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Under Anne Hidalgo – mayor for 12 years until last week – the French capital added bike lanes, cut traffic and reclaimed public space, but not without resistance
When Corentin Roudaut moved to Paris 10 years ago, he was too scared to cycle. The IT developer had biked everywhere as a student in Rennes but felt overwhelmed by the bustling French capital. Cars were everywhere. Cyclists had almost no protection.
But once authorities carved out space for a segregated bike lane on Boulevard Voltaire near his home in the 11th arrondissement, Roudaut returned to the two-wheel commute and did not look back.
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Tebay, Cumbria: A planned reintroduction of these apex predators has got us upland farmers worried. We’re still not convinced they won’t harm our flocks
The years seem to be coming around very quickly – this will be my ninth spring at this farm. As the days get longer and the grass begins to grow, my mind turns to lambing. We have a short growing season here, so we plan for lambing to start mid-April, hoping the grass will have started growing by then. The tiny Ouessant sheep, which have to lamb indoors due to predation, started lambing on April Fools’ Day.
Last year I put a large group of Ouessants outside to graze on the Roman fort when they were four days old, and they disappeared without a trace – 13 lambs lost. It wasn’t a fox or a badger, as we know what a predated carcass looks like, and it wasn’t the mink that had been killing hens, as that was leaving dead bodies.
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Exclusive: research finds Jackdaw field would provide only about 2% of current demand, and Rosebank only 1%
Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.
The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.
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The US has invoked national security to remove protections for the endangered cetacean, of which only about 50 are left
Since before modern humans existed Rice’s whales have been diving to the depths of the ocean to gorge on fat-rich fish while growing to leviathan proportions, their bodies spanning the length of a bus and weighing as much as as six elephants.
Unfortunately for these grand creatures, their only home became a patch of the Gulf of Mexico that the oil and gas industry, much later, became highly interested in for drilling. Only about 50 of these baleen whales still exist on Earth, surrounded by clanging aquatic highways of boats and shifting drilling infrastructure.
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In turbulent times, experts recommend building up a store of food if possible – focusing on long-life, no-cook items
People should have an emergency stockpile of food in their homes in case conflicts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks shut down supplies, leading UK experts have told the Guardian.
In an ever more turbulent world, they say it is essential to choose long-life items that can be eaten without cooking – think tinned beans, vegetables and fish, rice crackers, and oats that can be soaked. But it is also important to choose items you actually like to eat, and some treats such as chocolate or crisps to keep your spirits up. You will also need water – lots of it – not just to drink but for washing too.
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Researchers are weaving Native practices with western methods to revive ecosystems and reclaim food sovereignty
“I’m a glorified clam counter.”
So said Marco Hatch, a marine ecologist at Western Washington University and an enrolled member of the Samish Indian Nation. Hatch has been conducting surveys of mollusks growing in and around clam gardens in the Pacific north-west, as he collaborates with seven Indigenous communities to build or rebuild these rock-walled, terraced beaches once created and tended by their ancestors.
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Citizen science data reveals early flowering, nesting and insect activity as global heating accelerate seasonal change
Bluebells are flowering, swallows are returning and orange-tip butterflies are flying in what could become Britain’s earliest recorded spring.
Records for early spring occurrences are being smashed as 2026 looks to be the earliest this century for frogspawn laying, blackbirds nesting, brimstone butterflies emerging and hazel flowering, according to Nature’s Calendar, which has logged citizen science records of seasonal change since 2000.
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Stock runs low as oil crunch increases enthusiasm for electric vehicles
When a used vehicle rolls into a car yard, the usual trajectory for its price tag is down if it lingers too long.
That is the (almost) iron law of the secondhand market – until the oil crisis hit and dealers started raising asking prices for used electric vehicles.
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Scientists estimate the endangered bird’s population has slumped to about 750. But the logging agency responsible for clearing its habitat said it acted lawfully
They are sounds from a section of forest that no longer exists. In December and January, scientists for the Bob Brown Foundation captured the call of the swift parrot, a critically endangered migratory species. The environment campaign group says it was recorded in an area marked for clear-felling in the Wielangta forest in Tasmania’s south-east.
The foundation’s Dr Charley Gros said the vocal mark of the world’s fastest parrot was unmistakable. “It’s a tiny bird but has a very loud call,” he said. “It’s very sharp and quick and fast. You can’t confuse it with something else.”
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Hamburg shop set up in tribute to aspiring pastry chef becomes ‘happy’ pilgrimage site for grieving parents
Johanna Orth was a fun-loving, determined little girl and later a purpose-driven young woman who revelled in making a creative mess in the kitchen. Her parents, Inka and Ralph, chuckle quietly as they remember the stacks of batter-covered bowls, spatulas and whisks repeatedly left in the sink.
With time, Johanna’s cakes and pastries grew more sophisticated and elaborate, guided by her grandmother, Marlies, who was also a talented baker. Marlies’ own ambition of opening a cafe one day had been thwarted by the demands of motherhood and postwar Germany’s rigid gender roles.
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pub. Bowtie Press, UK, 2005
pub. Souvenir Press, London, 2002
First published by Henston Ltd, 1988, new edition 1994. Later edition published by Interpret Publishing, Dorking, Surrey UK.
pub. Henston, Guildford UK, 1985, revised 1987, 1988, 1994.
pub. Crossing Press CA 1994
