Fresh evidence of C of E’s role in enslavement uncovered as church wrestles with reparations debate
The Guardian •

Fresh evidence of C of E’s role in enslavement uncovered as church wrestles with reparations debate

Register of British Slave Traders shows clergymen financed company that trafficked enslaved Africans on hundreds of voyagesNearly 250 years after the abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano made the Christian case for reparative justice, the archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, visited the Ghanaian shore where he was enslaved as a boy.After witnessing the dungeons beneath the chapel at Cape Coast Castle...

People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder
The Guardian •

People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder

Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin AmericaNature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness.Organised crime groups or professional killers were impl...

Saudi Arabia released 313 gazelles and 20 years later both species thrived
Times of India •

Saudi Arabia released 313 gazelles and 20 years later both species thrived

A groundbreaking initiative saw the reintroduction of captive-bred sand and Arabian gazelles to Saudi Arabia's Uruq Bani Ma'arid protected area. Over two decades, camera traps documented the flourishing populations of these species. Sand gazelles exhibited seasonal movement patterns in the expansive desert, while Arabian gazelles adjusted their daily activities amid the extreme heat, showcasing an...

Australian politics live: Lambie says AI companies ‘like dinosaurs in Jurassic Park testing fences’; PM told to take responsibility for interest rate rises
The Guardian •

Australian politics live: Lambie says AI companies ‘like dinosaurs in Jurassic Park testing fences’; PM told to take responsibility for interest rate rises

Follow the day’s news liveGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastSports precinct funding report reveals a ‘pattern of behaviour’, Wilson saysTim Wilson says there are questions for Labor to answer over an ABC report which says health minister Mark Butler’s office asked an Adelaide council to put forward a $6m sports precinct upgrade for federal funding before any detailed costi...

NBC helicopter crash in LA kills at least three people with others injured

NBC helicopter crash in LA kills at least three people with others injured

The Guardian •

Accident occurred as news crews in Los Angeles were covering a bus crash that had killed at least two people hours earlierA news helicopter crash in a Los Angeles neighborhood has killed at least three people, after it came to the ground and burst into flames near the site of a bus crash that occurred hours earlier.The helicopter crashed near a one-storey commercial building in the neighborhood of...

Japanese monks embrace material world to raise cash as donations shrink

Japanese monks embrace material world to raise cash as donations shrink

SCMP •

Koukyo Yoneta, a fifth-generation Buddhist priest in a small town in Japan’s Hokkaido, was struggling to keep up with the maintenance needs of his century-old temple, so he chose a path that would have been unthinkable for his predecessors – rather than wait for his congregation to give money they do not have, he invested what they had already donated. The move paid off. Within two years, his port...

‘Red line’: Saudi coalition accuses Houthis of targeting Mecca with drone

‘Red line’: Saudi coalition accuses Houthis of targeting Mecca with drone

SCMP •

The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis accused the rebels on Wednesday of targeting Islam’s holy city Mecca, sparking outrage across the Muslim world and deepening the conflict roiling the region. Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in...

UK mathematician debunks myth around Parthenon’s optical illusions

UK mathematician debunks myth around Parthenon’s optical illusions

The Guardian •

Study challenges belief that temple’s curves were designed to correct optical illusions that would have ruined its clean linesA mathematician has uncovered what may be one of the longest-running myths in history after studying optical illusions and the Parthenon, the famed Greek temple that overlooks Athens.Scholars have marvelled at the building on the Acropolis hill for more than 2,000 years and...

Airlines should pay for CO2 removal if Heathrow expands, say climate advisers

Airlines should pay for CO2 removal if Heathrow expands, say climate advisers

The Guardian •

Climate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions Heathrow airport should be allowed to expand only if airlines pay for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the government’s climate advisers have said.Building a third runway and new terminals, as some in government want to do, would breach the UK’s carbon budg...

Students in Gaza ‘devastated’ after plan for them to study in Belgium fails

Students in Gaza ‘devastated’ after plan for them to study in Belgium fails

The Guardian •

Belgian government unable to agree on evacuation of 13 students to take up scholarships at universitiesStudents who are unable to leave Gaza and take up scholarships at Belgian universities have said they are devastated after Belgium’s government hit deadlock on a plan enabling them to leave the war-torn territory.Ahmed Abujami, a 28-year-old doctor in Gaza, said he was “deeply disappointed” after...

Expect even more potholes on UK roads after summer heatwaves, says RAC

Expect even more potholes on UK roads after summer heatwaves, says RAC

The Guardian •

Extreme weather has made brittle road surfaces more likely to crack, increasing strain on infrastructureThe UK’s dilapidated roads are expected to get even worse, with motorists warned to expect a jump in the number of potholes as result of the country’s hottest summer on record.Potholes are commonly assumed to be caused by cold or wet weather, but long periods of heat can also create long-lasting...