Neon flashes from a little brown bird
Sandy, Bedfordshire So lustrous is the colour it’s beyond compare – but kingfisher blue is due to a trick of the light Crusty cowpats in the riverside meadow were no longer traps for unwary feet, their liquid mocha hearts baked dry by weeks in the sun. After a summer of circumventing fresh stinky pies there […]
Cane toad sausages on menu in attempt to save Kimberley's northern quolls
It is hoped the sausages – laced with a nausea-inducing chemical – will deter the carnivorous marsupials from eating cane toads, which are poisonous Sausages stuffed with minced cane toads will be tossed from helicopters above Western Australia’s Kimberley region in a novel attempt to prevent quolls being wiped out in the area. Northern quolls, […]
The Amazon tribe protecting the forest with bows, arrows, GPS and camera traps
With authorities ineffective, the 2,200-strong Ka’apor, in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, are taking on the illegal loggers with technology and direct action With bows, arrows, GPS trackers and camera traps, an indigenous community in northern Brazil is fighting to achieve what the government has long failed to do: halt illegal logging in their corner […]
Don't be fooled by cold winters, study warns – Australia's still getting warmer
An analysis of 100 years of temperature data shows that records for warmer weather outnumber those for colder ones by 12 to one Australians who have just experienced their coldest winters in decades shouldn’t be fooled, scientists say, with new research showing that new heat records are outnumbering new cold records at an accelerating rate. […]
Boost for Tony Abbott as Australian unemployment fell in August to 6.2%
The jobless figure fell as expected last month from 6.3% in July and the total number of people in work rose by 7,400 driven by part-time jobs Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in August despite disappointing economic growth and turmoil on the world’s stock markets. Related: Economic management is now Tony Abbott’s weakest claim […]
UK auditors sound public-sector debt warning
Watchdog raises fears of £200m shortfall, saying ministers have failed to control government financial assets properly Ministers have failed to impose proper controls on the government’s £222bn collection of financial-sector assets, which will add to public-sector debt, official auditors have found. Despite £62.6bn worth of sell-offs, including shares in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank […]
UK house prices will end year 6% higher, say surveyors
Strongest price growth forecast in Northern Ireland and England’s north-east is predicted to see a 3% fall after house price rises reached 15-month high in August House prices in the UK will end the year 6% higher than they started it, a group of surveyors has predicted. The strong jobs market and low mortgage rates […]
Shark survey points to higher numbers swimming off US east coast
Researchers catch and tag more than 2,800 sharks along the coast this spring pointing to steady population gains, but numbers come amid increase in attacks US shark researchers caught and tagged 2,835 sharks along the east coast this spring, a record number which they say reflects a growing population thanks to federal protections. It surpassed […]
CVS reports a drop in cigarette sales after removing tobacco from stores
CVS data finds the company may have contributed to reduced tobacco consumption. Will other companies start tracking their social impact? A year ago, pharmacy retailer CVS got plenty of attention for its decision to remove tobacco products from all of its stores. Now, the retailer is doing something that’s arguably just as noteworthy: measuring whether […]
Morrisons needs to answer questions over convenience store sale | Nils Pratley
Supermarket chain has sold its M stores to Mike Greene’s Greybull Capital, but as a grown-up FTSE 100 company it should explain how the deal is funded Morrisons was late to the convenience store game, then paid too much for shops in poor locations after Tesco and Sainsbury’s had spent a decade grabbing the prime […]