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• Woodland Trust stelt ook een aanzienlijk noord-zuidverschil vast in de boombedekking, waardoor veel mensen risico lopen op een slechte gezondheid. • Het kiesdistrict Clacton-on-Sea van Nigel Farage is een "boomwoestijn", waardoor mensen meer worden blootgesteld aan luchtvervuiling, een slechtere gezondheid, een lagere levensverwachting en de impact van stijgende temperaturen, volgens een nieuw rapport. • De stad in Essex scoort het slechtst wat betreft gelijke toegang tot bomen in Engeland, met het hoogste percentage stadsbewoners – 98,2% – dat in wijken woont met een kritiek lage toegang tot bomen.

Onderzoekers stellen dat de budgetbeslissing om een commercialiseringsprogramma te schrappen ter financiering van de CSIRO en andere wetenschappelijke initiatieven de eigen prioriteiten van de regering ondermijnt.

• Brancheorganisatie stelt dat het energieverbruik gedreven door AI wereldwijd met 15% is gestegen in twee jaar, terwijl zij waarschuwt voor maatschappelijke weerstand • Datacentra consumeren 6% van de elektriciteit in het VK en de VS, waarbij de groeiende druk van AI op de energievoorzieningen leidt tot verzet vanuit de gemeenschap, volgens onderzoek. • Het aandeel elektriciteit dat wordt gebruikt door enorme magazijnen vol microchips om AI en het internet van stroom te voorzien, is de afgelopen twee jaar wereldwijd met 15% gestegen, nu de jaarlijkse wereldwijde investeringen in datacentra de $1 biljoen (£740 miljard) naderen – bijna 1% van de wereldeconomie, volgens de International Data Center Association (IDCA).

• Ondanks zorgen dat de superrijken vertrekken vanwege de belastingdruk, was 88% van de ondervraagden trots om in het VK te wonen en zouden zij meer betalen om publieke diensten te financieren • Negen op de tien Britse miljonairissen zijn trots om in Groot-Brittannië te wonen en driekwart zou bereid zijn meer belasting te betalen om ervoor te zorgen dat publieke voorzieningen de nodige financiering krijgen, volgens onderzoek. • Ondanks veelgehoorde zorgen dat vermogenden ervoor kiezen het land te verlaten vanwege hogere belastingen, bleek uit de enquête dat miljonairissen zich veel meer zorgen maakten over medisch personeel dat vertrekt dan over emigrerende rijken. Lees verder...

Labor heeft aangekondigd dat de financiering voor de Australian Submarine Agency in het volgende fiscale jaar zal stijgen naar 512 miljoen dollar, te midden van zorgen dat de eigen onderzeeërvloot mogelijk nooit zal arriveren. Federal budget 2026 LIVE updates: Aankondiging en toespraak over de begroting van de Australische regering – laatste nieuws Bekijk alle verslaggeving over de federale begroting van Australië voor 2026 Ontvang onze breaking news e-mail, gratis app of dagelijkse nieuwspodcast Het budget voor de controversiële Aukus-deal van Australië is in vier jaar tijd met meer dan 430 miljoen dollar gestegen, waarbij het agentschap dat verantwoordelijk is voor het veiligstellen van de kernenergie-onderzeeërs van het land een enorme injectie van financiering en personeel nodig heeft. De middelen voor de Australian Submarine Agency voor het volgende fiscale jaar zullen met een derde stijgen – van 385 miljoen naar 512 miljoen dollar. Lees verder...

• OpenAI heeft GPT-5.5-Cyber uitgebracht, een gespecialiseerd AI-model met versoepelde beperkingen, uitsluitend toegankelijk voor gescreende beveiligingsonderzoekers die kritieke infrastructuur beschermen. • Het model ondersteunt cybersecurity-taken zoals malware-analyse en geautoriseerde penetratietests, waardoor blokkades in standaard chatbots worden omzeild, en beschikt over een drieledig toegangssysteem, variërend van publiek tot de minst restrictieve Cyber-variant. • Hiermee positioneert OpenAI zich als concurrent van Anthropic's Mythos Preview, met als doel AI-verdedigers te versterken te midden van zorgen in de sector over offensieve AI-mogelijkheden.

