Water

• Die Environmental Protection Agency hat Mikroplastik und Antidepressiva als Trinkwasser-Schadstoffe eingestuft und reagiert damit auf Forderungen der MAHA-Bewegung sowie auf Bedenken im Bereich der öffentlichen Gesundheit. • Die Einstufung stellt einen bedeutenden regulatorischen Schritt im Umgang mit neu auftretenden Schadstoffen in der US-Wasserversorgung dar, die bei Gesundheitsexperten und Umweltschützern Besorgnis ausgelöst haben. • Die Einstufung könnte künftige regulatorische Maßnahmen zur Festlegung von Trinkwasserstandards und Aufbereitungsanforderungen für diese Stoffe veranlassen.

Ein parlamentarischer Ausschuss unternimmt den ungewöhnlichen Schritt, den Führungskräften des Versorgungsunternehmens das Misstrauen auszusprechen. Abgeordnete haben der Leitung von South East Water Inkompetenz angesichts wiederholter Wasserausfälle für Zehntausende von Kunden vorgeworfen und ihr Misstrauen gegenüber deren Fähigkeit geäußert, das Unternehmen zu reformieren. Abgeordnete aus dem gesamten politischen Spektrum erklärten, dass David Hinton, Chief Executive von SEW, und der Vorstand eine Kultur der Verantwortungslosigkeit in dem Unternehmen pflegten, das 2,3 Millionen Kunden in Berkshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey und Sussex mit Trinkwasser versorgt. Weiterlesen...

• Auch der Kokainkonsum erreicht Rekordhöhen, wie Zahlen der Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission zeigen. • Der Methamphetamin-Konsum in Australien hat sich im letzten Jahrzehnt fast verdoppelt, und Stimulanzien werden in Rekordmaßen eingenommen, wie neue Abwasseranalysen belegen. • Am Mittwochabend veröffentlichte die Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (Acic) ihren neuesten Jahresbericht, nachdem zwischen August 2024 und 2025 Abwasserproben aus 64 Kläranlagen im ganzen Land getestet wurden.

• North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Monday, prompting immediate condemnation from Seoul and Washington amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. • South Korea's military detected at least three missile launches, with analysts assessing the tests as part of Pyongyang's ongoing weapons development program. • The U.S. State Department condemned the launches as destabilizing and reiterated its commitment to defending South Korea and Japan through extended deterrence.

• Environmental Working Group study finds 20% of Americans used systems with elevated nitrate levels from 2021-2023 data. • Nitrate poses health risks including cancer and developmental issues in contaminated supplies. • Affects millions nationwide, urging stricter regulations and testing.

Engineer and two drivers killed in recent weeks as scarcity of clean water fuels spread of preventable diseasesIsraeli forces in Gaza killed a water engineer and two drivers who transported water to displaced families over four days in mid-April, exacerbating severe shortages of clean water that are fuelling the spread of preventable disease.Israeli limits on the shipment of soap, washing powder and other hygiene products into Gaza have also forced prices up, adding to the challenge of keeping clean and avoiding infection in overcrowded shelters and tent encampments. Continue reading...

Pair, believed to be mother and son, recovered from water but died at scene in Elthorne Park, Ealing A woman and her young child have died after getting into “difficulty” in the water at a west London park, police said.Police were called to Elthorne Park in Ealing just before 4.30pm on Saturday, where a woman and child were recovered from the water, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

• Egypt has convened an emergency regional summit with Ethiopia, Sudan, and other Nile Basin nations to address water allocation disputes intensified by Sudan's ongoing civil war and dam infrastructure threats. • The summit, held in Cairo on Friday, focused on protecting the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Blue Nile water flows during heightened regional conflict; negotiations remain deadlocked. • US officials are monitoring the summit closely, concerned that water scarcity could fuel refugee crises across the Horn of Africa and destabilize a critical US partner region.

Top commander fired after wife of one malnourished soldier posted shocking images on social mediaUkraine’s defence ministry has fired a top commander after photos emerged of a group of emaciated soldiers who have been left on the frontline for months without proper food and water.The scandal erupted after the wife of one of the soldiers, Anastasiia Silchuk, posted the images on social media. The four men appear to be pale and visibly malnourished, with prominent ribcages and thin arms. Continue reading...

Divers are installing waterproof speakers in the ocean to help pull a coral reef near Jamaica back from the brinkThe northern coast of Jamaica once served as the backdrop for scenes in the James Bond thriller No Time to Die. But today, beneath those same turquoise waves, a real-life mission is unfolding: the race to pull a dying coral reef back from the brink.However, the tools a team of divers are carrying to the seafloor are not what you would expect to find in a marine biologist’s kit. They are installing waterproof speakers at the bottom of the ocean, and the man leading the team is not a scientist. Continue reading...

• NASA's Perseverance rover discovered extensive water ice deposits beneath Mars' surface in Jezero Crater using advanced ground-penetrating radar technology, with findings suggesting accessibility for future human missions. • The subsurface ice layers extend up to 300 meters deep and contain an estimated 5 million metric tons of water ice, according to data released by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 21. • Scientists believe the water deposits could support long-term human habitation and fuel production, making Mars exploration more feasible for sustained presence beyond current rover missions.

River ecologist says ‘classic bureaucratic tangle’ led to government agency stopping flows to Gwydir wetlands region in March Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA leading scientist has criticised an “appalling” New South Wales government agency decision to stop water flowing to wetlands in the state’s north-west, saying it was “absolutely crazy” that researchers had to scramble to save animals buried in drying mud.Guardian Australia reported on Saturday that turtles, waterbirds, frogs and sheep had died after Water NSW abruptly stopped flows to the Gwydir wetlands region near Moree in March. Continue reading...

• Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources announced Friday that the Nile River has reached its lowest water level in five decades, threatening agricultural production for 105 million people and jeopardizing regional hydroelectric power generation. • The drought, attributed to prolonged upstream precipitation failures and upstream dam construction by Ethiopia, could reduce Egypt's wheat harvest by 18% this season, prompting emergency grain imports. • Egypt's government appealed to the UN and international donors for humanitarian assistance, warning of potential food security crisis and mass displacement in rural farming communities by summer.

• NBC News reports a major study shows fluoride in U.S. drinking water has no impact on children's IQ or brain function, countering prior concerns. • The research, involving large-scale data analysis, confirms safety levels set by U.S. regulations pose no neurodevelopmental risks. • Findings matter as they support ongoing public fluoridation policies amid debates, potentially easing community health disputes.

David Hinton will receive only his £400,000 salary this year after thousands of customers were left without waterThe chief executive of South East Water has said he will forgo his bonus in an act of penitence for “unacceptable outages” that left thousands of customers in Kent and Sussex without water.David Hinton told MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs select committee that he had decided not to accept an additional “performance payment” this year. Instead, he will receive only his £400,000 salary. Continue reading...

Lynette and Brian Hooker, from Michigan, were years into a sailing adventure when Brian said his wife fell overboardLynette Hooker bounced around the deck of the docked Soul Mate, smiled into the camera and proclaimed, “We’re finally leaving Kemah,” referring to a Texas port town.“It’s only been four months,” she said as her husband, Brian, tugged on some rigging as they got ready to set sail. Continue reading...

Royal Navy type 45 destroyer deployed to reinforce security around RAF base in Cyprus to undergo short maintenance stop, says MoDHMS Dragon has docked in the eastern Mediterranean after suffering technical issues with its water systems.The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced on 3 March that the type 45 destroyer would be deployed to reinforce security around RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, two days after the base was struck by a Shahed 136 drone. Continue reading...

Three-day search effort ends after 65-year-old disappeared near Innamincka in remote north-eastern South Australia on Easter SaturdayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice have found the body of a 65-year-old man who was swept into flood waters in South Australia’s far north.The man – identified only as Tony by South Australia police – disappeared about 12.30pm on Saturday, sparking a three-day search effort. Continue reading...

Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop-zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connectionsWhen a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation.Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections. Continue reading...

Proposal, a win for RFK Jr’s Maha movement, is a ‘first step’ toward tackling plastic pollution, advocates sayThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Thursday to include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a list of contaminants in drinking water for the first time, a step that could lead to new limits on those substances for water utilities.Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said they are responding to Americans who have worried about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. The gesture also aims to hand a win to health secretary Robert FKennedy Jr’s Maha movement, which for months has pressured Zeldin to further crack down on environmental contaminants. Continue reading...

‘Ukraine has expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic,’ says president. What we know on day 1,500Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered on Thursday to provide Ukraine’s expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to those countries considering how to keep the strait of Hormuz open amid the conflict in the Middle East. The Ukraine president, speaking in his nightly video address, said the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, had taken part in a virtual meeting devoted to reopening the strait of Hormuz, attended by about 40 countries. “Ukraine has relevant expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic,” he said. “If [our] partners are ready to act, we will consider how we can strengthen them, how we can apply our expertise, knowledge and technological potential.”Russia’s army recorded no territorial gains on the frontline in Ukraine in March, for the first time in two and half years, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed. The Russian army’s advances have been slowing since late 2025 due to Kyiv’s localised breakthroughs in the south-east, and losing ground in March and February on the southern section of the frontline, between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the analysis showed. Across the entire frontline, Ukrainian forces managed to recapture 9 sq km in March.North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, gave “field guidance” at the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, which is under construction , state media KCNA said. The museum in Pyongyang will be a place to commemorate the fallen soldiers sent to support the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. The construction of the museum is almost complete and Kim said the opening ceremony would be held in mid-April, marking the first anniversary of the deployment of the North Korean soldiers.Six Ukrainian children will be returned from Russia to their families in Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday, citing efforts by Melania Trump to expedite their return. A seventh Ukrainian child will also be returned to their family later this month, the first lady’s office said in a statement. Ukraine says almost 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus, where they are sometimes subject to military training and forced to fight against their own country’s troops.Russian strikes across Ukraine on Thursday killed at least two people and wounded dozens, officials said, as Moscow stepped up its attacks amid stalled peace talks. In the south-eastern Kherson region, Russia attacked “with artillery, mortars and UAVs”, the regional prosecutor’s office said on social media. A 42-year-old man was killed when a drone hit a civilian car, and 16 others – including a teenage boy and three police officers – were wounded in air attacks and artillery shelling, it added. In the Chernihiv region, north of the capital Kyiv, Russia attacked with a ballistic missile, the head of Chernihiv’s military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, said on Telegram.Russian forces maintained a daylong barrage of drone strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on Thursday, injuring at least two people, local officials said. Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, posted reports on Telegram throughout the day and well into the evening, noting strikes in four city districts. One city official said there had been at least 20 drone strikes. He said some had triggered fires and two people had been injured in an evening attack, including an eight-year-old girl.Russian forces carried out 129 attacks on Ukrainian gas and heating facilities during the recent 151-day heating season, the state oil and gas firm Naftogaz said on Thursday. “The Russians hit pipelines, gas production, underground storage facilities, heating systems – everything that Ukrainians depend on for heat and gas,” it said in a statement. Continue reading...

