A deceased shark washed ashore in Pearly Beach, Gansbaai after being attacked by an orca. (Credit: Marina Dynamics / The Dyer Island Conservation Trust / Henni Otto)
Orcas are hunting and eating great white sharks, ripping open their torsos to feast on their livers and hearts.
Joe Biden urged nations to help “overcome the existential crisis of our time”
US President Joe Biden has told a major summit that we are in a “decisive decade” for tackling climate change.
The US has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by the year 2030.
This new target, which was unveiled at a virtual summit of 40 global leaders, essentially doubles their previous promise.
But the leaders of India and China, two of the world’s biggest emitters, made no new commitments.
“Scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade – this is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,” President Biden said at the summit’s opening address.
“We must try to keep the Earth’s temperature to an increase…
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A backyard flock in Kitsap County tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on June 29. Kitsap is the 11th county with bird flu detected in domestic flocks, with 27 infected flocks statewide. All infected flocks have had contact with wild waterfowl, which are known to transmit the virus without showing symptoms.
Protecting uninfected flocks includes continuing to avoid fairs, exhibitions, poultry auctions, and on-farm sales until at least 30 days after the last detection.
“It’s devastating for owners and our veterinarian alike. A fair or exhibition could be a venue to spread the virus that could result in the death of all birds that attend the fair,” Dr. Amber Itle, Washington state veterinarian said. “Although it is disappointing…
REGIONAL—The Department of Natural Resources is accepting comments through Aug. 8 on a draft of Minnesota’s updated wolf management plan. The gray wolf is currently under federal protection in Minnesota, so the state’s management plan does not call for a hunting or trapping season, which would violate those federal protections. In the event the federal protections are lifted, the updated plan states that any wolf hunting or trapping would need to meet the state’s conservation objectives. “For example, possible objectives could include managing wolf-livestock conflicts, aiding ungulate population recovery, reducing wolf disease outbreaks, or providing regulated hunting and trapping opportunities,” states the report. “With proper harvest and population monitoring, the effects of hunting and trapping on a wolf population can be evaluated, informing adjustments to seasons to ensure wolf conservation goals are supported.” The plan makes note of the diverse views…
An Okanagan Indian Band member has been found guilty of obstructing a B.C. conservation officer for refusing to give his name while hunting at night on the reserve.
At the Vernon courthouse, B.C. Provincial Court Judge Jeremy Guild found Michael Thomas Tom guilty of obstruction June 23, following a three-day trial earlier this year.
According to the June 23 B.C. Provincial Court decision, during the trial Tom and several witnesses all stated the conservation officer was trespassing and had no right to be on Okanagan Indian Band land.
However, Tom’s lawyer did not challenge the legalities of the conservation officer being on first nation land and did…
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lost some of its power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court represents a major setback to President Joe Biden’s climate plans.
He called it a “devastating decision” but said it would not undermine his effort to tackle the climate crisis.
The case against the EPA was brought by West Virginia on behalf of 18 other mostly Republican-led states and some of the nation’s largest coal companies.
They were challenging whether the agency has the power to regulate planet-warming emissions for state-wide power sectors or just individual power plants.
These 19 states were worried their power sectors would be regulated and they would be forced to move away from using coal, at a severe economic cost.
The decision means millions of women across the US will lose their legal right to abortion as individual states will be able to make their own laws on it.
Eilish was not the only performer at Glastonbury to protest the decision.
Earlier in the night, indie-folk star Phoebe Bridgers made a similar statement during her festival debut on the John Peel stage.
“This is my first time here. It’s surreal and amazing but I’m having a real [expletive] day,” she said.
Bridgers continued by cursing the “old” Supreme Court justices “who try to tell us what to do with our bodies”.
Image caption,Eilish’s dynamic and gymnastic performance went down a storm
Eilish’s performance made her Glastonbury’s youngest-ever solo headliner, at the age of 20.
She emerged on stage shortly after 22:00, amid blasts of white noise and sub-bass before launching into her opening song, Bury A Friend.
Prowling around the stage’s catwalks and twisting her body like a character from The Exorcist, she was met by cacophonous screams and word-perfect renditions of her songs from the very first note.
“Oh boy, I love you so much,” she told the audience, which stretched right to the back of the field in front of the Pyramid Stage.
Adopting a faux English accent, she added: “How are you doin?”
The star’s set was heavily rumoured to feature a surprise appearance from Harry Styles – but, like so many Glastonbury rumours, the gossip was one step removed from reality.
Image caption,The star was joined on stage by her brother, co-writer and “best friend” Finneas O’Connell
Instead, the show zeroed in on Eilish, who appeared with just her brother, Finneas, and a drummer on a minimal stage with a strict red and white colour palette.
Between songs, her colourful dialogue made it seem like she was talking directly to each individual member of the crowd. She led them in breathing exercises, started a reverse Mexican wave and shared her three commandments of concert-going: “Don’t be an asshole, no judgment and have fun, bitch”.
The setlist adhered closely to her ongoing Happier Than Ever world tour, which meant it was front-loaded with fan favourites like I Didn’t Change My Number, NDA and Billie Bossa Nova, instead of big crowd-pleasers.
It was a brave move, but potentially alienating for casual observers – many of whom drifted off before the explosive closing numbers, Bad Guy and Happier Than Ever.