• Rapport suggereert dat populaire initiatieven zoals NT Live en NT at Home het Britse publiek avontuurlijker maken • Theaterstreamingdiensten en bioscoopvertoningen van podiumvoorstellingen vormen geen bedreiging voor „in-person” bezoek en zorgen ervoor dat het publiek avontuurlijker wordt, volgens nieuw onderzoek in opdracht van het National Theatre. • Bij de presentatie van de bevindingen op maandag zei Indhu Rubasingham, directeur van het NT, dat de boom in gefilmd theater grote vragen had opgeroepen, waaronder de zorg dat populaire initiatieven zoals NT Live en NT at Home een negatieve impact zouden hebben op het livebezoek. De organisatie gaf Indigo de opdracht onderzoek te doen om meer te leren over de houding van het publiek tegenover gefilmd theater. Lees verder...

• Een onderzoek naar 27.000 producten in Australische supermarkten wees uit dat sommige producten die milieuvoordelen claimen, aanzienlijk hogere emissies hadden dan niet-gelabelde tegenhangers • Producten in supermarkten die gebruikmaken van milieutermen zoals “natuurlijk” of “duurzaam”, maken volgens Australische onderzoekers grotendeels gebruik van marketingtaal in plaats van geverifieerde claims • Meer dan 27.000 verpakte voedingsmiddelen die worden verkocht bij de supermarkten Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, IGA en Harris Farm in Sydney werden beoordeeld door onderzoekers van het George Institute for Global Health. Lees verder...

Gegevens van de University of Toronto suggereren dat Canadezen Amerikaanse steden vermijden tijdens de tweede regering-Trump

William Harrison, een Amerikaanse soldaat die in de regio gestationeerd was, werd veroordeeld en opgehangen voor de moord op Patsy Wylie.

Woman recovered after volcanic eruption on remote island, while operation to find two missing Singaporeans goes onRescuers on Saturday recovered the body of an Indonesian woman who was caught in a volcanic eruption on Mount Dukono on Indonesia’s remote island of Halmahera, as search operations continued for the bodies of two Singaporeans, officials said.The dead hikers were among 20 who set out to scale the 1,355m (4,445ft) volcano in defiance of safety restrictions and became stranded when Dukono erupted early on Friday, spewing a thick ash column about 6 miles (10km) into the air. Continue reading...

Samuel Whitsed, 27, is believed to have travelled from Victoria to hike Bibbulmun Track near outskirts of PerthGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThree months after a hiker was last seen at a popular walking track, police have become increasingly concerned for the missing man’s welfare.Police have scoured dense bushland for a Victorian man after he disappeared from a popular hiking trail on the other side of the country. Continue reading...

• A*STAR researchers in Singapore created CLUST-McMs, a specialized AI model that beats GPT-4 in summarizing multilingual news from Southeast Asia. • Using a curated dataset of regional news, the smaller model achieved superior accuracy across three evaluation metrics, delivering concise English summaries from overlapping articles in multiple languages. • The study emphasizes localization and targeted data over larger general-purpose models, showing higher fidelity to original sources.

Smart went missing in California after returning from a party, and was declared legally dead in 2002 Authorities plan Thursday to enter the second day of their search of a home connected to the man convicted of killing 19-year-old college student Kristin Smart in 1996, according to law enforcement.The San Luis Obispo county sheriff’s office served the warrant Wednesday in the continuing investigation into Smart’s disappearance. Her remains were never found and she was declared legally dead in 2002. Paul Flores was convicted in October 2022 and ultimately sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Continue reading...

Local beekeeper Mitch McLennan says hive thefts have become ‘quite commonplace’ due to rise of parasitic varroa mitesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice are searching for thieves who allegedly stole $150,000 worth of beehives from a rural property in the New South Wales northern tablelands, with a local apiarist saying they may well have been taken by a fellow beekeeper.Eighty beehive boxes containing active colonies were taken from a property on Bruxner Way, 15km west of Bonshaw and 100km north-west of Glen Innes. NSW police believe the alleged theft occurred sometime between Tuesday 31 March and Wednesday 6 May. Continue reading...

Police suspend ‘extensive’ six-day air and ground search in Nova Scotia, citing ‘no new information’Teams in eastern Canada have called off an “extensive” six-day air and ground search of a rugged park for a missing Australian hiker.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said this week it had suspended operations after an effort involving dogs, 100 people, aircraft and ground crews yielded “no new information” in the whereabouts of Denise Ann Willams. Continue reading...

Broadcaster’s lawyers say NSW police should reveal which officers accessed or downloaded material from Jones’s phoneGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice stand accused of engaging in impropriety when raiding the home of former shock jock Alan Jones during a sexual assault investigation.Officers searched the 85-year-old’s Sydney home in November 2024 after an eight-month investigation into reports of historical sexual abuse. Continue reading...

Kent schoolgirl tracks down 10,000 namesakes as part of campaign – but non-Kirstys are welcome to donate tooCalling all Kirstys! A schoolgirl from Tunbridge Wells in Kent is seeking people who share her name to help raise money for research into paediatric brain tumours like the one for which she is being treated.Kirsty Waugh, who turns 12 on Monday, has already persuaded more than 10,000 Kirstys, Kirsties, Kersties and assorted other variants to plot their locations on a map that shows Kirstys can be found everywhere from Colombia to Malaysia, and even at the Rothera research station in Antarctica. Continue reading...

• Deep Tech Week highlights The AI Collective, described as the world’s largest AI community, which connects more than 100,000 AI builders, researchers, and professionals through events, forums, and networking. • The gathering brings together startups, corporate labs, and academic groups to showcase advances in core machine learning, robotics, and applied AI, with a focus on interoperability and responsible deployment. • U.S. participation is strong, with many leading AI research labs and venture‑backed startups using the venue to announce new collaborations, model releases, and open‑source tooling.

Experts estimate ‘accounting of the harm that was done’ by 200 years of chattel slavery would be US$2tn in damagesBritain stole 25 million years of life and labour through slavery in Barbados, according to new research by a team of international experts.Their report concludes that Barbados’s population of African descent have suffered damages estimated at up to US$2tn (£1.5tn) from 200 years of chattel slavery. Continue reading...

Data tool could help NHS prioritise who gets access to limited weight-loss medication, say scientistsA new tool that can shed light on who is most at risk of obesity-related diseases could help identify people who would benefit most from weight-loss medications, researchers have said.Recent data suggests about two-thirds of adults in England are overweight or obese – a situation that has caused concern among health experts. Continue reading...

Mother of Kumanjayi Little Baby, whose body was found after five-day search near Alice Springs, says ‘it’s going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you’• Warning: This article contains references to Indigenous Australians who have diedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice in the Northern Territory are searching for a man they suspect of murder after finding a body believed to be that of a five-year-old girl who went missing from Alice Springs on Saturday.The NT police commissioner, Martin Dole, told reporters the tragic discovery was made just before noon local time on Thursday. The girl’s family requested she be referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby, in line with cultural protocols. Continue reading...

• The Department of Justice announced last week it loosened legal restrictions on medical marijuana, aiming to expand research and treatment options across the US. • This policy shift is expected to facilitate more clinical studies and access for patients in states with medical programs. • The change addresses longstanding barriers to federally approved marijuana research, potentially accelerating therapeutic developments.

2026 estimates for wolves on island highest since late 1970s but moose population declining dramaticallyWolves on a remote island in Lake Superior appear to be thriving, but they’re making deep dents in the moose population that they rely on as a leading food source, according to a report released Monday.Isle Royale is a 134,000-acre (54,200-hectare) national park in far western Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Canada. The island is a natural laboratory, offering scientists a rare opportunity to observe wolves and moose largely free from human influence. Continue reading...

Study of 1,300 campaigners finds arrests, fines and jail terms increase determination of activists to take direct actionThe criminalisation of direct action climate protests in the UK is counterproductive and increases the determination of activists to undertake disruptive demonstrations, according to a study of 1,300 campaigners.New findings suggest arrests, fines and lengthy prison sentences given to nonviolent climate protesters who have blocked roads or damaged buildings may actually radicalise them. The repression of protest could even be one driver of recent covert actions such as the cutting of internet cables, they said. Continue reading...

• MarketBeat's stock screener identified five key financial stocks to research: Robinhood Markets, Visa, Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. II, Coinbase Global, and Intuit. • These equities represent diverse segments within the financial services sector, including fintech, payment processing, and software solutions. • The stocks merit investor attention for fundamental and technical analysis.

Partner of soldier accused of war crimes says the couple discussed possibility of moving overseas to ‘create some normalcy in our lives’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBen Roberts-Smith was planning to leave Australia to live overseas and had a business class flight out of the country booked in four days’ time when he was arrested at Sydney airport this month, court documents allege, with investigators telling a court “his willingness to return to Australia to face prosecution cannot be judged”.Roberts-Smith was ultimately granted bail last week under strict conditions, a move opposed by prosecutors who said there was potential concern he was a flight risk and might try to avoid ever having to face trial for a series of alleged murders he committed in Afghanistan. Continue reading...