The radical project is an attempt to preserve wildlife in one of Europe’s most light-polluted countries, but can they persuade local people they will still feel safe?Two yellowing street lamps cast a pool of light on the dark road winding into the woods outside Mazée village. This scene is typical for narrow countryside roads in Wallonia in the south of Belgium. “Having lights here is logical,” says André Detournay, 77, who has lived in the village for four decades. “I walk here with my dog and it makes me feel safe and gives me some protection from theft.”Belgium glows like a Christmas decoration at night, as witnessed from space. It is one of the most light-polluted countries in Europe, with the Milky Way scarcely visible except in the most remote areas. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 12:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Emissions have plunged 75% since communist times in the birthplace of big oil – but for some the transition has been brutal Once the frozen fields outside Bucharest have thawed, workers will assemble the largest solar farm in Europe: one million photovoltaic panels backed by batteries to power homes after sunset. But the 760MW project in southern Romania will not hold the title for long. In the north-west, authorities have approved a bigger plant that will boast a capacity of 1GW.The sun-lit plots of silicon and glass will join a slew of projects that have rendered the Romanian economy unrecognisable from its polluted state when communism ended. They include an onshore windfarm near the Black Sea that for several years was Europe’s biggest, a nuclear power plant by the Danube whose lifetime is being extended by 30 years, and a fast-spreading patchwork of solar panels topping homes and shops across the country. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 06:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Wildfires that left 23 people dead were made about three times more likely by global heating, researchers sayThe climate crisis inflamed deadly wildfires that left 23 people dead in Chile and devastated forests in Argentina that host some of the world’s oldest trees, scientists have found.The hot, dry and windy conditions that enabled the fires to blaze across huge areas in January were made about three times more likely by global heating, researchers from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) consortium found. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 08:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Lead author of Australian study says breeding slowdown is linked to climate-driven changes in ‘magnificent’ whale’s foraging groundsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAfter decades of recovery, southern right whales are showing signs of a climate-driven decline in breeding rates, which scientists say is a “warning signal” about changes in the Southern Ocean.After being hunted to near extinction by commercial whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries, southern right whales remained endangered in Australia. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 10:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Britain’s seventh-richest man, who vocally backed Brexit then moved to tax-free Monaco, also hits out at people on benefitsThe billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020, has claimed that the UK is being “colonised” by immigrants.Speaking in an interview with Sky News, Britain’s seventh-richest man and the part-owner of Manchester United FC took aim at people receiving state support and immigrants. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 18:10 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Steve Whittamore says Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday remained his ‘best customers’ for two years after his 2005 convictionA private investigator convicted of illegally obtaining secret information has said the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday remained his “best customers” after his conviction, the high court has heard.Steve Whittamore, who was convicted in 2005 and given a conditional discharge, said his activities for the publisher of the titles, Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), spanned from 1998 to 2007. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 17:33 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Labour council says flags must not be ‘surrendered’ to far right but there are concerns in town hit by racial tensionA Labour council has been accused of embracing “flag terror” after offering £500 grants to groups to erect union jack and St George’s flags in a town previously rocked by racial tension.The leaders of Rotherham council, in South Yorkshire, said they wanted the flags to be a “symbol of unity” and did not want to “surrender them to extremist or far-right groups”. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 17:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN