urami in 55 minutami Exclusive: Human rights group warns of ‘deep collusion’ between criminals and officials in some parts of countryState actors are involved in disappearances in Mexico at an “alarming” rate, according to a report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).The sweeping investigation, to which the Guardian was given exclusive access, presents a dire picture of the crisis of disappearances in Mexico, where more than 130,000 people have gone missing, mostly in the last 20 years since the government declared its war on drug cartels. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