Offer reportedly put forward by creditors hoping to save struggling firm from being renationalised temporarilyThames Water is said to be close to a deal with its regulator that would allow the company to avoid new fines for four years, as long as it commits to investing in the business.The controversial offer, reported by the Financial Times, has been put forward by creditors who are hoping to save the struggling utility from being temporarily renationalised. Continue reading...

Brittlestars, sea anemones and a catshark among new-to-science species collected during expedition off the Queensland coastGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMarine scientists have discovered more than 110 new fish and invertebrate species in the Coral Sea – a figure they believe could exceed 200 as more are identified.The species were found in waters between 200 metres and 3km deep in the Coral Sea marine park, Australia’s largest marine protected area, which spans nearly 1m sq km to the east of the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: The first woman to hold the position of archbishop of Canterbury arrives at a time of transition with hopes that she can restore the church’s reputationGood morning. At a ceremony later today, Sarah Mullally will be installed as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury. The first woman to take on the role in its near 1,500-year history, she becomes de facto head of the Anglican communion at a difficult and painful moment for the Church of England.Mullally takes over an institution grappling with safeguarding failures, internal division and questions about its place in modern British public life. So what exactly is the job she is stepping into – and how much power does it still carry?Middle East | The US is poised to deploy airborne troops to the Middle East as strikes intensified across the region on Tuesday and Donald Trump claimed the US was in “very good” talks with Iran to end the war.UK politics | Rachel Reeves has ruled out universal support to deal with any future rise in energy bills, saying any government help would be targeted, and criticised the support offered by Liz Truss’s government as unaffordable and irresponsible.Health | The meningitis B vaccination programme will be expanded to include year 11 pupils at schools affected by the outbreak in Kent, health officials have said.Meta | A New Mexico jury has ordered Meta to pay $375m in civil penalties after it found the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation, against its users.Environment | Ofcom to investigate climate change denial complaints for the first time since 2017. Continue reading...

Experts say brutal temperatures in west threaten to melt sparse snowpack – and warn hot, dry conditions here to stayA stunning heatwave that shattered records in the US west is threatening to rapidly melt the sparse snowpack and ramp up wildfire risks in the seasons ahead.March has already been historically hot, but the early onset of summer weather across the region may be here to stay. There’s little reprieve in forecasts, which show more heat records may fall this spring. Continue reading...

Autopsy reveals James ‘Jimmy’ Gracey’s injuries consistent with repeatedly hitting breakwater’s rocks, Spanish media reportA University of Alabama student who was found dead in Barcelona after going missing while vacationing evidently fell into the sea on accident in view of surveillance cameras – and an autopsy revealed injuries on his body that were consistent with having repeatedly struck a breakwater’s rocks.Such details about James “Jimmy” Gracey surfaced in the Spanish media as a spokesperson for police in Barcelona told the Associated Press that “all signs point” to the 20-year-old’s death as having been an accident. Continue reading...

• University of Utah geophysicists used electromagnetic data from airborne surveys to identify a newly discovered freshwater reservoir under the Great Salt Lake's Farmington Bay, marking a first-of-its-kind breakthrough. • The reservoir, located in a key area of the lake, could potentially alleviate Utah's ongoing water scarcity issues amid prolonged drought conditions. • This finding matters as it reveals untapped groundwater resources critical for the western U.S., where the Great Salt Lake has shrunk by nearly 50% since 1980 due to overuse and climate change.

James ‘Jimmy’ Gracey was at nightclub in Spanish city when he separated from friends at about 3am on TuesdayThe body of James “Jimmy” Gracey, a 20-year-old college student from Illinois, was found Thursday in the water off a Barcelona beach, police in Spain said.Gracey’s body was found by police divers and positively identified, the press office for Catalonia’s regional police in Barcelona told the Associated Press. Continue reading...