For diehards at the front, though, Eilish could do no wrong. Even a deep album cut like Goldwing was sung at full volume, threatening to drown her out,
“This is such an honour to be here, right now,” Eilish declared them before playing When The Party’s Over. “Thank you for letting me do this. This is such a trip and a dream.”
After tonight, the chances of her being invited back are looking pretty solid.
Eilish’s headline set marked the culmination of Glastonbury’s first day of music, which included appearances from Primal Scream, Arlo Parks, Little Simz and Supergrass.
Image caption,Wolf Alice only made the festival by the skin of their teeth
On the Pyramid Stage, Wolf Alice delivered a blistering performance after a last-minute, transatlantic dash to the festival.
The band had been left stranded in Los Angeles on Wednesday night after their flight home was cancelled. After a light-hearted (and failed) appeal for the loan of a private jet, they finally made it back via a connecting flight in Seattle.
“So we were in Seattle about 10 hours ago, and we were worried about all the train strikes,” Theo Ellis told BBC News shortly before their performance.
They were eventually escorted onto the site by a squadron of quadbikes.
“It felt like we were in Mission Impossible for 13 seconds,” said Ellis. “But we made it and it kind of feels even more special to be here now.”
“I still keep thinking something will happen and we won’t get to play,” added frontwoman Ellie Rowsell. “I’m getting scared about jinxing it.”
But they did make it onto the stage, backed by a string quartet and tearing through the down-and-dirty riffs of their opening number, Smile.
As they reached the end of their set, the chaos finally caught up with Rowsell, who lay down on the stage to summon up the energy to sing their powerful ballad Last Man On Earth, When the song ended, she looked temporarily lost and flustered, until bandmate Joff Oddie clasped her in a hug.
“We didn’t know if we were going to make it today,” she told the audience, “so this is very surreal and we’re very emotional”.
Image caption,Sam Fender’s Springsteen-esque anthems kept the crowd singing after he left the stage
Sam Fender, second on the bill after Billie Eilish, was also overcome by the moment, struggling to regroup between songs, until the crowd buoyed him up with full-throated singalongs to 17 Going Under and Hypersonic Missiles.
“Me and the lads have never been to Glastonbury before. Not as a punter. Not as a performer,” he said during the set. “Now we are doing the whole lot in one day. It’s a trip.”
Other opening day highlights included Spice Girl Melanie C joining Blossoms onstage for a rabble-rousing version of Spice Up Your Life; and a blissed-out set from Crowded House, who welcomed the mid-afternoon sun with a mash-up of The Kinks’ Sunny Afternoon and their own Pineapple Head.
“I had no idea how good this would be,” said frontman Neil Finn, after leading the crowd in a mass participation version of Weather With You.
“I think we’re all reinventing the way the world works here at Glastonbury. Rediscovering community, kindness, common sense,” he continued. “The people are rewilding.”
The band also created a memorable Glastonbury moment when they invited out Buddy – Finn’s grandson, and the son of guitarist Liam Finn.
Thousands of people started chanting the youngster’s name as he moonwalked across the stage and pinched a microphone to join in the band’s final song, I Got You.
Image caption,Buddy squeaked along adorably to his grandfather’s music, before leaving the stage with a brief, “Bye Bye!”
Away from the main stage, the festival was brought to a standstill by sets from Wet Leg (Park Stage) and 90s R&B legends TLC (West Holts). Both acts attracted so many fans that access roads had to be briefly closed.
The day was bookended by appeals for help from Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a pre-recorded speech on The Other Stage before festival openers The Libertines, calling on the world to “spread the truth” over the invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky said Ukraine “will not let Russia’s war break us” and that he wants the war to stop before it “ruins people’s lives in other countries of Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America”.
“Spread the truth about Russia’s war, help Ukrainians who are forced to flee their homes because of the war,” he added.
Ukraine’s Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra will also play a late-night set in the Shangri-La area, starting shortly after 01:00.
Man’s best friend was the first of many animals humans have domesticated. But there was no clear before-and-after moment where dogs were suddenly a distinct population of wolves. While some ancient skeletons are clearly dogs, there are a lot of ambiguous skeletons earlier than that. It’s possible to get a sense of what happenedusing the genomesof modern and ancient dogs. But this analysis depends heavily on what you think the wolf populations dogs were derived from look like.
Now, researchers have generated a much clearer picture of the last 100,000 years of wolf evolution. The picture it paints is a population that remained a single…
In 1971, I wrote and recorded the song “Locomotive Breath” for the Aqualung album. The lyrical subject matter was the topic of runaway population growth.
Now, 47 years later, you have the chance to add your voice to the single most pressing problem facing future generations. From increases in global population, all other danger factors threatening our species, including climate change, continue to accrue. Apart from the odd rogue asteroid or black hole, of course.
In my lifetime alone, the population of the planet has slightly more than tripled. Yes – in one generation!
I have been a supporter of Population Matters for some years – ever since the venerable and much-loved David Attenborough became visibly the first person of real media presence to come out, unafraid to discuss the issues of population growth in our times.
Tricky and controversial stuff, I know, but don’t think that we…
The Russian despot issued the chilling threat after the Nordic countries signed an agreement that has paved the way for them to join the western alliance.
Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying he could not rule out that ‘tensions would emerge’ in Moscow’s relations with Helsinki and Stockholm.
He said he does not have such problems with Sweden and Finland ‘as it has withUkraine’.
But he said he would be forced to respond in the mirror if Nato military infrastructure is deployed in these countries.
Exposing the Big Game 
